Season's Greetings
Like a bear coming out of hibernation, so to is your humble writer after the dreariest of Winter seasons. Trees and flowers awakening, heavy coats back in the closet and people emerging again after that annual indoor season of isolation for most of us. However, the Winter does bring us the holiday season and for sports fans we are always blessed with the Spring resurgence of Christmas time once again.
It just doesn’t get any better than the months of March and April as sports fan as we make sure the batteries in the remote are fresh, the DVR is empty and are social media platforms are all paid up as we navigate the smorgasbord of options.
The college scene leads us off with the annual madness of the NCAA tournaments in both hockey and basketball; neither disappointing us this year.
Though slipping on the priority ladder of the current generation’s sports choices, there’s something always special about the beginning of the baseball season, hope springs eternal and for a least a few months all teams can dream big.
There of course is the shadow of the monster in the sports rooms of life; the NFL has really turned into a 365 day a year business but springtime brings us now the epicenter of this operation as the NFL draft creates a 24/7 buzz for months before and months afterward as we get to know farm boys from Iowa and can’t miss uber athletes that give downtrodden teams the much hoped ticket to greatness.
The PGA Tour is in full swing and April brings us the blooming azaleas and Jim Nance’s commitment to our friendships at the Masters as the majors season gets in full swing. This season brings us not only the weekly drama and competition but has an underlying story working on both the PGA & LPGA tours as Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda are on streaks that haven’t been seen in 20 years as each have strung together historic rolls; should be fun to follow.
For other “football” fans, soccer is in full swing as the EPL and other international leagues wind their seasons down and MLS gets their campaigns under way giving fans multiple options on the cable dial daily.
Oh by the way, in case you didn’t know… or care I suppose for some; the Summer Olympics are this Summer and in recent weeks, Olympic trials have been taking place in all sports to establish cherished spots on their teams. I admit that I watch those trials at times because the sometimes lifelong dreams can be dashed with a bad hurdle or false start much like looking at a car crash I guess…
Finally, last but certainly not least the NHL and NBA are in full playoff mode as the best of 7 series bring out the passion each and every night as teams fight for survival.
I have lobbied congress many times to suspend all work or at least the majority of it until this holiday season is behind us but to no avail. So we will need to keep our fingers nimble, our box scores separated and sadly our phones charged to stay on top of this glorious time of year.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!