From Worst to First, August Sports…

Arizona Sports News online

On the sports calendar, August has been my least favorite month by a long, long ways.

Not this year. 

Have you been taking in the Coyotes and Suns the last couple of weeks? Whether they are true playoff games doesn’t matter. They are contests that count. Games that could lead to a true postseason.

The PGA Championship on a 112 degree day? Are you kidding me! Love watching Bryson snap his driver and Tiger drop darts. 

The Diamondbacks finally woke up from a long summer’s nap and take me to the edge of my seat the last couple of nights. 

I’m finding myself watching the NBA  on TNT and ESPN. Dialing up MLB games on their APP. There’s no good reason to take in Rockies vs Giants, but I just can’t get enough. 

You know what I don’t miss? Preseason NFL football. Not…one…bit. Not that I was ever a fan of glorified scrimmages to begin with. 

The hype machine and money grab by the NFL every August at the expense of their most valued assets, the players, has been sickening to me. As great a game as football is, there’s no place for four or five preseason games. The workforce is already being put in harms for 16-20 weeks depending on the length of the postseason. Fans  put down hard earned money to watch backups to backups audition for a job, while the star player is wearing a ball cap or a visor and doesn’t even take the field? The NFL is a game of attrition. Less is more.

I’m hopeful that both the NBA and NHL will take a good hard long look at what’s happening in their industry right now and strongly consider moving seasons to start in late December and end by Labor Day weekend. August could go from worst to first.