Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Monday, March 31, 2008

"I Don't Care if I Never Get Back..."

I think, for me, this is the one day I actually look forward to on the yearly sports calendar: Opening Day in Major League Baseball. The openings of other seasons just don't have the same allure to me, despite the fact that basball has by far the longest season of them all, including the two or three different deer hunting seasons here in Wisconsin. Maybe it's because the other sports trumpet the opening six months ahead of time and scrutinize each team's prospects beginning the day after the previous season ends. Don't believe me? Come to Green Bay where even the local university's April Fool's student newspaper issue made NATIONAL news when it heralded the imminent return of a famous quarterback to the Green & Gold next year. (I used to respect C.N.N.)
I ruminated on that today as I watched a rainy, chilly opener from Wrigley Field. It was raining here in Green Bay as well, but I was inside. I had my peanuts and cold beverage (green tea because I had to go back to work tonight), and I soaked up the ambiance of the wind blowing out that is Wrigley Field without soaking up all the precipitation. Even my wife professed to a desire to watch the game...at least until the eight inning of a scoreless, near-hitless pitchers' duel. Then, just as the peanuts disappeared, it got "boring." Just as I was about to explain the workings of the "inner game" of baseball, she left the room. I guess some people just are not fascinated by the nuances of the game!
Anyway, it struck me that there are several important reasons why the first day of baseball season is my favorite:

1. Spring is almost here...well, THERE, maybe. (It's going to snow tonight, according to our crack meteorologists here in town) I say, "It's about time! We've been training for spring to arrive for six weeks, so it had better get here." I have actually seen three robins (and a vignette on Robin Yount)thus far, in addition to most of my lawn.

2. Many people whom I encounter still don't know who my favorite team is, which will give me a few more weeks of anonymity until the Yankees haters come out in full bloom. Now that Boston is the Beast in the East, I can catch some slack, perhaps.

3. It takes me away, however briefly, from all the pre-, pre-NFL draft selection shows and the boat, RV and camping expos. I don't care who's going to be taken by what team in the last round, but Mel Kuiper seems to think I do. Every "selection" show has become a spectacle, and I, for one, would rather watch "America's Number One Dance Crew" on MTV than another selection special. (Give some love to Jabber Wokies, by the way)

4. I enjoy seeing people play under conditions that my mother would not allow, especially if I can be comfy and cozy while doing it, all the while admiring the hardiness of "real" fans.

5. The pitchers' hats are still pristine. I cannot tell you how much I hate to see pitchers come into the game in the late summer with a five-inch sweat and grime mark around their hats. I mean, surely they can afford to either clean the hat or get a new one. Perhaps they are trying to convince the average working stiff that they, too, sweat while on the job. That,however, is to me as disgusting as chewing tobacco spitters who carry plastic bottles around...ugh!

6. Nobody is mathematically eliminated, except in the analysts' view, and the Royals can compete with the big money teams like, alas, my boys!

7. I think, most importantly, that baseball reminds me so much of the halcyon days of youth during which we played hour after hour with no uniforms, no coaches, no umpires, no parents screaming from the stands, and no humiliating shame upon losing. In short, baseball reminds me of just what can be good about sports.

Play Ball!

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