the house that george built...

This is new monstrosity in the Bronx. New Yankee Stadium. The house that George Steinbrenner built.

Every year, for as long as I can remember, I've looked forward to opening day. It's tradition. My dad, my uncle and I always go. No matter what else we have going on. We bail on work, school, meetings, anything and everything. This is our time together. And I love it.

We got to Yankee Stadium on Thursday for opening day feeling the usual sense of excitement and promise every new season brings.

Some people curse the Mets for blowing up Shea so quickly and turning it into a parking lot. I wish they'd done that with old Yankee Stadium. It's bad enough that they've built this new stadium and they're knocking the old one down. Let's just get it over with. I don't want to watch it being torn down bit by bit. That's way too depressing.

I miss my old seats. Not just because they were good. I miss the familiar faces that came with sitting in the same section for 25 years. The same families, the same noises, the same silly vendors. I could find my way around the stadium blindfolded. It was my second home.

This new place? It's got more freaking neon than Vegas. And that tv? It's ridiculous! Did we really need a screen that you can see from outer space?

I'll admit that the Great Hall was pretty cool with its pictures of the old and new great Yankees. The museum has autographed balls from every starting Yankee who has ever played. It has some great memorabilia. And the Delta suite - a totally unnecessary extravagance, but very nice if you have a craving for a $20 martini and a $14 california roll.

But I couldn't find anything, including my seats. They ran out of programs by 11. (The game didn't even start til 1:05) There was a line wrapped around the stadium to get into the store. It now costs NINE DOLLARS for a bottle of beer. A crappy bottle of beer at that. Don't get me started on the hot dogs. It should not cost that much money for a hot dog so small you can consume it in less than a minute and 3 bites.

I couldn't help but feeling that there was just something off about the place.

That feeling was confirmed when the game started. The bleachers didn't do their usual role call. The crowd was dead...even when the game was close. It was like being at games in the late 80s when the team utterly sucked and no one came out to the games.

It didn't help that Sabathia is the slowest pitcher in the game. I swear the guy took 5 minutes between each pitch. For the way he stretched out each inning, you'd think we were paying him by the hour. And, yes, we got lit up late in the game. The bullpen sucks. You'd think we could have bought a better pitching staff. It's really sad when your players in the field pitch better than your entire bullpen. (As a random side note, WHEN are the Yanks going to put Jobba back in the bullpen where he belongs?)

I hate to say this because I've loved every second of every game I got to spend at the Stadium. But it's not the same. It's going to take a long time to get used to this place. I'm still not sure that I'll ever like it.