Point of View: Ever Thus

The vernal equinox has come and gone, the Northern Hemisphere is tilting toward the sun, and we local sportswriters are not yet saved. Snow on the sodden fields, snow on the tennis courts, snow on the track. . . .

Bonac spring was ever thus, a raw, somewhat ameliorated version of winter during which parents wrapped in blankets huddle on metal bleacher seats, watching sons and daughters play baseball and softball into the waning light. Then, all of a sudden, the trees are leafed out and summer sweeps in, hauling everyone up in its seine, our tempers becoming sourer as the days become sweeter.

Given the looming frenzy, then, it helps, inasmuch as I’m concerned, if spring teams are fun to watch — my measure of success, rather than winning, as I’ve gotten older. (Dare I say, I am even fun to watch, my tennis strokes having become ever more graceful with age, like the maple leaves, whose colors peak before they drop off. “You have beautiful strokes,” a couple of guys I’ve played with have said recently, and, of course, I repeat this as I drive along: “I have beautiful strokes, I have beautiful strokes.” But enough about me.) If we are to freeze in nominal spring, shifting from foot to foot, as we look on at games in March and April and May, at least make it interesting. And, in so doing, raise our tolerance to a genial level by Memorial Day, so we can go gentlemanly into that black hole that we in Bonac know as summer.

Last spring was not so great sportswise. Baseball went winless, softball missed the playoffs — albeit by one game — we didn’t have enough of a turnout to field a boys lacrosse team, shipping the few who had come out to Southampton, girls lacrosse went 3-11. . . . How can you greet the invading hordes with equanimity given that kind of preparation? It was all I could do to be civil.

But this year, I think, will be different. I’ve seen the tennis and baseball teams play, and they look good. Softball sounds as if it will be strong. Girls lacrosse has good coaches. . . . In fact, the coaching staff is stellar across the board. If the kids listen, they will improve.

That, more than anything, is what one likes to see — improvement, in body, mind, and spirit, not to mention the weather.

And speaking of the vernal equinox, apparently you can balance an egg on end any day of the year.