ST. PETERSBURG - Maybe we take this place for granted.
The Florida Suncoast Dome. ThunderDome. Tropicana Field. The names have changed through the years, but that crooked 14-year-old grin stays the same. Dress it up. Get that Major League Baseball expansion team. Sell off the naming rights. Bring in a big-name manager. Fix it up as much as you can, but somehow the dome was still, well, just a dome.
Until Saturday.
The Battle of the Bay Kickoff Classic put the Trop in a new light, courtesy of new fans, teenagers who took part in the first indoor high school football games played in Florida.
When the players and their respective throngs of student-fans were cramming for their potty training finals, the Trop already was a fact of life.
They don't remember the controversy, the desperate quest for baseball.
To them, the Trop always has been there. So Saturday was a chance to spend time with what has become less of an eyesore and more of an old friend.
It was a chance not to lament what we could have had, but to appreciate what we have.
Namely, the Trop.
"It was exciting. It was a new experience," said St. Petersburg quarterback Jared Paletti, whose enthusiasm wasn't dampened by a 44-12 loss. "I mean, look at this place. It's nice."
Paletti wasn't alone in his excitement, but he was in this: He has been here before.
"I go to plenty of baseball games here," he said. "So I like it here."
So many teens, especially the ones from Hillsborough County, couldn't say the same. But just getting them in the doors for the first time could change that.
"We kind of wondered what their reaction would be," said former sportscaster Dick Crippen, the Devil Rays' executive director of community development and the Rays of Hope Foundation. "It's the reaction we thought they'd have."
There's no truth to the rumor, however, that Armwood coach Sean Callahan, Chamberlain coach Billy Turner and Hillsborough coach Earl Garcia conspired to bring the Trop's biggest ever contingent of Hillsborough County residents over the bridge.
"I was hoping Lou Piniella did that," Garcia said.
But give Garcia props, Pinellas. He goes to Rays games all the time.
And for those making only their first or second visit, it was even more of a thrill.
"Years from now, I can come back here and say, "That's where I scored my first varsity touchdown,"' said Armwood junior receiver Donald "DJ" Mitchell, who caught a 56-yard pass in foul territory in right during the Hawks' 28-17 win.
Like many of his teammates, Dunedin quarterback Theo Wilson couldn't sleep the night before the game. He finally dozed off at 5 a.m. - and was up for church at 7:30.
Once he hit that FieldTurf, look out.
"It felt like I was bouncing. It felt like it was giving me a little spring when I was running," Wilson said. "I was real excited. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play somewhere like this."
Not that Wilson needed the extra help. But the fleet quarterback might have set a new speed record for getting from second base to home at the Trop - but it helps when you can skip third. He just had to outrun St. Petersburg's defense and skip past the pitchers mound to finish off a 50-yard touchdown jaunt.
"I wonder if he could have beaten Carl Crawford?" Crippen said.
Not that all of the Trop's amenities had everyone raving. If there was one thing players could do without, it's piling up on that hard infield clay.
Paletti, who visited the infield several times, joked that on his next visit, he could point out a memorable spot on the field, too.
