Must-Read Sports Commentary

Daily Breakfast: Biscuits, Jam & Crossword

Brief Review: Anything by Jason Gay in the Wall St. Journal

For a long time, my breakfast has been a solid routine of light food, caffienated soda beverage, and the crossword in the Wall St. Journal. Our local Chick-fil-A provides the WSJ and generously allows my indulgence.

Then, although not generally interested in sports commentary, I began noticing that articles by Jason Gay, which often appeared on the same age as the crossword, were light-hearted, fun things to read, and did not require in-depth knowledge of the various sports. Soon, my routine became "Find and read any Jason Gay article, then do the crossword."

Today's article weaves together broad and subtle jokes, literary references (to other sports writers, naturally), and a well-reasoned appeal to our national work ethic, all in aid of a plea to reduce weeknight baseball games to seven innings. Then, if you...

...want a classic nine inning baseball experience, long enough to roast a turkey, do your taxes on your phone, and take an hour-long nap—you can get it Friday through Sunday. 

Gay doesn't limit his recommendation to baseball, either. NFL football comes in for its own game-trimming suggestion, likewise basketball. As he wrote in his 2015 rule-book Little Victories: Perfect Rules for Imperfect Living, "Accomplishments do not have to be large to be meaningful. I think little victories are the most important ones in life."

Even if it's a seven-inning game on a Tuesday evening, so you can watch to the end and still function at that 8 am business meeting the next morning.