We are now in the Dead Zone. The U.S. Open has just concluded (Tiger did not win but Phil performed his folderama so at the least the Universe makes half-sense), the never-ending NBA and NHL playoffs have finally ended and the NCAA football and basketball championships are but a distant memory (who won?). Not even the NFL can fill in the Dead Zone in its quest of an all-year season although all are trying their best with the latest Brett Favre Watch and other drivel. Tennis has two meaningful matches a year and Federer wins. Soccer at its highest level is fun to watch for a few minutes but it is soccer. The WNBA is not an option.

Unless you live in one of four or five cities, baseball, the American past-time (and I emphasize “past”) is of little or no interest to most of us who do not have owners willing to spend $100 million plus to try to buy a championship. Even if you dare go to a game on a nice summer night, I defy anyone to actually watch an entire baseball game on television for nine innings without taking a nap (induced or otherwise) or surf the Net or feed the cat (repeatedly). It is almost impossible to watch grown men in uniforms just stare at one another for long periods of time between a few seconds of action and ED commercials.

Even the sportswriters feel the pain in the Dead Zone. Do we really care about the human interest story of the undrafted free agent rookie on the Ravens/Giants/Eagles (pick any team) who will get cut before the second exhibition game? I believe that the weekly leaks on the baseball steroids abusers are not coming from the Justice Department, but rather from some sports desk editor desperately trying to find something interesting to write about for his shrinking readership.

The Dead Zone profoundly affects my life, or shall I say my TV life (maybe I was correct the first time). I surf the channels beyond the reality programs which is now network television in search of some sport to watch. Do you know in the upper channels there are shows totally devoted to food, animals and Nazi Germany? Not even the 4,000 golf tips (all of which contradict each other) on the Golf Channel adequately satisfies my addiction to TV sports. Cigarette smokers, I now officially feel your pain.

I have simply come to recognize that these are tough times that we need to overcome and we need to persevere. I read books. I buy stuff on the Net that I do not need. I redo my phantom budget daily. You do what you need to do to survive the Dead Zone. The boys put on the pads in but 6 weeks. The Dead Zone does not last forever.