Today is one of my favorite days of the entire year.  Major League Baseball’s All Star game is tonight.

There are many fans who don’t watch the All Star Game.  Many fans prefer the made-for-TV thrill of the home run derby over the actual game itself.  To me, this is quite simply blasphemy.

Growing up without cable TV, the only teams I ever saw on TV were the Cubs and whoever the Cubs were playing (on the rare occasion that there was a game on network television).  The All Star Game was the one day during they year when I would get to watch the brightest of baseball’s stars shine on the national stage.  Cal Ripken, George Brett, Kirby Puckett, Mark McGwire, Bo Jackson – what a great spectacle to see!

These days, I do have cable TV and am able to keep up on players by watching Baseball Tonight and Sports Center.  (Am I the only person who has the Baseball Tonight theme song as the ring tone on their cell phone?)  Nonetheless, the All Star Game remains a hallowed event for me.  I elevate it to a sports status that is second to baseball’s opening day – ahead of the baseball playoffs, the Super Bowl, Olympics, and the NCAA basketball tournament.

Dictator Selig suggest that we should watch the game “because it counts” – since MLB awards the All Star Game winner home field advantage in the World Series (a moronic idea, in my opinion).  When did it cease to count?  I have always cheered lustily for my beloved National League to throttle the hated American League – and I will continue to do so until you pry the baseball out of my cold, dead hands.

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Kosmo is the founder of The Soap Boxers and writes on a variety of topics. Many of his short stories have been collected into Kindle books.

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