The News-Gazette.com Weblog

Behind the Mic

The "Dog Days" of February

Posted by: Brian Barnhart

Saturday, February 7, 2009 12:17 PM

I did a lot of major league and minor league baseball broadcasting in my career and I saw it happen every summer.... teams and players would really seem to be dragging..both mentally and physically...by the middle of August.

Think about it: Major league baseball players start spring training in mid-February...play in or parts of roughly 30 spring games...then play the 162 game regular season. In August you get to the point as a player where spring training was 6 months ago...batting practice is a necessary evil..and you still have another month or two to go in the season. It can be draining...and you really start to feel it in the heat of August, especially if you are having a losing season.

(Before you say it...I know...I know..these guys are making a LOT of money to play a kids game...but the message still applies...I know this because I have spent a LOT of time standing behind a batting cage in my broadcasting career!)

Once you get to September and the pennant races are on and the finish line is in sight...there is an adrenaline rush that comes that helps push you to the end of the season.

The same thing happens in college basketball. I talked to Steve Lavin the other day (former UCLA coach and current ESPN broadcaster) about the "dog days" of the college basketball season. Steve reminded me that teams have been practicing just about every day since mid October....March Madness is still a month away...and you are playing teams in your conference for the 2nd time. Those conference opponents know your offensive and defensive schemes almost better than you do. It can be a frustrating time of the year...for everyone from coaches to players and can take a real mental toll.

Lavin told me one thing he did was to shorten practice a little bit and "tighten" up some of fundamentals of the game in a shorter period of time. Bruce Weber has told me the same thing before and says that young players especially have a tougher time at this point in the season.

I am guessing Olympic marathon runners go through the same thing. When running the 26-mile+ event...those miles between about 15-24 must be the toughest. I have heard that seeing the Olympic Stadium just ahead gives runners the extra mental "boost" they need to finish strong.

In college basketball...before we know it.... March Madness and the fresh winds of spring will arrive.

But until then....welcome to the "dog days" of February.