Preseason Top 15...Reasons to Love College Football
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Oh, Hello Again, Song GirlsThis is my annual tribute to college football. It's now entering year three and is slightly updated each year. This season we expanded from 10 to 15. Please jump in...
One week away, my friends. Next Thursday, it begins. South Carolina-North Carolina St.? Sign. Me. Up. I have absolutely no affiliation with either of these fine institutions, but from Holt to Tanneyhill I've watched these teams (and pretty much every other D1 squad) for as long as I remember. Why? Because I love college football.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not that different from most other red-blooded American alpha male types living in this country. Sundays are devoted to The League. And Mondays. Sometimes Thursdays. Saturdays later in the fall. Give me the Jets at 1 and Giants at 4 (or any other game for that matter), and I’m the proverbial pig in sh*t. Toss in another FOX or CBS game to jump with and top it off with a decent Sunday night game? It doesn’t get much better than that.
But that doesn't mean a quality Saturday can't hang right there with the NFL's best slate. College football just has something. Maybe it’s the uniforms, the passion, the rivalries…maybe it’s the crowd, the youth, traditions, the number of schools you can follow...
All I know is that I can sit and watch an early Big Ten game (albeit only if in a decent haze from the previous evening), followed by some ACC afternoon action and into the night with the SEC and Big 12. I have not one logical reason for rooting for any team. I didn’t go to LSU or Florida. I am not a Notre Dame alum or Michigan Wolverines fan. I grew up in a NYC suburb and my alma mater -- well, they’re really good at lacrosse.
Back to what it is about college football. I can’t put my finger on it. So, here are only a few of the things that immediately come to mind in no particular order. Those of you who either (a) attended an institution with big-time college football or (b) have witnessed multiple games of a big-time program in-person, please share/comment/testify.
15. Overtime Games: OK, so maybe they can get a bit ridiculous based on the college OT format. But, still, it adds to the drama. Plus, it helped produce the greatest game I've ever seen.
14. The Grove: I've never been, so I have no right to talk about it. I'm going to anyway. Simply the idea of it makes me grin from ear-to-ear. Lovely ladies. Time-honored traditions. Free-flowing bourbon. A perception of preppy as opposed to trashy? Is this heaven you describe?
13. Howard's Rock: There are dozens if not hundreds of traditions tied to over a century-plus of college football. Call me old-fashioned, but there's something about the simplicity, longevity and sense of shared experience tied to the simple action of rubbing that rock that gets me every time.
12.Passion: Every game is the beginning and end of all things. The players play that way. The coaches coach that way. The fans celebrate that way. I approve.
11. Those F-in Golden Domes: I can't stand Notre Dame. Watching them wallow in mediocrity the past few years has actually been quite pleasurable. That's why it's so difficult to say something nice about Notre Dame football. But those helmets, and the tradition surrounding them, is pretty damn cool.
10. Helmet Stickers: Sure, they might seem a little amateurish, but they make sense for the college game. I'm a big fan of the tomahawks at FSU and the dog bones at Georgia. I don't even mind the weed stickers they throw on those silver melon protectors in Columbus. If nothing else, it's a pretty quick way to identify the sick mofos on the field.
9. Stadiums with Nicknames: It’s not Alltel Stadium or Raymond James, for the most part (I still can't believe there's a Papa John's stadium, but I guess a college campus is as appropriate a place as any), and that's a good thing. The Swamp. Death Valley. Between the Hedges. The Shoe. Nice.
8. Fight/Stadium Songs: You can debate the best until you're blue in the face. Fact is, you didn't go to the school and yet you still hum along to the fight song. That's pretty big time. I'm also a sucker for those teams that make the trip over to the hometown stands following a little "Eyes of Texas" or "Rocky Top." Good stuff. Even seeing the stands shake at Camp Randall to House Of Pain is pretty cool.
7. SEC Cheerleaders: Sure, you can talk to me about SC's Song Girls. I also love the gals in chaps down in Austin. And, yes, the ladies from Sun Devil country (along with their Pac 10 counterparts) have proved stellar in the past. But pound-for-pound, other stuff for other stuff, I’ll take the collective “body of work” of the lovely ladies from the likes of Florida, LSU, Georgia,'Bama and the like. Give me some SEC.
6. The Option: Doesn’t matter who runs it on any other level, it still looks infinitely prettier when some well-oiled collegiate machine breaks it out. I for some reason could never take my eyes off Oklahoma when they used to run it in the 80s and 90s (unstoppable). It's even impressive to watch the service academies run the option with such discipline (although not quite as exciting).
5. Pushups. Cannons. Galloping Steeds. Stampeding Buffaloes. Slobbering Dawgs. War Eagles. Check out this list if you’re not getting the idea yet.
4. Enter Sandman: This could have easily been incorporated into a bullet devoted to traditions (and probably should have been), but I feel like it deserves a stand-alone. I've never been to Blacksburg, VA. Frankly, I haven't heard the crowd at many other college football stadiums in this country. I do know one thing. I still remember this game, and this intro, six years later. Awesome.
3. B.M.O.C.’s: Sure, being the star point guard at UNC is probably pretty cool. The stud laxer at Hopkins? He can likely strut around campus like his sh*t don't stink. But there are few teenagers or young 20-somethings in the world who can preside over an institution like the quarterback of a major D1 powerhouse. Hmmm, let's see who might be a decent example...
2. Bands: Actually, I don’t like them. I really don’t. Even that dotting the "i" thing. They could go away along with the wave. Fill up the time with #7. We're not conference-biased, either.
1. Bowl Games: Playoff, schlayoff. Sure, the system could use some fixing. But let's not do anything rash that would sacrifice what makes the college football post-season great. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed at the number of games now taking place ridiculously early and offensively late. January 1st should be an absolute bonanza where it's not about finding the best game, it's about finding the three best games to jump to and from. But bowl season is still a celebration of endless bounty -- and so is college football. Let the fantastic-ness begin.
5. Pushups. Cannons. Galloping Steeds. Stampeding Buffaloes. Slobbering Dawgs. War Eagles. Check out this list if you’re not getting the idea yet.
4. Enter Sandman: This could have easily been incorporated into a bullet devoted to traditions (and probably should have been), but I feel like it deserves a stand-alone. I've never been to Blacksburg, VA. Frankly, I haven't heard the crowd at many other college football stadiums in this country. I do know one thing. I still remember this game, and this intro, six years later. Awesome.
3. B.M.O.C.’s: Sure, being the star point guard at UNC is probably pretty cool. The stud laxer at Hopkins? He can likely strut around campus like his sh*t don't stink. But there are few teenagers or young 20-somethings in the world who can preside over an institution like the quarterback of a major D1 powerhouse. Hmmm, let's see who might be a decent example...
2. Bands: Actually, I don’t like them. I really don’t. Even that dotting the "i" thing. They could go away along with the wave. Fill up the time with #7. We're not conference-biased, either.
1. Bowl Games: Playoff, schlayoff. Sure, the system could use some fixing. But let's not do anything rash that would sacrifice what makes the college football post-season great. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed at the number of games now taking place ridiculously early and offensively late. January 1st should be an absolute bonanza where it's not about finding the best game, it's about finding the three best games to jump to and from. But bowl season is still a celebration of endless bounty -- and so is college football. Let the fantastic-ness begin.
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2 comments:
Hmmmmmm.......Cheerleaders......
Can't wait for the season to start either. Just hope my BC team doesn't stink as much as I think it will.
To be honest, about the only reason why I watch College Football nowadays is for the bands, rivalries, and the underdog potential. A lot of the behind-the-scenes dealings, the loss of "Students" in student-athletes, and the whole ranking system has soured me to the College Ball scene. I enjoy watching a few games, yes, but I just don't feel the urge to keep track of it.
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