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Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Sioux_Falls_Canaries

October by Hester Jewell Dawson


the high fly ball,
arches out above left field,
hangs there in the sky
outblazing the sun
while fifty thousand heads swings and cry
"Over the wall! Over the wall!"

then hold, fixed and dumb
as the ball drops
down and down, a dead bird
into a waiting glove
and there you have it: the song,
the flight, the perilous whisper of truth
or of love or possibly of faith
then the descent
and the end of the game

The Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants used to be called the Sioux Falls Canaries.  Although I'm not really sure of the rationale behind the name change, it seems obvious.  Pheasants seem to be more intimidating than canaries.  South Dakota is known for pheasants and pheasant hunting.  It seems even a "bird brain" could make that decision.  These fighting birds (whether the Canaries of the Pheasants) play in The Birdhouse.    It seems there are a lot of birds in baseball.  In fact, I chose the poem "October" because of the line with "dead bird".  Baseball at its finest I guess.

One of the reasons I drove to Okoboji was to visit a friend in Sioux Falls although I may be content hanging out here at my dad's farm watching the deer (seven today) run across his field and looking for pheasants that are not fighting and/or in a bird cage.   We'll see what the day brings.



 
http://ballparkbiz.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/its-the-sioux-falls-fighting-pheasants/

Today I am thankful for...
1) sleeping in and waking without an alarm clock
2) the YMCA of the Okobojis letting me use my Minneapolis YWCA card
3) the peace and tranquility of being "on the prairie"





Comments

LH said…
Great name for a team. A pheasant is always pleasant.
4:32 PM
KC said…
Way cool about the YMCA! That's why the Midwest Rox.
9:36 PM
Jim said…
I didn't know they switched their name from the Canaries to the Pheasants. That's a much better name, but weird that they did it.

Former Los Angeles Dodger Pedro Guerrero played for the Canaries in the 1990s. So did former Twin Pat Mahomes.
10:16 PM
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