Downtime

Have you ever wanted to do something really bad and not known what to do when the opportunity arose?I wanted to write tonight. I had no ideas for stories or plays or theories or anything; heck, I could not even think of a new anti-war poem to write to add to my collection. I tried to think about sporting events or happenings that deserved my attention, but nothing clicked. I even tried to write a children’s book just so I could write. Nothing I tried succeeded.

But I wanted to write.

So here I am, writing, forcing my word onto this screen. Ideas running through my mind- Moss’s moonings and Beltran’s bundles of bucks and Barret’s bi-polar mishap. Scores running across the screen- Suns keep losing, as do Hornets and Agassi winning and golf in Hawaii.

And now I realize it: there is nothing left.

College football, my true passion, is over. Horse racing, my back-up passion, is in the low part of the year. My team is actually in the NFL playoffs, which means the games are serious for me (and hence my 1-7 ATS and 2-6 SU mark thus far). There is no hockey to fall back on (nothing beats walking inside from -14,000,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit to watch ice hockey on television) and college wrestling is a pain to follow with a computer traveling at half the speed of a Ron White joke and little television exposure.

There is nothing left.

So I have tried to make up my own hockey, but my knowledge in BASIC has long since disappeared. All I remember how to do is to rig my game so the Marlins go 162-0 every year. Kinda boring.

So I have tried to watch the NBA, but for some reason I always accidentally (…not…) change the channel whenever a game starts (…through the time it ends…).

So I have tried to figure out which college football games I’ll go to next year, but the schedules are not out yet.

I have almost beaten GTA: San Andreas. Only a dozen more missions to go (damn flight school held me up for 3-4 weeks).

And now I realize that it is the same thing every year. My NCAA Football video game from 3 years ago (or more?) had not had anything saved since 01/16/04 when I finally played it again 01/05/05. I opened files on my computer, which had a full projected NCAA tournament bracket: 10 from January and 7 from February; only 1 from March. I even looked at my list of things that should get Billy Donovan fired, created 02/10/04 and last saved 03/22/04. I could go on.

This is the down time for me every year. It just is. The NBA bores me to death, and I care (somewhat) about my life and thus I don’t watch it.

I could care less that my Miami Heat are dominating the East. It does not affect me that this could be their best year since ’96, or even ever. It does not affect me that they could go to the NBA finals. I don’t even care if they beat the hometown Knicks (I live on LI for those who do not already know or could not figure out why I flew into Islip once).

College basketball is no longer interesting. It has become so dull.

Thanks to Billy Donovan, Florida is talent-wise a top-10 team and may not make the En-Cee-Double-Eay Tournament. He cannot coach. Ron Zook was truly his protégé.

Worst of all, this is my second winter without reason to campaign for the dismissal of Dan Reeves, an activity that I was semi-devoted to when I felt like it.

As the economy continues to recover from its recession, winter sports does not. It has now become a depression. If the Cardinals were in the playoffs, they’d have just as good a chance to win the Super Bowl as the Steelers (assuming they don’t trade away the entire offensive line, secondary, and the linebackers’ coach in the week in the interim). The NFL is that dilute in talent.

So I keep rambling on and on and on and on, but it is my truth. January is the heart of the boringness of the year. Sports bottom out in January-February (like the Golden State Warriors) and peak in October-November (like the Golden State Warriors). And thus there is nothing to write about in January (like the Golden State Warriors).

So I’ll survive this season with a hope of a better March. It may be freezing outside, but at least it is not freezing inside.

I guess this is why all the awards shows are in winter. They want the sports audience. But I won’t watch ’em; I want to keep my dignity.

But there is always hope. The grass is always greener on the other side, especially when the side you are on is winter.

Welcome to 2005. Sports will be welcomed in March.