Cardinals Pre-Game Open Thread: London Calling

Good morning, Viva El Birdos!

And good morning/evening to our baseball fans across the Atlantic over in London! If you made the trek over to watch the games or if you’re just a Cardinals fan and VEB reader over in London (and surroundings) let us know! We want to hear from you!

With a game coming in mere hours and a game thread along with it, I didn’t want to muddy up the works with any hefty analysis. Instead, I want to focus on this weekend’s event itself. Cards vs. Cubs. London series. London Stadium.

With that in mind, I have two questions to get you talking.

First, what are your favorite Cards vs. Cubs memories?

I have a lot that I could point to. But the first memory that came to mind was WGN. Back in the early 90s, WGN out of Chicago was a cable superstation. It was included in our regular cable package and they carried the Cubs games nearly every day.

I was not a regular WGN viewer. I watched a ton of Braves games on TBS. It was hard not to be a Braves fan when they were on every day and throwing the likes of Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz.

That era of Cubs had Mark Grace, Ryne Sandberg, an aging Andre Dawson, and ... Shawon Dunston? They weren’t very good. But when the Cardinals played the Cubs, the games were on TV and I could watch! That was a rarity back then before Prime Sports and FSMW became a thing. I savored getting to watch the Cardinals teams that I so frequently listened to.

As I’m preparing to watch the Cardinals and Cubs play in London today, it reminds me of watching the Cardinals and Cubs on WGN with Harry Carey and Steve Stone and rooting against the home broadcast. Fun times.

Second question: what’s your favorite British food?

I’m really tempted to demonstrate just how very Missouri I am and say “Butter Beer”. The closest my family has been to England was going a few times to Harry Potter World in Universal Studios, Orlando. It was part of a band trip for our teenage children. They got to explore the park and spend a day doing something called “foley” — video sound effects and soundtracking — in a Universal studio. They also got to march around Universal ahead of the actual theme park parade of lights. Pretty cool stuff for high schoolers? For a bunch of adults, though? Eh... My wife and I, not keen on waiting hours to ride a few rollercoasters, hung out at Hogsmeade drinking butter beer and eating extremely authentic (tongue in cheek, folks) British food while the kids were off being kids.

I’m tempted to give that as my answer. Because that butter beer is pretty darn good! But I won’t. That’s not my answer. I’m not that uncouth.

Instead, I think my answer is chicken tikka masala. And before you argue with me, chicken tikka is NOT an Indian dish, despite being able to order it from Indian restaurants all over! Tikka masala is a British dish concocted by Indian chefs/cooks living in London! It’s thoroughly British; it’s become part of British culture through British colonization of India because the British themselves had pretty terrible food, and the immigrants brought their own food — and variants of it — to them when they settled in London.

Well, let me correct that. The British used to have pretty terrible food. (Or so I’ve been told.) Now, apparently, London is one of the premier locations for dining in the world. At least that’s what Stanley Tucci says and, frankly, I’d believe anything he says. He’s just that awesome. But London’s rise as a culinary powerhouse is tied pretty closely to its becoming a center of immigration for people from all over the globe and not because of its own native cuisine.

I’m also a huge fan of fish and chips, but saying that feels like cheating. Especially since I’ve never actually had fish and chips in England. And I’m sure you would agree that eating them at the Three Broomsticks in Universal or at Captain D’s doesn’t count!

That’s enough of my pointless rambling. The thread is yours. Answer my questions or come up with your own topics. And let’s enjoy a Cardinals win today!