I hate the first six weeks of spring.
I also woke up on the wrong side of the bed Friday morning.
You can fold me up and put me on the side table, wrap fish with me, house train your puppy with my column picture, or read on. Manage your expectations if you choose the latter.
Spring? Count me in the day after Mother’s Day. It’s like a climatic switch gets flipped in Northern Indiana at that time.
I did not get caught up in last week’s euphoria of fool’s spring, the stretch of warm weather that makes us forget about each spring among previous years where a brief warm=up is spoiled by normal spring weather.
Dirty, muddy, mostly cloudy… you know, the real early spring; the early spring where most of the sports – ironically – must be rescheduled due to rain or cold.
Even track and field meets - ordinarily operating if it’s raining – face the possibility of postponement or cancellation in the event of snow or sub-40-degree temperatures.
The two coldest days in my public address (PA) announcing life both took place in late April 2016 and 2023. I’ll discuss the most recent of the two.
I PA announced Mishawaka’s Princess Relays. The press box had been damaged severely from an early April thunderstorm (no one was hurt, thankfully), so I announced the meet outdoors.
The meet was excellent - far better than the weather, in fact - and the Lady Tigers dramatic finish in the final event, the 1600-meter relay, was worth standing in the light-but-chilly rainfall to witness. There were many great performances in the meet, and a few records were broken to boot.
With a great coat, a good blend of water and hot chocolate from the folks in the concessions stand, and an exciting finish it alleviated - but did not eliminate - the deep, humid cold. I finally felt warm when I reached the intersection of Indiana State Road 331 and US Route 30.
It was that evening driving home from Mishawaka and finally feeling my normal body temperature in Eastern Marshal County I began to evaluate what I should change in my PA announcing scope.
When the 2023 spring sports season ended these are the parameters I set for myself.
1 – I decided any sport without a finite ending was not doable. I’ll back up softball or baseball as needed. An occasional dreary March or April late afternoon is bearable with the proper clothing, just not every ballgame.
“What about those five-inning games, Chip,” you ask? Well, those innings where a batting order goes through its lineup more than once in at least two innings feel like a full game to me.
Additionally, when I am calling a 22-20 (hypothetical score) ballgame, that much action across the plate usually isn’t a slugfest. Are these types of games, I wondered, easy to avoid within appropriate subjective calls an umpire can make to contain such a matchup to a 90- to 120-minute 12-10 contest?
I want no part of the 22-20 contests. I called a tournament game last May where more than 40 runs were scored between the two teams, and it was dreadful. I stopped counting in the back of my mind when the two teams combined for more than 15 walks.
I am, though, calling another softball tournament… again in May. I’m hoping two certain teams from Elkhart and Saint Joseph counties will not be there.
I’d call more diamond action if I were paid by the hour, though, if this tells you anything.
Tennis? Only if I want to be in one place so long I can watch my clothes go out of style before I return to my car.
2 – I decided if I am calling an outdoor event, I prefer the option of a window in front of me to leave open or to close while calling such an outdoor event.
I probably drive people nuts who sit near me because I like the football press box window open even when the temps drop to the 40s to better hear when the band kicks in, and the reflection of indoor lighting does not impede seeing outside.
I mentioned earlier, cooling down in the fall is easier to experience than thawing in the spring is for me.
This Tuesday, I have the honor and privilege of filling in for the primary volleyball PA announcer to call the inaugural Warsaw Tigers boys’ volleyball game in its first sanctioned IHSAA season.
Indoor action in the spring scholastic sports season? What time, and what do I wear?
I’ve called women’s volleyball games for IU South Bend, and I enjoyed it during the learning curve.
Best wishes, nonetheless, to athletes, coaches, and their friends and families who’ve eagerly awaited winter’s end (not necessary climatically of course) for successful seasons everywhere.