The hardest time of the year for any sports fan to endure is the off season. As an obsessive fan of Australian Football, Ive really struggled since the last Saturday in September and although I tried to sate my appetite for live sports with everything from American Football to Xtreme Paintball (although I draw the line at motor sports), nothing really seems to scratch my itch like watching AFL.

Of course, the pre-season matches are underway, which means that now I can watch live AFL again! Except nobody cares about the result, even the players, making it rather hard to enjoy. At all. Its rather like trying to scratch an itch by putting ice on it, sure the annoyance is gone but you miss the satisfaction of a good scratching.

Thats enough of the itch scratching metaphor for now.

Anyhow, for those that dont appreciate how hard it can be for a sports fan to wait until the season starts again, try thinking about it in terms of a highly anticipated video game or movie. Those waiting for Final Fantasy XIII can probably relate, you can fill the time between now and the release by playing older games that you havent gotten around to finishing, but what you want is Final Fantasy XIII and until you get to play it, everything else is just a distraction.