By Dan Nguyen

For anyone who has watched Sponge Bob like I have (I know you do Baron), you most likely have seen the episode where Sponge Bob sings “The Best Day Ever” song. As lame as that sounds, July 14th will be the Global NYM Fan Group’s best day ever.

At Global, we have built bonds and friendships through Facebook and July 14th was the day that we actually got to see the faces with who we created these bonds with. I was especially excited to see all the people who I talked to during in-games and late nights. I wanted to meet the people who accepted me as a regular of the group and found me as a friend.

Let me give you a small run-down on how my day started. I woke up late and didn't leave my house until 12:30. I wanted to get to the tailgate by two, but my friends wanted to grab a bite to eat at the Joshua Tree. After a little eating and drinking we left and I went to my favorite nerd shop, Midtown Comics, on 40th Street. After my nerd shopping was done, I finally got on the 7 with my friends and made it to Shea safely. I was told the meeting place for the tailgate was at Gate A in section G3 of the parking lot...and that’s thanks to Jersey Dan and Matt Kaufman who called to confirm. I finally arrived at the tailgate around 4:45, and there familiar “faces” such as Josh Springer, Steph Dutton, and Mike Rossi greeted me. Seeing and speaking with them I already felt like I was at home, like we were talking on Facebook. I then got to meet my fellow MLB Group Admin Abby. I didn’t get to talk to her that much, but we have talked a lot on Facebook, and it was just awesome meeting her. I then started to mingle with the other members like Victor who is now known as the infamous terrible towel user. I also got to meet Heather "Wild" Wildenberger, and she had to be the loudest person there besides Jersey and Zac. She was awesome to meet and it was awesome how she got into the faces of the Yankee fans that parked right next to us. Zac and Dan eventually came back from their beer run and boy was it a blast to finally meet these two. Zac and Dan are two people that have endless energy and can spice up anything, and it was truly an honor to meet them. We then got to meet Ray Dice Chan aka RAY DICE CHAN RAY DICE CHAN!!! I then got to me the man who runs the group with the VIP, Michael Peters. Peters was going just as nuts as Dan and Zac were.

We hung out for hours mingling, singing “Meet The Mets,” watching Zac do air humps, hearing Zac's proposal to piss in front of a car, taking group photos, and etc. We then finally hear of the arrival of the one and only CEO and Founder Matt VIP Regan, who was fashionably late. With his arrival our tailgate was complete. All or most of the regulars showed up and we partied on like rock stars.

One moment I’ll never forget is when we were walking toward the stadium yelling, “Lets Go Mets, Awhoo!; Lets Go Mets Awhoo!” We were about 30 strong but we had the strength of about 300. While we walked up the levels to get to our section, we all got to know each other even more. I got to talk to all the members more and get to know them and they made me feel like I knew them for years. I was isolated from the group during the game as I sat with my two friends who came to the game with me and took time out of their weekend to come and enjoy the game. I am sorry to all the members for not spending the game with them but it was one heck of a game. I did get to meet another regular of the group though, as Ali Jaffrey got to the game right before the first pitch. We then ragged on the Braves and Yanks and watched an awesome game. When the game ended, it was sad for me, as I couldn’t hang out with the group for the post game, and I had to leave abruptly.

That was the whole day for people who missed out on the game. At the end of this day what has this Global game brought us? It brought us a whole new bond. A bond stronger than the one we’ve built on Facebook. I know I may be going to deep here but this is the way I felt as I watched the actions of the group. I felt my bonds with my fellow friends in the group have grown stronger and have seen a new light. I know what they look like now. I know how they sound, act, and feel. With this historic day, it just brought us closer as a group and brought us further as a global family. I’m glad I spent the 25 dollars for this day, because in retrospective there is no amount of money that can give me an experience like I had today.

A note to all my friends-
I would just like to thank you guys for giving me the chance to get to know you and make friends with ya. I’m glad that I made friends who have the same passion as I do, even beyond the Mets. I feel like we have grown closer, even though it was just one day. I’m glad this day came and I’m glad I finally got to meet you guys. Thanks everyone and may we do more games or meet ups in the future.