'Tis the Season

‘Tis the season–the season of the best sports viewing for this old sports enthusiast. I can now find a sporting event to watch every night of the week.

On most Sundays I can grab a bag of Cheetos, settle in, and watch the Vikings sail on their quest for a football playoff spot. Will they win without Captain Kirk as their leader? Can the new quarterback Dobbs, or one of the other backups lead them to victory?

Oh boy, Jefferson is healthy: can’t wait to see the offense shift into high gear. The defense gets better every game; can they blitz enough, create turnovers and lead the team to a hard-fought victory? It’s a lot of fun being a Vikings fan and watching their games. Win or lose, it’s great entertainment.

I didn’t used to be an NBA basketball fan, but this season the Timberwolves have caught my attention. I’m actually enjoying watching their games. One nice thing about watching professional basketball is, you don’t have to spend three hours watching a game, just tune in somewhere in the fourth quarter. Your Timberwolves may be leading or trailing by 20 points during those first hours, but everything heats up sometime during the fourth quarter. Through some magical process, they’ve finally learned how to play defense, share the ball, and play for each other.

The Wolves have three stars in Anthony Edwards, Kat (Karl Anthony Towns), and big man Rudy Gobert. The “supporting cast” has really developed a team chemistry. Conley, a veteran NBA guard, really distributes and takes care of the basketball. Walker, McDaniels, Brown Jr., and crowd favorite Naz Reid, along with others, have all contributed greatly to the fact that the Timberwolves currently own the best record in the NBA.

I don’t know much about hockey (and really can’t tell you what an “offside” is), but I also enjoy watching The Wild play. They weren’t doing well to start the season and so they fired their coach. Now that the new man is in place, they’ve started winning hockey games. To me, hockey is simply all about having an outstanding goal tender. I look forward to The Wild finding their stride and again becoming a winning Minnesota favorite.

College sports are now also prime time viewing. I enjoy watching both the men and the women. Gopher basketball and Gopher hockey are now on channels throughout the week, with the Big Ten network hosting a variety of different teams. I especially enjoy watching the ladies play volleyball; so athletic, they leap and spike in the blink of an eye. Wisconsin and Nebraska from the Big Ten are now in the semifinals for the national championship. I root for the Big 10 conference. 

Oh, yes, the football bowl games are cranking up. There seem to be an endless number of bowl games, one to view every day in mid December. I look forward to the national college championship game: Go Michigan!--the representative from the Big 10.

High school winter sports are also now in their prime time. I hope to get to a few boys’ and girls’ basketball games. Many Bluejay athletic events are now streamed, so I watch some of them on TV. Dan White and Kugie do a wonderful job broadcasting Bluejay contests on the radio; I’ll be tuning in for some exciting play by play.

Every grandparent enjoys watching grandkids play sports, participate in band or choir, or become active in other extracurricular events. When I share my stories with other grandparents and they share theirs with me, we talk about how long the walk always seems to the farthest diamond in the complex on a 90-degree day, or how far the “nearest” parking spot was away from field number 6. There are also the back injuries we acquire from carrying chairs or sitting on hard, uncomfortable bleachers. Despite the hardships, it’s a real joy watching your fifth-grader carry the football for a long touchdown run on a cold, frosty, windy, blustery fall morning.

‘Tis the season in sporting events that is truly a favorite–watching my grandsons play basketball in the Mankato West program. Grandsons Nathan, a fourth-grader; Ryan, a seventh-grader; and Evan, a sophomore, are all busy participating in basketball games. I choose the contests that are fairly nearby and have great handicap parking. I’ve watched Nathan play three games in Janesville and four games in Owatonna. The games didn’t have a long down time in between, so I watched a ton of basketball. Janesville had a wonderful facility; I even watched one game from comfortable auditorium seating. At the new Owatonna high school, there were four gyms full of action. Nathan played against Waseca in one of the games; it was really fun watching one of my former students coach the Waseca team. I’ve watched Ryan on some streamed games on my TV; I’ll wait to watch in person when he plays closer to home. I attended a B-Squad game and watched Evan in Owatonna. What a beautiful, state-of-the art new gym. The scoreboard is unbelievable–Huskies emblems everywhere, a shiny new floor, a gym truly worth visiting. The new 35-second shot clock had absolutely no effect on the game.

As I drove home after the excitement on a calm, dark, beautiful winter evening, I really noticed farms and homes decorated with Christmas lights all throughout the countryside. As I came into Waseca, there were many homes festooned with colorful features. 

I felt the warmth, the joy, the “merry” of the season. I felt “holiday happy,” even without any snow. 

It really ‘Tis the season, the best season of the year.