It's January, and the football portion of our year is about to wind up, with the hardcore holding out for the Pro Bowl and attendant hoopla of the Super Bowl, not to mention the plethora of Bowls that will occur prior to handing the Dr. Pepper trophy to the "best" college team in the country. Then there's a void that includes watching hours of NFL films and trying to generate interest in draft combines and potential trades and coaching changes. But really, these next few weeks take all that enthusiasm for football and force it through an ever-shrinking opening that makes a Championship feel like the pinnacle.
Then, it will be done. There will be hockey. Pitchers and catchers report in mid-February. And we can continue to watch Tiger Woods' endorsement deals evaporate. But while we patiently await the return of Sports As We Know It, we can amuse ourselves with what amounts to the "other" big deal: Professional basketball. I can only admit to a passing interest in the progress of the NBA regular season. One game a week in the NFL provides me with just enough distraction to get me through, but watching basketball two or three times in a seven-day period is just too much. Unless you add the added incentive of urban crime drama: According to the New York Post, Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other during a Christmas Eve locker room argument over a gambling debt. The Wizards are not the best team in the league, and they are not currently the worst, when you consider ten wins in thirty games keeps them a game better than our local franchise. What makes them exciting is the "North Dallas Forty" vibe. While the NFL continues to clean its house, the NBA is showing up as a solid diversion for those pigskin-free months that stretch on ahead of us. All of a sudden, I don't miss Tonya Harding so much.
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