Dear October
I’ve written this ode before, but it deserves to be heard every year. After the crushing winter cold and ever unwavering summer scorch we are blessed with October. Temped breeze and hearthen sun provide a warm and comforting blanket for just 3 short weeks before the biting cold comes to ravage the fingers and toes. The tenth nigh of the year is the most rewarding to fans of Sports in this country as well.
It is ideal temperature to be outside. To witness the pure adrenaline of the live sporting event the weather beckons the common man to the stadium. and as cited in my original piece the colors of the day and the way the sun hits the earth create a more competitive atmosphere. October is also the time all four national sports play at the same time. The MLB has its playoffs, which are really where baseball gets palatable for those like me not addicted to the sport. The NHL kicks off and for four brief weeks we are re introduced to the beauty and majestic power of the fastest game on earth. The NBA re starts and anticipation of what new players on new teams will mean for the league becomes exciting before Christmas when all dreams are inevitably crushed by the Warriors. The NFL finds its stride as a sport and games start to become more and more critical. October truly has everything for the sports fan.
We are blessed with such a month once a year by only the grace of god, so we must cherish it. Get your TVs, laptops, tablets, phones any and all screens all teed up. Watch 5 games at a time, plug into the twittersphere to have your timeline endlessly destroyed by so called analysts and their endless takes. Submerse yourself in the art of loving October by for a month becoming a junky. A sports junky whose only sweet relief is a walk off home run, or an opening night hat trick, the yearning that can only be healed by a buzzer beater or a walk off field goal. Believe in the magic of October, I beg of you, it may be the only pure thing our world has left to offer.
Love
Eric Jensen