The sport of kings
As his nephew August IV attempts to ward off a takeover bid of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, 48-year-old Billy Busch scored a feature story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this month for his efforts to popularize his long-time passion and one of the most dangerous sports anywhere-- polo. The great-grandson of Adolphus Busch, and one of August A. Busch Jr.'s youngest sons (born when the late Cardinals owner was 60), Billy has been around horses all his life. A number of photos and trophies marking his equestrian pursuits are visible to the public at the stables of Grant's Farm (near the family castle) in suburban St. Louis.You gotta love rich people. Forget the fact that, as the articles points out, polo participation at the highest level of competition requires a "string" of at least six trained ponies, the Busch family has long been able to blend their baronial lifestyles with proletariat demeanors. Said another way, they can be boorish. P-D columnist Bill McClellan once wrote, "One gets the sense not that they are barons who rule the peasantry, but that they are, at heart, peasants themselves. Filthy rich peasants, but peasants. Nothing prissy about the Busch clan." Polo would seem to be another perfectly-designed avenue for wealthy thrill-seekers.
Aside from the various drinking, driving, and weapons-handling scandals dotting the family's history, Adolphus' male descendents, of which there are dozens, never seem to hesitate when given a chance to bruise it up. And Billy may be tops in the litter, having once bitten off a man's ear in a bar brawl.
I hope it works out for him. There would be a sporting void to fill in St. Louis if the gridiron Rams skip town, and I can think of plenty more destructive ways for Billy to spend his trust fund.
---
Upon the theatrical release this weekend of volume 4 in the Indiana Jones trilogy, The New Yorker has posted online Pauline Kael's less-than-enthusiastic 1981 review of the first edition "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
---
The Cardinals are scheduled off on Memorial Day. The people who run Major League Baseball must be certified geniuses.
posted by CM @ 6:58 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home