St. Louis cheers the Palins

As a Blues fan, naturally I had to watch the carnage as Sarah Palin dropped the ceremonial first puck before the Blues took on the Los Angeles Kings in St. Louis. Surely she'd get booed right out of Scottrade Center!

Except, well, she didn't ...

I saw a few comments on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's website urging the fans to be classy and not boo Palin, as they did in Philadelphia, and it appears most fans took it to heart. The cheers weren't loud, so probably those who otherwise might have voiced their displeasure just decided to stay silent. Maybe they didn't want to boo her in front of her husband and daughters, who were on the ice with her (Willow and Piper were wearing Blues jerseys).

Oh, well. Perhaps Sarah leaves town thinking St. Louis loves her, but remember, that's the same city where Barack Obama drew 100,000 last week. Hey, at least Palin can look back on those few cheers through the long, cold Alaska winter, as she fades into well-deserved obscurity ...

UPDATE (11:42 pm 10/24/08): The Blues had their worst game of the young season tonight, losing to L.A. 4-0. They looked listless and slow, and they made some really egregious mistakes, giving up the puck in their own zone way too many times.

Naturally, I blame Palin.

Confirmed: Palin's dropping another puck

No, "Puck" is not the name of Sarah's next baby (as far as I know).

Rather, as I reported earlier this week, it's been confirmed that Republican VP candidate and batshit crazy Alaska governor Sarah Palin will be dropping the ceremonial first puck at another NHL hockey game. This time, sadly, she infests a game hosted by my favorite team, the St. Louis Blues.

Palin today confirmed that she will make the stop at Scottrade Center in St. Louis following a previous visit to Springfield, Mo., during her campaign trail in the state of Missouri.

Palin is a self-described “hockey mom” who is running with Sen. John McCain on the Republican ticket for President and Vice President of the United States.

Well, that's the official announcement from the team ... now let's see how the people feel about this.

When Palin visits Friday, Democrats say they plan to be outside the hockey arena handing out shopping guides for Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, in a jab at the national GOP's $150,000 tab to clothe Palin and her family.

Seems appropriate to me, especially since the Neiman Marcus shopping spree actually took place in suburban St. Louis.

There are more comments here ... but suffice to say the mood seems pretty split, and I think that's what you'll hear from the Scottrade Center crowd tonight as the Blues take on the Kings. But it's terribly hypocritical for St. Louis wingnuts to urge those against Palin's appearance to keep politics out of hockey, when it's eminently clear that the only reason for Palin's appearance is ... politics.

BOOOOOO!

America's Hockey Mom strikes close to home

Well, maybe not close to your home, but for me, as a longtime, hardcore St. Louis Blues fan, this one hurts:

St. Louis area activists in both parties are telling Political Fix that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will head this way [to St. Louis] after Friday morning’s rally in Springfield [Ill.].

Rumor has it that [t]he GOP vice presidential nominee will stop by Friday night’s Blues hockey game, and drop the puck. No word on any other possible public events locally, if the above report is correct.

Palin performed the ceremonial face-off in Philadelphia on October 11 (shown below), and she was booed most vociferously. Here's hoping she gets the same treatment in my old hometown of St. Louis.


UPDATE (3:41 pm 10/23/08): I just noticed the Obama/Biden sign being displayed by a spectator in the upper right corner of the picture. That's a nice touch. Ha!

Hockey en Mexico

I mentioned a celebrity encounter downstairs ... and here it is:

As an avid (some might say "rabid") St. Louis Blues fan since about 1992, it was a pretty big deal for me to meet Brett Hull, one of the all time greats in the NHL and almost assuredly the greatest Blue ever. I met him at a bar in downtown Cabo, and he was quite gracious and friendly.

I'm the good-looking one on the left. :)

Sports blogging: nice guys finish last

What a way to start a Monday morning.

I have three favorite professional sports teams (I don't follow pro basketball). In the NFL, I've been a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since their second season, in 1977, and next year will be my 10th with season tickets. My favorite hockey team is the St. Louis Blues, dating back to my law school days in the Gateway to the West. And my longest-standing fave team is the Baltimore Orioles -- I was born in Baltimore and can remember being an Orioles fan as early as 1970, when they won their second World Series.

But today, I learned that The Sporting News recently named the Orioles and the Blues as the worst franchises in their respective sports. And it's not like the Buccaneers (who were "beaten out" by the Oakland Raiders as the worst franchise in the NFL) are much better, since for years (say, until 1997) they were the losingest team in pro sports.

Looking on the bright side, though, at least when people call me a loser, I can imagine they are referring to the teams I follow. (Don't ruin my fantasy here ...)