The Hot Corner
Not having sports is boring.
As someone who makes a living thanks to sports, this pause in the sports world has made things interesting for me. I feel as if I am working an almost completely different job than the one I was just a month ago.
When thinking about these unprecedented times and how it has affected the sports world, I began to think of it as if it was just a rain delay in a baseball game.
A rain delay might be one of my favorite things in sports. The action on the field hits a standstill and the players are forced to wait until they can resume play. Quite often, this turns into the players trying to make the best of the situation and hilariousness typically ensues.
While I was in college at Texas State University, I worked as both a baseball scout and a broadcaster for the college radio station, KTSW 89.9. Because of this, I was at just about every Texas State baseball game between 2017 and 2019.
Once a week, it felt like we had to battle through a rain delay. Those of us in the media tried to make the most of it. Over the PA, we would play “rain” songs such as It’s Raining Men by The Weather Girls or The Thunder Rolls by Garth Brooks, but the real entertainment was the two teams in the dugouts.
Some of the best hi-jinks I saw at Bobcat Field was jousting, WWE-style wrestling and tic tac toe on a baseball.
Baseball rain delay videos often go viral and have probably popped up on your Facebook or Twitter feed over the years. They are always good for a laugh and watching players get creative is always entertaining. Do yourself a favor and look up baseball rain delays on Youtube. It will bring a smile to your face while stuck at home during this pandemic.
Some of my personal favorites include the deer hunting, in which one player acts as a deer and another uses either a broom or bat to “hunt” it. Another good one is the video in which a team held a wedding ceremony for a player and his favorite baseball bat.
The antics even reach the major league level as well. One of my favorite baseball videos is Josh Hamilton, Elvis Andrus and several other Texas Rangers using the tarp over the infield as a slip-and-slide. Another golden nugget is the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen versus the Arizona Diamondbacks’ bullpen.
Perhaps we should treat this quarantine like one big rain delay. Despite a stoppage, the players find ways to enjoy themselves and find joy even while not playing the sport they love. As a society, maybe we should take that approach in our lives right now.
We can’t go about like those players would during a game, but we can try and make the most of the delay we currently face by finding joy in the little things.
Reed Graff is the sports editor for the Snyder Daily News. Comments about his column may be sent to sports@snyderdailynews.com