You ever read something and think, man, someone better have gotten a really big raise out of this? This is one of those times.
The St. Paul Saints, of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, have a fondness for wacky theme nights. On August 4, they celebrated the 150th anniversary of the discovery of helium. August 9's game commemorated the 30th anniversary of Bull Durham. This Saturday’s game: “According to Newton’s Law of Gravitation, we’re as attracted to our fans as our fans are to us. It’s Isaac Newton’s Birthday Bash brought to you by Hamline University.” That’s just this month. Yet none of those nights holds a candle to what the Saints did earlier this week, when they paid tribute to Animal House on the occasion of its 40th anniversary with a stadium-wide food fight, and holy crap, the park’s janitors had better have gotten a big fat bonus.
KARE 11 reports that the park welcomed fans to the game (against the Sioux Falls Canaries) with complimentary waterproof ponchos. Attendees were then “given access to prepared food packets, mashed potatoes, marshmallows, powdered donuts and popcorn.” Then everyone patiently waited until the bottom of the 5th inning, when Animal House’s memorable food fight scene started playing on the “big board.”
“Oh, this is gonna be epic,” said one of the team’s broadcasters, just before Bluto (John Belushi) said, “I’m a zit. Get it?”
When Bluto screamed “Food Fight!!!!’ fans jumped up and started chucking. The mayhem continued for the better part of 90 seconds, with 8,000 game-goers pelting each other with edibles.
A highlight in this video: shortly after the “food fight!” declaration, the broadcasters go pretty quiet. At first I assumed they were just letting the spectacle speak for itself. But no, they were just otherwise occupied.
So yes, I hope the custodial staff got some cash out of this, not to mention some extra help, but another possible concern was addressed. Per KARE 11, fans brought non-perishable food items, which were donated in turn to SafeZone, “a day center that cares for homeless and underserved youth and young adults.” The Saints also donated one dollar to the Second Harvest Food Bank for every dollar they spent on mashed potatoes, popcorn, and other fight supplies.