Posing the question about the greatest sports month of the year is right up my alley. It's such an easy question to answer for me, so I'm going to make you sweat it out a bit before I tell you.
The Pro Football season starts in September, but I live in Chicago and I'm a Bear fan, so why would that be my favorite month? Watching an offense for most of my life that would make paint drying seem exciting doesn't get my blood boiling for the start of Fall.
Of course, the Bears just ruined that previous statement I made by doing the unthinkable, actually acquiring a real, honest-to-goodness NFL quarterback. I'm actually looking forward to the Bears this year, and I can't believe it.
I've always been jealous of other cities watching their teams play and saying, "Why can't we have a quarterback like that?" By golly, now we do.
The playoff races heat up in September in baseball, but I'm a Cub fan. So they'll either have it wrapped up without much drama, or they will have broken my heart again. Besides, nothing matters until October anyway.
October, what a month. I was born in October. The World Series is played in October. Funny, I've never seen the Cubs play in it. October is not my favorite sports month.
Our winter sports start in November with both the NBA and the NHL getting in the swing of things. But it's early, and I still haven't rediscovered hockey yet.
I've acknowledged that the Blackhawks do exist again, but I haven't given them much time since the reign of the mighty dictator "Dollar" Bill Wirtz.
The Bulls are relevant again with Derrick Rose; just not very good yet. Besides, as a Bulls fan from the '90s, the season doesn't start until June anyway, because that's when we hoist the trophy.
I won't be doing that this June, so that's not my favorite month either.
I live in Chicago, so December, January, and February are automatically out. Do you have any idea what our winters are like? You don't want to know.
So what do we have left? It looks like March, April, May, and June.
March is out because like I said before, I live in Chicago, and the weather still sucks in March.
July only has baseball going on, so even though I love baseball, the answer can't be July.
May has the basketball and hockey playoffs, along with baseball getting into full swing. It's a good month, but not the best month.
April may have the playoffs and the Masters, but that's not what makes it my favorite sport month.
I do like the NFL draft. There's a picture of me in my high school yearbook listening to a transistor radio. Yes, I am that old. I was listening to the NFL draft.
The draft is about hope. Drafting future stars so that February could become relevant. Of course with the Bears, that never pans out, but like I mentioned earlier, they shocked me with Cutler, so who knows?
April is about dreams, and that means baseball is back after a long, miserable winter of snow, ice, cold, bristling winds whipping off the lake, driving in slush, and scraping the snow and ice off of your car so you can see out the window to drive.
Did I mention I hated winter?
Baseball is back and as a fan of the North Side team, the Chicago Cubs, hope springs eternal. The Cubs have not lost a game yet. They can still fulfill my boyhood dream of winning the World Series.
Of course, it's been a long time since I've been a boy, but I become one every April on Opening Day when the umpire says, "Play ball."
I'm running home from school to catch the end of the game, listening to Jack Brickhouse hype up the team, even though they rarely warranted it.
"Hey Hey" was the popular refrain as Ernie Banks belted another home run. He was my favorite player.
Walking up the steps at Wrigley always brings a thrill to me like the first time I did it, seeing the green grass and beautiful baseball diamond, looking at the ancient scoreboard and the ivy.
Okay, the ivy hasn't grown in yet, but it will. It always comes back, and so do I, despite all the pain I have suffered throughout the years.
I am a boy again, and life is just starting. All my hopes and dreams are still there. They haven't been dashed or stomped on yet. There is eternal hope, and that's what baseball and the Cubs are about, and that's why April is my favorite month.
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