Not much left to cheer for

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Dan Rosen

Why did the Yankees have to sweep? Couldn't we just have a few more days of baseball?

Well, I guess not. Now we have to see hockey every single night on SportsCenter. So, get used to it.

The days of summer have passed. There will be no more electrifying sounds like the crack of a bat, the pop of a glove or the snapping of a hot dog into the mouth of a drunken, yet loyal, fan.

Baseball has been put on hiatus until March of 1999 and I couldn't think of anything worse than that.

What is a fan to do? This could be the worst time of the year for a baseball fans as they have to sit and wait for the next summer day to come so they can bake in the sun while watching the greatest game ever invented.

Don't get me wrong, I love football and basketball. Wait, let me clarify that, college basketball. The NBA can sit the whole year and you won't find a complaint here.

But, football is only played on the weekends and your favorite college basketball team (it better be the Wildcats) is not on every night of the week. Maybe two or three at the most.

Hockey, well... who really cares? I am a New Jersey Devils fan through and through, but I didn't even know the season started because there was still baseball being played.

The baseball season did end only 48 hours ago, but it is already sorely missed by this lifelong fan.

The 1998 season is one that may never be duplicated. Besides the historical significance that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa brought to baseball, it was a season that saw Cal Ripken actually sit down, David Wells play his rendition of Mr. Perfect, Kerry Wood boggle the minds of 20 Astros and the great story of the Comeback Kid, Eric Davis.

The baseball season was so heartwarming, you could even see the stoic owner of the World Champions, George Steinbrenner, cry when it ended. As he was being interviewed on national television by Fox commentator Chip Caray, Steinbrenner shed his tears for his team and for baseball.

While that may not have been the prettiest sight, it defined baseball in 1998 and it showed why this sport is our national pastime.

With all that said, one could sit and wonder why am I mentioning things from the past that most Americans already know.

Come early November when baseball fans realize that the sport still is not going to be played until March, you'll be reminiscing, too.

So fans, you can watch your football on the weekends and your college basketball during the week. You can even talk about it around the water coolers at work, but just remember in 130 days, the ballplayers will step onto the baseball diamond to start it all over again.

I just hope I can survive that long without it.

Dan Rosen is a junior majoring in Journalism. He wishes that maybe next year the other ballclub from New York is in a dogpile on the pitcher's mound in late October. He can be reached via e-mail at Dan.Rosen@wildcat.arizona.edu.