Baseball devotees always gather on Opening Day to mark a new beginning. One where hope springs eternal. The first in a 162-step journey that'll bring excitement, joy, heartache, and disbelief to all.

Last week was the Miller Lite 93XRT Opening Day celebration from our longtime home of YakZies, 3710 N Clark. And while XRT & YakZies enjoy a familial relationship of about 30 years, yesterday was different. We missed the biggest baseball and rock n' roll fan out there, our collective best friend in the whole world, Lin Brehmer. Before the Cubs honored Lin with a Wrigley Field scoreboard tribute, The Regular Guy did, from the same humble stage that we gather at year after year to lay down our long burden of winter as we look ahead to a season of infinite possibility. Take nothing for granted. It's great to be alive.