Reflector sports editor R.J. Morgan, news editor C.J. LeMaster and entertainment editor Aaron Burdette were able to attend a World Series game last week in St. Louis. We graded the trip on a 10-point scale in 10 categories and then gave it a cumulative score, just like for away games. Here are the results…
1. Ease of Travel-St. Louis is about seven hours from Starkville, but the directions can be simplified to one sentence. Find Interstate 55 and go north. The drive is four-laned all the way and the landscape is ever changing. It is a bit far, but not a difficult ride by any stretch. (10 points)
2. Parking-Big cities have the added advantage of subways and metro-rails to aid them in their parking problems. Fortunately, we didn’t even have to call on them. Our hotel was just four blocks from the stadium and well within acceptable walking distance. (10 points)
3. Game Day Atmosphere-The electricity of a World Series game is incomparable to anything ever experienced before. The passion and emotion the marathon-nature of baseball season evokes is unmatched in any other major sport. If you are looking for a game to get lost in, to give your very soul to, it would have to be a World Series contest. Combine that with the fact that St. Louis hadn’t won a title in 24 years, and you are left with a surreal moment in time that has to be experienced in person to fully grasp. (10 points)
4. Stadium-2006 was the innaugural run for the new Busch Stadium, and what a marvelous piece of architecture it is. There are five seating levels and two rows of skyboxes, along with all the modern amenities of any ballpark in the nation. The park is in the middle of downtown St. Louis, which gives it a stately feel, but has enough lights and video screens to draw in even the youngest of onlookers. It has no history yet, but if every season ends the way this one did, it will develop a traditional feel in a hurry. (9 points)
5. Fan Knowledge-St. Louis people love baseball. There is no doubt about that. Stuck in a bar for Game Five, there were no seats and no room to move around the restaurant. Every square inch of available space was occupied by a red-clad, Budweiser-drinking Cardinals fan. They watched the televisions with jagged intensity and yelled at the screens as if they were in the stadium. That can’t be found in just any city. (10 points)
6. Friendliness of Fans-Since we were all rooting for the Cardinals, there was little for these masses to harrass us about. We met several fans at the stadium and carried on civilized conversations with all of them. Even the rich (or lucky) fans whose lower-level seats we hijacked until they arrived were nice when they told us to get lost. (9 points)
7. Concessions-There were a myriad of options at the major league feeding centers located throughout Busch Stadium. Nachos with beef or chicken were $7, souvenir glasses of Coke products for $5 and of course the token Budweiser beers for $8.50 a bottle. The best deal in the stadium was on the upper outdoor concourse, where kosher sausage dogs were $4 and steaming glasses of hot chocolate were only $2. On a crisp fall evening with temperatures aproaching freezing, a hot dog with spicy mustard and a piping-hot cup of hot chocolate are the perfect complements to a great baseball game. (10 points)
8. Band-Since this is not college, there is no band to speak of, but the stadium organist did a great job keeping the crowd energized and vocal. (8 points)
9. Local Scene-The blocks around the stadium were lined with bars and pubs just beckoning for us to enter and “fellowship” with them. The area had the feel of a small village, despite being in the middle of a huge city. That intimacy, combined with the overflowing pints of beer and free shots being pushed in our direction, gave the entire area an enjoyable haze. (10 points)
10. Wildcard-What else is there to say? It was one of the most emotional and intensely enjoyable situations a person could expereince in one of the finest cities to watch a baseball game, at a great new ballpark. If a person can’t be impressed by that environment, then he has no soul. (10 points)
Score-96