The Super Bowl is in the rear view mirror, and football season is over for another year. Many sports fans have giant empty spaces to fill on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and Sunday nights, and Monday nights, and Thursday nights, and, well you get my point.

I actually like it once the last flag has been thrown. You actually have time to do things around the house, go to movies, read books and generally have a life. I read a story the other day about how fantasy football was breaking up marriages and,  in many cases, causing severe financial problems. I tried fantasy sports for a couple of years, but quickly found myself rooting against my favorite teams, and paying way too much attention to sports on television.

Now we can actually talk about other things around the water cooler, the weather, the election, your new wife, all come into play. I use sports besides football to mark the passage of time into summer. The Australian Open Tennis Tournament is the first sign of the end of Winter. The Phoenix Open Golf Tournament means it is only a month until Spring Training for baseball. The French Open Tennis Tournament, baseballs opening games, NASCAR racing and the Kentucky Derby mean that wonderful Summer is right around the corner, then it is only three months until FOOTBALL begins again.