Thank God for Baseball

It has been a long two or three months. Early January to early April is easily the most mind-numbing stretch of the sports year to me. I love football, particularly Georgia football, with a fairly unhealthy passion and imagine I always will. Sure, there are the NFL playoffs in January and early February, but it isn't the same. The best version of football is over and the inevitable post-Super Bowl vacuum looms over the entire professional postseason if your team isn't involved and you don't care for hockey or basketball.

I love baseball a little less passionately, but with a nostalgia for simpler, happier days (in a broad sense and on a personal level). At its best, it is a tradition-rich game that can unite people of all ages. At its worst (when the Braves and your fantasy team are terrible), it is something to get you to next football season.

Still, that stretch without either sport has always been a challenge for me. Those few months, while probably being among my more productive every year, are a sporting void that was better filled this year than most for only two reasons:

1. I remembered to complete a bracket for a sport I largely don't care about anymore.

2. I took a passing interest in and remembered to watch a handful of silly games played in snow and on ice.

Unfortunately, the second of those crutches only comes around once every four years. Though, if it came around more often, I would probably be far less entertained by the passion Canadians have for Gigantic Shuffleboard-On-Ice (also known as "curling"). If you followed the Winter Olympics at all, you have probably already made fun of curling or witnessed others doing so. I realize this is not a novel concept and it was not to be the focus of this post, so if you are aware of curling and the subject is no longer amusing to you, you probably should skip the next paragraph. I personally can't get enough curling mockery.

If you are unfamiliar with this Winter Olympic nail-biter, see photo above. I'd also highly recommend a YouTube search for curling. Unintentional comedy gold. Google image searches also yield many similarly priceless gems. Yes, that Canadian woman is shouting her enormous shuffleboard puck to victory and yes, her teammates are sweeping in front of it. And yes, people really win medals at the Winter Olympics for this. And yes, Canadians are apparently bonkers for this "sport." But enough about curling.

The point of this post was supposed to be one of joy and excitement over a new season of a great sport. There are reasons to hope as a Braves fan. One of them crushed a homer in his first Major League at-bat Monday. Fathers and sons will bond and the world will be a better place. But perhaps most importantly, there is something for me to watch besides the news and old Seinfeld re-runs (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Baseball is back, so I don't have to avoid Sportscenter for fear of NBA or NHL highlight-induced narcolepsy. No longer can ESPN forcefeed me women's sports and soccer as part of some ideological crusade for diversity, multi-culturalism, or political correctness. After three excruciating months, I have a sport to follow that I enjoy, understand, and watch by choice.

Not that there are not redeeming aspects of other sports played primarily in other cultures. Not that women shouldn't play sports and strive for greatness in them. I have actually gained a new respect for other sports and female athletes during this dark time that I call "The 2010 Not-Football-or-Baseball Season." I am just thrilled that a real, honest-to-goodness sport--played by men...in America...for generations--has begun a new season. In all seriousness, thank you, God.