Spring Warmth Awaits as Baseball Season Starts

Understand this – I am a junkie for symbolism. Anytime a movie or TV show throws in an especially symbolic scene, I am probably going to watch it with a smile on my face (or whatever emotion is appropriate in the given situation).

Take Rocky IV for example. In one of the best scenes in cinematic history, Rocky trains out in the Russian wilderness, trudging through the snow with logs on his back, climbing mountains, chopping trees and lifting anything he can find to prepare for his fight, while the big, evil Russian Ivan Drago trains in a high tech lab with trainers and scientists and publicists, using the latest equipment and even taking anabolic steroids, something our great American hero Rocky Balboa would never, ever do.

The symbolism in this scene is endless – as Drago knocks training partners to the ground, Rocky cuts a tree to the ground. As Rocky runs up a massive mountain in the snow, Drago runs on a treadmill with a steep incline. As Drago presses a barbell over his head to the applause of his training entourage, Rocky presses a trailer with his trainers and wife in it over his head.

We all know what happens next.

Rocky, with his ‘old-school’ training methods, defeats the massive Russian, and the world is saved. This movie, and in particular this scene, single-handedly ended the Cold War, and I refuse to believe otherwise.

This is the power of symbolism.

So what does all of this have to do with where we are right now?

Last week, we all witnessed one of the single greatest real-life symbolic transitions, ever.   

On February 28^th, the Winter Olympics in Vancouver concluded. Merely days later, Major League Baseball started to play its first Spring Training games of the year. In the span of three days, the sporting focus of the country went from 100% winter to 100% spring. Finally, the winter months are behind us, and as the weather warms up outside, so too will the spring season of professional (and amateur) sports.

While baseball may only just be starting, the NBA is coming down to the pointy end of the season. And with only a little over a month left before the playoffs, there are still many interesting story lines yet to entirely unfold. Where will LeBron go next year? Is Kevin Durant the next, well, LeBron? Can the Nets possibly get any worse?

And if the NBA isn’t enough to fill your basketball quota, there is always the looming presence of the college basketball playoffs. ‘March Madness’ is creeping closer and closer every day.

Clearly, it’s a great time of year to be a sports fan. The NHL is back after the Olympic hiatus, and spirits in the league could not be higher. Only a few years after the league shut down for an entire season, the Olympics have surged popularity back into the suddenly hot-topic league.

And, for the seven of you out there who care, Rugby seasons are starting in the southern hemisphere. (That’s the game they play in the movie ‘Invictus.’ You know, the one with Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman in it?)

But for me, this all comes back to the symbolic change of seasons; the shift of focus from the biggest winter event in the world to the spring beginning’s of America’s pastime. As our overpaid heroes run around in the Arizona and Florida warmth, the rest of the country is waiting for the snow to melt, and for the season to truly start.

It’s going to be a great spring.

And if you still don’t believe in the power of symbolism, then I can’t help you any further.

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