Bob Costas: Eulogy for the Common Conservative “Stan the Man”
Nobody’s Opinion
How do we judge our idols? At the funeral of Stan Musial on Saturday, held in the lovely Catholic ‘New’ Cathedral in downtown St. Louis…Bob Costas pretty much hit a home run. While I was crying at his words…and breaking up along with Bob when he got to the part (see video) about how Stan Musial said “Deal me in.” to the blacks in the clubhouse…it wasn’t until later that I remember Bob’s recent remarks about gun control during a football game not too long ago. (He wants to ban them)  
You have to remember…Bob is a liberal…and yet, here was a liberal crying over the very things that conservatives pretty much take for granted. Decency. Integrity. Honesty. Stan Musial had all those traits..not only throughout his career, which stopped 50 years ago, but throughout his life. Anyone here in St. Louis, who ran into Stan Musial..got a big smile, and at the least, an autograph.
Conservatives everywhere, take those tratis for granted. To us, those traits are as easy as breathing. We didn’t think nothing of Stan being the way he was…after all…he was conservative. Went to church, stayed married to his high school sweetheart. Never put anyone down for their politics. He was a great ballplayer, sure…but there are millions that live their lives the same way Stan did.
I’m not sure Bob knows that.
An hour before the funeral, I saw an interview with Robert Redford. Robert Redford was repeating the Obama’s mantra: People don’t want change, but it’s coming regardless of whether they like it or not. Period. He was talking about conservatives.
Here’s Obama’s words:
There are going to be some areas where that change is going to be very hard for Republicans. I suspect, for example, that already there are some Republicans who embrace the changing attitudes in the country as a whole around LGBT issues and same-sex marriage. But there’s a big chunk of their constituency that is going to be deeply opposed to that, and they’re going to have to figure out how they navigate what could end up being divisions in their own party. And that will play itself out ove
r years.
Yes…change is coming to the Stan Musials of the world whether they want it or not. (Nobody says: Be careful what you wish for…you just might get it.) 
Among the crowd at the funeral was all the town’s sports figures: Whitey Herzog, Tony La Russa, Commissioner Bud Selig, and Robert Pujols. It was a very long program because they showed the whole Catholic Mass on TV.
So— Here was two great ‘conservative’ American traditions: The Catholic Mass and American Baseball, and the theme of the day, was not only what a great ball player that Stan had been, but what a great human being. Bob spoke as if…nobody sees this kind of decency anymore.
Obviously not him.
To Bob…(by his speech) men like Stan are..rare. Morality, decency, living a humble life…that’s the past.
Our country was founded on morality. On decency. On each man making his own mark, and then giving back. And those very important rules are based on religion. (That Obama smirks that we “cling”to.) That shows how much we have changed…Lance Armstrong, the steriods…you don’t have to look too far to see corruption in sports, or politics, or anything anymore for that matter.
And while Bob Costas eulogy will go down in history as being one of the best ever given about any man, Stan’s brother-in-law made an even more important reminder than the fact that Stan wasn’t prejudice. (As so many conservatives ALSO…are not.)  He reminded everyone, that Stan Musial worked with the Catholic Church AND the Pope, (Back when Reagan was President) to help funnel money over to Poland, which helped defeat the communists in Russia and Poland. When Obama presented him with the Congressional Metal of Freedom last year, he certainly didn’t mention what the man did.
I’m sure, Obama could have cared less.
The “change” that Robert Redford and Obama are talking about is why I found this funeral so sad. I think, the fact that Bob sees the abhorrent behavior that has become the norm in our sports was why he was crying, and maybe he was asking himself… Why can’t all men be as decent as Stan Musial?
Well, when they have leaders like Obama, and movie stars like Robert Redford…trashing the country and its traditions on a daily basis..you can expect a lot more tears.
The real fact is: there are still millions of Stan Musials in America, living lives of ‘quiet desperation” helping their neighbors, loving their families, trying to be good citizens(buyinig McDonalds for the grandkids on Saturday)—and they are being attacked, while the sport figures, rap singers, horror fiction writers, movie stars…etc…are getting pats on the back for being basically rich drug addicts, adulterers, cheaters, and liars. The boys of summer are found on the ski slopes of Aspen, waiting for the next cocaine fix to come in.
Like Stan Musial, the common conservative man will never get on the news. And it’s that common, decent man who they want to not only ‘change” but crush.
Nobody could stop thinking about that through the whole funeral.
When the coffin was carried into the church, it had only a white linen drape. No flowers were on it. No roses of any sort. It was simple. Plain…like the man.
His grandson said “Gee, I had to follow Bob Costas.” with a sigh, but then said probably the most important thing: He looked into the camera and said he wanted everyone watching to try to be just like Stan.
If only.
Stan the Man, is the quintessence of the America that most of us grew up with. They drapped him in the American flag as they carried him out, as if to say to all the liberals: Here lies an American dream…watch and weep, and honor “Stan the Man.” He was the best of us.
And should you ever get to St. Louis, go stand in front of Stan’s statue, and bring a harmonia, and play a tune. Stan would love it…he never went anywhere without his. And don’t forget to read what it says:
“Here stands baseball’s perfect warrior. Here stands baseball’s perfect knight.”
5 Comments »
Leave a comment
About
I am a nobody. If the different classes of America were color-coded, I would be in the yucky brown, one rung up from the bottom. I grew up in Naples, Florida and live near the Mississippi River now with my husband and two dogs. I am part of the slowly disappearing middle-class. I was a musician most of my life: drummer/singer/keyboards—but I retired before the plastic surgery flu hit. I have no degrees, which could be a good thing…depending on how you view our educational system. I do have three patents…but that really doesn’t make me a somebody. The one thing that is constant in my life is my OPINIONS, which i have more than perhaps even Carl Sagan could have imagined…mostly political. (yes…my ancestors were crabby buggers)
Hopefully other nobody’s will put their opinions on my site. But, if you happen to be a somebody, you’re more than welcomed to help out.
It’s my Nobody Opinion that Nobody’s Perfect, and Nobody Cares, that Nobody Knows why Nobody Wins, and when that happens, Nobody Wonders, why Nobody Flashes, why Nobody’s Fooled, but then Nobody remembers that Nobody ALWAYS Reports the truth.
You can email me at joyanna_adams@yahoo.com
Joyanna Adams
Comments
Anonymous on WEF? Get Ready for Brain … Mrs. O on Nobody’s Fool: Jordan Pe… Mrs. O on Live in Michigan? My Cond… Mrs. O on And so…It Begins Joyanna Adams on Nobody Goes to the Art Museum…
Joyanna Adams 
Stan Musial was a Democrat and a liberal who actively campaigned for John F. Kennedy in 1960. He served on the President’s Council for Fitness under Kennedy and LBJ and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor by Barack Obama last year.
The notion that marriage and mass are somehow the sole provenance of conservatives is silly and needlessly divisive. Liberals honor those things as well, including one liberal that you purport to admire: Stan Musial.
LikeLike
I agree: The old democratic party held many of the same values that we consider today as conservative…the John Kennedy of yesterday, was a Catholic. I can see Stan Musial campaining for him. ([more than likely for the Catholic Church.) But today, in 2013, the conservative party stands more for the traditions of family. While there may be many old-time democrats still around, Obama whole agenda is very far-left. He might be married, but he believes in abortion (even at later stages) doesn’t go to chruch much, holds Islam to be on the same merit as Christianity, and same/sex marriage…is a must. Not exactly Catholic dogma. He has forced us…all of us..you AND me,… everyone to pay for someones else’s abortion. Would Stan Musial have approved of that? Did Stan Musial vote for Obama? I’d love to ask his family. He might have been a democrat…I have no idea. But the way he lived his life was very ….traditional. Therefore,in my Nobody’s Opinion…he was a conservative. The Catholics are against abortions. if you are a democrat, and a Catholic, then you, are a hypocrite if you believe in abortion. Of course,….LOL! Like my ancestors before me…I’ve always considered the Catholic Church…not exactly to my liking. John, thanks for your insights. Always welcomed. I guess what I was trying to say is that our ‘liberal’ culture of sports stars are now the norm…they lie, cheat, do drugs…in other words, not historically conservative ways to live your life. And I do think Bob Costas sees much more than we will EVER know.
Joyanna Adams
________________________________
LikeLike
The Democrats have not moved to the left. Conservatives have moved to the right.
You bring up two excellent points about Catholic dogma, but we are not a Catholic nation. The government is supposed to represent all faiths (or even none at all.) The fact that the government endorses a marriage is not what makes it holy or special, so why would you care if two men get married? Some religions accept gay marriage. No one is forcing Catholic priests to perform the ceremony.
I have my bible right here. Jesus never mentioned homosexuality. Not once. He did however say that divorce is a sin. Where are divorces most prevalent? Here are top 10 states with the highest divorce rates:
Nevada: 7.1
Arkansas: 6.2
Alabama: 5.4
Wyoming: 5.4
Idaho: 5.3
West Virginia: 5.2
Kentucky: 5.2
Tennessee: 5.1
Florida: 5.1
Mississippi: 4.9
Not a liberal state on the list. Out of wedlock pregnancies follow about the same pattern. Perhaps we all have our faults.
Luke 6:42 “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?”
As far as “forcing people to pay for abortions,” that is patently false. The Hyde Amendment is still in full effect and the federal government cannot fund abortion services. You have been misinformed.
The photo that you have above of Stan getting a medal? Those are Obama’s hands.
LikeLike
First…did you READ the article. I mentioned Obama giving Stan the metal. It was a snarky remark, but I don’t like the man. Good god…I put the Picture up of him doing it. “Conservatives have moved to the right?” Really? I find that almost funny. Also..I did NOT say that I personally care if two men get married..I claim that to be the view of most churches. I’ve read the Bible Ttree time, but can’t quote it. That’s good that you have a Bible… I don’t think Jesus said much about it, but the Bible does endorse marriage between a man AND a woman. I’ll try to find out the section…but not tonight. Muslims…a religion that IS accepted by Obama, consider homosexuality a crime..and it can be punishable by death in many Muslim countries. And Obama accepts it. I find that disgusting. So John, you made it sound like you read the whole New Testament in just a few minutes? LOL! Divorces happen more in conservative states? So you just disproved yourself. It that is so, then conservatives are going to the left. Where did you get that? So that means that all the liberal states…are filled with single women who are not married, which is why divorce rates are so low…they don’t even get married. The single women family outnumbers married people now. Chicago, a very liberal city, has a population of 70 percent single women families. And I disagree. Obamacare…is paid for by all of us. Taxes. Obamacare supplies abortions to everyone. But that is nothing new…Hillary has made sure that American Taxpayers fund abortions overseas also and we have been doing that for years. The govenment gives tax money to Planned Parenthood. And they are the prime abortion clinic in America. Something like 76 chruches are suing Obama (the govenment) for exactly that reason:They don’t believe in abortion. Hobby Lobby has refused to implement Obamacare for exactly that reason: they do not want to supply abortions to their workers through Obamacare. That’s all in the news John…I’m not making that up. Anyway…thanks again.
Joyanna Adams
________________________________
LikeLike
What a great piece, Joyanna.
Yes, change is coming. As it always has done. But today your President does not say which direction the change is taking, and for good reason. He is hiding the ‘Fundemental’ changes. He is hiding the changes that take us down the darker paths into the deep forests where brambles will tear at the skin and swamps will suck at our feet.
These are ‘societal’ changes and such disasters have beset many peoples many times before. Yet there are some individuals, like Stan the Man, keeping that spark of Integrity burning despite the chaos all around.
We look to ourselves and God. Good will prevail.
LikeLike