by With October being less than a week away, it’s time to unveil the greatest times of the year in sports on the annual calendar. While the top two on this list should go undisputed, may each of these times/seasons represent the millions of reasons why us diehard fans love sports and give us an excuse to have our entire lives revolve around them at certain periods of time.
5. Summer Send Off
The dead zone period from late June through August gets a nice, little farewell from a handful of postseason sports play. The NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals commence in June and run for about two weeks into the summer. With the MLB regular season beginning to heat up, the College World Series takes off in Omaha, which is one of the most underrated and electrifying postseasons in all of sports. And let’s not forget about The Masters in mid-April and a ton of golf in general. Then there are a few notable UFC and boxing cards – two sports that don’t really have a seasonal drought. After this, all you’re really left with is MLB games, an occasional World Cup or Olympic Games, and a bunch of high cholesterol, glizzy gobblers housing like 100 hot dogs on the 4th of July. An often-underappreciated time in sports.
4. Happy New Year
Football, football, and more football. It’s what single-handedly saves the month of January – a month that is the worst of the year in terms of cold weather. The highest points of the football season take place with the NFL playoffs, as well as peak college football bowl season and the CFP. March Madness holds its own in terms of crazy drama and unprecedented upsets, but postseason football isn’t too far behind.
3. Holiday Football
A month-long stretch from November to December that is heaven on earth for football guys. While you spend time with family and unapologetically gain five pounds on Thanksgiving , you proceed to watch the Lions and Cowboys compete in one of the biggest traditions in the sport. Throw in the fact that it’s must-watch college football with rivalry weekend and CFP spots on the line, and the boys are buzzing. When Christmas rolls around, you still got more football with NFL and bowl season to go along with some NBA.
2. March Madness
When the seasonal depression begins to die down (at least if you’re a northerner), March Madness swoops in to give you a jolt of thrilling chaos and excitement. You’re March Madness bracket is already destroyed after Loyola-something just upset Virginia in the first round, but you embrace the mayhem and still drain your sportsbook account by averaging 12 bets a day. This tournament alone cements this time of the year at #2 on the list.
1. October
We’re one week away from peak sports entertainment of the year and I can’t wait. If you schedule a wedding during this time of the year, you should seriously be ashamed of yourself. October is highlighted by the MLB playoffs, which arguably has the best postseason atmosphere in all of sports maybe outside of hockey. The NFL is in full swing, and the college football slates begin to get more and more stacked with conference play and consistent ranked-vs-ranked matchups. Oh, and let’s not forget that the NHL regular season kicks off and so does the NBA at the end of the month. Cap it off with the Ryder Cup and you easily have the top month/stretch in the sports world. It almost becomes overwhelming because of how much action there is. What a time to be alive.