College football is my favorite.
High school football is also great, because it is as American as apple pie and Elvis. I went to the best high school ever and we were good at football and a lot of those guys were my friends. Go Big Reds!
As for the NFL, I have always liked it too, but I don't get as emotionally involved in those games. Maybe if I played Fantasy Football I would, but I don't. By the way, who knew that FF was going to be so ginormous? Wow.
Back to college football:
I love the sounds. Each sport has it's own sounds, and I am not afraid to say that there is no contest. Football sounds are the absolute best. Nobody can compete with the marching bands. Nice try with the organ, baseball, but not so much. Golf? Ha ha. No. As much as I love tennis, nope. Soccer? I love soccer, and there are places (England) that might compete a little bit ...with their throngs of men singing ancient songs of allegiance.... Someone somewhere (South Africa?) decided to introduce the worst idea ever to soccer: the vuvuzela. I rest my case. Anyway, the college marching bands...how great are they? They play their school's fight songs with such enthusiasm that we can't help but get up and clap along. At halftime they march into cool formations representing their schools. They do all of this as a unit. Rarely do we know a band member's individual name. But we do know our fight songs! I'll bet there a lot of folks who could even hum parts of the Notre Dame fight song or the Michigan fight song but wouldn't know what they were humming. My favorite marching band is affectionately called, 'The Pride of West Virginia.' I get a little misty eyed every time I watch them form the outline of West Virginia, while playing 'Simple Gifts' by Copland.
I love the weather. The beginning of football season signals the end of the worst of summer. It means that soon we'll be getting out our jeans and hoodies. And there are few places on earth that are prettier than the place where I fell in love with football. West Virginia in the autumn is breathtakingly beautiful.
I love the excitement. How many times do we watch a game where both teams have given it their all for sixty minutes, only for it to come down to the last two seconds? Have you ever been there? You can't hear yourself think! The noise is awesome!
I love the game itself. Are they going to pass or run it? Should the quarterback use the shot gun? Should he keep it and run? Are they going to blitz? How about a little slant pass over the middle? Who's stronger, our offensive line or their defensive line? Who's faster, our wide receivers or their defensive backs? Are they really going to kick the ball to that guy? He-could-go-all-the-way!!!
I even love the fact that football has cheerleaders and pom pom girls and the girls are still allowed to be pretty. Somehow the PC crowd has not yet imposed some rule outlawing pretty cheerleaders and pom pom girls, because by being pretty they make some people feel ugly. Yep. They probably do.
And then there are the rules. There are so many rules! Not only is it good to know the rules, it's helpful to know the signals. I like the fact that I know that when the official starts patting the top of his head he means that there was an ineligible receiver downfield. And I guess we can all thank (former?) NCAA official Gordon Riese for giving college football the instant replay challenge. Although every Sooner fan might not recognize his name, most would surely recognize his handiwork from the 2006 game between Oklahoma and Oregon. Had the rules allowed for an instant replay review, Oklahoma would have won that game.
I think I may have transitioned into some things that I don't love....
While we're on the subject of rules, let's talk for just a moment about the, 'excessive celebration' rule. Really NCAA? Excessive celebration? These guys are taught to get as pumped up as they can to play the game of football. They have to out smart, out muscle, and out speed the other team over and over to try to get to that magical place called the end zone. It's hard. It's dangerous. People get hurt trying. And yet....when they finally cross that goal line and score a touchdown, they aren't allowed to celebrate???? Now that's just plain dumb. Taunting is different. Penalize taunting. Don't penalize celebrating. Are we not smart enough to know the difference? I think we are.
Speaking of the NCAA, am I the only one who thinks they are getting a little scary? I mean, they are busy little beavers....sanctions here, warnings there, threats everywhere. I'm beginning to think that they have created a rulebook that is absolutely impossible to obey so they have job security. It's not a matter of whether a school has messed up, it's more a matter of who they are going to go after today. Who is going to stop the madness?
And last but not least...in fact I'm quite sure I will write about this again....WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON WITH THE THE REALIGNMENT OF TEAMS AND CONFERENCES???
Feel free to opine.
Meanwhile there is no debate about what is on the TV at the Pearman house on Saturdays. This coming Saturday my two favorite teams are playing on different channels at the same time. Oklahoma is currently ranked #1 in the land. Boomer Sooner! And WVU is playing at home against LSU. College Game Day in Morgantown??? Sunnyside will accept the sacrifice of many old nasty couches. It's hard to believe that I lived nine years of my life in Morgantown. Those were good years, but that's another story.
Just sayin...
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