The Dog Days of Summer

I feel for most sports fans. Summer may be the slowest time of the sports year. I know baseball is still going strong, but if you're a Mets fan like I am, or fans of a bunch of other teams - you know who you are - then baseball won't cut it either. So, here are a few ideas of how to fill your summer with sports until something more interesting comes on.

Women's World Cup: This sounds like it could be fun to watch, maybe because the women will be able to beat a team 40 spots lower than them in the world rankings. And, they have a legitimate chance to win the title. But, I have a strong feeling that it may turn out like the WNBA does. Sounds interesting, but the amount of people who care are fewer in number than Sarah Palin's IQ. And besides, who wants to watch amazing women's soccer from a city in Germany you have never heard of before, between two teams from countries you didn't know existed? Sounds like pure joy to watch at 7 AM on the east coast.

Will You Watch It? I mean, if you have had enough of The Price Is Right and Sportscenter repeats, then why not?

WNBA: There is no doubt that women can be great basketball players, and the ones that play in the WNBA are the best in the world. But, how many sports palettes do you think the WNBA suits? Maybe Seattle fans who crave basketball, people in Connecticut who feel happy that they have a professional sports team, and Minnesotans who are happy they have a winning basketball team, but that's about it. If you find a person with a WNBA jersey in their closet, don't tell anyone.

Will You Watch It? ESPN2 has to air something over the summer, so why not make them feel important?

AFL: The AFL still exists? For those of you who have been under a rock for the last 3 years, or smart enough to not pay attention, the AFL went belly up in 2009, and then was revived from bits of old arena football leagues you never heard of before. And, what is football without seeing teams score 70 points a game? Boring. But, it is cool to watch players get flipped over the boards into the crowd. And it is football. But, where can you watch it? One game a week on the NFL Network, and a local telecast maybe on public access, and that's it. Tickets are cheap though. If there is an Arena Football team in your town, go check it out if you have given up on baseball.

Will You Watch It? If you expect to see Terrelle Pryor playing, and NFL'ers needing to make a quick buck, it may be exciting. I'd hold off on the nachos while you're there though.

Lockout Coverage: As if you weren't already sick of ESPN this summer, you have decided to dedicate your summer to tracking the lockouts. Either you have no baseball team, no life, or no other sports to watch. If this is you, go play down at the rec center please.

Will You Watch It? If this is how far you have fallen, go to Canada and watch the CFL, or go to the zoo.

MLS: It's always good to go watch soccer with a bunch of rabid fans who created chants that make no sense to you, and are the only group of fans that make banners. It's exciting stuff. You get to see the best players in the world... or the best players in the world after they have played out their prime, but you also get to see the future of the U.S and Canada national teams way before anyone ever knows their name. This may even be better than the women's world cup.

Will You Watch It? Hopefully you care enough about soccer in order to watch it, and there are no problems with that, except if you think that soccer is "Un-American".

Those are just a few options for you this summer if you have given up on baseball. My advice, don't give up on baseball just yet, unless you're an Astros fan. Then I understand.