Maybe it's because I turned 40...

[wdm1219inpenna]

I don't quite know what it is fellas, but I am unable to get excited at all this year regarding the 2007 MLB opening day.

I don't know if it's because of a lack of salary cap, or salaries being higher than ever. I don't know if it's because the 2006 World Series left such a bad taste in my mouth, seeing an 83 win team defeat a Tigers team who made so many errors, especially by pitchers. I don't know if it's overexpansion, or the predictable (censored) that the media and ESPN will get for "Yankees/Red Sox". I grew up being a Yankees fan from 1974 onward, and even I'm sick and tired of hearing about the Yankees/Red Sox all the blessed time.

Maybe it's the fact at they have interleague play, which to me seems nonsensical. Yes I know, it makes $$$ and Lord knows that's the only thing that is important. Or the fact that there are far too many teams, watered-down pitching, thwarted and tainted statistics due to the steroid era. The fact that World Series games don't start until 8:45pm, or that Fox is the broadcast network of choice for the Fall Classic, with their never ending car revving engine sound effect which is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

I really cannot put my finger on it as to why I feel almost apathetic toward the 2007 regular season starting. The only thing I look forward to at all is seeing the Phillies fall short again, and busting my co-workers' collective chops over it, since they are your typical Philadelphia Phair weather Phony Phan. After the Saints knocked the Eagles out of the playoffs in 2006, they all stopped wearing their Eagle shirts into the office on Fridays. I said to them "If you're a TRUE fan, you'd wear it TODAY, not just when things are going well".

The Mets and Cards are on Sunday Night Baseball tonight. I'm usually asleep by 8:30pm anymore. I just don't necessarily care to see these 2 teams kick it off. I've never been too fond of the Sunday Night single opening night game either. All 30 teams should begin on the same day for opening Day. I hate that they stagger it, but I realize the weather makes it necessary.

Maybe it's the endless 162 game regular season, or the fact that post-season games in baseball are being played while I'm chipping frost off of my 7 year old's Jack-O-Lantern which he carved. Or the endless same commercials rerun 300 times per broadcast which makes the games last far too long. The NFL is going down this same path, and for that and other reasons, I'm slowly becoming less and less enamored with the NFL as well. They haven't lost me as a fan yet, but I'm beginning to slowly slip away.

I work at minimum 40 hours per week. I put up with a nagging wife, a special needs child, some co-workers who are lazy and get away with stuff that they shouldn't (as do we all no doubt), and driving into the office every morning faithfully at 5:30am, I put on different radio stations, only to encounter endless mind numbing babbling (not unlike what I'm doing here right now), endless commercials for the same old tired products, rotten news, weather and traffic reports, or dopey trivia questions which I could care less about. I want music in the morning. I do not have a tape player, or a CD player in my car. That is my own fault I suppose. The point being, when I want to relax and watch a game, I don't want to have 3000 commercials shoved down my throat. And every single word spoken has a sponsor now. "This opening day lineup is brought to you by Armor All", "This visit to the mound is brought to you by Mounds candy bar", "This call to the bullpen brought to you by the new AT&T". That's another thing I'm sick to death of, ESPN Radio. I used to enjoy listening to it, but now it's always "Here on the ONSTAR hotline" or "The MICHELIN Inbox" and when the hosts do talk, it seems more than half the time it's idol gossip about players, or talking about non-sports stuff, like the dopey Sopranos on HBO. I'm just really fed up, sick of it, and I sound like a tired ,grumpy, miserable middle aged man. I guess that's what I am. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck....

Thank you for allowing me to vent one and all. I just miss the quality of the old days.

Regards,

Bill McD.

[BBTV]

With the exception of your fourth paragraph, we're pretty much on the same page with this one.

[black_gold_capone]

I'm 19 and I agree lol...........I didn't even know the season was starting tonight until this morning

[hormone]

Here's why I can't get excited...

I will be working when the Pirates play.

The Pirates suck ass.

They will be eliminated from playoff contention by the end of the week.

The weather is going to have snow and the 40s here by Wed.

The Pirates can lose close to, if not, 100 games...again.

The Pens are doing well.

Football is a better product and the draft is more entertaining than watching the Pirates.

The Pirates have red uniforms.

There are roughly 30 practice games, 162 regular season games, and then 20 playoff games. Get real.

...but that's just me.

Hey black_gold_capone, I see you're from BF. My uncle graduated a year behind Namath. I teach at Rochester and came from Mohawk. Nice to see a local. Let's go Pens!! Hopefully Boston will beat NJ in a few hours.

[wdm1219inpenna]

Here's why I can't get excited...

I will be working when the Pirates play.

The Pirates suck ass.

They will be eliminated from playoff contention by the end of the week.

The weather is going to have snow and the 40s here by Wed.

The Pirates can lose close to, if not, 100 games...again.

The Pens are doing well.

Football is a better product and the draft is more entertaining than watching the Pirates.

The Pirates have red uniforms.

There are roughly 30 practice games, 162 regular season games, and then 20 playoff games. Get real.

...but that's just me.

I am so glad to know I'm not in the minority with how I feel here. Made me feel good to know a 19 year old agreed with me even!!! So much for the generation gap!

I remember when the Pirates were competetive, back when they had Willie Stargell, Rennie Stennett, John Candeleria, Kent Tukulve, Chuck Tanner was the skipper and they'd finish 1st or 2nd in the NL East. I remember them winning the 1979 Series vs Baltimore. I was 12. It makes me feel ancient to know the last time the Pirates won a World Series, baseball barely had had 26 teams in it, and that I wasn't even yet a TEENAGER. Now here I am in my 40s, and it seems like the Bucs are nowhere NEAR qualifying for post-season, after last making it in 1990, 91 and 92. Very very sad to see one of the original 8 struggling this mightily. Reasonable salary minimums and maximums need to be enforced (read Salary Cap and/or Salary Range). Pittsburgh should have invested all of that money in the new stadium into players instead. People go to see the team play more than the building, and the novelty of the new "old-style" ballpark wears off very fast, especially when the team doesn't play that well, and it's been that way for decades now it seems in Pirate land.

And I agree, the red in the Pirates uniforms is awful.

yo ho ho.....

[Hat Boy]

The Mets and Cards are on Sunday Night Baseball tonight.

I agree with you on that one. Opening Day used to be a magical baseball phrase. ESPN is calling the Cards/Mets game "Opening Night", which sounds like a Hollywood premier.

[dfwabel]

MLB is going along with it, even creating the logos for Opening Day/Night which are seen here. It lost importance to me probably when Opening Night became a regular fixture. I am 33. Sadly, it brings in viewers.

Aside from the Opening Night in Monterrey, San Juan, and Tokyo respectively, which I thought was nice, it does take the luster from Opening Day. The last international start was in 2001. I remember when the Reds played the initial game. Monday, there are four games @ 1:05 opening pitches. WTF?

I also found it loses luster when you live in a city/market which the opening day is on the weekend. Your team already plays three or four games, then travels home for their first series. I found that out a lot when I lived in Dallas/Ft. Worth and went to a Rangers first game.

The last Opening Day I went to was in Atlanta in 2002, coinciding with the 2002 NCAA Final Four. I have the stub somewhere, but remember it as John Smoltz Bobblehead Day, and the soon to be intoxicated group of friends of mine, plus then girlfriend, bought the dolls from the dad and three kids in front of us for $25 each.

Personally, I don't care about this Sunday since next Sunday is the start of "The Sopranos" final season.

[speedy]

Hopefully Boston will beat NJ in a few hours.

Don't get your hopes up.

[rainmaker17]

I think I'm the opposite Bill. The older I get the more I seem to get in to baseball. When I was younger the pace of the game bored me to no end, now I think it's a nice way to spend a couple of hours. I'm 39 if that matters.

[Mac the Knife]

Here's why I can't get excited...

I will be working when the Pirates play.

The Pirates suck ass.

They will be were eliminated from playoff contention by the end of the week the time they got off the plane in Pittsburgh from their trip back from Spring Training.

The weather is going to have snow and the 40s here by Wed.

The Pirates can lose close to, if not, 100 games...again.

The Pens are doing well.

Football is a better product and the draft is more entertaining than watching the Pirates.

The Pirates have red uniforms.

There are roughly 30 practice games, 162 regular season games, and then 20 playoff games. Get real.

...but that's just me.

With the exception of what I've struck out above, I'm with you, Hormone. I didn't even realize today WAS opening day. How's that for jaded? But I do know that Carolina Colts and Raleigh Red Devils softball starts in 11 days - so I guess its MLB that I'm apathetic about, not diamond-based sports.

[tBBP]

Here's why I can't get excited...

I will be working when the Pirates play.

The Pirates suck ass.

They will be eliminated from playoff contention by the end of the week.

The weather is going to have snow and the 40s here by Wed.

The Pirates can lose close to, if not, 100 games...again.

The Pens are doing well.

Football is a better product and the draft is more entertaining than watching the Pirates.

The Pirates have red uniforms.

There are roughly 30 practice games, 162 regular season games, and then 20 playoff games. Get real.

...but that's just me.

I am so glad to know I'm not in the minority with how I feel here. Made me feel good to know a 19 year old agreed with me even!!! So much for the generation gap!

I remember when the Pirates were competetive, back when they had Willie Stargell, Rennie Stennett, John Candeleria, Kent Tukulve, Chuck Tanner was the skipper and they'd finish 1st or 2nd in the NL East. I remember them winning the 1979 Series vs Baltimore. I was 12. It makes me feel ancient to know the last time the Pirates won a World Series, baseball barely had had 26 teams in it, and that I wasn't even yet a TEENAGER. Now here I am in my 40s, and it seems like the Bucs are nowhere NEAR qualifying for post-season, after last making it in 1990, 91 and 92. Very very sad to see one of the original 8 struggling this mightily. Reasonable salary minimums and maximums need to be enforced (read Salary Cap and/or Salary Range). Pittsburgh should have invested all of that money in the new stadium into players instead. People go to see the team play more than the building, and the novelty of the new "old-style" ballpark wears off very fast, especially when the team doesn't play that well, and it's been that way for decades now it seems in Pirate land.

And I agree, the red in the Pirates uniforms is awful.

yo ho ho.....

As a (relatively) new Pgh resident (it actually pained me to type that), I will add to what you all say about the Pirates:

They have a great uniform--well, except for the Friday "Ketchup Special" monstrosity.

The Pirates DO suck a$$. (And yet, somehow, the games continue to draw...but then again, since the cheapest ticket is like $9.50, with which you can STILL get an excellent seat about 20 feet from the left field wall, people will go--although most times it's just to find people or do what Pgh people do best...drink.)

Fire the GM. What's his name now? Dave Littlefield? Yeah...he got to go. Listen...when you more concerned about promoting BOBBLEHEADS (even worse, for players that ain't even on the team no more) than fielding a competitive team WITHOUT relying on washed up, overpriced free agent veterans (say, like Jeromy Burnitz), you know--so yeah, the GM gotta go. Like, 2 YEARS AGO...

The Penguins ARE (or at least was at last check) in first place.

Someone just shot another Jerome Bettis commercial.

They will be were eliminated from playoff contention by the end of the week the time before they got offon the plane in Pittsburgh from for their trip back from to Spring Training.

And HOW in the HELL does it snow in APRIL??? (someone tell me why I moved up here again? Oh yeah...school. The same one that has locations in TAMPA, ORLANDO, and DAYTONA BEACH...)

[TFoA]

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I love baseball. I still love football more than any other sport, but when it comes to just having a good time at the park, or just wasting 3 hours on a summer day watching your favorite team play, then baseball is it.

That, and I live in the city of a perennial-yet-severely-underappreciated winner. So yeah, for as long as I can remember, I've always been excited because it always brings promise, and I can't really get into basketball as much, so the wait between football and baseball is excruciating. When opening day/night finally comes, just seeing organized baseball that actually means something makes me happy as hell. But that's just me, I don't know about you all.

[jkrdevil]

Let's go Pens!! Hopefully Boston will beat NJ in a few hours.

Nope, 3-1 Devils, back in first place with 3 games to go.

As for opening day I like it but am not nearly excited about as I have been in the past. Don't really get into the baseball season until after the Cup playoffs.

[infrared41]

Underneath all the bull still lies a truly great game. I am 45 and I have seen the game go through quite a few changes since I first started following baseball at age 7. I grew up a die hard Tribe fan but one thing I've noticed over the past few years is that my allegiance for a particular team is pretty much over; in any sport really. It began when I started hosting a sports talk show on the radio. It was complete with NFL Sunday Ticket and MLB Extra Innings. You might think that not being a "hardcore" fan of a team detracts from my enjoyment of the sport but the truth is that as my allegiances wane my enjoyment of the sport increases.

The belabored point I am trying to make is this; watch baseball for the game itself. Don't worry about your team, salaries, etc. I'm not saying it's for everyone but I noticed that when I hit my 40's the importance of who won or lost or who got paid how much was replaced by simply hoping for an entertaining game. It works for me anyway. Don't let the bull overshadow the game. Baseball itself is wonderful. It's the people running it who have the problem.

Just my 2 cents.

PS none of the above applies for me when it comes to my alma mater...Ohio State. (Who by the way is going to get killed tomorrow night.)

[BlueSky]

It used to be about the game, what happened on the diamond. Now the games seem like an afterthought.

Sadly, I think the NFL is headed down the same road. With NFL Network blathering 24/7 about stuff that mostly irrelevant, games almost every night of the week, wall-to-wall coverage of the draft, Adam Schlefter getting more face time than Anna Nicole, off-field conduct, astronomical salaries, free agency redefining "team" as whatever bunch of mercenaries puts on the uniform in a particular season...I'm as big a pro football fan as you'll find, but it's getting to be a bit much.

[DrBear]

Admittedly, I'm a bit more excited this year because, for the first time in about a decade, the Brewers actually have a chance to do something, if only because they're in a lame division (as the Cardinals indicated last night). And partly because last year, because of a vacancy in my newspaper's sports department, I covered high school sports for the first time in about as many years.

It's great to see games played with some enthusiasm, instead of for a paycheck. (And, to be honest, college FB and hoops are for a paycheck as well, of a different kind, at least in D-1).

Football? Well, the Packers are ingrained into me as they would be after growing up here, but I fall asleep during other NFL games. With one or two examples (Mike Vick, LaDanian Tomlinson), they're all the same and you could switch the players around and nobody would notice. Haven't been an NBA fan since I was a kid (about the same time I realized pro wrestling was fake), and there isn't a nearby NHL team to watch.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

I lost interest in baseball years ago. If I'm playing, it might interest me but I can't watch it. I simply don't feel the excitement of the great american traditional game of baseball. I have very little interest in the sport whether it be opening day or world series.

I remember back when i was in 8th or 9th grade. Dad takes me to a Yankees/Red Sox game, tells me about the great american game and goes in to the whole shared memory nostalgia. He tells me how i'm supposed to hate the red sox and everything about the red sox and i'm supposed to worship the ground of the Yankees. I personally could have given a about the Yankees. All i was concerend with was :censored:ing the two drunks chicks beside me. (this was before i met my significant other) As for hating the Red Sox, i didn't hate the Red Sox, i didn't even care if they were the red sox or the polka dot sox. it was that piece of Tony McLynn from high school whose head i wanted to turn in to a goblet not the red sox. The red sox didn't do anything to earn my hatred. They were just another team on the field.

i guess i'm not a good american because i don't excited over the great american past time.

screw it, i rather watch the great canadian past time.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I'm 25 and baseball is basically dead to me. I used to be a big fan but the Yankee's $200 million payroll and baseball's sacrifice of the Expos ruined it for me.

I'll still go to games in the summertime, but that's it. I don't check box scores anymore, I don't look at the standings, and I maintain only a marginal interest in the playoffs. If I catch something on SI.com or SportsCenter, fine. But I certainly don't go out of my way to follow the sport.

[Ez Street]

I'm excited and I'm a Royals fan.

But we do have Mark Teahen, Alex Gordon will get to show his stuff now, David DeJesus is pretty solid, and some new pitching.

We MIGHT improve 5-10 games tops. but I'm excited none-the-less.

We will soon find out if Gil Meche is worth $55 Million.

and if Zack Grienke is still a nutcase.

[Snazel]

Whenever I get the blues about baseball, I always blame the designated hitter rule.