What I Love About College Football
Nov/14/2007 08:16 AM Filed in: HSOs from a
Bitter P1
What a bizarre season for college football.
Seems like nobody but Kansas has a chance at being undefeated. How strange is that? Two "number ones" have lost, about six or seven "number twos" have lost, and I'm not even sure anybody knows how many "top tens" have gone down. How strange is that?!!
On any given Saturday, it's at least theoretically possible that the best team in the land might lose to somebody nobody's heard of. (Can anybody say "South Florida?")
That's one thing I love about college football.
Another thing I love about college football is the passion. As much fun as the NFL is to watch, there is a...well...professionalism at that level that often lacks passion. Parenthetically, I think that's why folks love the Cowboys these days: because they actually seem to play with emotion. (Are you listening, Bill Parcells?)
In college football, the emotion of a crowd can actually change the course of a game. Like the Aggies say, crowds really are the 12th person. (Work with me here on the language...) In college football, one key turnover, one long pass or run, can change the momentum of a game long before the score does. In other words, there are intangibles that always keep you on your toes as a fan.
That's another thing I love about college football.
A third thing I love about college football is that so many other people love it. It's such a unifying cultural experience. Take away the big schools for a moment. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the "Austin Peay's" of the world. I'm talking about the "Colgate's"
Every Saturday, as you watch the scores scroll across across on SportsCenter, the names of tiny little schools nobody's ever heard of will flash by...
...Furman vs. Wofford
...Samford (no, not Stanford) vs. South East Missouri State
...Butler vs. Valpairiso
I just listed six schools I know nothing about. Couldn't begin to tell you what town's they're in. And I'm only confident about the state for one of them. But as those scores scroll, you get the sense that thousands of people in these tiny little towns have turned out to stadiums nobody's heard of, to scream at the top of their lungs at games nobody else will remember.
It really is not whether we win or lose, it's that we all play the game. We're all in this together on those Saturday afternoons, cheering on our teams, big and small, hoping against hope that this year will be "our year."
College football is a unifying experience that is not just about the "Top 25." It's about everybody else too. And that's another thing I love about it.
But the thing I love most about college football is that only in college football do things like the video clip below happen. Maybe you have seen this clip already, but maybe what you saw was the sideline camera. The clip below is an end zone shot, and I find it even more amazing.
As long as you live, you may never see another play like this. Check it out:
THIS is what I love about college football.
Seems like nobody but Kansas has a chance at being undefeated. How strange is that? Two "number ones" have lost, about six or seven "number twos" have lost, and I'm not even sure anybody knows how many "top tens" have gone down. How strange is that?!!
On any given Saturday, it's at least theoretically possible that the best team in the land might lose to somebody nobody's heard of. (Can anybody say "South Florida?")
That's one thing I love about college football.
Another thing I love about college football is the passion. As much fun as the NFL is to watch, there is a...well...professionalism at that level that often lacks passion. Parenthetically, I think that's why folks love the Cowboys these days: because they actually seem to play with emotion. (Are you listening, Bill Parcells?)
In college football, the emotion of a crowd can actually change the course of a game. Like the Aggies say, crowds really are the 12th person. (Work with me here on the language...) In college football, one key turnover, one long pass or run, can change the momentum of a game long before the score does. In other words, there are intangibles that always keep you on your toes as a fan.
That's another thing I love about college football.
A third thing I love about college football is that so many other people love it. It's such a unifying cultural experience. Take away the big schools for a moment. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the "Austin Peay's" of the world. I'm talking about the "Colgate's"
Every Saturday, as you watch the scores scroll across across on SportsCenter, the names of tiny little schools nobody's ever heard of will flash by...
...Furman vs. Wofford
...Samford (no, not Stanford) vs. South East Missouri State
...Butler vs. Valpairiso
I just listed six schools I know nothing about. Couldn't begin to tell you what town's they're in. And I'm only confident about the state for one of them. But as those scores scroll, you get the sense that thousands of people in these tiny little towns have turned out to stadiums nobody's heard of, to scream at the top of their lungs at games nobody else will remember.
It really is not whether we win or lose, it's that we all play the game. We're all in this together on those Saturday afternoons, cheering on our teams, big and small, hoping against hope that this year will be "our year."
College football is a unifying experience that is not just about the "Top 25." It's about everybody else too. And that's another thing I love about it.
But the thing I love most about college football is that only in college football do things like the video clip below happen. Maybe you have seen this clip already, but maybe what you saw was the sideline camera. The clip below is an end zone shot, and I find it even more amazing.
As long as you live, you may never see another play like this. Check it out:
THIS is what I love about college football.