April Versus the World

April. What’s the first thing you think of? Perhaps you’re a student and can only think of getting that paper done before your school lets out for break. Maybe a birthday, an anniversary or season premiere of a cheesy reality show on VH1 coming up.

Point is, you can probably only think of one or two things at first. But then you start thinking about sports. Maybe your college basketball team’s premier guard hit a buzzer-beater sending your team into the Final Four and all you can think about is “how on earth are we going to do that against perhaps the best team in basketball?”

Maybe your favorite baseball team suffered a terrible late season collapse, up seven games with seventeen left and you’re anticipating that first strikeout by your team’s ace more than your first born child.

Maybe you need your best friend’s favorite NBA team to lose tonight so yours can end up two games out of the playoffs and you don’t care if he’s upset because he always takes the last cookie.

That one was a bit harsh but you get the point. April is the only month where these events can happen within days. High and above any other month in the year is April, packed with sporting events.

Many consider the NCAA Final Four the second biggest championship series in all of American sports behind the Superbowl. Everyone in that tournament isn’t playing for a paycheck or MVP award but for a chance to give their school something to be proud of.

College basketball in itself is unique in the fact that it’s one of the only tournaments where it’s one and done.

“Win or go home” is the mantra repeated across every sports channel before every game. Every year the teams that make the Final Four become cemented into the history of the game whether it’s a real life Cinderella story in George Mason or all chalk for the first time ever with four number one seeds in 2008.

There is no better time to appreciate the heart of a young and athlete other than April.

Sticking with basketball, the NBA showcases the most athletic human beings on earth. Whether its King James embarrassing a defender via a monster dunk, turning him into somebody’s dorm room poster or CP3 dribbling down the court, setting up Tyson Chandler down low with a between the legs  pass, the entertainment value is superb.

The playoffs, though in May, are set up by April, capturing every seed changing game, every loss knocking a team out of competition, and every injury raising questions of a team’s identity. Aside from the playoffs themselves, there is no time of year when one game means more in the NBA.

Maybe you don’t like basketball or your school isn’t relevant and you don’t care. Fair. Baseball is unique such that you’re guaranteed to see different players on the field game to game. Anything can happen when a new pitcher takes the mound.

A no hitter, a perfect game, or maybe he just gets shelled and pulled early. Nevertheless, the drama in any given game is limitless. The fact that the season starts in spring is enough to attract even the most casual fan as there is nothing quite like sitting in the sun enjoying the game with a ballpark hotdog.

Granted the season is long and anything can happen from April to September but it has to start sometime, it has to start somewhere, what better place than here, what better time than now (yes, that’s Rage Against the Machine).  

Stepping away from the major sports in America, there are other sports related events spread across April. Another playoff race to coincide with the NBA is that of hockey, where though not what it used to be, still has a large enough fan base to be considered the fourth major sport in the country.

Fights are more intense, goals matter more and teams are jockeying for a chance to keep playing. One also can’t forget the NFL draft where dreams are born and young college players take their first steps toward their pro careers.

Showcasing one of the most recognizable sports figures in the world in Tiger Woods is that of the Masters. April is also home to Wrestlemania, the global phenomena that gathers 70,000 fans from all 50 states and 24 countries, packs them into one arena and provides the show of a lifetime.

Granted pro wrestling is “sports entertainment” but it is still indeed a show of athleticism and competitive-like nature which provides for a live experience unlike any other.  

One could make the case for February, containing the Superbowl and Daytona 500 or August for the start of football preseason, MLB season dwindling down and the PGA championship.

April however, provides more diversity amongst its plethora of sports, capturing the hopes and dreams of nearly every fan of competition.  Sports entertain us all year round, allowing an escape from our daily stressful lives in the hope of witnessing something spectacular.

Few things captivate such a large audience at one given time and there is only one month where sports are at their finest. Then again, maybe we should spread out these events to make other months a bit more even so there isn’t as much packed into one 30 day span.

Just kidding, April fools.