Opening Day With My Dad!

As the brand new Washington Nationals took the field at RFK Stadium on April 14th, I knew I was sitting in on history.

For me, it started as soon as it was confirmed that DC was finally getting a baseball team. I immediately signed up for email updates on the team's progress. Now don't get me wrong, I am still a big time Cleveland Indians fan, but hey, I gotta' represent DC baby!! My next step was to look into the possibility of season tickets( they have to be cheaper than Wizards season tix and I am on a budget!) After this I started thinking....Opening Day!!

Now, I figured I can get season tickets later(no sweat!). The game plan was put into motion in late January. I knew it was going to be me and my Dad, in the house for the first baseball game in DC in 34 years. This is where I had to make a huge decision......Nosebleed seats or mix it up with the big dogs in the lower level! This dilemma was however short lived. I knew that with this being a historic game, I saw no point in us being in the upper deck of the stadium. For the Lowery Men, it was the creme de la creme! Plus, in the Diamond Section.........Free Food and Drink!!

I checked the classifieds and some internet ticket brokers, and was quickly floored by the astronomical prices for Opening Day tickets! Now I could cop a pair of the nosebleed tix for about $100 and call it a day! NOT!!! This was history, baby! It was a once in a lifetime thing where I had to go out and grab the brass ring! I told myself I was only going to look at the 200 section and lower. No cut cards here! I got right on eBay and the hunt was on!! As I sifted through the auctions, I found that there were plenty of tickets to choose from. The first auction I bid on, I was outbid and the tickets in section 106 went for $525. Wow!! Is this what it is going to be like?? The second auction went pretty much the same, except those tickets went for $650 in section 104. I started to rethink this,and tell myself we could live with having to sit in the upper deck. As long as we were there in the house ...right???

I held my ground and decided to ride this thing out! I did manage to get some great seats to the 1st unofficial home game. There was an exhibition game being held on the 3rd of April, and I figured that might be kind of cool for us to go to this game and just get a feel for all the new happenings at RFK. But my focus was on the BIG GAME!! After going to the exhibition game, I was even more pumped up about Opening Day. The buzz around the city was hot. Everybody, who was somebody, was going to be there, and like Jesse said, " I am ...Somebody". I was cutting it close! On April 11th I saw an auction with some great seats. They were in section 206 and in the first row. They were 1 row up from the 100 section seats, and they were in great foul ball territory. These were THE SEATS I HAD TO HAVE! I put in my bid,and decided to up the ante. Going against all principles of mine, I put in a high bid, hoping that would throw off a few would be auction wranglers! It worked...I won the auction in two days!! I paid immediately and met the guy the next day to pick up my tickets. BIG GAME HERE WE COME!!!

I wanted to get there early for the game. It was a 7:05 first pitch and the President was throwing it out! Getting my Dad to agree with my "get there early plan", was another issue. My Dad is so cool!! His logic was to leave around 5 or so!! I was successful in convincing him otherwise and we left around 4 and got there, parked, went through security, and made it to our seats around 5. No such look for a lot of poor saps who were thinking like my Dad. Thousands of folks had to wait more than an hour to go through the metal detectors and missed all of the opening ceremonies. Fools!!! It pays to be early(insert sinister , wicked laugh here)!!

Needless to say, me and my Dad had a blast!! We ate popcorn and peanuts, and danced in our seats. Only thing, Dad brought the camcorder, but forgot to put film in it!! Didn't matter ! Just being at that game with my Old Man, was a Kodak moment in itself! I wish my brother could have been there, but I had enough fun for him too...Waddup Scotty!!! This goes to show you that history making moments are not always just being somewhere at a special place or a special time. It's being able to look back on an event and saying...Man, I was there...with my DAD!!! Nuff Said!!
Out!!!!!