Spring has made its way to the North Country and the baseball season starts in less than 2 weeks. Everything is right with the world.

Each morning I open the sports page of the StarTribune hoping to read about spring training. Inevitably there is more coverage of the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL.

Don’t get me wrong. I like football. But unlike baseball, it does not capture my imagination or my attention. It is the perfect thing to nap to on Sunday afternoons between September and December. But that is the extent of my interest. Monday Night games, Sunday Night games, and Thursday night games are a nuisance. I am inevitably in bed by halftime of night games no matter the match-ups or the score of the games. It just does not matter all that much to me.

Baseball was once the American Pastime. Football has become the American Addiction. And like all addictions, our addiction to football has a number of negative effects on our society.

All sports seasons are too long. Baseball should only last from April to early October. Football from September to early January. Basketball and Hockey from November to March.

Football though has become a 12-month obsession for the sports media and football fans. Turn on ESPN any day of the week and there will be a story about something NFL related.

It is a change that has happened in my lifetime. One of many changes that have happened over the last 65 years that have probably not been for the better. The rise of the NFL and the rise of Trumpian Madness. Is there a connection?