Looking straight up to take this picture made me a little dizzy, but it was worth it to capture the Gateway Arch from such an unusual perspective.

Spectacular sight

This is one of my favorite shots from our trip to St. Louis. The way the sun hits the Gateway Arch in the early evening is spectacular. The photos from inside the Arch were fun. Being inside this marvel gave me a chance to capture parts of the city from an unusual perspective. (When we went to Toronto two summers ago, I took pictures from atop the CN Tower, but at more than 1,800 feet, it's a bit high to capture much detail.) I like this shot more than any I took from either the Arch or the CN Tower. The way the Arch towers over the trees in this shot gives me an appreciation for its impressive size, even though it's roughly a third off the height of the CN Tower.

Inside the Arch

I took this picture of the Old Courthouse from the Gateway Arch. Both are part of the impressive Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which celebrates St. Louis' role in the westward expansion of the United States. If you visit the national park, be sure to take the four-minute ride up the arch and watch the movie about its making. Amazingly, the 630-foot monument was built without anyone dying. Watch the film and you'll understand what I mean. It is truly an engineering wonder.

St. Louis has a winner in stadium

In the past two seasons, I've seen games at St. Louis' Busch Stadium, left, and Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park. (None of my exterior shots of Citizens Bank Park turned out.) Each is a great place to watch a game, with plenty of open space to roam around. But as I walked around Busch, I could not find anything wrong with it. The concession prices are a but high, but that's true across professional sports. I've now seen games at 10 major-league parks. This includes Chicago's Wrigley Field and Baltimore's Camden Yards, the first park to mix nastalgia with modern conveniences.

Ballpark rankings are always subjective, influenced by a person's taste and emotional attachment to his team. I like elements of every park I've seen. But St Louis did it better than anyone else with the construction of the new Busch Stadium. But I would expect nothing less from city with such a rich baseball history. The Cardinals are so popular that I could get no better tickets than standing-room only.

One of baseball's best

My new camera worked well on our trip to St. Louis, helping capture nice shots of the Gateway Arch, such as this one from Busch Stadium. I was there with two friends for our annual baseball trip. The Cardinals opened the new Busch last year. If it's not the best of the retro ballparks, it's right near the top of the list. Having among the most loyal fans in baseball helps make Busch a better ballpark.

Update: 6:32 p.m. I have to include a photo of our Anheuser-Busch tour. Like the Cardinals, Anheuser-Busch and its flagship beer, Budweiser, are inextricably linked to St. Louis. The photo I've chosen is of the packaging plant. I am posting it because of the Budweiser sign on top of the building.

Update: 7:11 p.m. Across the Mississippi River, in Collinsville, Ill., sits the world's largest catsup bottle. It's nothing spectacular, and the merchandise available is certainly in short supply. I expected more than just a corner in a local store to be devote to catsup paraphernalia. Collinsville should be proud of it distinction. This 170-foot water tower was built in 1949 and restored in 1995, after activists stepped in to prevent its demolition, according to the official history as recounted on the catsup bottle's Web site.

NCAA behind on media policy

The NCAA showed a clear unwillingness to adapt to evolving technology when it removed a writer from Louisville's super regional for blogging. Check out The Associated Press' report.

Rice moves on to play Frogs

As expected, Rice moved into the winners bracket by beating Prairie View A&M on Friday night. The home team in the Houston Regional put up five runs on its way to shutting out the Panthers. Although the game was not a blowout, the Frogs must still get past the fact that Rice scored 20 runs against them earlier in the season. (Rice beat TCU 20-6 in the Whataburger College Classic in March.) Still, TCU's thrilling win in the opener of the regional, together with Prairie View's respectable performance, will undoubtedly provide the team with the confidence it needs to avenge the early season embarrassment.

Frogs start regionals against Baylor

It's almost time for the Frogs to begin regional play at Rice. TCU will have a challenging weekend, beginning with Baylor at 2 p.m. today. But Rice, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, is a significant roadblock. TCU emerged from the Mountain West Conference tournament 46-12 after winning the championship for the second consecutive year. To be sent to Houston shows just how irrelevant the MWC is in college baseball.
Update: 2:36 p.m. The score is 0-0, but Chuck LaMendola, the Frogs' play-by play guy, just said something hilarious. Talking about Austin Adams' three-run home run to tie the BYU game, he told listeners that if they were among the 10 people in the country who get the mtn. network, they saw a good game. I wonder if themwc.com media police will correct him.
Update: 3:13 p.m. The Frogs lead 1-0 after an Adams sacrifice fly.
Update: 4:25 p.m. Two home runs have given the Frogs a 3-1 lead.
Update: 4:42 p.m. The Frogs lead 3-2 in the ninth after giving up a leadoff home run.
Update: 5:01 p.m. Sam Demel just ended the game with a strikeout. The Frogs won, 3-2.