Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The Cold Pope

Decades ago, the small city of Bradford, Pennsylvania in McKean County won a District Nine Basketball Championship, and although the games were ended the wordplay continued to use team-member names as a way to move southward. A branch campus of the University of Pittsburgh had been installed near Bradford city limits, while Saint Bonaventure University remains situated across the 'state line' in Allegany, New York.

Never mind that the Tun'a Creek watershed in McKean County really needed a research facility to document the unique features and characteristics of the region. Public school textbooks had already implanted the phrase, "look west young man" and swarms of Pittites relocated near the city of Pittsburg in the state of California. With the hope to maintain their positions in California, team memberships and alumni associations collaborated to plan and bring a Catholic Pope of the European continent to the San Francisco peninsula.

Never mind that the Catholic religion exists to perpetuate human existance within the mid-Mediterranean Sea environs of the nation of Italy, situated between continental Europe and the north African coast. Journalism of that time tells us that the Pope was injured within the confines of the Bayview District stadium where he was scheduled to speak. Ostensibly, he and his religious constituency agreed that earthquake study justified the trip.

This past week, a German-born Pope was again transported to the United States to speak at Yankee Stadium in New York City, apparently borne within a bullet-proof vehicle across the playing field to the podium. A Pope was again visiting to study circumstances of tragic catas-trophe as a function of religious role.

Will a bobble-head figurine of the international dignitary, holding a basketball, next be found on variety-store shelves?

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