Bobble, weave, tap, tap, tap ...

May 29, 2008 5:09 PM

This past weekend the St. Paul Saints, Minnesota's minor league baseball team, did away with the traditional "bobblehead" giveaway day. Instead they handed out "bobble foot" dolls in honor of Idaho Senator Larry "I am not gay" Craig who was busted for soliciting sex in an MSP International airport bathroom while waiting to change planes for Idaho. "The baseball team [said] the promotion, which coincide[d] with National Tap Dance Day, is 'in tribute to all their toe-tapping friends and fans from around the nation who may ever have set foot in Minneapolis-St. Paul… even for just a change of planes." As reported on CNN [video | 2:18], people were lined up at 10 a.m. for a 7p.m. game so they could get one of these unique mementos.

The limited edition "booblefoot" toys are going for big bucks on eBay.

Larry "Wide Stance" Craig announced today that he'll tell his side of the "bathroom bust" in an upcoming autobiography.

posted by ericb (18 comments total)

I've got to give these minor league teams credit, they come up with some great promotions. Oh, how I wish I could have gone to that game.
posted by theichibun at 5:21 PM on May 29, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I think the Onion already published Craig's side of the story. I just wonder if the bathroom sports a plaque in his honor yet.
posted by Zonker at 5:25 PM on May 29, 2008

You know... I'm conflicted on the Larry Craig jokes. On one hand, he absolutely deserves to be pilloried for the hypocrisy of playing to anti-gay prejudice and pushing anti-gay Republican legislation while being a self-hating homosexual. On the other hand, a lot of the jokes seem to be lampooning him simply for being gay and for cruising for gay sex (albeit in a manner that only severely closeted, self-hating gay men do), which is the same anti-gay prejudice that Craig deserves to be mocked for displaying.
posted by DecemberBoy at 5:52 PM on May 29, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

They're jumping the gun by not waiting to give these away while the Republican National Convention is in Minneapolis in late August.
posted by briank at 5:53 PM on May 29, 2008

Wide stance!
posted by Artw at 7:53 PM on May 29, 2008

These are really in very, very poor taste.

These are really very funny.
posted by caddis at 8:54 PM on May 29, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Was that really necessary? Can you not keep that kind of shit to yourself?
"Sauce: Good for the goose or for the gander? You retort, we decide."
posted by Floydd at 9:00 PM on May 29, 2008

I was there that day, being an avid Saints fan. and it was crazy. I was near the front of the line thanks to friends, and it was wild. I got one, going to the best offer on Mefi Mail. JK.
posted by wheelieman at 9:07 PM on May 29, 2008

Kinda funny, but only an idiot would pay $40 for it.

I am also sorta tired of the homomockery.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:44 PM on May 29, 2008

where'd jonmc go? ;)
posted by mrgrimm at 9:44 PM on May 29, 2008

Clearly you insensitive monsters are going to hurt Dan Savages feelings.
posted by Artw at 10:17 PM on May 29, 2008

This is funny.
posted by fixedgear at 4:54 AM on May 30, 2008

Kinda funny, but only an idiot would pay $40 for it.

There's one on eBay for $127.50 with 24 bids on it.
posted by tommasz at 5:02 AM on May 30, 2008

There's one on eBay for $127.50 with 24 bids on it.

Supporting evidence?
posted by owhydididoit at 6:29 AM on May 30, 2008

Sorry, I should have said, what a silly thing to buy for any appreciable amount of money.
posted by owhydididoit at 6:36 AM on May 30, 2008

Minor League marketers are amazing.
posted by drezdn at 8:54 AM on May 30, 2008

I still feel sorry for Larry Craig. How humiliating to be mocked so publically. I'm all for getting this hypocrite out of the political sphere immediately, but this public pillory of a clearly conflicted man is sort of painful.
posted by Nelson at 9:01 AM on May 30, 2008

When I was probably 10 my dad took me to a Saints game.

We started off at some bar in downtown St. Paul because they had this "free limo ride to the Saints game" promotion, so we grabbed some lunch and went out to wait for a limo. Apparently we were pretty early because there was nobody else waiting for one, so they gave us a limo to ourselves. It was the first time I'd ever ridden in a limo, which when you're a kid is pretty freakin' sweet.

So off we went to the Saints game, and while I thought the limo ride was going to be the highlight of the day, the game was just a blast. Seriously, if there's a minor league game going on in your town this summer, GO- and bring your kids/a friend and their kids/etc. I'd been to see the Twins before, and while the ball wasn't quite as good as the pros, everything else was better. For one, sitting outside and watching a baseball game at night is way better than watching one in the Metrodome, and all of the seats are close enough that you can get a good feel for the action, rather than watch a bunch of dots with hats running around. The atmosphere is just more fun, too. They did all kinds of crazy stunts/songs/entertainment that just blew me away as a kid- a clown dancing on top of the dugout...to a 10 year old baseball fan, culture could go no further (as Frank Norris said in MacTeague).

That night the bar we departed from was doing another promotion. One of the Saints' star players was named Ortega, so it was Ortega Free Taco Night- at one particular at bat, you'd get a number of free tacos equal to how many bases Mr. Ortega hit (one for a single, two for a double, etc). The guy hit a home run, so after the game we piled back into a limo, headed back to the bar, and feasted on free tacos.

I was a huge baseball fan when I was a kid, and while I went to several pro baseball games over the years, that night really strikes me as feeling the closest to the real spirit of the great American past time.

Thanks for the post, it brought back some good memories.
posted by baphomet at 9:09 AM on May 30, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]