An Ode (OK, more than that) To September

For those of us in the Northeast, the summer, such as it was, is apparently in our rear view mirror. We didn’t have many days above 90 degrees in these parts in 2009 and we likely won’t see them again until the middle of next June or July. I was reminded on Monday morning that the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer had passed us as I felt cool breezes making their way through my living room and bedroom windows. Though the sun was shining, the temperature outside could not have been higher than 55 degrees. A solid indication that autumn is approaching. Quickly.

Not to wax poetic or anything, but I’m sure here in Connecticut that we’ll soon hear more about frost advisories and see the leaves on our trees lose their deep green color in favor of shades of red, yellow, orange and brown. School buses are again loaded with children returning to classes and fewer folks will be seen wearing short sleeves unless they are headed for the gym.

September has arrived. One of my best friends in this great world couldn’t be happier, knowing he can walk the streets and enjoy the crisp air of the fall instead of the muggy, humid climate of summer. I’m also pretty happy about it. After all, it’s my second favorite sports month of the year.

For those of us that crave football (American style), the arrival of fall means we’ll get to see big warriors in helmets and shoulder pads taking the fields of high school, college and National Football League gridirons across the country. Sure, we had some NFL preseason games to tide us over, but any true football fan is not satisfied to see games when the outcome doesn’t mean much beyond determining who gets the last four spots on a professional team roster. We want the games to matter. We want to see packed stadiums, fans yelling, “defense!” as the home team tries to make a stop on a third and 12, and we want to see the guys we know and trust banging heads all the way through the playoffs.

This weekend begins that bonanza. We can thank the folks at ESPN, who will have two college football games on their air on Thursday. (South Carolina vs. North Carolina State at 7 p.m. ET, Oregon vs. Boise State at 10:15 p.m. ET.) The Worldwide Leader in Sports and other networks will have many other college games throughout the Labor Day weekend. Being an alum of Syracuse University, I will likely pay the most attention to the first 2009 game for my beloved Orange, who will host Minnesota at noon Saturday. (Also on ESPN.) Most college football fans without much interest in SU football will be focused on how former Duke University point guard Greg Paulus will perform in his return to organized football after being named Syracuse’s starting quarterback. Of course I will. But I’ll also want to see if the Orange can become a respectable football team again. Those of us who call ourselves fans of the Orange endured really bad football over the last four years under former head coach Greg Robinson. How bad? Ten wins in 47 games bad. Losing to Akron at home 42-28 bad. The Orange have become everyone’s homecoming opponent (read: a sure win to make the host school’s alumni feel good about themselves for a weekend). But under the direction of new Head Coach Doug Marrone (a 1991 Syracuse alumnus), we’re all hoping things change for the better.

While football will likely take center stage, it won’t be alone as we head into the foliage. Pennant race baseball is on tap as well. The New York Yankees, my favorite team of 30 years, have a 6 ½ game lead over the rival Boston Red Sox in the American League East, meaning the Yankees will have something to play for this year. Manager Joe Girardi’s team will likely make the Major League Baseball playoffs this year after missing the postseason in 2008. Speaking of the Red Sox (and I will without speaking too ill of them this go ‘round), they’re leading the American League Wild Card race over the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers. That race should be a lot of fun as we start talking more often about magic numbers and tragic numbers. The other division and wild card races are shaping up as plenty of fun as well. Pennant race baseball has always been fun for me. It’s the time when you’re watching the out-of-town scoreboard the most, almost inning by inning to see how every team involved in a playoff chase is fairing that day or night. I’m guessing that joy is lost on New York Mets fans, whom have endured their team collapsing the last two Septembers, allowing the Philadelphia Phillies to win the National League East championship in each of those seasons while the Mets prepared for a baseball-less October. So perhaps it’s a blessing for Mets fans that their team will not have to worry about another ninth month flameout this year. The injury-riddled Mets are comfortably in fourth place in the NL East and will have to find some comfort in playing spoiler as they look forward to 2010.

The fall also means that National Hockey League training camps will open in preparation for the start of the 2009-10 season. After a flurry of trades, it’s going to be funny seeing so many familiar faces in new places. New York Rangers fans like myself will probably be interested in seeing how former Minnesota Wild winger Marian Gaborik will fare at Madison Square Garden this fall and winter as he was the highest profile offseason addition to the Blueshirts. Most camps will start on Sept. 12 and preseason games will be played all over North America for the rest of the month in anticipation of the start of the season in October. (FYI: The season will officially start in Stockholm, Sweden when the Detroit Red Wings play the St. Louis Blues, while the Chicago Blackhawks will face off with the Florida Panthers in Helsinki, Finland.) The National Basketball Association won’t begin its preseason schedule until next month, but basketball fans will likely be jumping with excitement as we move closer to the start of that season in November.

And as a native New Yorker, I can't forget about the U.S. Open. The best players in the game of tennis going for the last major of the season in the World's Greatest City. I know you still remember the epic matches between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi and how Jimmy Connors had the crowd going crazy in 1991 as he made one more push for glory. Let's hope we have some of those epic moments this year at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

As I said at the start of this entry, September is my second favorite sports month. My favorite? April. So much variety and so many great things are bound to happen. You’ve got the NCAA basketball championship game, (unless its played on March 30 or 31), the beginning of baseball season, the arrival of the NHL and NBA playoffs, the NFL Draft, and the Masters golf tournament. Still, I happily embrace September and the variety it brings to us sports fans. Plus, it’s nice to wear a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt without feeling like you’re in a sauna.