August into September

It is a weird time. I remember as a kid it was an obvious time of transition. Summer was over and you had to go back to school. Then, as you grow up and get to College, you  almost openly root for  summer to end so you could go back to school and start tearing it up again. You still enjoyed summer but it was not the same doom and gloom of "back to school" as it used to be.

Fast forward to adulthood. I barely recognize the transition or when kids go back to school. The only way I know is because the traffic gets worse and there are school buses everywhere. It's striking. This used to be so much a part of my life. You always knew when Summer ended. Labor Day is next weekend and, I swear, my reaction to finding that out the other day was: "Huh. Seemed fast."

What  I do recognize now is the change in Sports seasons. It has started happening just recently; Apparently coinciding with my entering adulthood and subsequent loss of the education-imposed schedule. I begin April super pumped up about baseball. After all, it has been months since there was meaningful sporting event to watch. that excitement gets me through the lion's share of the summer. But then August comes, and with it NFL training camp.

Once I have training camp, and this year Hard Knocks is featuring my Jets, I almost completely forget about baseball. And, that's ok. While there are pennant races to keep track of, these are the dog days of summer. The season is about 130 games old. That is a lot of just straight up baseball. You need a break. Think of the baseball season like one of those Family Guy gags that goes on forever. At first its funny. then it keeps going and its still funny, but you're like "ok this is getting a little out of control" then it keeps on going and you're like "ok, this is dumb" then it keeps going and you find yourself cracking up at the absurdity of it all. That is baseball. I will be cracking up again come late September/October. Right now, though, I'm not feeling it.

Football is the perfect foil for baseball. It is violent, exciting and loud. And that's just training camp. Just when you are finally succumbing to the laid back pace of baseball and looking around for something more: Here comes Football. And really, it steps in perfectly for the end of Summer/Start of School transition. It is exactly like being home at the end of summer and you start getting tired of your parents and counting the days before you go back to school. It's not that you don't love your family. They're just kind of boring and you've had enough of them for the time being.

I love baseball, it will always be there for me, through thick and thin. I can't do keg stands with baseball, though.