Full disclosure: I grew up in Big10 country and I’m not exactly a college football “fan,” though I am partial to the Michigan Wolverines (much to my chagrin the last several seasons). There is only one game a year that I have circled on my calendar as a must-watch game … it is the greatest football rivalry of all time: the Michigan/OSU game.
That said, I have lived in the midst of SEC-mania for over 15 years now. Anyone you talk to here will claim that the SEC is the most dominant conference of all time. People go on and on about it. Some will even judge your intellectual capacity based on whether or not you agree. (I am so not kidding.) The first few years I lived here in Nashville, I tried to argue this on a couple of occasions. I was never successful and was always dismissed as an idiot. Of course, the evidence is stacked so high that I couldn’t help but eventually concede the point. Just this morning, I saw a montage of sound bites from head college football coaches on ESPN. All but two were from the SEC. There is definitely some truth to the claim, I just get weary of hearing about it … all … year … ‘round.
It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, someone is talking about SEC football. We could be in the middle of the first glorious weekend of March Madness and some knucklehead is going to call into 104.5 The Zone (Nashville’s outstanding and award-winning sports radio channel) and want to talk about the Vols Spring practices and who might be the starting QB in the Fall.
Seriously. It happens every year.
Don’t get me wrong, I like football as much as the next guy. In the Fall.
I completely understand that football is king here in the mid-south, as it is in many other places around the country. And it should be. Football season is great, but the obsession over the SEC and the discussion of the college game ad nauseum throughout the year gets old. Of course the Titans are the big-ticket draw in this area, and we also have the Predators. (There are actually a lot more hockey fans here than you’d think.) I suppose we have professional baseball, too. (Although at $14/ticket, who wants to go to a dilapidated old ball park and pay $5 more per seat than one of the best minor league parks in the country? But I digress.) Anyway, it seems like every other sport is treated as a time-killer between College Game Day Saturdays from late-August until the championship game is held in January. College Hoops, the NBA, and MLB get talked about almost out of obligation until college football starts back up again. I’m actually beginning to wonder if it ever really ends…?
And don’t even get me started on the bowl system and how the “national champion” has been determined in college football for all these years. Ugh. At least the 4-team playoff is coming next season, so that’s good. Still feels too-little-too-late to me, though.
Other than that, I really don’t have an opinion, so without further ado, here are my TWO favorite things about the beginning of college football season:
1. The MLB Playoffs and World Series are right around the corner
I would rather watch two great baseball teams that I don’t care about play in the Fall Classic before I would choose to watch a regular season SEC football game. It’s okay, you SEC folks can think I’m stupid. I don’t mind at all. I’ll just be over here thinking about The Roar of ’84 and rooting for my Tigers to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy once again.
2. Only TWO months until College Basketball starts!
I make no apologies about it. College Hoops is my favorite. Where else can a 7-year-old kid have a night like this?? I rest my case.
So, I welcome you, College Football season. Today is your day in the sun.
You are my yearly reminder that better things are on the horizon.
iScottSomethingToSay 