Baseball VS Football

This is usually the time of year where I start getting excited about the upcoming baseball season.

I don't feel it this year.

And I'm not alone. As a kid, I expected the Twins to win every game and storm into the playoffs every year. And I was spoiled because they always did.. The first year I was got interested in, and started paying attention to baseball was 1969. That was the first year that baseball had divisions, before that it was just one big league and the team with the best record went to the World Series.

Before 1969, there were no playoffs. I didn't even realize that until years later. 1969 was the magic year for me. The Twins were great. They won their division. They lost to Baltimore of course, but there was always next year. And the Twins were good enough to always contend for the division title even when they didn't win it. I was a big Twins fan all the way through college, even though  the Twins had lost much of their earlier magic.

As I said, I was spoiled.  1987 and 1991 were amazing, but the bad years were so bad that I stopped paying attention all the time.

After that, it took a good contending team to keep my interest.  I guess that happens to most adults.

But football is different. I can enjoy it even when the Vikings aren't playing well. MOST good to great teams have MOST of their games on television every week, so you can follow them and get to know them. You don't live or die with their losses like you do with the Vikings so they are actually at times more pleasurable to watch.

AND...since there is only one game a week per team, you can follow a lot more teams. Better yet, if you give the top college football games a try on Saturdays, you can enjoy even more great football action. And great football has an attraction that baseball can't match. You can enjoy the entire football season even when the Vikings are playing horribly.

You can't do that with baseball.

I'm looking forward to the Super Bowl this Sunday. Two great teams and a rooting interest is all I need. And I really won't mind if either team wins. Football is great that way.

Enjoying baseball depends on the Twins being a winner. Football is great even when the Vikings aren't.