No doubt about it, the month of March is saturated with a veritable cornucopia of sporting events. March is a time of joy for sports fans of all stripes.
Basketball on all levels is reaching a crescendo for rabid fans. High schools are involved in state championship tournaments. College teams at various levels are preparing for national tournaments.
March Madness is aptly named.
It will be awhile before the National Basketball Association gets around to its playoffs and championship series.
The folks who care about the NBA know that March means the seemingly endless season will churn on until mid-summer.
Professional hockey season would normally be on about the same schedule as the NBA – if the National Hockey League weren’t on what appears to be a mission to self-destruct by canceling the entire season due to a labor dispute.
However, college hockey has its own March Madness: Teams are involved in playoff competition.
Locally, the Springfield Spirit hockey team is playing.
The golf tournament season is under way, meaning TV cameras are glued on golfers playing on strikingly beautiful golf courses. You know the golf season is here when fans begin calling the biggest stars by their first names: Tiger (Woods), Vijay (Singh), and Phil (Mickelson).
It is said that stock car racing is America’s fastest growing sport. The NASCAR racing season is in full bloom; fans are elated.
To me, the sport is on the same spot on the hazardous-to-health spectrum as alligator wrestling, cobra training and scuba diving with sharks. But the fans love it, and the drivers seem to be willing to take the risks. More power to them.
Not all sports have national followings. For instance, in Hawaii, men’s volleyball is on par with basketball. Games involving University of Hawaii volleyball teams are regularly carried on TV. To locals, it is a huge part of the March sports horn of plenty.
Although this is professional football’s off-season, fan attention is focused on coaches being hired and fired, player trades, free-agent signing and preparations for the college draft. The season never ends for the dyed-in-the-wool pro football fan.
I don’t know when or how poker became a sport, but it must be: Poker games are a staple of the cable TV sports channels. To me, a bunch of guys playing poker on TV is like looking in a mirror and watching my hair grow, but for some, it’s apparently a part of the March sports mix.
March means baseball spring training is here. The game of baseball itself is having a hard time gaining public attention because of the steroid scandal.
It is hoped that the controversy will lead to declaring certain steroids off limits and create a surefire means of ensuring compliance. If this comes to pass, fans can compare the number of monster homeruns hit before and after steroids were banned. That should tell how much steroids have affected the game.
The advent of the baseball season always holds out hope that my favorite group of multimillionaires will win the World Series over another team of multimillionaires. Baseball is a harbinger of spring; bring it on.
Speaking of baseball, the Montreal Expos franchise has moved to Washington, D.C., due to a lack of attendance in Montreal.
Let me see if I have this straight. The original Washington Senators weren’t drawing fans; they became the Minnesota Twins. Later a second Washington Senators team was formed. It didn’t draw fans either and became the Texas Rangers.
Hmmm, the Expos franchise couldn’t draw fans and has moved to Washington, a city whose teams have twice been moved because they couldn’t attract fans. Sounds logical to me.
There’s lots of sports to follow. Let the good times roll!
Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.
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