While millions of North American’s are lamenting the end of summer there are those of us who are more than excited for what comes next. It has nothing to do with the leaves changing color. It isn’t about wearing nifty argyle sweaters. And it isn’t at all connected to the Halloween candy appearing all over the shelves at your local grocery store. Forget about Christmas, my favorite time of year is here.
It is the best and busiest time of year for sports fans.
The baseball playoffs are here. The have-nots have been separated from the pack and the games that are left are starting to feel more and more important every day. We will witness walk off heroes, pitchers having the start of their life (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Tim Lincecum) and questionable managerial and umpire decisions. Even if your team isn’t playing there’s nothing not to love about the whole process. This is what every player and fan is looking forward to on those cold February days of Spring Training. My gut is saying to look out for the Texas Rangers to walk away with the World Series trophy.
Baseball isn’t the only thing getting our attention though. The NFL season is in full swing and fantasy players, gamblers and fans all over are rejoicing. For weeks I saw tweets about contract situations (Darrelle Revis & the Jets), 1st overall fantasy picks (Titans’ Chris Johnson vs. Packers’ Aaron Rodgers), the “Brett Favre will he/ won’t he retire/ play” saga and Patriots’ fans complaining about Tom Brady’s hair. There is no doubt that the NFL is the crown jewel of pro sports for gambling. In the office we have a weekly pick ‘em pool where there’s a little bit of money on the line for the winner every week. I won’t tell you how it’s going so far, because I don’t want to jinx myself, but it’s fun. And there are more people playing fantasy football than any other fantasy sports combined. In fact, it has been reported that approximately 30 million Americans are involved with fantasy football. The other great thing about the NFL is the spectacle that is Sunday. No other sport offers the frenzy and fan experience that the NFL does on Sunday afternoon, with games on multiple channels and in varying time zones, fans can sit down and watch from kick off at 1pm Eastern until the last gun goes off after 11pm. My gut is saying to watch out for the collapse of Brett Favre’s ankle and the cohesion of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Football fans are also treated to the NCAA game this time of year. Weekends start early and are full of game action from Thursday night to Saturday’s full slate. And while the NCAA game doesn’t have the same prestige that the NFL game does with many people, if you’re a football fan you need to be watching these kids play. There is something very refreshing about watching players run up and down the field with reckless abandon and no paycheck coming in. And while the BCS system may be flawed beyond a shadow of a doubt, the football is still great to watch. My gut is hoping for Boise State to get a lot of Championship consideration this year if they play up to their potential, but my brain is saying to watch for Alabama who opened the season as a 9 to 2 favorite.
I’m also a big NHL fan, and if you’re on Twitter I’m sure that you saw the #isitoctoberyet hash tag floating around this summer. While hockey fans may not be the largest group in the sports market, they are some of the most vocal. Fans are anxious to see what will happen with the Blackhawks in Chicago after Stan Bowman was forced to juggle a lot of his Stanley Cup winning roster to stay under the salary cap. They also want to see how Ilya Kovalchuk lives up to the hype of his contract debacle that ended up with him receiving a 15 year, $100 million deal with the (New Jersey) Devils. And in Toronto the fans just want to see Colton Orr fight and Phil Kessel score goals on the way to the playoffs for the first time since the 2003-2004 NHL season. Personally I want to see Carey Price stand up and show the world that Pierre Gauthier was justified in trading away Jaroslav Halak this summer. My gut believes in Carey Price.
And near the end of October we will all be witnesses to the start of perhaps the most anticipated NBA season in history. By now everyone knows about the Miami Heat and their summer acquisitions. The question now is how will it all play out? I understand that there is probably no trifecta of players more talented than LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. But I’m still not sold on the fact that those three players will bring a championship to Miami this season. There are too many holes on the bench, too many people wishing for them to fail, and too many teams that will want nothing more than to beat the Heat every chance that they get. It will be an interesting season that will have a lot of people talking on a daily basis. My gut is saying that the Lakers win another NBA title. But more than that, it says that Kevin Durant from the Oklahoma City Thunder has a real chance to steal the MVP trophy from both Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
So, if you’re a sports fan, the time is now to get on the phone with your cable or satellite provider and sign-up for whatever sports package they have available. There won’t be a night of the week that there isn’t a game worth watching. And if you don’t have access to the TV whenever you want this gives you a much better chance of finding a game when you do have the remote in your hand. I promise that you will be able to find a game to watch and enjoy any of the 7 days of the week. That, my friends, is why I’m not crying over the end of summer, it’s why I’m welcoming fall with open arms.
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