Winter sports wind down, spring on horizon

Winter is almost over. Yes, I understand that March is one of the snowiest months in Minnesota but look at the facts: there are only 17 days remaining until spring begins. (And there are only 10 days until Daylight Saving Time rolls our way.) Winter sports are winding down. Hockey, both boys and girls, is over. Our Wildcats fell last Thursday to Lakeville South and the girls were done a week earlier. Wrestling is heading into the final tournament showdowns in the Twin Cities. (K-M wrestlers were crowned Section 1AA champions [again] and are heading to the Xcel Center in their effort to claim a state crown.) Basketball teams will be heading north mid-month. Once again, Hayfield boys and girls teams are looking for a return trip. Kasson-Mantorville and Byron are hoping to move along in section matchups. Make no mistake about it; March is the championship month for area athletes. However, the month will usher in spring sports—baseball [my favorite sport], track and field, golf, and softball will move to center stage. Yes, I know—the baseball fields around the area are still covered with snow. Tracks are nowhere near ready for sprinters or distance runners. Yes, yes, I know that Zumbro Valley Golf Club is snow covered and not pins are ready for placement. But isn’t it great to know that in another month the whole county’s attention will move from thinking of hockey, wrestling and round ball and be consumed with thoughts of the KOMETS, Bears, Cobras and Vikings vying to sectional championships in all spring sports. In fact, I found a photo of a pelican in south Florida sharing a puzzling glance at the Minnesota photographer wondering when he and his fellow pelicans can head north for the Land of 10,000 lakes. I’m hoping for rain, not snow. Breezes from the Gulf, not the frozen tundra to our north and an early planting season for area farmers. DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME What is the Indian saying about daylight savings time? When told the reason for daylight savings time, the Old Indian said, “Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket.”