Spring Hath Sprung, 2015 Edition

It was Alfred Tennyson who, in 1835, immortalized in the verses of Locksley Hall that one thing a young man's fancy lightly turns toward.  The 1st Baron Tennyson could not have foreseen Green Beer Day.  Like all veteran Townies, I steered clear of the Mile Square that day.  48 hours later, with the student body sunburning their student bodies on any number of southern latitude beaches, I conducted a routine patrol of the war zone in order to investigate the aftermath.  Counterintuitively, Club Romano appeared stately and undisturbed:

A wave of melancholy washed over me when, down the street and around the corner, the shocking condition of Chalet du Forshey fell under my gunsights:

 

[Bonus glimpse of Paradise City, above, at right.]

 

 

Its former glory succumbing to the ravages of off-campus carousing.

Spring and Spring Break is accompanied by the ubiquitous roadtrip.  The Paleorider submitted from his mountaintop retreat in the western Carolinas a photo from his own springtime excursion:

Don't look as if you've seen a ghost.  Andy included this link, reporting on the resurrection of the Delta Queen.  The plight of the DQ, first brought to your attention on the ol' web page 6+ years ago, struck a chord with my loyal subscribers like, perhaps, no other web page update.

The next handful of springtime days brings with them several monumental occasions/events.

First, a Saturday jam-packed with the preeminent Kentucky Derby prep races. After a decade or so of Derby irrelevance due strictly to its synthetic surface experiment, Keeneland and its signature race - The Blue Grass Stakes - has risen from the parimutuel ashes to regain its position as the greatest and most important Derby prep.  Derby hopefuls hailing from the East Coast will run in Saturday's Wood Memorial, held in New York at Aqueduct, and Run for the Roses challengers invading Churchill Downs on the First Saturday in May from the West Coast will compete in the Santa Anita Derby, run at - you guessed it - scenic Santa Anita in the foothills of southern California.

If you have nothing planned for Saturday Cancel your plans for Saturday, check your local listings and find your Derby horse!

The People's Democratic Liberation Army of Elizabeth Warren seeks the separation of Church and everything, so we'll skip mention of Easter Sunday this weekend.

Then, of course, Monday brings the greatest of all civic holidays (are those still permitted?), Reds Opening Day! 

2015 will be a monumental season in the long and storied tradition of Redlegs baseball;  The 86th All-Star Game in July, the 75th anniversary of the Reds 1940 World Championship, the 40th anniversary of the Reds 1975 World Championship, the 25th anniversary of the Reds 1990 World Championship, the 20th anniversary of the Reds most recent home-game playoff victory (1995), the 45th anniversary of the 1970 All-Star Game at Riverfront Stadium and the 30th anniversary of Pete Rose being crowned the Most Saintly and Righteous Hit King! 

Reds season tickets this year pay tribute to the club's past All-Stars.

Roll the credits!