A few days late and a few dollars short

Sorry about the delay, but I'm in grad school and papers and other assignments come before the blogs.
I made it to Opening Day at the Salt Lake Bees last Friday.
The price of tickets is up -- but still not much more than a movie.
The concessions were a mess -- it took me more than two innings to get a cup of coffee.
I paid $2.25 for a cup of mediocre coffee -- it was fresh.
They broke their winning streak -- but started winning again on Saturday.
The attendance was great for a chilly night -- 11,499 announced as paid.
I sat next to Dodgers fans -- they were nice and funny anyway, as were the Angels fans behind me.
I am in love again, just like I am every spring. Baseball makes my world a better place.
It's fun to watch and listen to the game and the rest of the fans, even when one or the other annoys me.
It's a good sense of community to applaud with the others and yell at the ump with them. Communal singing makes the world a better place, whether it's the national anthem or "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" (which the Library of Congress is celebrating the 100th birthday of: check it out!) or "Sweet Caroline."
My parents are fantastic people, and one of the best things they have done for me is encouraging me to be a Utes and baseball fan. In a world where people, myself included, sit in coffee shops with headphones on while they use computers, where people aren't going to theater and movies, there are few places that offer the same sense of community as sporting events. It's nice to go with a friend, but I am also happy to go by myself, since I know that for at least a few hours I have something in common with whoever is sitting next to me.
Maybe if I were a church goer I'd find some of this community there, but there really is something self serving about too many church goers. They want to show the neighbors how pious they are, and even when the minister calls for silent prayers for the ill or deceased, I'd be willing to bet that about half the prayers use the words I, me or my at some point in those prayers. The prayers in a ballpark, arena or stadium are more along the lines of "Please let them/us win this one." Or my personal favorite, "please don't let them make fools of themselves" (this comes from all of those miserable U. football games in the 1970s and 80s).
A former co-worker from Nebraska called the Sunday matinee games going to church. I hope no one is offended, but hallelujah and pass the Cracker Jacks.