THE INSIDE STORY Sports Spring Eternal

Author: David Lindholm

It's an exciting time of the year for sports. We're well into spring at this point (Tuesday's weather even showed us a glimpse of summer), and everyone is outside. A walk across Battell Beach now means dodging Frisbees and golf balls, soccer balls, footballs and people littered across the grass. They say that spring is a time of rebirth, and as winter seems to have finally given way to the sun, sports, on the national level as well as here in Middlebury, are rejuvenated.

Starting on Wednesday are the National Hockey League playoffs. While some may see hockey as a painful reminder of winter, to say that the NHL playoffs are worth watching is a massive understatement. There is no greater show in American sports. March Madness can compete, but this year's final may have ruined the whole thing, and hockey will fill the void.

Why are the NHL playoffs so fantastic? Well, there's the obvious; everything is on the line now. Each team has finished the grueling 82-game season and now has been given a chance to win the Stanley Cup, which is the best trophy in all of sports. (I could write 5,000 words on the Cup, which sent chills down my spine when I got to touch it in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.) Also, the style of play is improved, with the emphasis shifted from purely physical play to a more open, skill-oriented game. And with every team playing its heart out every night, overtime is more common than bloodied faces. You can't do much better than that.

And then here at Middlebury we've got all the sports up and running; from baseball and softball to their polar opposite, lacrosse. Then there's track, frisbee, tennis; sports that just make you want to play them yourself. The activity on campus is blinding. This past weekend Tyler Conrad '02 threw a no-hitter against Hamilton, the women's lacrosse team continued its dominance and the men's lacrosse team lost, which, though the players may not think it now, makes their season much more interesting. And the vastly improved tennis teams are both heading into their big tournaments in coming weekends, and they're both capable of surprising and upsetting anyone.

And the biggest thing that we have to look forward to this spring and early summer is something that only happens every four years. It's the World Cup, starting only 42 days from Wednesday. When this article arrives in mailboxes, the United States will be playing the Republic of Ireland. Then, on Monday, the US's Head Coach Bruce Arena will announce the US's final 23-man roster for the Cup, live on ESPN's Sportscenter at 6:00 pm.

Every World Cup game will be aired live during the month of June. If there is anything that can beat playoff NHL hockey, it's the World Cup. So relish the spring, sports fans, because that's all from me. I'm going outside.