I experienced a day at the Crucible for the first time - and it's unimaginable for the World Snooker Championship to be held anywhere else
The nerves were definitely jangling. The Crucible, the pinnacle of snooker, the biggest stage in the sport, where so many famous names have made their name, made their legacy.
After so many years watching on TV, now it was here, in-person, live.
It's less than an hour from Halifax to Sheffield but it felt like a journey a lifetime in the making.
That's how I was feeling anyway; I wonder if Stan Moody felt the same.
For we were both making our Crucible debuts this year, with Stan helping put Halifax on the sporting map by reaching the World Snooker Championships for the first time.
And I was there to cover it.
I'm sure the buzz I got knowing the lad I'd interviewed not so long ago was wowing the crowds in the Crucible and in homes up and down the country was nothing compared to the adrenaline rush Stan got when he potted his very first shot, won his first frame and recorded his first century.
Unfortunately for Moody, winning his first game there couldn't be added to that list, but what an experience for him. And me.
Actually being at the Crucible was both weird and wonderful.
It was surreal being at the epicentre of somewhere I'd only seen on television, and assumed always would.
But a real joy too, to experience it first-hand, close-up, for real. Going behind-the-scenes, into the bowels of the venue, parts the public don't get access to that the lucky folks in the media do.
Like the Tardis, it's far bigger on the inside than it seems, with a warren of rooms and corridors.
The theatre itself is as small as it seems on TV, almost quaintly so for the world championship of the sport. A little like hosting the FA Cup final at The Shay.
But it's utterly charming, captivating and unimaginable for it to be anywhere else.
It's amazing the difference a separating screen makes too.
When it's there, the already small space seems claustrophobically cramped for the players, the referee and the cameramen.
Without the screen, the space fulfills its magical potential, with all three sides of seating steeply banked around the one active table. Literally centre stage.
Drift away from the match for a second and its easy to drift into a reverie about the iconic moments that have happened here - Cliff Thorburn's 147, the Davis v Taylor Black ball final, a whole array of Ronnie O'Sullivan memories over three incredible decades.
One bloke not far from me drifted so far away that had to be woken up as his snoring was threatening to disrupt the players during the Wu Yize v Lei Peifan match.
No one dared fall asleep during Stan's sensational debut session against Kyren Wilson though.
Moody was electrifying, from the moment he walked into the arena to a reception that made the hairs stand on end.
As a fellow Halifax lad, I was more than a little proud of watching Stan take so naturally to what must be a daunting environment, especially as a 19 year old.
You're like an actor in a play but having to write and perform your own lines, knowing any mistakes will mean the other bloke gets up and has a go instead.
But Stan immediately looked at home on that grand stage, and I don't doubt that him, and me hopefully, will be back there a lot more in future.