Real Cardinals Fans Carry Guns to the Game

They were pretty good seats. Not exactly behind home plate, though some of their families were in the upper deck.

Several dozen Missouri National Guard Soldiers woke up early (or didn't ever get to bed) to attend the game at 0430 here in Kandahar. 

Instead of bleachers there were the sofas in the MWR tent. And instead of sitting with their friends and families, they connected through a live video feed. 

The 220th Engineer Company of the Missouri National Guard was the lucky unit to get highlighted in FOX Sports Midwest's "This One's for You" game.

It doesn't really matter who the St. Louis Cardinals were hosting (the Reds). What mattered was that the Cards fans were out in force, carrying rifles and sporting the tees made especially for the game. 

SGT Katie Kilroy, who helped coordinate the event with her unit, said it was exciting to see her parents and sister on the broadcast. During the pre-game formalities, the FOX Sports broadcaster Jim Hayes asked Kilroy's sister, "if Katie is watching right now, chance she could be, what would you say to her?

Katie was watching. 

"It makes me feel like part of home is here in Afghanistan. It's nice to see their smiling faces all together," she said after listening to her sister, mom, and dad all send their love over the airwaves. 

She was all smiles, too, for most of the game, despite her lack of sleep. She helped get the lights and cameras warmed up, got her fellow Soldiers riled up, then passed out treats like a concessionaire at Busch Stadium.

It was just like any other evening at the ballpark, in most ways. "Minus a cold one in my hand, this is as good as it gets," said SPC Clayton Camps.

"I've caught glimpses, but not a whole game on this deployment. I grew up about ten minutes from the stadium, so this is exciting." 

The crowd was nearly as raucous as the one in downtown St. Louis, too. On cue from the FOX Sports producers, the engineers would erupt in cheers for the television audience back home. It was quite a scene, as Cardinals banners flew and the faithful waved to the camera. 

SPC David Francis sat a few rows back and watched. "I'm a huge Cards fan. They're my favorite team and have been forever. Fox Sports Midwest is always on my TV in the summer. It's a blessing just to be able to watch a full game while we're out here. It takes you home a little bit."

Besides the frequent cutaways to the Kandahar crowd, several Soldiers saw themselves on TV doing a pre-recorded "shout-out." Some were heart felt missives to loved ones back home, others were funny and upbeat.

Three Soldiers conducted live interviews during the game. SPC James Miller choked up as his daughter told him on air how much she loved and missed him.

Baseball was only a brief respite from the rigors of the deployment for these National Guardsmen. But it was an important part of the mission, because it kept everyone in good spirits.

SGT Nicholas Politte summed it up: "This is definitely a great atmosphere; we don't often get to do things like this, but the opportunity to do something together brings morale up."

The great morale-building atmosphere rubbed off on us. We almost forgot it was so early.

Oh, yeah. And the Cardinals won.