A Weekend Without Sports

[DOUGHBOYS]

Well, that was depressing.
In the late 1800's, a New York newspaper ran a poll. They wanted only the women of each household to respond.
It was a one question poll.
The question was this.
"If there was one thing that you wish were never invented for your husband, what would it be?
The overwhelming response....
The ball.

Men are proud. Most men enjoy and get a satisfaction in being the bread winners for their family.
Most women in the poll explained that the ball distracted their men from their work.
The ball has always provided that distraction.
Because not only are men proud, they are competitive.
In the 1800's, a lot of men worked six-seven days a week. Some taking Sundays off.
In the early 1900's, work conditions and the recreation of Saturday and Sunday being the weekend changed that.
At the forefront of recreation, was the ball.
Playing ball, any kind of ball, became an obsession for men.
Some enjoyed games with balls so much, that they would actually pay for the privilege of watching others play it better.
Organized and professional leagues started.
We bough radios, so that we could keep up with our favorite teams.
Their games went over tv signals.
Now, we can watch several sports at any time of the day via highlights or actual games.

But not this weekend.
Its been taken away from us.
Not a sniff of sports anywhere.
We could watch reruns of old games but we'd only be fooling ourselves.
We need the rush of not knowing what is going to happen.

The women in that poll were right. The ball is, indeed, a distraction.
But, men need distraction.
If not the ball, that distraction may come in forms that women would abhor more than the ball.
Drinking. Gambling. Chasing skirts. All come to mind.
At least with ball, the women knew where their man was.
Without the ball?
Men feel a little lost. Or worse, bored.
I know I was this weekend.
If you remember the movie 'Airplane', there were the lines...
"I picked a bad time to quit smoking!" and "I picked a bad time to quit drinking!"
For me, I picked a bad time to retire!

[DOUGHBOYS]

Worse than the above, we're going to have to adjust to LIFE without sports for the foreseeable future.
Sports has always been my mistress.
When not doing something related to the family, it's a sure bet that I'd be doing something that revolves around sports.
That has been taken away by Thad.

My wife saw me in the dumps and suggested I enter a new draft.
Can you imagine?
A wife telling her husband to draft!
But, I have no inclination.
It seems like it would be a draft to nowhere.
It's not like the PreMature when baseball is still being played.
And it's not like the drafting season when there is new. New news almost every day.
Now, there are no games. No news.
We don't even know if there'll be a season.
And if there is, will it be 80, 100, 120, 140 games?
I don't know. Nobody does.
A draft now, would seem like taking a drug. Feeling good for a little while, until wearing off.
No thanks.

Eat shit, Thad.

(Thad has caused death and destruction to families across the world. They have far larger problems than I.
Understood.
So yes, these posts sound a little selfish. But, I know the audience.
If like me, you're dying a little bit each day.
And it SUCKS!)