The St. Louis Cardinals have welcomed news anchor Rafer Weigel to the Gateway City with open arms. If you consider Missouri a southern state, as many do, then you can call this “Southern Hospitality.” Weigel started his new job as KTVI News Anchor and reporter on October 7th. On his first day at the Fox affiliate, the Cards won the National League Division Series and advanced to the National League Championship Series.
On Weigel’s second day of work, this happened:
Rafer Weigel posted these two photos, along with this caption on his Facebook fan page. (And yes, it’s okay to giggle at that “Rafer Madness” joke in the page’s URL. I certainly did)
“St Louis Cardinals PR staff sent me over my own custom made jersey. The Cubs never did that.”
No, I’m sure the Cubs didn’t. Even though Rafer Weigel hails from Chicago. His last day as a sports reporter/anchor with WLS, the ABC affiliate in Chicago, was last week. As a fellow Chicago native, who’s worked in this media market for several years, I can tell you that Chicago or college team would do this for any media member. Period.
So kudos to the Cards for bestowing a nice gift on Rafer as he arrived.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and very often writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his features stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2