Outdoor sports are different

As you the reader might imagine, I spend a lot of time at sporting events throughout the county. It’s my job, and I enjoy it.

There are definitely worse ways to make a living.

I came into this job towards the beginning of basketball season and went straight to work.

Now that baseball, softball, golf and tennis are all playing, I have found that basketball had certain advantages over the outdoor sports of springtime.

Basketball is played indoors in a court, so that marks the biggest difference right there. I never needed sunblock or sunglasses at a basketball game.

The girl’s and boy’s teams also generally played the same team in the same location back-to-back, making my life easier.

The spring sports are subject to things like the sunshine and the weather. Belgreen started playing a softball game against Tharptown on Thursday afternoon.

That game finished at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning after a rain and lightning delay. It took 43 hours to get all seven innings in.

I managed to get a pretty bad sunburn at Russellville on Opening Day, mostly because I didn’t wear sunscreen or a hat. That was my own fault, I suppose.

What I’m getting at is that outdoor sports have to take a few more details into account before they are played than indoor sports.

I don’t write this to say how I like basketball better than spring sports as it might seem.

I don’t mind being outside. I’ll watch any number of sports outdoors.

Rain is not a deal breaker for me either. A little bit of rain never killed anyone. Lightning though, is a whole other story.

J.R. Tidwell is sports editor for The Franklin County Times. He can be reached at (256) 332-1881, ext. 31.