Are we having fun yet?

Probably not. Sportswise, February is the most boring month of the year. The calendar says Feb. 4, and the top sports story so far this month has been about the America’s Cup race in Australia.

Exciting, huh?

The Pro Bowl, which is always the sloppiest played game of the year, put an end to another pro football season Sunday.

Baseball season is still two months away. The Cubs’ pitchers and catchers report to spring training Feb. 20, but nothing of any consequence happens until Opening Day in April.

College basketball is in full swing with the conference races heating up, especially in the Big Ten. However, with 64 teams in the NCAA tournament, most conferences will still send between three and six teams. The races do not mean as much as they used to with so many at-large bids available.

Professional basketball and hockey continue on the road to the playoffs, where any team finishing in fourth place or higher gets to keep playing. That’s like having an 80-game exhibition season.

The way I see it, February must be the disowned son of Father Time. The month is virtually void of meaningful sports activities of wide-range appeal. February was short-changed by his dad and only has 28 days instead of his brothers who each have 30 or 31. What did February do to deserve this fate? Did he refuse to eat his vegetables?

Although it was an inferior product compared to the NFL, the USFL gave us something to watch between football and baseball seasons. But even this sideshow didn’t like performing during the second month of the year.

February has been the recipient of this type of disrespect for some time now.

Our two most famous presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, were born in February. Their parents obviously had the foresight to know they would not have anything to do in February and decided to have their famous children at that time of year. This was the start of planned parenthood.

Boredom was also the reason for a famous event that happened during February—the St. Valentines’ Day massacre. A little-known fact is the mobsters in Chicago were between their football and softball leagues at the time and were looking for something to entertain themselves.

So here we are, drifting aimlessly in a sea of boredom and confusion. Stuck in the twilight zone called February, waiting for March Madness basketball.

egardless of the number of days, it’s going to be a long month.

Dave Tuley