Play Ball!

Opening day.

Honestly, are there a better two words anywhere? (I’ll give runner-up credit to “free buffet” and “open bar”).

But seriously, is there a single one of us out there who can’t help but grin when we read, say or hear those 2 magical words of spring?

You show me a guy who doesn’t light up at the sound of “opening day” and I’ll show you a dude who probably has the Judy Garland DVD collection sitting on his shelf.

But I digress…

For the third year in a row, I had the pleasure of attending opening day at Angels stadium. It’s a tradition me and some of the guys from work have selflessly undertaken, and while the following day hangover can often bring a whisper of regret into the fray, it’s an experience I wouldn’t trade for all the tea in China.

That’s right… all the tea.

Opening day. It’s a day when hope springs eternal for all.

The Devil Rays are tied for first with the Yankees. My Diamondbacks buddies are still driving the Randy Johnson Revival train and we’re one day closer to Carl Pavano’s right arm falling off to the cheers of “I told ya so” in the Boogie Down.

And as a Cubs fan, it’s truly a special day – it’s the ONLY day of the year where the phrase “Wait Til Next Year” has yet to be uttered by a single north-sider. (Day 2, that could be an entirely different story).

But again, I digress…

Opening day. My fantasy team(s) are ready. My annual bold predictions have been submitted amongst my baseball buddies and fellow captains of the blogosphere(CLICK HERE to view our expert panel’s 2007 predictions! Craig, Sept and Josh rep Johnny Wishbone; Doria is of Left Calf fame, and of course, yours truly – EA).

Got your own fearless predictions, send ‘em over. If this year’s educated guesses are anything close to last year’s, a monkey throwing darts at the baseball board could best this group of fearless prognosticators.

But as of now, we’re all a perfect 33 for 33.

After all, it’s Opening Day.