While some Sportsdaddy’s take their sons hunting, I prefer taking my kid to live sporting events.

This last weekend (Oct 1-3, 2010) was a great weekend of sports for my son and I. First off, we started out with Minnesota’s version of Friday Night Lights. Read on…

Met Stadium 1980's

Tomorrow is a day that I have been waiting for since 1981.

That was the last time I saw a Major League baseball game played in Minnesota under the open sky at Metropolitan Stadium. I cannot believe this day is approaching, outdoor baseball in the State of Hockey is coming!

I have seen hundreds of games inside the bubble of the HHH Metodome, including games 2, 6 and 7 of the 1987 World Series, and Game 2 in 1991. There have been so many great moments inside the Humpty Hump, but nothing will compare to the cold, chilly, sunny skies of Target Field.

I am jealous of my 5 year old boy, who will get to see an entire lifetime of great baseball in this brand new venue. I feel I have been robbed of this privilege for most of my adult life. While other teams have built new cathedrals for their teams, Twins fans were stuck with a hefty bag and revolving doors that blew hats off their heads.

I always defended the dome, saying that I would go anywhere to see “good baseball” and the best baseball at any level is from the Twins. I was and remain a loyalist to a fault. Now on the eve of one of the greatest days in Twins history, I feel like my 5 year old on Christmas Eve.

I purposely avoided contact with Target Field during it’s construction. I wanted to wait for the first time a “REAL” game was played at that venue before walking into the stadium. Like a present wrapped under the tree, I have seen the new venue from afar. I even sneaked a peak at it from the skyway on my way to a Timberwolves game a few weeks back, but I quickly looked away, for fear of ruining the moment for tomorrow.

It want this to be a complete surprise, a whole new feeling, a rush, a high, a moment I will never forget. It will be like the first time I ever walked into Met Stadium, with my father back in 1976. I have spent my entire sports watching life trying to re-capture that first experience; the smell of hot dogs, the buzz of the crowd, the sun burning brightly above…

Tomorrow, the Twins play the Red Sox, and I will be there with my camera and wallet. This will be the greatest present a diehard baseball fan could ever get. Twins fans now can feel legitimate and Big Leagues again.

I am stoked, and feel privileged that I will be able to take my own son to outdoor baseball for many years to come!