Honoring Stan the Man

For those of you the read this blog on occasion, I for the most part stick to politics. That’s my profession, that’s what I get paid to do and frankly, it’s pretty interesting to discuss. However, those of you that know me truly understand my passion for baseball, in particular, St. Louis Cardinals baseball.

I was born and raised a Cardinal fan. At the age of 6, in 1982, I remember sitting in my living room floor as the Cardinals celebrated their first World Series Championship in well over a decade. There were countless nights I spent falling asleep listening to the sound of Jack Buck’s voice coming from the radio. There was the heartbreak of 1985, 1987 and 2004, but the joy of 2006. And I’ll never forget wrapping a St. Louis Cardinal baby outfit for Christmas in 2002 to let my parents know they were going to be grandparents for the first time.

Some may call it obsession, but, hey, it’s Cardinal Nation.

So, it was with great pride that I watched Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game festivities from St. Louis this past week. The Mid-Summer Classic in America’s Best Baseball Town. It was great to see Ozzie, Vince, Lou, Gibby, Bruce and Red. I was happy to see Albert Pujols get the attention as the game’s best player that he has earned.

However, for me, the All-Star festivities were about one person, Stan “The Man” Musial. Stan is to St. Louis what Williams is to Boston, what Gehrig, Ruth and Mantle are to New York and what Willie is to the Giants. He’s an icon, he’s baseball royalty.

The All-Star Game was to be his moment. It was to be his time to be honored by his adoring fans and his time to be recognized for his achievements in front of a national audience. This was going to be the same moment that Ted Williams received in Boston in 1999 that he so richly deserved.

So I was ready. The wife and kiddo were running errands. I was ignoring the phone, ignoring the emails. The DVR was set. I wanted a record of this moment for baseball’s “Perfect Knight.” Admittedly, I was ready to get a little misty eyed.

Out came the cart, Stan the Man with ball in hand waving to the crowd, the fans showering him with affection and applause. Here it was, Stan’s moment. The cart slowly making its way to a spot near home plate, the crowd cheering, this was going to be magical. Then, it happened…nothing. The cart came to a stop. No players surrounding the cart, no video tribute…nothing.

They PA then announced the President of the United States to come out and take the ball from Stan to throw out the first pitch. Now, every single person reading this is thinking I’m going to blame this on Obama. No, this wasn’t his fault. Frankly, I had issues with the smattering of boos he received when he entered the field. He’s the President, whether you like the man or not, the office deserves respect.

The fault lies with Major League Baseball. Obama shouldn’t have been the person to throw the first pitch. For that matter, no President should be the person to throw the first pitch at an All-Star Game. Politics automatically splits the crowd. You take this moment, any moment, and insert politics and a crowd united by one thing, in this case baseball, automatically is divided. For the record though, Obama didn’t help himself by wearing a Chicago White Sox jacket in St. Louis.

I get Major League Baseball for wanting the President for the first pitch, and I realize that my opinion here is very clouded by my respect for Stan the Man. But on this night, in this stadium and in this city, it should have been about Stan Musial and nobody else.

Opportunities to honor legends on a national stage are few and far between. With steroids and performance enhancing drugs clouding the integrity of the game and record books, I think baseball should relish moments to honor the purely good people and outstanding baseball players of the past.

This should have been Stan’s time, he earned it and he deserved it. Major League Baseball stuck out looking on Tuesday night in St. Louis.

Fun with Captions

Thought it would be fun for everyone to add a caption to this picture. I'll start with mine below. Keep in mind all of you Obama sympathizers, supporters, etc. This is just for fun...you would have done/did the same thing with Bush so get over yourselves.





"NO Mr. President, it's economic stimulus you are looking for!"

I can think of a name I'd call her!

This is the height of arrogance....and ignorance.

And just think...I was actually thinking this morning that I was going to steer clear of posting political things on my blog for a while.

Felt like I just needed to take a break, a little burned out by politics at the moment.

Then Boxer went and did something like this...guess it's a sign.

Boxer, the U.S. Senator, Chides Brigadier General for Calling Her 'Ma'am'

The feisty California lawmaker felt the need to remind an Army brigadier general of that fact Tuesday during a hearing before her Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, where the military officer testifying had the apparent gall to call Boxer "ma'am."

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHFPsiPYDA8

Jesus Missing From Obama's Georgetown Speech

Before President Obama spoke to the country, and frankly, the world, on Tuesday, the White House asked Georgetown to cover a monogram symbolizing Jesus' name in Gaston Hall, which Obama used for his speech, according to CNSNews.com.

I don't know why anyone would be surprised, this is the same man that said America was not a Christian nation.

In his own words...

Americans do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Muslim nation, but rather, a nation of citizens who are, uh, bound by a set of values.

Another President, John Adams, however, said this...

The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were... the general principles of Christianity... I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.

Another President, and father of our Constitution, James Madison, said this...

We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.

Finally, the father of our country, George Washington, said this...

It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible.

CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!!!

Win a day with Bill Clinton

It's no joke. It's the latest ploy by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help pay off her massive campaign debt.

For only $5 you can win a day will Slick Willie, tickets to the American Idol Finale, or some time with James Carville and Paul Begala.

Good ole' Carville himself is doing the bidding.

So here's my question. If a woman happens to win the day with Bill, will there be a chaperone???

How's that diplomacy working?

Guess that Obama and Ahmadinejad aren't reading from the same teleprompter.

Iran's Leadership Ignores Obama Outreach, Says World Powers Cannot Block Nuclear Program

Neither Ayatollah Ali Khamenei nor Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad noted Obama's attempt to make a "new beginning" with their country in recorded messages they issued to mark the Iranian New Year.

All that talk during the campaign about befriending our enemines and not isolating them sure sounded nice, but reality sure can be a tough pill to swallow.

Guess Bush wasn't as big of an idiot as our "fearless reader" convinced some of you to believe.

OHHHH...so THAT's why he uses a teleprompter

While our "fearless reader"..er, sorry, my bad, "fearless leader" was out doing Leno last night he decided to poke fun at his bowling skills at the expense of the Special Olympics.

He also said he had been practicing bowling. "I bowled a 129," Obama said. "It was like Special Olympics or something." The White House issued a statement saying Obama's remark "in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics," the Politico reported.

Wow, we though the Vice Presdient was going to be the gaffee machine.

I guess now we are seeing why he has that teleprompter. If he doesn't, there's no telling what he'll say.

Let's face it, everyone wants to talk about how wonderful Obama is with words, and he is, as long as he can read them. Let's drop all this talk about him being a man with a golden tongue and say what he really is, a many with golden eyes.

If you'd like to learn more about Obama's teleprompter, you can go to it's blog. That's right, Obama's teleprompter has a blog. Insert your own joke here.

Hard at Work

I'm so glad that President Obama is hard at work tackling the tough issues facing our country.

Thankfully, he's not wasting him time on issues that don't directly effect the lives of all Americans.

Change we can believe in!

MORE:

Apparently, I'm not the only one who feels like Obama should stick to the important issues at hand...other than who is going to win the NCAA tournament.

Looks like Coach K feels the same way.