In My Write Mind

This … is my time of year.

A time of renewal, of daylight savings, of warmer weather, cherry blossoms and walks in the park. This is the time of year when you start thinking about vacation, when ambition takes over and you start looking to set yourself up for advancement, both at work and in life.

A time when you look forward to showers in order to get to the flowers. But this is really the time of year when sports rules, when all that you could wish for takes place, rises like the temperature. This time of year is all about the games.

Yup. It’s April, and I’m a fool for it.

It’s when four major sports clash, meet head-on and announce themselves with equal fervor. When else during the year will you get baseball, college basketball, hockey and the NBA simultaneously? When else will they compete for so much attention, all with ribbons and bows, with three of the sports in their homestretch and on their way to the postseason and baseball celebrating its rebirth?

Sure, there’s the distractions of an investigation into steroids, Barry Bonds and BALCO. There’s an attempt to turn baseball upside down, turn it into a true “Game of Shadows.” Some view it as an attempt to embarrass Bonds as he closes in on the home run record. Some call it racist.

There’s also the Duke lacrosse team — privileged and ignorant — and quite possibly the biggest April fools in history if the allegations prove true. It’s Kobe in reverse, with the victim a black student from an HBCU. And with all the cover-ups already taking place, well before the DNA samples and questioning, there’s no telling what will come of it.

That’s what’s wrong with sports. What makes this April different than most. What makes you just shake your head, close your eyes and wish it would just go away. But that’s not all sports is. Not even close.

Not when we have the wonderful story of Jimmy Rollins, shortstop of the Phillies, going for immortality with every game he plays this spring. He’s an unlikely candidate for the consecutive game hitting streak, J.R. trying to take down Joe D. Baseball still scores, with players like David Wright of the Mets and Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, using natural skill to elevate the game. The game gives you the world champion Chicago White Sox and the upstart Milwaukee Brewers, who have a kid named Prince Fielder who may be as good as it gets in a few years.

Not when you have NBA teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James finally making it back to the playoffs, getting the chance to strut their stuff on the game’s biggest stage.

Not when you have the Denver Nuggets and Carmelo, the Los Angeles Clippers and Elton Brand and Sam-I-Am, The Mavs with Avery Johnson in control, the elite teams like Miami with Dwyane Wade, Tony Parker and the Spurs, and the cohesive Detroit Pistons all gearing up for another postseason run. Not when a Kidd in New Jersey always gives you a chance for something special.

Not when every game from here on in counts.

This is the time of year when March Madness turns into April Arrogance, when you have a team from George Mason University, a supposed mid-major, making it all the way to the Final Four. Not when you have a man-child with a nickname like “Big Baby” leading a contingent from Louisiana into college basketball’s penultimate weekend.

This is the time of year that, win or lose, those two stories reign supreme over nearly everybody. Where all the hoopla and coverage of Mason (on every channel in DC, for real) and its coach makes all the sense in the world. Where the coasts clash, Cali versus Florida, straight up for the trophy.

It’s the purity of sports. What keeps us watching. Makes us love it.

April is Tiger at the Masters going for green. It’s the NFL Draft, plus the warmup to May’s Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500. It’s so much, all at the same time. It’s why I love this month. What makes me a fool for it.

Sure, there’s also the tax deadline, the potential for major flooding from all the thunderstorms, the loss of an hour’s worth of sleep during the first weekend. Not to mention the ever rising cost of gas, the influx of interns and college graduates aiming to take jobs away and the beginning of the end of some of your favorite shows.

However much we may lose, though, it can’t be denied that we gain so much more. Whether it be sports, the warmer weather or a chance at renewal … whether it’s Good Friday, Palm Sunday or Easter weekend. It might even be Earth Day or Professional Secretaries Week. Whatever it is, the month of April is enough to put a literal spring in your step.

I love it and all that it stands for.

Even if that makes me a fool.