Opening Day

So as I type this, there are seven hours, fifty-eight minutes, and thirty-one seconds until the official start of Opening Day. Can it really be called Opening Day though, since the kickoff game between the NY Mets and St. Louis Cardinals does not begin until 8 o'clock tonight? But, I digress. I have waited seven long, hard, dull, and boring months for this. I have suffered through the Red Sox failing to make the play-offs after a 2005 postseason that wasn't all that spectacular either. I have suffered through my beloved Tar Heels losing to Georgetown in the Elite Eight, our dreams of a Final Four berth crushed in those five excruciating overtime minutes. I watched Peyton Manning blow past the Pats on his way to an ever-so-elusive Super Bowl ring and MVP. I have suffered through economics exams, math lectures, and guest speakers on journalism. I have suffered through the most mediocre dining hall food ever, but guess what? All of that is null and void now, for the 2007 Major League Baseball season is here.

Things to Look For: When the ump signals for 2005 Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter to throw out the first pitch, don't expect everything to be handed to him. Emotions from last year's NLCS will still be running rampant, and both teams are going to give everything they have to win; the Cards will be trying to defend their World Series reign and the Mets will be trying to de-throne them, if only for a night. This is the only game on Opening Day, so I think a lot of viewers will be tuned in to ESPN2 when it airs. Ha, I know I will.