What Used To Be “Your Playground?”

For me, it was the end of the NCAA Tournament colliding with the start of the MLB season.

If you ever want to really draw a harsh line in the sand around “Adulthood,” think of a cherished period of time from your childhood — say, dew-encased summer evenings — and then consider what you’re doing on those same periods as an adult. (“Cleaning up vomit of a young child,” for example.) It really jams the ol’ knife of realism in your spleen.

I just came across one of my own today: as ever, MLB Opening Day and the NCAA Championship are on the same day. (The Masters starts on Thursday; I could care less about golf, but that’s one of those things where you’re always checking the ol’ phone on Sunday to see the leaderboard.)

When I was a young lad on the rough-and-tumble streets of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, this day would annually be one of my favorites. It was childhood splendor wrapped in immature bliss, and today, well … I’m sitting in a cubicle blogging and chasing deliverables. After work I should really work out, because you know, I’m 34 and I’m not getting any younger and I should be healthier — and after working out, damn, I really need to trim my beard. Also, I cut the cord a while back on cable, my rabbit ears don’t work, and I can probably only get the NCAA Championship…