With the leaves trickling off the trees and the winter months approaching, sports fans begin to lick their chops at the near excitement ahead: the winter sports season.
The fall sports season has come and gone with the thrills and disappointments of autumn competition, and it is now up to the realm of winter sports to entertain sports fans across the country.
The winter season provides students at USM and people in the surrounding communities an experience unlike any other during the school year.
Winter sports just seem to bring hysteria to sports fans, no matter what sport it is. That is what creates the undying passion for winter sports that lives inside sports fans like myself.
The NHL’s Winter Classic outdoor hockey game highlights New Year’s Day. It’s being held at Fenway Park in Boston this year as the Bruins take on the Philadelphia Flyers. What can be better than that? A seat in front of the glass at USM can come close. I can go to the Ice Arena on a Friday night and watch a USM women’s hockey player fire a slap shot past an opposing goalie, or see a men’s player skate across the ice to land a pummeling check sending an opponent into the glass.
With winter, Division I basketball arrives and one of the most watched sporting events in the country, March Madness. This tournament has given a new meaning to what it is to be a basketball fan.
The NBA season has crept up on us and its popularity is growing every year with the league’s flashy, household name players and dominant teams.
The thrills of basketball can also be enjoyed with floor seats at Hill Gymnasium to watch USM’s seasoned women’s basketball team defend their 2009 Little East Conference title (their 19th in the teams history). I could also watch the men’s team beat up on highly touted opponent, like they did last year in their home opener against the Nor’easters of UNE.
A program that I feel is neglected is the USM men’s and women’s Track & Field teams. These two teams have won a combine 15 Little East Conference Championships in the last decade. Their strong combination of distance runners, sprinters, and throwing and jumping athletes is head and shoulders above a many schools in New England.
Don’t forget about the winter intramurals at USM. Men’s and women’s 3 on 3 basketball, dodgeball, and ultimate frisbee can be as entertaining as any of the varsity sports.
The Super Bowl welcomes us in the winter season as well, creating a national buzz that takes over the country two weeks prior to the game.
Winter is undoubtedly the most exciting time in the sports world, as it sends fans up the stairway to sports heaven. The popular and adrenaline-rush type of sports that occur between November and March supply viewers with the best of both entertainment and tradition that can’t be found in any other time of the year.
When the Zamboni is gliding across the ice this winter, and the broom is polishing the hardwood, make sure you’re somewhere you can watch. It’s going to be a great winter.