Years of construction and millions of dollars in public spending came together last night as the Washington Nationals took to the field for their season opener in the new baseball stadium along South Capitol Street. And not wanting to let the home fans down, the Nats pulled off a surprising 3-2 victory against the Atlanta Braves. This blogger — long a critic of the city’s financing of the stadium — didn’t make it down for the game, but the stadium did look snazzy on TV. One Post writer, though, wasn’t terribly impressed. For those who attended the game, how did the city’s newest and biggest recent investment treat you? (The Post has launched a new blog featuring rants and raves about the new stadium, and there are plenty of pics on Flickr to get a good idea of what the stadium experience was like.) How was the Metro ride down there? (WTOP reports that roughly 22,000 people took Metro to the game.) And did Teddy Roosevelt finally win the president’s race?

Local Tibetans See Opportunity: Though thousands of miles from their home, Tibetans who have settled in the region have found common cause with their countrymen in protests against a Chinese crackdown pro-independence activists in the past three weeks. The Post reports that about 12,000 Tibetan exiles live in the U.S., with a few hundred calling the Washington Metro area home. Since China starting violently repressing pro-Tibet protests, local Tibetans have taken to the street outside the Chinese Embassy on Connecticut Avenue to protest, and today will demonstrate outside the White House in hopes of pushing President George W. Bush in condemning China’s crackdown.

No Supermarket Strike: Shoppers, feel safe — there won’t be a strike at area Giant and Safeway supermarkets this year. According to WTOP, the union representing 25,000 workers at Giant and Safeway in the Baltimore-Washington area has reached an agreement with the two grocery chains, averting what was a possible walkout in coming weeks. Workers will vote on the agreement on Tuesday. Unfortunately, by Wednesday neither supermarket will have become any better.

Pope Not Going Public: According to WTOP, if you’re planning on catching a glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI when he stops in next month, you might be out of luck — he’s not doing many public events, much less will he be caught wandering around the National Mall. Because of security precautions, the pope’s visit will include only one public event, the April 17 mass at Nationals Park. And since those tickets are long gone, well, many of the area’s faithful are out of luck.

Briefly Noted: Catania proposes subsidized health coverage for uninsured … MoCo man kills three children in Baltimore hotel … Stadium neighbors worry about future … Two-alarm fire at Tom Clancy’s Maryland shore home … Metro to alter Red Line track work schedule.

Picture snapped by thespaceelephant