As if his snub by Hall of Fame voters – presumably on grounds of substances he injected in the “past” that he didn’t want to talk about while under oath before members of Congress – Mark McGwire will lose a legacy highway, if newbie state Rep. Talibdin El-Amin can convince enough of his fellow legislators. El-Amin has filed a bill that would rename the stretch of I-70 currently named for Big Mac after retired state Sen. John Bass, who is 80 and ill.
As El-Amin points out, the asphalt in question runs right through Bass’ former legislative stomping grounds. He might have added that the only thing about I-70 in St. Louis that ever appealed to McGwire is that it heads west out of St. Louis, towards his beloved California. The EYE was never sentimental about names for pieces of highways, but most black folks always hated seeing the big arrogant red one’s name on the blackest highway in St. Louis and the scene of an historic protest for greater inclusion of African Americans in highway construction.