Sports Endures Cyclical Lull

The sports season, like the stock market, is very cyclical. Early November corresponds to a bear market. With the thrill of the World Series fading as the days pass by, the sports nut (along with a proliferation of 24 hour sports cable networks) must search for something to fill the void. Unfortunately, the pickins' are slim.

First, there is pro football. Football, however, only happens on Sunday and only the Super Bowl is worth one week's worth of hype.

In addition, this season has yet to develop some character. Other than Green Bay, no team is compelling. The A.F.C is as boring as ever. What the N.F.L. needs is for the Cowboys to continue playing as they have been as of late. In that case, this season will hinge on the two Dallas-Green Bay matchups (one in the regular season and one in the N.F.C. championship. Meanwhile, however, one must sit through lots of meaningless Sundays.

There is also college football. Here, too, the problem is that there are only games once a week. (What was football's inventor doing on weekdays?) Another problem with the college ranks is too many lopsided games. To the sports junky who constantly needs a fix, it is not enough to wait around the whole year for Florida-FSU.

Hockey plays more frequently, but the beginning of the season is a bore. Who cares if the Bruins are 4-4-1 or 5-4-0? The season does not get interesting until February. No fix for our ESPN nut here.

The winter's salvation is basket-ball, college and pro. College basket-ball is extraordinarily exciting and plays on weekdays, but the season does not start for another month. The pros start tomorrow, but after the novelty wears off (Who is not psyched to see Shaq in La La land?) the fan is faced by the meaningless games problem.

So concludes our search--and an unsuccessful one at that. Arena Football where are you?