January has the
Rose Bowl. February has the Daytona 500. March . . . madness! The Masters is
played in April, the Kentucky Derby is run in May. June has the NBA Finals,
while Wimbledon commands our attention in July. The NFL kicks off in September,
the World Series takes center stage in October. If all the gridiron action isn’t
enough, November offers Thanksgiving and December Christmas. All of which leaves
us with . . .
August.
They don’t call
’em “the dog days” for nothing. (And how about an extra dose of compassion for
the greyhounds running at Southland this month? A deeper water dish, and an
extra nap or two would be nice this month.) With apologies to my sweet wife (her
birthday makes the month worth celebrating by itself), August is a month that
left sports fans behind. And nary a holiday break for the full 31 days.
The PGA
Championship? A distant fourth among golf’s four major events. Tennis’ U.S.
Open? Sure, it starts in August, but ends in September, the late-summer shadows
over Arthur Ashe Stadium reminding us that, yes(!), we sports fans can return to
our viewing pleasure. Poor August. Herewith, four ideas for the sports-minded to
survive the year’s longest (and hottest) month.
Brush up
on your sports literature. And no pictures! John Feinstein’s Season on the
Brink, George Will’s Men at Work, David Halberstam’s October 1964, and Tim
McCarver’s Baseball for Brain Surgeons are among the books I’d happily take to
the hammock with me. For fiction lovers, you might try John Grisham’s Bleachers.
You can read it in a day, and if you played so much as jayvee sports in high
school, the story’s bittersweet reflections will feel quite personal.
Movie
time. That Braves-Marlins game on TBS not doing much for your Friday night? Hit
your local video store for a sports flick. Where to begin? Well, for my popcorn,
Raging Bull (with Robert DeNiro as Jake LaMotta) is among the 20 finest
films ever made, let alone sports movies. From Rocky to Cinderella Man,
boxing is the second best sports genre on the silver screen. Then there’s
baseball, Hollywood style. Bull Durham and Field of Dreams are the
only Kevin Costner movies I can watch twice, the original Bad News Bears
is so good my daughter learned of Hank Aaron as a mere first-grader, and The
Natural is worth watching just to see the Sundance Kid swing a bat (and
smash those stadium lights!). Even second-tier baseball movies (i.e. The Sandlot
or Hardball) are worth their two hours in August.
Attic
treasure hunting. Whether it’s baseball cards, a souvenir pennant from your
first big-league game, your letter jacket from high school, or the softball
jersey you fit into five summers ago, sports memories abound in attics
worldwide. The trick, of course, is surviving August temperatures as you dig
through the dust, boxes, and packing peanuts. Fellas, time to pack that cooler
with some ice-cold, frosty suds, and act like this mission is as important as a
mid-September tailgate party (not much cooler then, here in Memphis). Ladies, a
gin and tonic will never refresh more than over that box of yearbooks. And yes,
soccer shorts made your legs rather special.
Finally,
the best suggestion I can offer for sports nuts in August: imitate your heroes.
Head to the batting cages, gather the crew for some pickup hoops, take the
family out for an afternoon of tennis, play 36 holes next weekend instead of 18
(no carts!), maybe even jog a few laps around the block. There may not be all
that much to cheer in the sports world this last, dog-eat-dog month of summer.
Which makes for an entirely appropriate time to put in the sweat work yourself.
At least till Labor Day.
