COXSACKIE, NY – Spring ahead as the saying goes when it’s time to turn the clocks ahead in observance of daylight savings time – or the time where broken-down mopes like me complain about losing an hour of sleep despite a fruitful existence. Today, I’ll combine our clock synchronization as a sports time machine of sorts where we fast forward a little bit.
The first order of business is to start baseball’s regular season tomorrow because the cliché, “hope springs eternal,” is tiresome. All this saying truly means is that one-fourth of MLB teams don’t stand a chance at fielding a winning team.
The start of real baseball also means packing up temporary winter homes in the warmer climes of Arizona and Florida for rightful spring and summer abodes. With this, I don’t have to be reminded that the New York Mets play at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie. Somebody please tell me what tradition this team honestly has? The only tradition the Mets have is if Reb Tevye from Fiddler On The Roof appeared in character to sing the National Anthem at home exhibition games. The field-naming is just another poor attempt at trying to be like the Yankees, who call their Spring digs Legend’s Field with the likes of Ruth, DiMaggio, and Mantle having donned pinstripes.
As much as I love hockey, the playoffs need to start within a week to save me undue stress, as my beloved Boston Bruins precariously hold the Eastern Conference’s last wild card spot. At A soon-to-be 38 years-old and, at times, seeming to be skating like an ice turtle, Zdeno Chara can use a ride in the fast-forward time machine. The last eighteen games are going to be like playoff games and fans and players could use the rest if the team is to do anything in hockey’s tournament.
I wake today to find that the NCAA Championship trophy has been hoisted by the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats. If I don’t have a dollar riding on basketball, the games mean nothing to me and spares all of us the hyperbole of talking heads for an entire month. And isn’t it academic that the ‘Cats win the whole damn thing?
A Beer at the Beach… There’s still about two feet of snow lying around my house and getting to June with the simple adjustment of a clock would be nirvana. Drinking a beer at the beach or the racetrack is only a dream at the moment.
Speaking of the racetrack, tomorrow is the first weekend in May and that ushers in the Sport of Kings Triple Crown races where I’ll bet money I don’t have or wish I had on regal animals running around an oval. Can we have a Triple Crown winner one of these years, please?
The NBA regular season is over and metropolitan New York basketball fans are mercifully spared the exploits of the Knicks and Nets, losers of eighty-five games combined. Fear not, for entertaining hoops action there’s always Harlem Globetrotters performances at local arenas.
Feel free to comment below from whatever time-zone you’re in and come back tomorrow for the timeless West Coast Craig.