If you’re a football fan, or even just love the snacks and advertisements, Super Bowl Sunday is what you look forward to every February. With spring comes more key sporting events like the Kentucky Derby, Opening Day and playoffs for both hockey and basketball. Out of the 365 (or 366) days in a year, which sporting event do you look forward to the most? Our team of writers have their takes:
Opening Day
Taylor Coonan
Associate Sports Editor
She/her/hers
Taylor.coonan@uconn.edu
Do I really need to make the case to you of how wonderful Fenway Franks are on Opening Day at America’s Most Beloved Ballpark, cheering on the Boston Red Sox? Wally comes out with his brand new, fresh New Balances for the season, and everything is new again. Spring is here and we’ve waited since last fall to have beautiful weather and for baseball return. Especially this season, the MLB lockout left a lot of fans and players re-examining baseball and the passion so many people share for it. After the uncertainty regarding whether or not there would be an Opening Day, it’s going to be that much more special this year. No matter what team you cheer for or the logo on the tiny helmet that you’ll eat ice cream out of, it just hits different on Opening Day. Baseball season is long and full of so many possibilities within each game, each inning and Opening Day fully captures it all.
Super Bowl
Evan Rodriguez
Staff Writer
evan.2.rodriguez@uconn.edu
There is absolutely nothing better than some wings, nachos and more with the family while you watch the big game. You don’t even have to know football to enjoy the Super Bowl with funny commercials and some overall quality family time. Whether you choose to spend the Super Bowl with family or at a party with friends, it’s always going to be a good time. With another tremendous showing in 2022, the Super Bowl is always an incredible event with huge parties and tremendous hype for the big game ahead. That’s all without mentioning the incredible halftime shows that occur every year and with an amazing halftime show this past season, it gets better and better with new performers. I can confidently say that it’s pretty hard to beat a national event like the Super Bowl.
The first two rounds of March Madness
Cole Stefan
Staff Writer
He/him/his
cole.stefan@uconn.edu
The fact that these two rounds almost always fall on my birthday is a special treat for me. Not only do I get to appreciate turning another year older, I get to experience the madness, highs and lows that come with all 64 teams involved. Birthday stuff aside, the first two rounds of March Madness are some of the wildest rounds you’ll ever see in your life. I’ve noticed these last few years that I have done really well on the first few games, but then I get one game incorrect and my entire bracket falls into the gutter. You never know who’s going to provide the major upsets at any given point and any given round. Unless you’re a college student on spring break, you can also watch the tournament on your computer while you’re in class (as long as the teacher doesn’t catch you, of course). It’s the kind of moments that Jon Rothstein lives for and the kind of moments that makes me reconsider participating in a tournament challenge every single year.
Conference Tournament Week
Stratton Stave
Staff Writer
He/him/his
stratton.stave@uconn.edu
Since March Madness is already taken, I’m going to go out on the deep end here and say the week before the official madness, the conference championships. Over the course of a little over a week, all 32 Division I men’s and women’s conferences face off against each other to see who gets the glory and opportunity of the Big Dance. With many more games than March Madness, you end up with a bigger set of good games and buzzer beaters. For several mid and low major schools, this is a platform where they can play on national television and make it onto mainstream media. The best part is that everyone gets a chance to win and it provides an extra layer of excitement in early March to prime fans for the NCAA’s.
