The irony is apparent: The 2012 Opening Day for the St. Louis Cardinals has them facing the Chicago Cubs, which is a long and storied rivalry, rich in competition and full of stories told by fanatical fans on both sides. This is a game which was scheduled last year long before the Cardinals won their 11th World Series and who would have guessed in August of 2011 what Opening Day 2012 would include? Yet, there it is: the St. Louis Cardinals receiving the accolades of an adoring and energetic crowd, entering Busch Stadium as conquering warriors in red and white cars, which are following the Anheuser Busch Clydesdale's around the warning track of the stadium . . . while across the way are the Chicago Cubs, more than a hundred years removed from any such championship, watching as their arch-rivals are honored. There is one upside for the Cubs today: No ring presentation today. That is saved for tomorrow's events . . . no sense rubbing it into a Division rival all in one day!
As the Cardinal baseball team begins a new year of competition, as they begin the journey for their twelfth Championship in 2012 ("12 in 12" is the current mantra), am I the only one who senses that the World Series Celebration, though honestly and thoroughly deserved, has about it the sense of those who 'lord it over the Gentiles'? Especially among those news outlets and fans who are gathering for today's opener with a sense that, 'the Cubs dare not mess this up'? I have to hand it to the Cardinal organization as to the classy manner in which all of the festivities are being presented. I would expect no less. Nor would I expect any less of the Cubs than to be equally classy in their presence at the honors, as well as in the competition at game time. Still, I am left mulling: Might this be the perfect impetus the Cubs organization and new GM, Theo Epstein, needed to turn the corner, having to taste the sour wine of humility as the victor savors the spoils? There is a reason Jesus warned the disciples about overdoing that 'sitting on the left or right stuff', precisely because when you are at the top of the heap you make a good target for others who perceive themselves to be below you and resent it. Maybe Jesus saw this day coming with the Cubs, though I haven't read it anywhere in the Gospels, I'm not sure.
Bottom line, the irony cannot be hidden, neither can the truth of moment be left untold. The Cardinals won the 2011 World Series . . . and the Chicago Cubs, well they have had a tough run the last ten decades or so. Like revenge, humility is a dish best served cold, lest in the heat of the moment what gets cooked is a bird on a bat, rather than a bear. Hmmmm. Jesus might have seen this moment coming.
Go, Cardinals!
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