It's Over

Summer that is. It's toast. I don't care what the calendar indicates. I don't care how high the temperatures soar in August. Summer ended in Metro Detroit when the Detroit Lions reported for training camp Friday. Like it or not, fall is upon us and everything in the sports world now takes a backseat to football.

I have to admit that I love the notion of a beautiful fall day with football on the airwaves-either radio or television. Watching in person is great, obviously, but the whole sensation of fall and football is only rivaled by baseball and summer. Therein lies my dilemma.

I have to admit that for the first time in a long, long time, I'm not ready for fall. I'm usually one of those people who starts preparing for fall around July 1st. When I was very young, I was the baseball geek who could easily be talked into a pick-up football game in August. Yet, something is different this year.

Oh, I still look forward to those spectacular fall weekends filled with pigskin action, but I'm very hesitant to let go of summer. Maybe it's my age. Maybe it's the fact we emerged from one of the snowiest winters in recent memory and I know the only thing standing between me and another dose of winter's fury is fall. Maybe I've just developed a love/hate relationship with football.

I still love autumn afternoons with football, but the sport has become so big it's bordering on overkill at times for me. Once the pigskins emerge from their increasingly brief hiatus, the analysis of the games is incessant. Yet, I love hearing the Monday Morning Quarterbacks embrace or lament the Lions performance after each contest. See what I mean about a love/hate relationship? On one hand, I love armchair QB's. On the other hand, I just don't want to hear them every waking moment for eight months.

In this unending barrage of football talk, baseball, hockey and basketball get pushed off the map. Who are we kidding? Economics, politics, spouses and family matters take a back seat to pigskins on parade. It's almost impossible to break football's command over media coverage. Yet, I'll be the last to argue against the appeal of Michigan-Ohio State, Oklahoma-Texas, Florida State-Miami or, for me, any Lions game over almost any other sporting event. See? It's clearly a love/hate thing.

There isn't much I can do about fall's arrival or the onslaught of football coverage that's been unleashed. However, I'll resist the transition for now. I'll try to watch loads of baseball. I'll disregard all the Back To School ads. I'll embrace the warmth as long as it remains. I'll try to hold off on purchasing any fall related products-coats, boots, a new Lions cap. I'll attempt to avoid the media's coverage of training camps. I don't want summer to lose sway just yet, although, I know it already has.