Sports Void After Football

Now that the football season is finally about over with this Sunday's Super Bowl, I am left with a choice to make about which sports I should follow for the next few weeks. I have never been able to get into hockey, so that's out. Basketball is the major sport left between now and the start of major league baseball in April. But I have lost interest in the professional National Basketball Association due to the way that its players keep hopping from one team to another. It reminds me of that old Twilight Zone episode where a man keeps dreaming the same nightmare over and over again about being in prison on death row, with the only difference between successive dreams being that the characters in the story keep changing roles. For example, I used to follow the Utah Jazz because of Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. Now Boozer is with Chicago and Williams plays for New Jersey. Or take Denver: two of the Nuggets' standout players are no longer there: Carmelo Anthony is with New York and Chauncey Billips is on the Celtics roster. Yet both Utah and Denver are doing well this year with other personnel. But why bother following them when, in all probability their current stars will just split and join up with other teams down the road the first chance they get. I know that turnover in professional sports, due to free agency and trading, is common. But in the NBA it is running rampant and, in my opinion, diminishes the character of the various teams. So maybe I'll just steer clear of the pro hoops this year...

However, NCAA college basketball promises a lot of excitement, and its season is in full gear right now with conference play. Later, in March, the championship tournament will commence, something that I have traditionally followed for years. Now in the colleges, there is also much turnover. But this is mostly predictable, with players on teams being followed as they progress through their college careers from freshman and sophomore to junior and finally senior. Sometimes, college players do transfer to other schools. But it is pretty uncommon. It is annoying to see players opt out early for the NBA and thus see their college careers cut short, although I sympathize with their legitimate desire to cash in on their talent. Still, I am not likely to see a basketball version of musical chairs in the college ranks like I do in the pros.

Yes, college basketball will have to tide me over until baseball...