Baseball about to go on strike? Make the most of it.
As you’ll be reading a plethora of MLB strike articles throughout this week, discussing anything from possible solutions to animosity towards the players, let me fill you in on a little secret.I will be benefiting from the work stoppage in many ways.
First, the potential strike eliminates the known stress of having to follow your favorite team in a pennant race. People have lost their jobs, and livelihood, due to some of the superstitions they hold just to ensure nightly victories. Forget about lucky socks, I’m talking eating disgusting vegetables, crouching in the fetal position (without moving a muscle) while your team is at bat, and making sure those who enter your room are only emitting positive vibes.
I have been a longtime scoreboard watcher, monitoring other teams that are also in the hunt. I’ll be glad to know that no longer will I have to calculate magic numbers, the number of games back in the loss column, remaining schedules, and cheering whenever a star player gets hurt on the other team. I’ll also get to stop ignoring my girlfriend while I’m sitting glued to my computer, monitoring MLB gamecast, waiting for the next pitch to update.
Secondly, when you take away a sport in which your team plays on six out of every seven days, you’ll soon find yourself with a bit more free time. For instance, did you know there is this new show ‘American Idol’? It provides all the drama of baseball with slightly better looking contestants. And forget about relying on the manager to make the decision.if you think this player has to go, you get to vote them off.
If the strike ends up lasting until October, this would put the postseason in jeopardy for the second time in eight years. Since I wasn’t a big fan in ’94, I wasn’t really affected by not getting to watch the World Series that year. This time around, I’ll feel
the impact.
No more cutting class just so I can watch the first round playoff games, which, for some reason, always start at one in the afternoon on a Monday.don’t other people have work and school also? Who goes to these games? For some reason, the playoffs always seem to put me behind in my classes, and I guess that’s why my best semester in college was the fall of 2000 – the year my team was not in the
postseason.
If you’re taking away the World Series, this likely eliminates having to hear it from every closet-Yankee fan, who claims to have been a supporter since the dog-days of Deion Sanders hitting inside-the-park home runs. Also, a Fall Classic could potentially end your friendship with these people, especially if you decide to stick it to them when they lose.on bloop singles, in the bottom of the ninth inning of game 7, with the “hammer of god” on the mound.
If you’re still craving some competitive sports, why not turn to the NFL? Here’s a league where, not only does every team have a shot at the beginning of the year, the winner will probably be unexpected (1999 – Rams, 2000 – Ravens, 2001 – Patriots, 2002 – Texans?). There are no complaints from players, as the maximum multi-year contract pays slightly under 90 million (that’s Chan Ho Park money if you’re in baseball). Also, they only play once a week, giving you plenty of time to catch up on homework, loved ones, gardening.whatever.
Considering the obsession with baseball in St. Louis, it’s understandable to feel bad if baseball decides to cancel the season. Even when the Rams were running off unprecedented success, this city was still enamored with the Cardinals winning the NL Central division, and then going on to lose miserably in the NLCS. While Kurt Warner should have reached complete god-like status, fans were reserving that spot for Placido Polanco.
Maybe this time around, St. Louisans will realize that life goes on without baseball, Busch stadium, and the Budweiser song during the eighth inning.
Maybe WU students will not go out and splurge 150 dollars to get a satellite dish primarily to watch all the MLB teams you can (reserve this for NFL and NBA games, far better reasons for the investment).
And, by some miraculous turn of events, maybe there won’t be a strike this Friday that puts all of baseball in jeopardy. In that case, I gotta go check the scores on my cell phone, and prepare for a night of monitoring games at a computer (sorry, honey).