As I said on Twitter, I haven't seen this many happy Minnesota sports fans since the day Dan Monson got fired.
i walked around the concourses and found people just standing, staring and smiling. The Gophers and Louisiana Tech players felt pretty much the same way, which is what I wrote about for the Sunday paper.
One thing I didn't cover in my column was how the field played. Gophers coach John Anderson, who hopes to get more chances in the future to play at Target Field, said ``I think it's going to play fair. I like the fact there isn't a lot of foul territory.
``The fans are close to the action. It looks like it has some interesting angles to it but I think it's going to play exceptionally well. I like baseball games that are decided between the white lines. I don't like outs made in foul territory. There's a short backstop behind home plate. I think it's going to be a wonderful ballpark to watch a ballgame in, but I also think it's going to be a fair game.
``I think it's going to bring all three phases in the game into play, which is what I as a baseball puritst really enjoy."
I rode the light rail with the Gophers to the game. They lost, 9-1, but were thrilled to be the team that got to open Target Field.
-I love the way the rightfield plaza opens to the city. If I were going to buy season tickets, I think I'd want to sit in the part of rightfield that juts over the playing field. Or the stands down the line that are almost in fair territory. There will be a lot of ground-rule doubles caused by fans reaching out and grabbing shots down the line.
-There are a lot of places to drink in this ballpark. A lot.
