Football withdrawal

The end of football season is always a little depressing. The 17 weeks of the regular season fly by, and the playoffs are over before you know it. Then we’re left with nothing until August.

I thought this year might be different, with my team winning the Super Bowl. But as elated as I remain about that (still get chills when I see highlights or the post-game celebration), the end of the season left a void. Having my Sundays back has been nice, but I do miss playing basketball in the morning and then setting up shop on the couch for several hours that afternoon.

Some people salivate at the mention of pitchers and catchers. I couldn’t care less. Baseball’s regular season is too long, and the postseason wraps up just before Thanksgiving. So why do we need to start obsessing about it right after the Super Bowl, two months before anything matters?

Basketball, both NBA and college, is all well and good, but it just doesn’t compare to football season. NCAA tournament time comes close, but we have a while to wait for that.

The threat of work stoppages in other sports isn’t terribly troubling. Baseball strike? Meh. NBA lockout? Unfortunate, but I’d be OK.

But if the NFL continues down its current path toward a lockout, I’ll be crestfallen. I can’t bear the thought of Aaron Rodgers losing a year of his career while in his prime. I don’t want the Green Bay Packers to miss out on defending their Super Bowl title. I want to be able to get excited about games between teams I wouldn’t give a damn about if I didn’t have some of their players on my fantasy team.

My only source of optimism in this labor dispute is the belief that neither side — neither the owners, nor players — is dumb enough to let this go on long enough that it affects next season. Hopefully I’m right. I’m already jonesing for some football.