Sports, Christmas, and the 2008 Elections

A number of years ago, I went to a professional basketball game. After battling the traffic, searching for a parking space, walking an exhausting distance, and pushing through the humanity that flooded the stadium, I finally found my seat and prepared to thoroughly enjoy my very first NBA game sans television. Within a short time, I wished I had stayed home. The game, except for the last four minutes, had all the excitement of watching grass grow.

Down the court would go one team to score a basket. Then the other team would rush down to the opposite end to score a basket. And so it went until the very end. Finally, there seemed to be exciting plays, struggles to shoot, and, in a flurry of energy, the game was over. I don’t even remember who won. To me, the game was boring. Later, I went to another NBA with the same results. I haven’t been back to a game in nearly twenty years. A friend said the other day that he never watches major league baseball until the playoffs. Boring, he said, and too many games before the excitement kicks in.

Two days after Labor Day, I was in a local store shopping for something or the other. There, in the middle of the store, was a fully lighted and decorated Christmas tree. It was 95 degrees outside and still summertime! All of which brings me to the 2008 election cycle. It all started far too early, there is no excitement, no anticipation, and I am bored!

How many candidates are there for president? I forget. It seems like dozens and, for the most part, the only thing that has been accomplished, as far as I am concerned, is that, if the election were held today, I wouldn’t vote for any of them.

By the time we get to the actual election, I not sure any body will care. I watched a couple of the alleged debates…boring. I’ve listened to a number of speeches but, after so many months, it all begins to sound like the adult characters in the “Peanuts” television specials---“Wah, wah, wah, wah, wahhh.” I can hear them talking but my mind is numb.

I wonder if, when Christmas comes, I will be bored with that, too. I used to think that people who left their decorations up all year were rednecks or hillbillies. Now, if market trends continue, those folks will just be part of the crowd. I think Christmas season should start a week after Thanksgiving, not the day after Labor Day. I think professional sports should be exciting throughout the games, not just in the last few minutes or during the final games of the season.

I think that politicians should be quiet and leave us alone until, say, a maximum of nine months before an election. If a woman can conceive and carry a baby to full term and deliver the child in nine months, surely we shouldn’t have to tolerate pandering, posturing, posing politicians for any longer than that.

You realize, of course, that a new president will not occupy the office until January of 2009 and that we have been in this cycle since 2006. If this trend continues, I fully expect the 2012 election campaign to begin the day after the 2008 elections. Enough already! I refuse to watch any more debates or watch any politicians lips move until sometime next year. I have better things to do—besides in a few weeks the playoffs start. It time to start watching baseball again.