Estoy Contento: Opening Day 2006

The game: The game was a great one, as are all Mets victories. It's especially nice to get that first one under our belt. I know LoDuca dropped the ball in the 8th and the game should have been tied. The Mets got lucky. But luck is the residue of design, if the throw hadn't been executed perfectly it wouldn't have been close enough to earn us a lucky break. There are 161 games left, I'm sure the umps will make up for it.

Here's my thoughts on a few players:

David Wright: He is really going to be great, and if he stays here 10-15 years he could be the most popular player in Mets history. The fans chanted M-V-P! M-V-P! after his home run, then again after a nice played he made in the field. It's a little early for that but I appreciate the enthusiasm. I hope he is not hearing those chants all season because that could only mean boos when he struggles.

Carlos Beltran: Speaking of boos. I am starting to believe that he will never succeed in New York. He could not hit a sacrifice fly and he got booed. And once that happens players try harder, and do worse, leading to more boos. Very worried about him.

Anderson Hernandez: Very disappointed. He made a horrible decision on a double play, allowing the lead runner to advance to second. Then he couldn't get down a bunt in a potentially key situation, and he ended up bunting the third strike foul. Very poor.

Xavier Nady: Awesome.

Tom Glavine: Steady. Can't stand prosperity. As soon as he gets a lead he tries to give it back. Very frustrating to watch.

Aaron Heilman: I hope those two innings weren't a sign of things to come or a result of his disgust with being sent to the bullpen.

Billy Wagner: Did exactly what we needed him to do.

The company: Scott, Shawn and I had a great time at the game. Shawn loves this blog (he made the Tyson, Gooden & Strawberry picture his wallpaper). Seems as though he felt the need to make Scott believe that he likes his blog as much as he does mine. The three of us had a good time laughing and joking and I don't anticipate any return to old feuds from our younger years.

The traffic: Awful. It took me two hours to get there and I left pretty early. Fans were still arriving through 2:00 pm. Unfortunately I didn't get there early enough to park in the main lot so I couldn't tailgate with Scott and Shawn. Apparently they had a nice grill going. Shawn ate 2 burgers, a hot dog and a sausage I think.

The weather: Worse. It rained early in the game but stopped and didn't resume again which was nice. But it was cold and there was a bitter wind that came by every few batters. Shawn drank 3 hot chocolates and urinated brown sludge.

The seats: Pretty Good. Down the left field line in the Mezzanine but in the first box. Unfortunately our seats were in an L fashion so I sat next to Shawn, but Scott sat in front of me.

Pepsi T-shirt launch: Disappointing. The Mets invested in some new t-shirt launchers this year. They no longer need some schmuck to stuff the jerseys down the launcher with a stick, and the new apparatus seems to have more power also. One t-shirt was headed right for me. I stuck up my right hand to make a one handed grab (scorebook was in my left), Shawn reached over, but as soon as the shirt landed on our fingertips some crazed father dove over his kid, over Shawn and onto me, knocking the shirt away. It ended up in the lap of the little brat sitting next to Scott.

The lady next to us: Very obnoxious. She kicked Scott's friend Ted out of a seat she never ended up using. She also had a disgusting cold sore. Scott kissed her and is now going to have to explain herpes simplex-1 to his wife.

Between inning entertainment: Very different. The Mets got rid of the apple in the hat game, a perennial fan favorite. They also rejiggered "guess the attendance". Name that movie quote now has a player reading the quote ("we're gonna need a bigger boat"). They also asked a weird trivia question -- What is ergophobia? The choices were fear of work, fear of clowns and fear of bloodtests (read by Pedro). The answer was work. They also added "Mets Make a Deal". They offer you a prize (a Mets blanket) and you can exchange it for whatever is in one of three pails. The fan chose pail #3 which contained a rubber chicken. I think a Mo Vaughn bobblehead would have been cooler. They kept the "Kiss Cam" but a surprisingly high number of people didn't kiss. The first girl mouthed the words "he's my brother" but still a disappointing showing. The best part was the addition of "Learn Spanish with Professor Reyes". With a weird stare, smile and headbob, Jose Reyes taught us how to say, I am happy -- estoy contento. Then they had some random people, including kids say "estoy contento." Then he reiterated: I am happy, estoy contento. As in "Cuando los Mets ganan, estoy contento."