A Saint Louisan in dire need of a new hobby

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Makes you wonder what the heck happened to him on his last trip to the tri-state:

No matter how you spell it, Cincinnatti's the enemy

By Bill McClellan

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

03/06/2006

Ask a St. Louisan to identify our greatest enemy, and you'll get a puzzled look and at best a tentative answer. Chicago? Kansas City?

Chicago is too full of itself to hate us. The Windy City, the City of the Big Shoulders, Hog Butcher for the World, the city of Carl Sandburg, Mike Royko and Studs Terkel. It has two baseball teams, a hockey team, a basketball team, a lake - and not just a lake, but a Great Lake - and a downtown that doesn't close at 6 p.m. Chicago considers itself too important to waste its time hating us.

Kansas City is, well, Kansas City. The good people of that fair city long ago accepted their lot in life - residents of Missouri's second city. Their motto is, "We're not really in Kansas." They take great pride in the fact that they're bigger than Springfield and Joplin. They admire St. Louis and secretly root for our teams. Kansas City is not the enemy.

But there is a city that despises us, a city where children grow up sticking needles into dolls representing St. Louis. I speak of Cincinnatti.

Oddly enough, few St. Louisans think much - one way or the other - of Cincinnatti. Hardly anybody here can even spell it. Some people in St. Louis have a vague knowledge that Cincinnatti is a river town, but what river? Certainly, not a river as large or important as ours. That rankles Cincinnatti, by the way. Everything in St. Louis is bigger and better. We have Stan Musial. They have Pete Rose. We have the Mississippi River. They have the Ohio. (I think.) We have great Italian restaurants. They have a couple of Olive Gardens. They don't even have a hockey team to divert them during the long Ohio winters. Instead, they sit around stewing about St. Louis. Whenever they can, they do us dirty.

Think of Famous-Barr. The retail engine of our city. It was such a grand institution. For many St. Louisans, the Christmas decorations in the downtown Famous-Barr defined the holiday season. Now, Famous-Barr and its parent, the May Co., are gone. Just last week, hundreds of May employees picked up their last paychecks. The company has been gobbled up by Federated. From Cincinnatti, of course.

Think, too, of KMOX. Young people might not believe it, but it really was once "the most trusted voice in mid-America." It wasn't just a regional heavyweight, either. It was considered the greatest radio station in the country. All the shows were locally produced. Admittedly, it began to slip after Robert Hyland died. A more bottom-line-oriented management dropped the all-local stuff and went to syndicated shows. But even if it wasn't what it once was, it was still pretty good, and the No. 1 attraction, of course, was baseball. It was home to the St. Louis Cardinals and had been for decades. No longer. The current owners of the baseball team have dealt the once-proud station a mighty blow. They've taken baseball away. And where do these owners come from? Cincinnatti, of course.

Finally, think about this newspaper, the flagship of Pulitzer Inc. It has been many years since this was a great newspaper, but at least it was locally owned. And what a famous family owned it - the Pulitzers. The company had been handed down from one Joseph Pulitzer to another until the third Joseph died and opted not to hand it to the fourth Joseph. Instead, it went to the third Joseph's second wife, and then it was sold. And from where did this second wife come? Cincinnatti.

So imagine a St. Louisan of 50 years ago. He reads his locally owned newspaper and then drives to Famous-Barr, and as he drives, he listens to KMOX and its locally produced shows. A happy man, who probably never gave a thought to Cincinnatti.

Geez...

[faith 0]

heheh cute

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Actually easy to see St. Louis' greatest enemy is---Bill McLellan!

[faith 0]

Actually easy to see St. Louis' greatest enemy is---Bill McLellan!

you very obviously are not from st. louis.

[almaty 19]

right Faith... besides everyone knows Cincinnati sucks...

[faith 0]

right Faith... besides everyone knows Cincinnati sucks...

exactly!

look what they've done to us! *points up to the article*

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

right Faith... besides everyone knows Cincinnati sucks...

exactly!

look what they've done to us! *points up to the article*

boohooo. j/k

#######, look what this city is doing to me...

[faith 0]

right Faith... besides everyone knows Cincinnati sucks...

exactly!

look what they've done to us! *points up to the article*

boohooo. j/k

#######, look what this city is doing to me...

ok so i just looked at where you are at. DOH! no wonder you posted this. (I'm seriously so spacey today that i was thinking why is ET looking up St. Louis #######? Just send me home now... I'm done for the day )

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Actually easy to see St. Louis' greatest enemy is---Bill McLellan!

you very obviously are not from st. louis.

Been there a total of once (1996, for PromiseKeepers stadium event).

I'm "from" Calgary.

[Sister Fracas 5]

*yawn* ho hum

from a Chicagoan...

[Mirorgate 0]

Johnny Fever!

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Reiterate my earlier post: St. Louis' greatest enemy is---Bill McLellan! :lol:

[faith 0]

Reiterate my earlier post: St. Louis' greatest enemy is---Bill McLellan! :lol:

again, totally don't get why you would say that.