October 1st, 2005

Well, it's that magic time of the year when the leaves change, the air turns sweet, kids go back to school, and—best of all—hockey starts. The Fall is always such a golden time for sports fans anyhow: Besides hockey starting, there's basketball season starting, football in full swing, curling tourneys getting underway, and baseball moving into the playoffs.

Traditionally, I've been interested in catching as much of "the action" as possible ... but my heart just isn't in it this year. Or, at least, it's not in it as much as it has been in previous years. When I think of hockey, I just get discouraged at the thought that another marathon is about to begin—a marathon that will have lost most of its meaning by May of next year. And football seems so pointless to me this year also: Who cares if the Grey Cup is in Vancouver or who wins the Super Bowl? And even my beloved curling has become flat and lifeless in my mind.

Now, typically, I multitask by watching TV while working on my laptop computer. TV alone isn't enough, and computer alone is so ascetic and dull. So both together. But even then, sports just doesn't seem to cut it.

You know, there was a period of a few years when I didn't watch any TV at all. I didn't exactly miss it, except for the hockey games (which I listened to on the radio instead). And when I moved to a place all my own and unloaded a few bucks on a pretty nice little TV, I went all Hedonistic and TV-addicted. Hockey, golf, tennis, curling, etc. etc. etc. ... there always seemed to be something on. Heck, I was worried that I was wearing my new TV out!

But now, a few years since that original TV feeding frenzy, I find that my interest in the sports is starting to wane. No longer do I keep meticulous statistics about the hockey scores. No longer do I watch golf and make quiet bets to myself about who will fold under the pressure of the back 9. And no longer do I hang off the words of the announcers about the quality of the ice during the Brier or Scott tournaments.

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But The Discovery Channel and CPAC are starting to look pretty good these days ... hmm ...

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