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I hate basketball. I usually can’t stomach watching or playing basketball for more than 20 seconds at a time. Although, to be fair, I’m a huge fan of Mark Cuban and if there’s anything that will get me to watch a game, it’s him. Pro sports in general need more owners like him. You can argue whether his heart on the sleeve type attitude is good or bad for the sport or whether he’s vastly annoying or not, but you’d be hard pressed to find a Dallas Mavericks fan (or simply any basketball fan for that matter) who didn’t like him. Why? Because he actually cares about his team and of all things, wants to win and make the league better while he’s at it. You don’t think fans of the Minnesota Twins or Oakland A’s would kill to have an owner who actually wanted to win and was willing to spend in order to do so? Exactly.

Hockey is alright. I love watching Olympic hockey, where the rinks are wider and the play is much more fluid, but for the most part I haven’t been a fan of American hockey for the better part of the past eight years. Soccer? Ok, I’ll admit, I’m a big fan. Maybe it was all the years of playing soccer as a kid or maybe it was watching Brandy Chastain strip on the field after making her shot against the Chinese, but somewhere along the line I fell in love with watching a good game of soccer. And I think we all know my thoughts and feelings on baseball.

So with that said, how in the hell did June 2006 morph into one of the best all around months for sports?

Seriously, I can’t think of another month where five major sporting events took place that I was fully invested in. If I liked golf, that number could have been six, but who in their right mind can watch a bunch of guys play golf?

Six games of the basketball finals? I watched each one. Seven Stanly Cup finals games? Ditto. World Cup? College World Series? Mariners baseball? I haven’t missed a beat.

The basketball finals were great to watch simply because I didn’t know Gary Payton was still in the league on Miami’s roster. I remember back in 1996 when Payton led the SuperSonics to the finals against Jordan and trust me, that feat alone almost sucked me into the basketball world. Needless to say, I was damn happy to finally see him win a ring this year. As for hockey, man oh man was that a good series. I found it oddly pleasing that the Carolina’s first pro championship came in hockey. That’s right, in a place where football, baseball, and basketball rule the land and where a grand total of 19 people have ever played ice hockey, the freaking Carolina Hurricanes are the first to bring home a championship. Suck on that, Panthers.

Despite America’s performance, the World Cup’s been a beauty to watch. Sure, the usual suspects are the only teams remaining and it isn’t over yet, but up to now anybody who’s watched a game can’t admit it hasn’t been entertaining. Okay, I take that back, there are plenty of Americans who will whine it’s been boring, but they just don’t get the sport. The College World Series was also great, even if the Gamecocks were eliminated far too early. I started cheering for Oregon State when I saw the stat flash across the screen that the school’s only other championship came back in the 1970s in the oh-so riveting sport of Cross Country. Hell, I ran CC for a few years and even I would be disappointed if that was my school’s only championship. Luckily for those Beavers, however, they beat UNC in resounding fashion to claim the title.

But to be completely honest, the best event of all has been the entire past month of Seattle Mariners’ baseball. On May 30th they were 22-32. Now? 40-39, an improvement of eleven games. I’ll be the first to admit it might not last and that on July 29th, I might be lamenting of what could have been. But the pure fact that they are currently only two games out of first place and that I haven’t seen the Mariners win like this in over three years translates into me watching and enjoying every damn game recently. MLB.tv is a great asset in moments like these and I would like to take this time to personally thank the NL West for all the hospitality they’ve shown the Mariners over the course of this season. It’s not every year an entire division rolls over and plays dead just so Seattle can get some much needed wins. God, if you’re listening, I’ll order a few more 17-7 months for the Mariners, if you don’t mind.

And with that, tonight’s first pitch was four minutes ago and I’ll be damned if I’m missing more Mariners baseball. Adios folks.