The busy, fun, wide world of sports

It's the last day of July. In the sports world, it's an interesting time of transition. The past couple weeks are some of the quietest around in the overall sports realm.

The NHL is pretty quiet after the draft and free agency opens, not much out of the NBA either. MLB is slugging around through the 162-game season after the All-Star Break. It's really the only mainstream sport in the spotlight. NFL teams just opened their training camps, signifying the unofficial/official starts to their seasons. Other than that, there's the WNBA, IndyCar, NASCAR, golf, tennis has a gap in between Slams after Wimbledon and before the U.S. Open.

But if there's an opposite of March Madness, these couple weeks in July are probably it.

If you want to throw high schools into the mix, there are probably various captain's practices being held for fall sports before (at least in Minnesota) official practices open up in two weeks. It's just another sign that summer is flying by and about over.

Summer is still busy, fun time for America's pastime
Of course, as I reference this as some sort of sports "down time," that's also not very true when it comes to baseball. It's grind time for that sport. Sure, there's the All-Star Break, but the Twins in particular have had a busy schedule leading up to that point. Something like 45 games in 45 days thanks to not many off days in June and a pile of doubleheaders after a soggy spring.

It's a busy, but fun, pastime for the summer. For my sports consumption, I try to take in what I can and get a variety. Still, there are sports everyone gravitates toward, even if they claim to follow everything. Me, I always say my three favorites are baseball, hockey and IndyCar racing. That's not necessarily in any particular order.

I also enjoy watching tennis. I'll even watch bowling once in a while when it's on during a bad-weather Saturday afternoon. I keep up with the NBA mostly on what I see through social media an news outlets. I'm not a die-hard when it comes to football by any means, but I like to keep up with the high school and college games locally. I'll tune in for some pro football; it's just not appointment viewing for me if I have other things going on.

Reasons behind the sports we love 
My sports coverage, particularly on the preps level, has grown over the years. Therefore, I've gotten the chance to watch and write about a variety of sports and athletes. Volleyball state tournaments are entertaining, I really enjoy covering swim meets and the only thing to complain about with a high school football game is the cold weather sometimes while I try to type in the press box.

So much of what we grow up with determines our interests and activities. I like IndyCar racing because my dad loves it. He also played tennis, got me started playing, and there you go. I understand swim meets and like that excitement since my brother took up the sport in high school.

If I have reasons and stories like that for my sports background, I know other people must have them, too. Maybe it's a family member or friend that got you hooked. It could be one game you went to that made you fall in love with a sport. Or maybe it's just that sports are so ingrained in our society that it's just natural to pay attention to them.

I'd love to hear other stories. Feel free to leave some thoughts in the comments.