December 7, 2021
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This week we asked our writers:
How do you plan to fill the time you would have spent on baseball during the lockout?
Here are their responses:
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James Vlietstra – I will be spending approximately the same amount of time on baseball as a typical offseason.
The Yankees farm system is something I really enjoy writing about, which I will continue to do.
I also have a couple of features planned, which will take a lot of time with research.
If the lockout lasts into the spring, I am a @HVRenegades season ticket holder and will try to make it to more games than last year.
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Derek McAdam – While the lockout is devastating, I plan on using the time to focus on the New York Rangers. Hockey has always been one of my favorite sports, which I expect to get me through this lockout. If the lockout is still ongoing by the time the Stanley Cup Finals have ended, I am not sure what will get me through the summer.
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Cary Greene – My plan is to watch plenty of college basketball and football. My favorite college basketball team, Syracuse is coming alive a little bit after a rough Battle for Atlantis and a very disappointing prior loss to Colgate. Also watching a ton of other teams and just happy to have basketball games to watch.
That said I don’t think I can replace baseball because I’m just too interested in it so I plan on monitoring Major League Baseball CBA news daily and I’ll be hoping that the lockout ends when the two sides can come up with something they both agree on. I think they do need to hammer something out and it may take some time so I’m going to be patient.
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Paul Semendinger – I just don’t understand how the people running baseball don’t understand how foolish this lockout is. Fans of all sorts are going to move on. Some won’t ever come back to the game. Each day the sport is shut down, people will lose interest. It’s so frustrating that the people running the sport are ruining the sport.
During the lockout, I’ll continue to write. I’ll make sure that we have tons of great content each day here at SSTN, although on some days, we’ll have one fewer article.
The down time from baseball will give me more time to read, more time to write in other areas, more time to be a husband and a dad, more time to exercise… It’s getting to the exciting time of the year in the NFL, so I’ll watch some football. This is the problem… once people realize that they don’t need baseball, they tend to move on.
What a shame this is.
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Ed Botti – During the lockout I plan on continuing my normal winter routine. My days will be unchanged for the most part. Work a full day and put up with the daily nuances of running a business. My winter evenings are spent at home with my wife, kids and of course Tala my Siberian Husky who will be chasing Olive the cat, or I am at the Dojo.
Where it will impact me the most is my private time when I like to read and catch up on what’s going on in the world. A big piece of that time would normally be spent following the sport in general and the Yankees specifically.
There are plenty of November – February evenings or very early mornings where I would normally do nothing but study the transaction wire and make myself familiar with the latest version of baseball musical chairs.
Who went where? Who’s available? Who was protected or exposed during the rule 5 draft? Just absorb as much as humanely possible about the upcoming season.
Once the rosters are set for spring training, I would begin my annual process of evaluating the upcoming season and of course following spring training closely.
Entertainment wise, I turn the remote over to my wife after the World Series and we catch up on the latest series and dramas available on Netflix, etc.
Right now we just finished season 4 of The Sinner (very good) and are now watching Squid Game (weird!). So entertainment wise, no change.
My Sports viewing, either live or on TV, drops down each winter and I catch a Ranger or Nets game or two a week, some UFC and boxing and a little golf to watch until March, when March Madness kicks in. My favorite time of the year. We spring forward. It starts to get warmer. A fantastic tournament that concludes with the kick off of the Major League Baseball season, and in my world summer.
I look forward to the Stanley Cup and NBA finals. But, its Baseball that consumes me.
That ritual is in serious risk of not happening in 2022. The last time, winter of 1995 seems so long ago, I have no idea what I did to keep busy. Probably not much different then I envision my winter 2022.
So in short, family time, work, read, exercise and just take it a day at a time.
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Mike Whiteman – I have it on good authority that Ken Burns’ Baseball will be under my Christmas tree this year. With the cold winter possibly becoming even colder with the absence of the hot stove, I’m sure I’ll jump right into it.
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Tim Kabel – Thankfully, the lockout is coinciding with the most wonderful time of the year. At least, it’s the busiest time of the year. Between shopping, decorating, wrestling the tree, and contemplating menu selections, my day fills up fairly easily.
However, should the lock out drag into January and, dare I say it, February, it will be a different story. In those months, time drags on. It is then that we need baseball to keep us busy. I suppose I will spend more time writing my new novel and short stories.
