OPENING WEEKEND 2008

COLISEUM 3/29/2008 

This had to be one of the more memorable Openings to the baseball seasons.  It all started on Saturday, 3/29 with the game at the Coliseum.  It was a madhouse .  Over 115,000 fans gathering to witness and be part of history as the Blue returned back to their first home for an exhibition against the Red Sox.  I arrived around 2PM for the FanFest that took place outside the Coliseum .  I had hoped to rub shoulders with some of the Dodger Alumni of the past 50 years but the lines were just soooooo insane.  If not for the UCLA game, I probably would have joined that insane line, but I figure there will be other opps during the season, plus I had already met Ken Landreaux and Bobby Castillo, though it's always great to bump into familiar faces again.  However, I did get to meet Rick Monday and he even offered to take a picture with me, what a really nice guy.  Speaking of the UCLA game, it was nice that Time-Warner had a HDTV kiosk set up for us to watch the Bruins en route to their third straight Final Four appearance over up and coming Xavier.  Heck, we Bruins fans even did the Eight-Clap loud enough in SC territory, how sweet.  So yeah, for a lot of us, it was double-duty with UCLA and the Dodgers.  As for the game, the crowd was really pumped, and though the game wasn't has high scoring as what many of us expected, as I was walking around taking pictures later in the game, I kinda got the sense that many didn't really care for the result but were there to take in the nostalgia and to be part of history.  And of course, many fans started filing out as early as the 6th inning.  But as I stated earlier, is wasn't as if anyone attending cared for the final result.  With the Red-Sox in town, a "tribute" was done for them and their fans as Sweet Caroline was played over the loud speakers in the middle of the 8th.  And as I continued to walk around and take pics, I was greeted amongst many others who had done double-duty with UCLA  and the Blue Crew.  Final Score,  Red Sox 7 Dodgers 4, but who cared.  WE WERE ALL PART OF HISTORY !!!!!

OPENING DAY 3/31/2008

Opening Day has in the last few years has always been an all-day affair with me, but this time, me and some friends and my little bro were actually able to put together a pre-game bbq .  We found a nice spot in Elysian Park, but we couldn't get our grill lighted .  No worries, a really nice lady named Yvonne offered us a cigarette lighter and her nephew even offered us an extra grill to work with.  Adding to the atmosphere was the smell of others bbq's, the sounds of a live band performing traditional Mariachi and jazz tunes, the comraderie amongst other Dodger fans tailgating.......We would arrive to the LF Pav as Dave Koz performed the National Anthem on the sax.  And just as we walked up the stairs by the outfield wall, Dodger of the last 50 years came out the the corner bullpens toward their respective positions played while donning the Blue.  It almost brought tears out of my eyes.  As for the game, the Blue would go on to a 5-0 shutout of the hated ones as Jeff Kent would smack a 2 run dinger and Brad Penny would pitch 6.1 innings to start off the 2008 season on a high note.  But this Opening Day would be all about witnessing 50 years of history in front of our, and some, teary eyes.  Here's to a great 2008 Dodgers.