Is it April Yet?

I did something today I should be very ashamed of; I purchased a package at a fake tanning salon. This is unjustifiable for two reasons 1.) I have Irish skin and visit a dermatologist every year to check for any potentially pre-malignant freckles etc and 2.) In these touch economic times, I think it's safe to say fake tanning falls well within the realm of "discretionary" spending, and I have no discretionary income at the moment!

Anyhow, the reason I justify tanning is to help myself fight the seasonal depression that comes along with 4:00pm sunsets and, alas, lack of baseball. Fifteen minutes of fake sun will help maintain a peppy mood. The first Yankees game of 2009 takes place on April 3rd, about 4 1/2 months from now. At least they have moved Daylight Savings up to March. I remember being very pleasantly surprised last year when I learned we got to turn our clocks back in early March, not to mention that baseball season started within that month.

Sports in general help us escape our problems, and these days, a lot of us have problems, whether it's my gramma who lost 27K from her retirement fund, or myself, who just moved back to New York City without a job in the worst job market that has existed since my birth in 1983. Although the Giants are riding high, and the Jets aren't doing too bad for themselves either, football just doesn't hold the same place in my heart as baseball. Unlike most Americans, I am unable to combat seasonal depression with a sport that not only takes place only once a week (twice if you follow college ball), but is less meaningful to me by far than baseball. I only grew up a baseball fan, and a passionate one at that. Although I was "converted" somewhat to football while living in New Orleans, where a Monday sports section would outline a Saints' ass-kicking play-by-play for several pages, and only have a one-paragraph AP blurb about baseball playoffs in October, I just can't pretend to value the sport as highly as I do baseball. It doesn't do it for me.

So, is it April yet? I wish I could hibernate until then, fast forward the clock and wake up employed by a great company, who among the many perks offered, would include frequent tickets to Yankees games.