The first chill was felt in the air last week. Pumpkin spice everything is on the menu everywhere. Oktoberfest flavors are available to wash it all down. The leaves have turned, and weekly grass cutting is over. Autumn decor adorns the inside of the house, and some spooky stuff awaits trick-or-treaters outside. The candy they'll get for knocking on our door has already been purchased.
Regardless of the Yuletide carol that says otherwise, October, for me, is truly the most wonderful time of the year. The advantage it has over Christmas and the summertime is the combination of all these mentioned things plus something else. Something unique to this time of year: All. The. Sports.
Spring is close, with its March Madness and break from the cold. But it has pollen. And we lose an hour then, and these days, we can all use any extra time we can get, even if it's just 60 minutes. Advantage: Fall.
But oh, all those sports... I just watched the Braves blow a three-run lead against the Dodgers and the chance to go for a near-Pennant-clinching, three-games-to none lead over the defending World Series winners. It's a bummer, but it's been an exciting series to watch—especially with two walk-off wins already. There's another good game going on in the American League on another channel. Must-see match-ups to determine the champions of our traditional national pastime are on every night.
Then there's football, our actual national pastime. It's on just about every day. Now, for those like me who are fans of football from the southern end of the Florida peninsula, significant pigskin play has been written off already just a few weeks into the season. But the rest of the pro and college teams give plenty of gridiron action to enjoy, with no shortage of stakes and storylines. I had just about given up on college football because there's never any parity, but then the crazy upset weekend happened in October and things got interesting. Falls are made for drama.
Even when my football teams pull their usual bitterly disappointing performances, there's always fantasy football each autumn, which, while rarely a winning endeavor for me as well, always keeps me tuned in. And while pointless, the drafting of players is always a lot of fun.
It's not just diamonds and yard-lines either... The NBA tips things off in the fall, too, as does hockey, so there's always something for everyone. Personally speaking, this time of year is also cross-country season, meaning very early starts to our Saturdays, but always an exciting finish to enjoy at each race.
I love the spooky season with its haunts and all, but the ballgames are the cherry on top for the ultimate season on the calendar. Or to be more fall appropriate, the pumpkin spice in the latte.
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