Just Not Into It This Year

Perhaps it's because the team I like, the Atlanta Braves, are 12-17 thus far. Perhaps it's because Barry Bonds is about to tie and pass Babe Ruth for second on the all-time home run list. Maybe it's because my dad is having a field day with the Detroit Tigers being in first place. Or, maybe it's for none of those reasons, which I don't think it is.

I used to love watching baseball. I'd rarely miss a Braves game. Even when it wasn't a Braves game, but involved two good teams or two great pitchers, I'd most likely catch some of it. But, I just don't care this year. There are 162 games in the season. They're nine-inning games and it's not like basketball, where the pace is quicker than a "Matrix" film (unless it's Princeton). It's not like hockey, where it's more physical than a "Rocky" movie (especially the upcoming one). It's also not like football, which is a combination of "Matrix" and "Rocky" films. No, baseball plays more like "Groundhog Day," where the day seems slow, and at the end of it, you have to start all over again. You hope that things will finally go your team's way at the end of the game, but you have to wait nine long innings (sometimes more) in order to get to that point. "Groundhog Day" is a fine film, but, I doubt any of the major sports would like to be compared to a film such as this. Bill Murray had to live the day how many times in the film? In baseball, these teams have to go through it nine innings every game and 162 games in a regular season.

There's a reason why I've stopped watching pro basketball and hockey during the regular season, because they're so long. Compared to baseball, though, they're nothing. In football, every game counts, which makes every game meaningful and exciting. If a team loses five in a row (especially in college), they're all but done. In baseball, if a team loses five in a row, then big deal. They have 157 games left to make up for it.

Being a Braves fan probably doesn't help matters any. Here's a team that's won 14 straight division titles, a record for all professional sports' teams. They have 1 world series title to show for it and have been to five world series (I believe) in that time span. Lately though, they've been one and done in the playoffs. They'll win the division and lose in the first round (usually in the maximum of five games). The Braves have become the Buffalo Bills of baseball, but only worse. It's not like the Bills won the AFC East 14 years in a row and then fell in the playoffs every year but one. What the Braves do have on Buffalo is the fact that they've at least won a title. Buffalo lost four consecutive super bowls. The season just isn't as exciting to Braves fans as it once was. Every year, we expect Atlanta to win the division and then to lose in the playoffs.

Baseball may be following a similar trend as basketball and hockey for me. I might watch a few games in the regular season, but won't pay too close attention until the playoffs come about.