The Super Bowl was a disaster. Your team lost, your buddy is $50 richer and you have the hangover of the century. That would be bad enough, but there’s also that paper you forgot was due and it didn’t quite get finished. Well it’s okay my friend. Though you have to wait another seven months for football to start up again, there are plenty of events between now and then to get your mind off things.
The closest event is the NBA All-Star weekend from Feb. 15-17. Though the game itself is known more for the fancy plays and high scoring than actual defense, it still always proves to be a fun thriller to watch. Though the game itself is the highlight of the weekend there are multiple events to watch. The Rookie-Sophomore game is an interesting showcase of the young talent around the league.
Last year Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal changed things up a bit by each having a team and then picking their players fantasy draft style. There is the celebrities game, skills contest and everyone’s favorite, the slam dunk contest.
After this weekend is over, there is another three weeks until the WBC starts. For those who don’t know what this is, it is an international baseball tournament that happens every three years and is very similar to the FIFA world cup.
There are 16 countries represented and they play in a tournament style bracket. It features mostly players from the MLB playing on their respective countries. This is always interesting to watch, though the United States team hasn’t fared well in the first two WBCs, and looks to stop Japan from three-peating.
Major League Baseball’s opening night is on March 31 when the Texas Rangers play the Houston Astros. This isn’t the best game they could have chosen for opening night, but it’s baseball regardless and after a six month long hiatus, most fans will still watch. The hometown Rays open up their season April 2 at home against the Baltimore Orioles.
College football will finally start with its own rendition of a playoff system next year, but college basketball has its own system down and just the name “March Madness” gets you excited. If you don’t go to a big basketball school like North Carolina or Duke, you generally don’t follow basketball all year long, but once March comes around, get ready to fill out your bracket and compete with your buddies for bragging rights.
April 25 will be the first round of the 78th NFL draft from Radio City Music Hall. With no clear cut number one, but a lot of talent, it should prove to be an interesting night. The future of your favorite team will be shown front and centered. You better start getting your tickets now because it should be one of the better drafts of recent years. Then only about four more months until the kickoff of the NFL season.
The NBA finals are scheduled to start June 6. Right now preseason favorites, the Los Angeles Lakers don’t look like they’re going to even make the playoffs, which leaves the door wide open. The west is up for grabs between San Antonio, Oklahoma City and the other Los Angeles team. In the east the Heat are number one to no one’s surprise, but New York is making a strong push. Lead by Carmelo Anthony who has scored 20 points in 30 straight games, the Knicks are making it look like this is the year they finally stop disappointing and make something happen.
The last big event before football comes back, is the 84th MLB All-Star game from Citi Field in New York. This is like the NBA All-Star game in which there are a number of events before the actually game itself. You have the Futures game, which includes top prospects from all 30 MLB teams and the game is split into the U.S. vs the world. The Home Run Derby will follow the Futures game and then on July 16, the All Star game.
Don’t worry, football will be here before you know it.