Commentary: Opening

day never gets old
By Steve Behr, sports editor

ATLANTA — There is something about Opening Day in any sport that makes it more special than other days.

Opening Day for the Atlanta Braves made me crazy enough to want to buy single-game tickets to three series I’ll probably not attend, just so I could get a ticket to the Braves’ game Friday night with the Washington Nationals.

I also got single-game tickets to the Braves’ games with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox games later this year in the deal, but had also to get tickets for games involvoing the Astros, Brewers and Diamondbacks to complete the six-game package.

It’s not like I’m a real Braves fan or anything. Two things I did not do Friday night were stay dry and the tomahawk chop.

Oh did I mention that it rained like we were all going to need an ark to get home Friday night. Turner Field was under a tornado watch, then a tornado warning during a two-hour rain delay that tried to ruin the time of the over 48,000 folks who tried to make Good Friday even better by watching baseball.

Actually, those who stuck around to watch Atlanta take a 6-5 decision, in 10 innings no less, seemed happy when they left. Most of them who started the game in the nosebleed sections of the stadium moved to better seats after the delay.

Some of us were in for a rude surprise when we went back to the Five Points MARTA station to find out that it had been closed down about an hour earlier. How a major metro area’s light rail, such as Atlanta’s, could close that early seemed to baffle most of us until I realized that it was probably budget cuts that caused it.

Luckily, the shuttle buses that took us to Five Points from Turner Field stayed around, at the urging of some of Atlanta’s finest, to drop us off at the various train stations where we had parked.

But I digress here. Opening Day is still a time that should be celebrated. Opening Day in the NFL is a time crazy football fans get even crazier. Suddenly, beating that divisional rival is just a little bit nicer since the wait was worth it.

College football should have an opening day. Have all teams, FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA begin the same day.

Eliminate those Thursday night early-bird game specials. Don’t have any games played on Sunday or Monday night, either. Just play all the games on the same Saturday.

The Braves had a decent crowd last Saturday night and a light-to-moderate crowd on Easter. Being somebody who prefers watching baseball live and in person instead of on television, and since I’ve purchased two ticket options for the Braves, chances are I’ll return.

Even if the MARTA shuts down early again.