Patience is a virtue. Well, at least that’s what they tell me and if true, we sports fans have been about as virtuous as possible through June and July. As Mark detailed in “NFL Fan OTAs” , the early summer months drag sports fans through what has been termed “the great gap” referring to it’s lack of truly meaningful exhibitions of athleticism.

My friends, as August approaches I feel that I can already proclaim the payout as being worth the wait. Flipping through the calendar, the upcoming month promises to provide ample opportunity to plant one’s backside firmly in their recliner and echo Justin Timberlake’s thoughts at the 2008 ESPY Awards Show that THIS is why I love sports.

August 1, 2008 - MLB season heats up

Texas Rangers' 2B Ian Kinsler

What can I say? We don’t have to wait for good baseball with division and wild card races approaching the home stretch. Here locally, somehow the Texas Rangers have kept everyone interested despite being more than 10 games back in the division. (note to Tom Hicks: imagine how the town would embrace your team if they were actually in contention) At the onset of spring training, teams look ahead to August and hope that they are playing meaningful baseball still. Unfortunately for the Rangers, their horrible start seems too hard to overcome, but regardless there are great baseball options throughout the month.

August 3, 2008 - Pro Football Hall of Fame Game

As was pointed out in Ryan’s entry “Dallas Cowboys State of the Union“, training camps are definitely underway throughout the country making all football fans feel that things are finally as they should be. As we begin the month of August, training camp will turn into scrimmages (yes, i remember watching every snap of the old Cowboys vs. Oilers televised scrimmages), and then finally evolve into pre-season games. The first of these games organized to celebrate the 2008 Hall of Fame inductees. We are less than a week away from actual football between the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins! Many may question the purpose of watching these exhibitions but to a true football fan, there is no debate. The NFL stars may exit the competition early but that provides one the opportunity to catch up on the happenings of their favorite college player who is struggling to get playing time. Is the pre-season just glorified NFL Europe? Maybe. Is it better than ABCs “Wipeout”? Undoubtedly.

August 6, 2008 - HBO’s “Hard Knocks”

For all Dallas Cowboy fans, during this time of year there is no such thing as excess information or too much access to the team. Thankfully, the internet provides updates throughout the day for those of us who find ourselves confined to a cubical and now HBO will once again allow us to invade Cowboys training camp from the comfort of our own homes. Thankfully, this time Cowboys fans won’t be hoping to visually confirm that Chad Hutchinson is the QB of the future.

August 8, 2008 - Olympic Opening Ceremony

I consider myself to be patriotic, so when you combine sports with an opportunity to support the red, white, and blue, I’m in. Well, at least long enough to see the flag on display. My interest in most of the Olympic events dies pretty quickly after that, but as the countries’ representatives gather to kick off the competition, I will stop down to enjoy the universal camaraderie of those in attendance from all across the globe.

As much as I am in support of Michael Phelps’ pursuit of Olympic history and think that he’s probably one of the hardest working athletes in Beijing, I can’t see myself stopping down to watch a race. I definitely won’t be watching a single gymnastics competition and the track and field events won’t produce more than a blip on my sports radar. If nothing else, however, at least the highlights produced may provide Sportscenter a reason to quit sparing us to death with their tired “Titletown” bit.

August 9, 2008 - Olympic Basketball Begins

Andrew D. Bernstein / NBAE / Getty Images (usabasketball.com)

I’d say I’m disinterested a great majority of the summer Olympic events, but that is not the case with the United States’ pursuit of basketball gold. As documented by ESPN 2’s broadcast of “The Road to Redemption”, the United States’ top basketball stars will be in Beijing bringing the title of “world’s best ballers” back to where it belongs. While the international game doesn’t have as much visual appeal as the NBA version provides, taking the nation’s best players across the globe and plastering “USA” on their chests will always prompt me to break out in a rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”.

August 28, 2008 - NCAA Football Kicks Off

While the NFL’s games in August may be about as important as an episode of Super Nanny, the college football season kicks off strong and doesn’t look back. Supporters of a college football playoff system will disagree, but the greatness of the opening weekend (extended to include Thursday) is that the early games have just as much ultimate significance as a mid-November tilt. The Thursday is highlighted by games between Oregon State and Stanford or NC State and South Carolina with Saturday’s games including “Bama v. Clemson and USC v. Virginia. I think I just drooled on my keyboard in anticipation.

In closing, I plead to all the men reading. This is when we unite! Place all other social and entertainment requests on the back burner. This is a time to plant yourself in your recliner and only get up when required. If someone dares to ask why you sit and watch sports all day, let Lloyd Christmas be your guide and respond with “I like it a lot”.