Of my 22,645 days on this planet, the “first” days have been the most special.

OK, there was a glitch on the first day of fatherhood, when the “Coach” — as us soon-to-be-dads referred to ourselves in Lamaze class — gave the hee-hee, hoo-hoo breathing instructions while my sweet wife, in the 25th hour of labor, yelled: “Hey, ‘Coach,’ just stop talking!”

And maybe not the first day I was assigned as volleyball beat writer, when I wanted to do a story on the defensive specialist. I asked then-head coach Mike Wilton: “May I interview your libido?” Jason Kaneshiro is now our newspaper’s volleyball writer.

But in general — and in sports, in particular — first days are the best. As Major League Baseball opens its season this week, for one day at least, there will be no discussions about contracts, Hall of Fame omissions, or who’s the better hitter — the Dodgers’ Will Smith or Hollywood’s Will Smith?

Instead, there will be large crowds of hooky-playing workers, important people throwing first pitches, and what-if possibilities. When Tuffy Rhodes hit three homers in the 1994 opener at Wrigley Field, the stat geeks noted the Cubs outfielder was on track for a 486-dinger season. It did not matter that Rhodes hit three more that April, and finished the season with eight. It was never about the ever-after part.

Opening days are first tees and 16th seeds. Everybody has a chance. Spring training and preseason games are the rehearsals. The hype is about the first game, same as it is for a movie’s premiere or an album’s Tuesday release. The hype is about the new-car smell, not the 24,000-mile checkup.

Baseball’s opening days brought Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the color barrier in 1947, Hank Aaron’s 714th homer to tie Babe Ruth in 1974, and Tom Seaver’s record 16 starts. (Conversely, Seaver was 3-3 in postseason starts during his Hall of Fame career.)

After the opener, when fans do what they do best — cheer, jeer or argue — the focus can return to hot streaks, injuries, hypothetical trades, or next year’s draft order.

First days are key launching points for other events. The Olympics’ opening ceremony is when we are reminded about diverse cultures, recognition and style. We might not remember if Tonga had any athletic success in the 2016 Rio Olympics, but most won’t forget the shiny moment of its flag bearer — Pita Taufatofua — whose coconut-oiled torso was the viral topic of the opening ceremony.

When the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium opened in 2009, there were 20,000 standing-room tickets sold to fans whose view of the action came from the giant video scoreboard, which stretches between the two 20-yard lines. Unofficial motto: Being there is just as good is seeing there.

The first-day vibe has reached the University of Hawaii football team. A couple hundred fans and former players attended the March 26 practice at Ching Complex, the first spring session open to the public since 2019. Last Saturday, UH promoted the first football scrimmage of spring training under Timmy Chang, who was hired as the Warriors’ head coach in January. The April 16 spring game also is being marketed as a first-in-a-while event.

The Warriors have yet to name a starting quarterback; the offensive and defensive schemes are in development, and there’s been no work on expanding the 9,000-seat Ching Complex or adding amenities. But UH already is promoting interest and anticipation for the Aug. 27 season opener against Vanderbilt. Anything is possible on opening day. There will be enough time after that to think about the Michigan game or the Mountain West schedule.