We are in an awkward sports phase. Fans go through this a few times every year. I like to call this time period The Transition. The Transition is not easy. Yet, somehow, we do it.
Fall sports are ending and winter sports are starting. College football season is coming to a close. Weber State football only has three more games. Women’s soccer is heading to the Big Sky Championship tournament. Volleyball is on its last few matches.
Major League Baseball is on its last series, a series we have waited half a year for. This has turned out to be an interesting World Series. A few upsets have occurred and fans have been glued to the final series.
We still have the NFL, but it’s the boring part of the season. The middle. I know that every game counts toward playoff chances, but the middle is not as exciting as the beginning or the end of the season. Come Sunday, we are glued to our TVs, but we have lost some of the excitement.
With all these things ending, peaking and lulling, we are transitioning. We are heading into college basketball and the NBA seasons. Our attention is shifting, and we are starting to gain our sports excitement again.
Last night, my Facebook blew up with Purple and White Game excitement. Damian Lillard was there, which only added to the hoo-hah. But there is a general excitement for college and professional basketball.
With the conflicting end of football versus start of basketball, where are our loyalties? We are confused. We may not realize this, but every year at this time, we are wanderers in a sport world. We are overloaded with awesome sports to watch.
Everyone has their favorite sport or team. A team or sport we love above everything else. I, for example, would rather watch the Ravens’ games over any NBA basketball game (which may change now that Dame is in the NBA). As for our dear Wildcats, I have to watch everything. Either I am covering the game or I am working in the ticket office; I don’t have a choice which one I can watch.
What do we do when we are placed in the situation of having to choose, what to watch and who to cheer for? We have two options: Neglect one and bask in the other, or embrace them both.
Neglecting one and basking in the other creates an inner conflict. You can miss out on a lot. It can bring regret and an unfulfilled yearning.
Embracing both is tough. Embracing both takes up time we don’t have. Especially being students, with homework, work, friends and home life, we are limited on time. I am conflicted. I don’t know what to embrace or what to neglect.
Both of these options are not solid solutions. There has got to be a happy medium somewhere. I haven’t found yet. I am still working on it. If you have found it, please enlighten me. Whenever I find it, I will shout for joy and share it.
For now, I will just wade slowly through The Transition. I am going to take my sports adoration one day at a time. If there is a conflict, I will tackle it as it comes. I will wish for time to speed up just a little so The Transition will end and my overloaded sports mind can have a breather.
