I don’t remember what year I started this, but it was probably in the early 1990s. Back in the day, as the Super Bowl mercifully came to an end (these were the days when the games were usually blowouts) I would turn to my ex-wife and utter the following:
“Well, the Super Bowl is over, so you know what that means?”
“What?” she would innocently ask.
“FIFTEEN DAYS UNTIL PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT!!!”
She caught on after about three years of that, but now we have a different problem.
You see, back in the day the Super Bowl was contested in January. (This brought about a different issue since my young nephew’s birthday was always celebrated on Super Bowl Sunday. I married into an all-female, non-sports fan family. He was the first boy in fifty years.) Spring training always started in mid- to late February, meaning there was a monthlong dead period of hockey and basketball before the exhibition games began.
Over the years, though, the NFL has pushed the Super Bowl farther and farther back, beginning when they adopted a bye week for all teams. That pushed the Super Bowl back to the first Sunday in February - which was at times its own quandary since every few years that’s our anniversary. Now by adopting a 17-game season yet keeping the bye week, we have a Super Bowl that’s well into February. (At least it misses the anniversary now.)
And then you have the other side. While there’s no World Baseball Classic this year, Major League Baseball is resurrecting something they’re occasionally done before and opted to start the season with regular season games held overseas a week or so before Opening Day. Because of that, those two participants will get to start Spring Training early, too.
So now that blows my whole punchline because the Dodgers will have had their pitchers and catchers report prior to the Super Bowl while the Padres are waiting until the day of. Thus, I’m like - what do I say? Should I go by the date my Tigers report, which I believe is the 14th?
I think this year I’ll go with some new material based on the circumstances. Regardless, Opening Day is almost here so I have some work to do: pleasing predictions, fearless forecasts, and figuring out itineraries for your prospective travel pleasure. It’ll keep me occupied, that’s for sure!