The Shea stadium’s final opening game was not a victory for the home team. More embarrassing than that, the Mets lost to the Phillies again. Ouch!

Not only did the Mets hope for redemptions from last year’s total collapse at the Phillies hands. This marked the ninth straight loss to the Phillies for this franchise. Of this streak, David Wright is quoted in the Daily News as saying:

“It’s not significant whatsoever. We’re talking about a different team. We’re talking about a new year. It’s unfortunate what happened last year, but that’s past us. As far as I’m concerned, we’re 0-1 against the Phillies this year, we’re 0-2 against the Braves and we need to do a better job.”

The Mets do need to do a better job, as the final score of 5-2 denotes.

Perhaps the evening is epitomized by Carlos Delgado’s throw to second base in an attempt for a possible double play hit Chase Utley in the back, flying off into the outfield. This error allowed two runs to score for Phillies.

With the new stadium being built, one has to ask, “Is Shea Stadium doomed to relive past disappointments?” Maybe we need to just wait to buy tickets for the Mets when the new stadium is built.  Maybe then we can hope for a championship. The season is still young, but the talented but under performing Mets need to get with the program.

How’s this for bad news for people buying Yankee tickets: A strained left quadriceps for Derek Jeter Monday night against Tampa Bay. It could take him out for several games.

His response quoted in the New York Times is: “I felt something, and I didn’t want to be stupid.” We’re glad the shortstop team captain isn’t stupid. But it’s never good news when being smart requires the star player to not play.

There is no word on whether he’ll be put on the disabled list, which has happened 4 times previously. An evaluation will be made at some point in the next week. Let’s hope that the optimism works.

There aren’t a lot of other shortstop replacements available for the Yankees. Giambi has a sore left groin; Shelly Duncan is on a two-game suspension.

The injury was a major negative point to a successful win by the Yanks. Mussina, who I reported recently played very mediocre against the Blue Jays, was redeemed by a great outing against Tampa Bay. He only allowed on run and two hits in six innings.

So when all is said and done, I’m glad that Mussina found his mojo, but you can’t help but be discouraged by the news of Jeter’s injury. Hopefully it’s only a couple of games, and it won’t require any placement on an injured list. And hopefully he’ll be back strong.

I’m not really sure how they’re going to make this good, but I guess “Brigadoon” is returning to Broadway in a big revival. My lack of enthusiasm is born of the fact that I couldn’t get more than about 45 minutes through the old movie based on the original play.

The play’s music was written by the great song writing team, Lerner and Lowe. It was directed by Robert Lewis and choreographed by Agnes de Mille. It was a big hit on Broadway and was adapted to the screen in 1954, starring Gene Kelly.

The story tells about two Americans on vacation in Scotland who stumble upon the magical village, which comes to life every 100 years.

The new play will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner, Rob Ashford. He won a Tony for his choreography for “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” He was also nominated for “The Wedding Singer,” and “Curtains.” He also choreographed the recent production of “Cry Baby.”

It also brings the talent of Tony Award-winner, John Guare. Famous for his Tony Award winning book for the musical “Two Gentleman of Verona.” He’s also been nominated for “The House of Blue Leaves,” “Six Degrees of Separation,” and “Four Baboons Adoring the Sun.”

So with all that talent, maybe the re-imagining will bring new life to a classic that has clearly aged. When it opens we’ll have to check for tickets online to see for ourselves how it fares.

Last week’s most popular events were again dominated by the beginning of the Major League Baseball season. No surprise as this is the final scheduled season for both Yankee and Shea Stadiums in the New York area so fans are lining up to get their last glimpse of the home buildings they’ve all grown up with.

The top events were as follows:

New York Yankees Tickets vs Tampa Bay

New York Mets Tickets vs Philadelphia

Kenny Chesney Tickets

Steely Dan Tickets

Tickets to The Lion King on Broadway 

One times while managing a retail store I had a sales representative for our company come in and brag about how great he had been a few years previously in the same role. He went on and on about how he beat all of these sales records.

And then he failed to deliver. He turned out to be mediocre at best. Maybe he had broken all of those records in past years, but he certainly wasn’t at the top of his game anymore. More than anything, I realized how he had set our expectations at a level that would be very hard to achieve.

The same goes for Johan Santana. I have no doubt that compared with other paychecks in the League, he’s well deserving of his $137.5 million contract. But what that does is set an extremely high standard. It tells everyone in the franchise and everyone who’s buying Mets tickets that he’s going to be amazing in every game. Talk about pressure.

Speaking of the these expectations, Shaun Powell of Newsday.com says:

“Yes, they want shutouts, strikeouts, maybe a no-hitter if you please, and plenty of good stuff, all the luxuries you’d expect from a two-time Cy Young winner who has the impossible task of making that $137.5 million seem like a bargain. And they want it now, like today, in his second start . . . ”

When all was said and done, Santana asked for it by driving for the contract. I hope he earns it.

The above title refers to Joe Girardi’s comment following the first loss of his career as manager with the Yankees. The New York Times continues the quotation: “You come to the ballpark and prepare to win, and losing stinks.”

And lose they did, in their second outing against the Blue Jays. The score at the end of the night was 5-2. Alex Rodriguez couldn’t stop the ill-fated defeat with his two-run homer in the seventh. That could not compete with A.J. Burnett’s performance of keeping the Yankees from scoring for six innings.

Mike Mussina gave Yankee Ticket holders little to be excited about this season in a lukewarm performance on a very cold night. The Daily News explains the performance of the Yankees’ starting pitcher:

“Mussina allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits in 5-2/3 innings, although the majority of the hits were bloops and bleeders.”

The simple fact is that Mussina was totally mediocre. And that couldn’t compare with a very good Blue Jays team. It is the beginning of the season. There’s along way to fall. But the fact of the matter is that Mussina has got to step it up for the Yankees to reach their aspirations of a championship this season.

If you want to see “Mamma Mia” on the stage, all you have to do is buy some Broadway tickets. But if you don’t live anywhere near New York, you can wait for the world opening of the famous musical on July 18th in a theater near you.

The trailer is available online and shows what’s to be an all-star cast. I’m talking about Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Meryl Streep. Not a bad lot.

The film is also directed by famous stage director Phyllida Loyd, which I always think is a good choice for a musical. I say this not to denigrate the respected art of film directing, but I think that on the whole, a musical with a lot of dancing has got to be directed by someone with experience in these types of productions. Great stage directors typically prove to have the aptitude for film direction as well.

This famous musical features the music of Swedish pop group Abba. It tells the story of a young woman about to be married who wants to find her real father. She writes each a letter. They all show up in Greece for her wedding. Dancing and singing ensues.

With Miss Streep’s top billing and a respected director helming, it’s sure to be fun, but probably only if you like Abba.

The Marlins defeated the Mets last year in their regular season finale, a heartbreaking end to a promising season. With the Mets season opener against the same team, they were not about to let history repeat itself. The Mets beat the Marlins 7-2.

Ben Spigel of the New York Times suggests that Johan Santana’s presence was a reminder to everyone that things would be different this season. He says, “[Santana’s] off-season arrival was born of that desire to help everyone forget, to help everyone heal.” He then adds that we’ve got some better days to look forward to if Santana continues to pitch like he did on Monday.

Indeed it looked like a near perfect performance from the two time Cy Young winner. No doubt he’ll make a few mistakes in the coming months. But starting the season off with a winning performance like this tells all the fans thinking about buying Mets tickets that this is the season to watch.

It was a much needed opening win for the team. Let’s hope that this is a sign from heaven that 2008 will bode better than 2007 for a team with amazing talent. With Santana on the mound, the talent might be more than any other team can bear.

Now is the time to buy your NY Yankee tickets if you want to see a few games in the traditional stadium. We’re talking about a stadium that has housed the world’s biggest baseball franchise since 1923. And this is the last year.

The Yankees are a team that can never extricate themselves from a storied history. And they can never get away from the fact that their fans expect greatness from them. With seven seasons in a row without a championship, mediocrity is not sitting well with them.

So there’s been changes in the last few years. Former Yankee catcher and coach, Joe Girardi, is now at the helm of this franchise that would love to win a championship, this their last year in the old stadium. To dream of such things is almost too glorious to think of, but every fan must hope. And so Girardi is bringing a new commitment and focus to an experienced team. He’s conditioning them hard.

Team Captain, Derek Jeter is quoted in the daily news as saying:

“It’s going to be a special year. . . . There’s always optimism going into a new season. Obviously this year some things are different, but everyone here is excited.”

Let’s hope they give the old ball park a generous send off with a great 2008 season.