SLU basketball game

Brandy, Tiff's friend and a St. Louis native, came over and made us a feast of ribs, potato salad and baked macaroni and cheese.  The mac and cheese almost didn't happen as the boys forgot to buy the pasta.

While the girls had a night in, Thomas and Carlos became "Billikens" for a night. "Billiken" is the name of St Louis college teams.

Tonight was SLU vs. Rhode Island. The Americans are crazy about sports. There was the national anthem -as usual- sung by a 8,000 strong crowd. For a College Basketball game! Even our best basketball or volleyball teams don't get that in France (I won't even mention the UK here...) ! They also have a shop in the arena where you can buy the team's merchandising, caps, shirts, fleece, just like a pro team!

The Billikens were really bad in the first half, trailing RH by 10 points at the intermission, but came back and played some great basketball to claim the game by 7. The atmosphere was amazing.

It was a really good experience...

Interesting fact about the Billiken:

The Billiken is a charm doll created by an art teacher and illustrator from St. Louis, Missouri. It is an  elf-like creature with pointed ears, a mischievous smile and a tuft of hair on his pointed head. To buy a Billiken gives the purchaser luck, but to have one given to you is better luck. The Billiken was one of the first copyrighted dolls and the first likenesses of the Billiken, banks and statues, were produced in 1909. After a few brief years of popularity, like many other fad toys, the Billiken faded into obscurity.

Today, the Billiken is the official mascot of Saint Louis University and St. Louis University High, both located in Saint Louis, Missouri.