FENECH | Dear classmate, You're on your own today -- it's opening day

Issue date: 4/6/09

By Anthony Fenech
Staff Reporter

Dear Katie,

I'm sorry.

I know that our project is due in 48 hours and we haven't started it yet. I know that we had last Monday, Thursday and now today pegged to get most of the work done. We haven't and I know you're frustrated.

I also know that what I'm about to say could be, for lack of better words, irresponsible, completely irresponsible, utterly irresponsible or a combination of the three.

But something has come up and I can't work on the project today.

That something is baseball, and it is opening day (I probably should have told you about this sooner, but telling someone "Something's come up" when that something is "Watching baseball all day" is actually harder than it seems).

Today, I'll wake up with a permanent smile on my face and probably just take in the moment. I might laugh, I might scream and honestly, I might even get a little emotional. The Rice Krispies Treats will snap, crackle and pop a little bit more, the weather will be warmer and the wind will feel like a summer breeze.

You see, as I write this - at 5:41 p.m. on Sunday, to be exact - I have the exact same feeling in my stomach that I used to have sitting atop the stairs on Christmas Day with my little brothers, waiting for our parents to say it was time to come down and get gifts.

Opening Day isn't just a holiday to me, it's the best day in the history of the world and it only happens once a year. There will never be more baseball to be played this year than on Opening Day. It kind of all goes downhill from there.

I'll watch baseball non-stop from the time it comes on until the time it goes off. I'll watch games on television while I'm flipping between 10 games on the computer and simultaneously checking the live scoring on the five fantasy teams I own.

I'll even dust off the best baseball video game ever made, MVP Baseball 2005, update the rosters and start a season.

I'll indulge in baseball much the way the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera indulges in food. Today's a day I dream of during every long walk home in the blistering cold winters of Mount Pleasant.

"One day," I'll say to myself. "All this walking is going to be worth it."

And every year, it is. It's not as much about the grass being greener or the sun shining more - it's about loving life more than any day of the year.

Today, I'll talk baseball, I'll watch baseball, I'll breathe baseball. One thing I won't do is that project.

So once again, I'm sorry, Katie. How about Wednesday? The Tigers don't play until 7 p.m.

Sincerely,

Anthony