Old and Crabby

I was lucky enough to go to the Cards' home opener with my dad Sunday night. Some quick thoughts:

Before the game they brought out many retired Cardinals lucky enough to get a ring with the Birds. Sweet! I love that stuff. Gibby, Brock, Stan, Red, Ozzie, Bruce and even Joaquin made it. And so did Keith Hernandez.

But Keith Hernandez was wearing a faded orange shirt and a navy blue blazer. And we were playing the Mets. And we all know the Mets' colors. Coincidence? Somehow I doubt it. I'm all for Keith Hernandez showing Met pride. Just not at a ceremony honoring the Cardinals.

Billy Bob Thorton was announcing all the players. Hey, don't say a World Series championship has tempered the Cardinals' spending. Because nothing says Cardinal baseball like Billy Bob Thorton. Or the fact that he was reading everything off a script with the enthusiasm of Krusty the Clown doing a product endorsement.

The National Anthem was sung by REO Speedwagon. My dad asked me to name one of their songs. I couldn't. Still can't. BBT introduced the national anthem something like, "And now please remove your hats for the national anthem, which will be sung by REO Speedwagon, who will be releasing their 15th album "You think I remember the name?" tomorrow exclusively at WAL-MART". Because nothing says the national anthem like WAL-MART.

After the national anthem, Geno called me to tell me I was on TV for a little bit. I couldn't help but wonder which was more likely to propel me into the world's spotlight: a 3 second crowd shot on national TV or this blog?

The game started. The crowd was ready. The Mets were ready. The Cards weren't. The Cards didn't do much right, and the Mets did almost everything right. Half the fans turned into a bunch of drunk 20-year-olds spilling beer on everyone and talking about text messages with other drunk 20-year-olds.

On the bright side, a ball game is a ball game and it's always fun to go with my dad. I promise not to be such a grouch next time. Now that I'm a TV star, I have to worry about my image!