Why I Love Fall - Redux

10. Baseball - I am a new fan to this very complex sport, and now that we're in the running for the Series, well, I'm hooked.

9. Cooler weather - I am at my best during this time of year. The smell of wet leaves, the chill in the air, damp mornings and evenings on the back porch. I dig it. I really do.

8. Football - specifically, college. Go Bison, go Tigers, go Jayhawks. Nuff said.

7. Oktoberfest - I love a month that is dedicated to celebrating beer. My favorite at the moment would be Lips Of Faith Fleur by New Belgium from Ft. Collins.

6. Halloween - everything about this holiday makes me smile. The candy. The costumes. The decorations. My family has a long-standing tradition (this marks our 20th anniversary) where we get together, deep fry everything (fries, shrimp, etc.), hand out candy, watch scary movies and play cards. It's a blast, and I look forward to it every year.

5. Wineries - I love me a little long-stemmed culture on a hillside with my homeys.

4. Foliage - Missouri has phenomenal changing of the leaves. The colors are unlike anything I've ever seen. I guess growing up in North Dakota, where there are 4 trees and you have maybe 21 minutes between summer and winter will do that to a girl.

3. NBA - I think basketball players are incredible athletes. Constant movement, multitasking, speedplay. Astounding.

2. Bad horror movies - I recently reviewed the Human Centipede. I would consider this to be a bad horror movie. Bad in a good way. Others would include Motel Hell, I Spit On Your Grave, Basket Case and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. Actual bad horror movies would be Albino Farm, Alligator X, and any of the Saw movies.

1. Good horror movies - nothing beats a good horror movie this time of year. My favorites include Halloween, Devil's Rejects, The Shining, Grindhouse, The Exorcist, Inside, 30 Days of Night, Let The Right One In.

I am in the right town to be lovin' baseball

According to Yahoo, Albert Pujols is the most coveted Fantasy Baseball player, and St. Louis is the best Fantasy Baseball city in America, with 1 in 76 people playing fantasy baseball on Yahoo.

Boston comes in a paltry second with 1 in 86 people playing fantasy baseball on Yahoo.

I hope to be tagging along with my boss to J. Bucks on Thursday as he and a doc talk the limited-edition Cards hats for sale at the ballpark only. $10 goes towards cancer research. Get yours soon - they sold out mid-season last year.

What else do I love besides baseball?

I LOVE GOLF.

Yes. That's right.

I love golf. And of course, what's mentioning golf without a pic of Chevy Chase in Caddyshack, one of my favorite movies (seriously)?

This is the year of me embracing everything I shunned in the past that has prevented me from enjoying a fulfilling social life here in St. Louis. Again, I will compare it to an arranged marriage in which I learn to love that which has been thrust upon me.

And just like baseball, golf is one of those things.

I was recently offered a free golf lesson, complete with clubs.

To that I say, hell yeah.

Bring on the joy.

Seriously, I love going to the driving range. Lining up my swing, hitting the ball dead-on, seeing it fly beyond where my near-sighted eyes can see is actually fun for me.

That said, I will take learning golf as my opportunity to get out and enjoy nature, get some good walking in, catch up on the latest guy chatter, and a chance to work on my infraspinatus, terses minor, subscapularis, supraspinatus, biceps and triceps, among other key muscle groups.

It will also give me the opportunity to explore the fashionable side of golf - just an added bonus to my ever-growing sporty wardrobe.

If hitting a tiny, little ball into a far away, tiny little hole in the hot, hot sun will bring me some fun, I'm game.

Baseball - Let's break it down

My colleague forwarded me this nifty baseball chart - since I'm still learning about this amazing sport, I'm not sure why it's so funny. But I will.

Enjoy.

This is how much I like baseball...

I now am the proud owner of an Stan Musial autographed baseball*.

Jelly? Thought so... ;-)

*New baseball treasure courtesy of K. Holleman.

I Love Baseball

As my first post on my latest blog, I thought I'd ruminate on America's favorite pastime - baseball.

I grew up in the cold prairies of this country, and our sports were football and b-ball, and of course hockey due to the fact that our winter lasted 9 months our of the year. Frickin chilly it wss!

We really didn't have much in the way of baseball. The closest team to us was the Minnesota Twins, and, well, need I say more?

Upon moving to St. Louis in 1990 to attend college, I was immediately thrown into the world of professional sports - the Cards & the Blues.

The Blues took - the Cards did not.

Hockey is non-stop action - the sharp whoosh! of the blades scraping the ice, the FIGHTS!, and the frosty air were a sweet and gentle reminder of home.

Baseball, I found, was another story. Baseball was boring. It was hot. It lasted FOREVER, and I just didn't get it.

I've been to a handful of games in the 20 years I've lived in the Lou, and while I enjoyed the frosty & overpriced beer, the grease-oozing dogs wrapped in equally greasy paper and the endless chatter of die-hard fans around me, I never took to the game.

Well, color me Cardinal red because I am not only on the baseball bus, I'm driving the sucker.

I am a fan. A special kind of fan.

I am a fan in the way that you learn to love your husband from an arranged marriage.

When my brother announced a couple months back that he is the proud owner of a bazillion season tickets, the feeling started to sneak in then. The feeling that I was missing out on something really great.

What am I missing out on?

To name a few things, the camaraderie, history & integrity of the sport.

Also, there's the strategy that I have yet to understand but am willing to, much as a wife in an arranged marriage is willing to cook her new husband's favorite meals.

What I like best is the way baseball brings together people from all walks of life. That's the really cool thing, especially in a town that's still very much segregated. In the height of baseball season, Busch Stadium is a sweaty melting pot of screaming fans, all rooting for one thing. A win.

On what is a historic day (for me and the sport of baseball), I've come to realize that there are many things I love about baseball. And so, I will love it and hope it loves me back.

Furthermore, I will embrace the things about baseball I don't understand and hope that someone will explain them to me, someday. (Kathy, Jason, Scott, Jeff and Albo, I'm talking to you).

And I will accept my fate as a St. Louis Native (since 1990, which is my entire adult life so it COUNTS, dammit) and support my home team.

And I'll be there on opening day, regardless of whether Pujols is there or has turned traitor and is a Cubbie.