Spring is a time of change. The weather gets warmer, the days get longer, and most importantly, sports become more exciting.
As soon as winter turns to spring, playoff season kicks into high gear. Early in the season, spring fever is complemented by March Madness, arguably the most exciting postseason sports have to offer. The upsets and thrilling finishes lead to captivating basketball on a daily basis. This year, for the first time in history, two fifteen-seeds, Lehigh and Norfolk State, beat their two-seed opponents, Missouri and Duke, in the first round of the tournament. This adds to the excitement of the spectacle–you never know who will advance.
However, the main reason the postseason of college basketball grabs America’s attention is not the basketball itself, but the tradition which has arisen around it: the contest for the perfect bracket. The challenge of picking a champion among sixty-four teams is difficult enough, but basketball fans seek to do more by successfully predicting the winner of each basketball game before the fun begins. This obsession over the perfect bracket has spawned media attention comparable to that of fantasy football. ESPN has even embraced the term bracketology to describe the science behind making the winning bracket.
Though April brings the end of the NCAA Tournament, it also brings the start of the NBA Playoffs and the Stanley Cup playoffs. These postseasons are known to host legendary moments consistently. Just last year, Lebron James and the Miami Heat finally got their long-awaited rings, while the Los Angeles Kings became the first eight-seed to ever win the Cup. Did you know that Spring is the only season to have two postseasons among the four major sports leagues?
In addition to the ends of hockey and basketball, Spring also introduces the start of baseball. During Spring Training, the hype surrounding big teams and potential stars creates a buzz that spreads to fans of the game everywhere. Seeing the first cluster of walk-offs and no-hitters and web gems in April is just as exciting as the playoffs in October, maybe even more.
This spring, we saw moments such as Philip Humber’s perfect game, Josh Hamilton’s four home run game, and the rise of rookies Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. On the other side of the spectrum, we also witnessed the hype over Albert Pujols’ move to the Angels result in a 240 million dollar slump and Ozzie Guillen proclaim his love for Fidel Castro. Highs and lows like these can only be found in Major League Baseball. With all of this going on, it is simply easier to find great sports during springtime, unless you are a die-hard football fan–but fall has to have something.