The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Dealing with the cold temps
Jerry Hinnen
PUBLISHED: April 3, 2008
The spring high school sports season is off to a roaring start.
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Well, if by "roaring," what I actually mean is "almost nonexistent," or if by "sports," I actually mean "sitting indoors watching that fourth inch of snow accumulate on my deck for what seems like the 34th time since New Year's."
Saline managed to sneak in a couple of frigid and miserable lacrosse games and its soccer team got through three-quarters of its season-opener on Pioneer's turf March 27 before being finally snowed out. And, of course, the girls' water polo team is blissfully unaffected. But everything else, including a half dozen potential season-opening events in Milan, has either been postponed or wiped off the schedule entirely by Jack Frost or Old Man Winter or Mr. Freeze or whatever personification of this dreadful season you prefer.
Now, this being my second-ever Michigan winter -- or winter anywhere north of that noted icebox, Atlanta -- I'm probably not the first person you would want to ask for advice on how to deal with the gray specter of Seasonal Affective Disorder. But for what it's worth, here's five ways yours truly is biding his time until the sun at last reappears and spring sports finally get into full swing:
1. Daydreaming about titles. Once it does get going, this should be a beyond-successful season for our local sports teams. The Milan baseball and girls' soccer teams could both be in the Huron League title hunt, softball looks ready to take another step forward, and the boys' track team could make it three conference crowns in three years.
In Saline, baseball and girls' soccer both return the bulk of teams that advanced to the state quarterfinals last year, both track teams will likely rank among the best in the state, and the boys' golf team will finally have the chance to defend its state championship after 18 months of waiting.
And that's not even mentioning multiple other teams at both schools with solid shots at either conference crowns or winning seasons. In short, there should be a lot of good news in these pages in the upcoming weeks.
2. Bowling. Is there any better place to hold a casual social gathering than your local bowling alley? I don't think so. You can catch up and shoot the breeze just as well as you could going out to dinner or hosting a small party. But you get the added thrill of rubbing your strikes in your beaten opponents' faces and doing the "Heck yeah, I just picked up that spare" celebratory jig. Don't underestimate those.
3. The NCAA men's basketball tournament. I know I've brought up this particular subject in pretty much every column I've written over the past month, but if you need to know why, Stephen Curry and Davidson coming from 17 down to edge the Big East champion before beating the living tar out of the Big 10 champion a few days later is about all the explanation I think you need.
4. The aforementioned Saline water polo team. If you've never attended a water polo game, maybe now's the time. If you've enjoyed the basketball season, you'd probably enjoy this sport, too. Both feature shot clocks, five players who play offense and defense, "fast break" opportunities, even debatable foul calls. Give it a shot.
5. Getting the heck out of Dodge. Another way of combating the winter would be to run away from it to some sunnier climate, which is exactly what I'm doing for the next couple of weeks. But I have a very good excuse for such cowardly behavior: I'm gettin' hitched Saturday on what will hopefully be a bright and sunny beach back in Alabama. From there, it's time for a cruise across the Gulf of Mexico to Key West and various tropical Latin American destinations.
So for the next couple of weeks, I am leaving the sports section in the hands of my capable replacements. But don't worry; I'll be back soon. And until then:
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