Monday, July 10, 2006

Hometown Advantage


Minneapolis has the Twins. St. Paul has the Saints. In case you didn’t know it, Saint Paul is a Catholic town. Irish Catholic that is. Hence the name. So much for Norwegian Lutherans.

In fact, Norwegians aren’t even the majority in Minnesota despite the inordinate attention lavished on that particular demographic by Garrison Keillor. No, Germans are the largest single ethnic group in the state (though Scandinavians as a whole are the largest group, but they don’t really fancy themselves a single group … go figure). There’s even a town – New Ulm – where the populace spoke German almost exclusively until World War II when, for some reason, they thought better of it.

But I digress. The Saints. The hometown team. Owned, in part, by none other than Bill Murray. The discovery of this somewhat obscure fact (though well known to local fans of independent minor league baseball) and my first visit to Midway Stadium, a mere mile away from our house, were a sort of awakening.

With its pig mascot "Muddonna" (and a real pig mascot that comes out between innings in different outfits), haircuts and massages in the stands, between inning contests, and very excellent people watching, it’s one of my favorite hometown experiences to date. (The ice sculptures in Rice Park in mid-winter may be number one.)

Taking possession of my very own Bill Murray bobblehead, I felt unfiltered delight … a feeling so rare these days. The sport mullet, the flat affect of a Camaro-driving, farm-team-playin’ ball player. Perfect. So very perfect. Makes me miss the straightforward irony of the old days.

Comments:
My life is now complete!
 
yay!
 
P.S. notice the two guys in chainmail in the foreground? That's B and his friend who dressed up as knights because, as he put it, many saints were also knights (i.e. Saint George who fought the dragon). Clever boy.
 
Bill Murray?? I had no idea! More secrets from the heartland.
 
got to love the b-boy.
 
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