5, count 'em 5 more days!!!

Can you smell that heady scent that is wafting it's way northward through the dreary March air? You know what I mean;that satisfying aroma of well- worn leather mixed with the intoxicating perfume of new dirt and well manicured , oh so green grass? Can you hear the sweet distant sounds of well calibrated wood kissing leather a hard goodbye,the sounds of cheers and jeers from a discerning, but appreciative crowd;can you hear that one lone voice that always seems to rise in drunken indignation above all others at just the quietest time? Can you feel your blood pump a little bit faster as you tick the days till your hometown heroes come home off of your calendar with the same relish that you discard your winter coat on a balmy 50 degree Boston day?
If you can experience all of this, then you are a true baseball fan, a connoisseur of the game in it's purest form, and a lover of that magical spring rebirth that occurs whether the weather decides to bloom in time with Opening Day or not.
Steroid takers be damned! I can put my true feelings about Bonds, et al aside for now, (and lucky for you, I will not wax philosophic on the subject), because in 5, count 'em 5 short days, that beautiful first pitch of the 2005 baseball season will leave the memories of a baseball-less, dreary winter in it's wake, and all , if only for a short time, will be right with the world.