Almost the best time of the year

Each person probably has their own ideas about when the best time of the year is. For many it may be the holidays or maybe it is springtime when everything is coming back to life.

For me the best time of the year is right now...sept and oct. It helps that september in texas is the first month when you usually get to feel the relief from the long summer. The mornings start to get cool and crisp and you know before long you will be out of the 100 degree days for good. I think october is the best month weather wise in texas, and now that I live in DFW, it is also the time for the fair which means corn dogs, cotton candy, funnel cakes and other artery cloggers that are just too good to pass up.

But the real reason I love this time of year - sports!

Yep, the end of baseball season which means pennant races and the playoffs on the horizon. As well as the beginning of football season which is to me the most enjoyable event to watch now. Baseball playoffs will always be a stop down for me, but in recent years I have gotten more and more turned off because they start and end so late at night. It almost killed me watching the astros last season trying to stay up with them.

So football has kind of taken its place in the stop down for me. Most big games are saturday or sunday afternoon. I think one reason is that there is just one game a week for a team instead of 6 or 7 like in baseball. So it is easier to say, i am going to schedule this game watching into my afternoon, rather than trying to fit in all the baseball games of the playoffs.

Another reason that I like football so much is because of fantasy football. I know this may be geeky, but to me it is a lot of fun. If I had money riding on all the leagues I am in I would be a degenerate gambler. The internet has made it so easy to keep up with this stuff. I remember when I played in college we were all calculating our scores from the box scores in the paper on monday morning. Now the internet and all its free services do that for you.

I also have the ability to feel like the general manager. For example in one of the leagues I am in I picked up Reggie Bush of the saints. Just like the actual Texans should have done last april. At least now I feel somewhat vindicated.

It is fun to play in leagues because in a way is keeps me connected to my family and friends who are either far away or I just don't see that often. For instance this year I am in one league with my brother and his friends (a couple of whom I could do without - but it is the price you pay), my brother-in-law and his buddies at work, and my memphis friend and his extended family.

SO if I seem to be walking with a bit more bounce in my step you will know that I am just excited for the best time of the year, and it is just around the corner.