Today is Opening Day at baseball stadiums across the United States… including at Yankee Stadium.  Yeah.

Can you sense my joy?

No?

Look closer…

There will be insane traffic, fans waving flags while hanging out of cars, anti-Boston shirts even though Boston isn’t in town, signs protesting the building of the new stadium, signs protesting the protesters of the new stadium, and of course most of them will be drunk.  I know Soda is probably psyched about the whole thing… I just can’t get myself psyched about it though.

While I’m not against the game, I’m far from a rabid fan.  I generally don’t start paying attention to things there until after the All-Star break, because I feel that at that point the teams will either make themselves or break themselves.  The Mets last year are a prime example with their implosion from first to not even making the playoffs.

So yeah… happy Opening Day.

On another sports related note… last night was Wrestlemania XXIV.  To be honest, the cost via pay-per view was $64.95 after associated fees and whatnot… and the card sucked.  So badly, I really felt no need to rush home and watch it.  I did catch the main event which put The Undertaker (Mark Calaway) against Edge (Adam Copeland)… and saw The Undertaker‘s Wrestlemania streak go to 16-0.  Congrats to Mark on retaining the streak and not letting the writers kill a feat that, I assure you, is well deserved as he is the new Heavy Weight Champion of the World. 

The only other match on the card that would garner any interest for me was the Ric Flair match against Shawn Michaels.  If Flair lost, he would be “forced” into retirement.  Needless to say, Wrestlemania was held in Orlando which is Flair‘s hometown… and even though any real fan saw it coming since January’s Royal Rumble… Flair did indeed lose and will now be “retiring”.  He is 59 years old.

In an industry (yes, sports-entertainment is indeed an industry folks) where the average talent lifespan is at best 10 years, and life expectancy is cut in half… Ric Flair defied not only the numbers, but the experts opinion.  A 17-time World Champion, a founding member of the famed Four Horsemen, and an innovator both in and out of the ring, Ric Flair has no peer.  Although I’m sure he will now take a role behind the scenes in WWE, or perhaps even ringside as an announcer like Jerry Lawler… well… thanks Ric for some of the most memorable moments of both my childhood, my teenage angst years, and my adulthood.

Wwwwoooooooooo!