The cold of a Minnesota spring has reared it’s ugly head once again, but this time around it’s been even worse than usual for the local spring sports scene.

So far, in what was supposed to be the third week of the season, we have seen a total of one softball game, two baseball games and one track and field meet in the area.

That’s it.

The patience amongst the athletes and coaches has to be reaching its thinnest at this point and this week’s weather forecast doesn’t look much better. Temperatures are expected to remain in the 30s and 40s and rain is always a possibility in April.

It seems like a good time to mention that playing spring sports, especially baseball and softball, in the summer could be a good idea.

It works just fine for Iowa and it could work for Minnesota as well. If the season started in May and finished in late June, that would not only give the teams chances to play more games, it would also give them nice weather to play in.

In my six years at the Herald, I haven’t seen a spring nearly as bad as this one, where everything is canceled or postponed, but I have seen plenty of Spring misery.

I have seen softball games played in the 30s with strong winds and light rain where neither team really wanted to be outside and I’ve seen baseball games played in a bitter cold more suited for ice hockey.

It goes without saying that a lot of these contests were played in front of groups of maybe 10 or 20 fans.

Last year was a rare exception as spring saw some warmer temperatures and had some pretty decent weather in April for contests. But the norm has been for April to be a cold, wet and unpredictable month.

One of the main draws to playing a high school sport is to have fun and to have your parents and friends come and watch you play. When the weather dips to unreasonable levels, players aren’t having much fun and hardly anyone is watching them play.

If these sports were played in the much warmer days of April and June, it would be a much more enjoyable for the players and you’d see more fans in attendance as well.

I know summers are getting busier and busier for athletes these days, and families don’t want their vacations messed with. There are also the Legion and VFW seasons to be considered.

However, if Iowa can pull it off, than surely Minnesota could as well.

Either way, let’s hope for some sunshine so this spring season can finally get underway.