Baseball season ended less than two weeks ago and already I'm going through withdrawal. I've found myself playing Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball on the Super Nintendo just to fill the void in my life. There's no other sport that captivates me like baseball does. Without it the world is a much duller place. Nonetheless, I'll try to give some sort of take on the other sports I follow.

The NBA season has gotten off to an interesting start. Some of the predictions from my last post already look like they'll be wrong. Then again, anyone who follows sports knows that the way a team starts isn't much to go by. My Bulls just beat the Pistons tonight for their first win after a 0-4 start. Having a 1-4 record isn't ideal, but so what? There's still plenty of season to go. Last year they started 3-9. The season before that they were below .500 most of the year, and even had a 29-39 record at one point. The season before that they got off to a 2-13 start in which they lost their first 9 games. If you've been following the NBA during that stretch, you know they ended up in the Playoffs each of those years. Right now that 1-4 record doesn't look too bad. This Bulls team just finishes better than they start.

My "other" NBA team, the Clippers, is off to a 4-0 start. Color me surprised. With injuries to Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston I didn't expect much out of them this year. Then again, a good start can be just a deceptive as a bad one. In 2000-01 the Cavaliers started out 15-7. Their final record? 30-52. That's right, they got half their wins for the season in their first 22 games. Anything can happen at this point. I'm not going to rush to any conclusions about any teams yet. All I can say is that I hope the Clippers continue to play well and that the Bulls can get back on track after tonight's win.

I'll just skip the NFL since the Lions' 6-2 start and the Browns' 5-3 start have been the most interesting parts of it for me. With my Bears struggling, the only enjoyment I've gotten out of this season is watching the underdogs win. What other sport is there to talk about, you ask? My profile says I only follow baseball, basketball and football. Well, I've started to become more conscious of another sport this season: hockey.

I've always had a weird relationship with hockey. When I was growing up they used to show Blackhawks games on SportsChannel (remember that, Chicagoans?), but at the time I was all about baseball and basketball. I would read the articles in the Chicago Tribune criticizing the Blackhawks' management and analyzing their trades, but between school and following my main sports there wasn't much room for me to be a real hockey fan. Over the past few years I've developed an interest in hockey, because one of the reasons I love baseball seems to apply to hockey as well: the guys who play it have a true passion for the game. That's not to say that athletes in other sports don't have passion, but guys can become basketball players just because they're tall, and guys can become football players just because they're big or fast. Baseball and hockey require more specialized skills, plus you have to go through the minors to make it to the top. If you see an MLB or NHL game you know it took a lot of hard work for those guys to get there. That's the kind of sport I can appreciate. I guess you could say I've always wanted to be a hockey fan but found it hard to do so.

One big problem, especially these days, is that it's hard to find a hockey game on TV. I recently discovered though, that there's an NHL Network on digital cable. I've actually enjoyed watching some of the old games from the 80's that they show. I've heard that hockey was more exciting in those days, but even if the game isn't quite as high-scoring today I can see its appeal. The Blackhawks have been a pretty bad team in recent times (only one Playoff appearance in the past ten years), but they have some young guys coming up that give them hope for the future. They currently have a winning record and look like they have a shot at the Playoffs this season. Perhaps now is a good time for me to become a real hockey fan. Call me a bandwagoner if you wish, but I take pride in any team that represents Chicago. If the Blackhawks ever win another Stanley Cup someday I want to be able to say I was a part of the experience.

I could talk about baseball and all the offseason player movement, but I don't have much to say about it. The only thing I will say is that I hope the White Sox aren't planning on having Juan Uribe start at shortstop next year. I hope the only reason they exercised his option was to have a backup plan. If he's our starter in 2008 we're going to have a big hole in our lineup. Neither the Cubs nor the Sox have made any major moves yet, so until they do I have no particular expectations for next season.

This may be the first post I've made on this blog that covered all four major sports. I guess I'm legit now.