With the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers Sunday night, the final football game has been played in the 2012-13 season.
Football fans were saddened following Alabama’s win over Notre Dame, but were able to take solace in that there was still NFL football. Now there is nothing.Along with all of you, I am also disappointed and will probably walk around campus in mourning for a few days thinking about the fact that another wonderful football season, with some of the most outrageous and head shaking storylines in recent years, is in the record books.
But after seeing Ray Lewis tell all of America that God loves him and his team more than the rest of us, I found a shimmer of hope for the future.
Baseball.
After the presentation of the Lombardi Trophy, I channel surfed for a few minutes and landed on the Mexico vs. Dominican World Baseball Classic qualifier game on ESPN2.
It was a coincidental find, but one I am the better for because it was a great game. I came into the contest in the top of the ninth, runners on second and third with two outs; talk about a pressure cooker. The Dominican pitcher proceeded to throw a passed ball to bring home the tying run and the pro-Mexico crowd went wild.
The game ended up going 12 innings and ended on a 3-2 count, bases load line drive into the gap to bring home the winning run in favor of the Dominican team. Talk about a great finish.
Not only did it remind me that the WBC is starting up, but it opened my eyes. Something that I have known all along finally clicked in my mind. The season is almost here.
Pitchers and catchers report in seven or eight days for their MLB clubs, and the college baseball season starts in less than two weeks – the Vols’ first game of the year is the 15th and the first home game is against Arizona State on the 22nd, kicking off a three-game series.For softball fans, the season is even closer.
The Lady Vols – who are preseason No. 5 and boast four preseason All-SEC players – start their season in the Red Desert Classic in just two days. Two days!
It should be another great year for the Weeklys and their program, but it’s also Dave Serrano’s second season here at Tennessee.
I don’t think this is the season for the Vols to explode onto the SEC scene – Gold Glover and Silver Slugger winner Chase Headley agreed when he was in town a few weeks back – but it will be a measuring stick to see how far they have come.
Some might think February is a boring sports month, and yes, it can be. But for those who really love sports, this is the month of build-up. College basketball teams separate themselves into great, good and mediocre programs; baseball kicks off the rust in preparation for another 162-game slate.
America’s favorite new sport might be at an end, but America’s pastime is just about to start.
— Austin Bornheim is a senior in journalism and electronic media. He can be reached at [email protected].
