May 21, 2025
I had a terrible realization last night while watching the Panthers thoroughly drub the ‘Canes: we’re about to enter the sports desert!
Moses led his people through the desert for forty years, and I’m not ready to enter the sports desert of June, July, and August. I appreciate that my plight pales in comparison to the Israelites, but I’m trying to cope, and humor is my only tactic. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the greatest tournament in sports, save for maybe only March Madness. Even if you’re not a complete hockey addict like me, you have to agree that the ‘yoffs are riveting television, especially in comparison to the NBA playoffs, which seem to be blowout games each night. But let’s set aside the tribalism of hoops versus puck for a second and look at the bleak reality that faces all of us shortly, both seasons are approaching an end.
After the trophies are conferred in the NHL and NBA, we will have nothing but baseball and *ahem* MLS soccer left on the docket for our consumption. This is referred to as the sports desert and while there will be brief oasis’ with two golf majors, F1 and NASCAR (if you’re into that sort of thing), and drafts the result is that we have a long summer where it’s the Phils or going outside, or worse, conversing with friends and family! So here’s the thing, as much as I can talk baseball and hold my own in casual conversation, there are levels to Phillies fandom and I am not on the same level as Tyles and the rest of the Phaithful that live and die on every pitch.
I’m good for attending one game a month at most and watching one combined game (read: 9 total innings) across a weekend. I love the rule changes MLB made in terms of pace of play; it makes the ballpark experience excellent, but I still can’t sit and watch a full game at home, and I don’t think I’m alone based on baseball’s ratings. Now I know what you’re thinking next, “JJ, you always talk about golf and how frequently you go down to the beach, why are you b$&@hing?”
First, valid point, reader. Second, as I have briefly alluded to on the flagship show, I ran into a foot injury a few weeks back, and it has stifled my game and my affinity for flip-flops and sand. Long story short, I played one round of golf a few days ago, and I am still not feeling as good as I did before playing (FanExpo probably didn’t help, but that amount of walking is tantamount to me at the beach). So I’m staring into the abyss of being inside a bit more, and I can’t deal with the impending fact that I’m going to need to watch more TV.
At this point, I am going to solicit show, movie, and game recommendations from all of you. Drop me an email at [email protected] or a message in the Discord bit.ly/genydiscord.
So why am I writing this? Well, because I’m shamelessly asking for recommendations, but also because I am sure you are all tired of me writing about hockey seemingly daily, and aside from Tyles, I am the only person dropping fresh-baked takes every weekday. I think baseball is great, but I also think it has become the secondary screen in most people’s lives (no, not Tyles, he’s completely hooked). By that, I mean I am willing to wager that almost everyone who watches baseball does so passively while scrolling the internet or their social media app. In that regard, baseball might be the perfect sport, it is more relaxed and less action-packed than football or hockey and even basketball. That might also explain soccer, too, come to think of it…
I might be onto something here. It might be worth discussing with Tyles on a future show.
Seriously email me some stuff to consume, especially if you were at the Sunday panel at FanExpo, feel like I’ll get some quality stuff from you fine people!