Pre-Season Top 15...Things to Love About College Football
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by Editoratlegendofcecilioguante
This was originally posted on my blog, The Legend of Cecilio Guante, here.
Pre-Season Top 15...Things to Love About College Football
[1] CNNSi.com
It’s almost that time again.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m like every other red-blooded American alpha-male. Sundays are devoted to The League. And Mondays. Sometimes Thursdays. Saturdays later in the fall...(yes, I’m ripping this off from that Circuit City commercial). Give me the Jets at 1, and Giants at 4 and I’m the proverbial pig in sh*t. Toss in another FOX or CBS game to jump with during the G-Men? Even better. Top it off with a decent Sunday night game? It doesn’t get much better than that.
Hell, give me the Lions and Cardinals to finish the day, and I’m still all over it. Bring on Jake the Snake and Wayne Fontes’s warriors! Whoops. Got caught in the way-back machine there for a minute. Sorry. Give me Joey Harrington and Dennis “ They are who we thought they were!” Green.
I meant…give me Matt Leinart and...Ken Whisenhunt? And Rod Marinelli and…Jon Kitna? Huh? The point is, it’s like that thing they say about pizza and sex. Even if it’s cold, wet and soggy, the NFL still tastes pretty good.
BUT…I’d still take a Saturday in October over the NFL’s Grimaldi’s. College football just has something for me…maybe it’s the uniforms, the passion, the rivalries …maybe it’s the crowd, the youth, the number of schools you can follow.
It’s probably not one thing. It’s the sum of a whole bunch of little things. All I know is that I can sit and watch an early Big Ten game, followed by some ACC afternoon action and into the night in the SEC and Big 12. I have not one logical reason for rooting for any team. I didn’t go to LSU or Florida. Not a Notre Dame or Alum or Michigan Wolverine fan. I grew up in the suburbs outside New York City. We didn’t have a big-time college program to adopt. And my alma mater…well, they’re really good at lacrosse.
My team was the Colorado Buffaloes. I had banners and hand-made posters up in my bedroom. I loved Darian Hagan. And Eric Bieniemy (before he had a nickname). I was sure Deion Figures was going to be one of the greatest NFL defensive backs ever...anyway, we’ll save the Buffs story for another day.
Back to what it is about college football. I can’t put my finger on it. So, here’s my five-fingered bitch-slap of 15 reasons I love college football. In absolutely no particular order. Those of you who either (a) attended an institution with big-time college football or (b) have attended multiple games at an insitituion with big-time college football, please share/comment/testify.
15. SEC Cheerleaders: Sure, you can talk to me about SC’s Trojan babes. And I love the gals in chaps down in Austin. But pound-for-pound, other stuff for other stuff, I’ll take the collective “body of work” from the lovely ladies at the likes of Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, 'Bama…give me some SEC.
14. Tailgating Culinary Gear: Uhhh...sorry. Ok, cheerleading over now. Next topic. I dig things at college tailgates that look like this. Maybe they’re a fixture of NFL stadium lots, but I’ve only witnessed them down in 'Horns country and other such places. Looking forward to seeing one of these on a fall trip to Baton Rouge.
13. 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. If nothing else, it's a pretty quick way to identify the sick mofos on the field.
12. 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 at any) and that's a good thing. The Swamp. Death Valley. Between the Hedges. The Shoe. Nice.
11. The Option: Doesn’t matter who runs it on any other level, it still looks infinitely prettier when somebody like Oklahoma used to do it (and it was unstoppable). It's even impressive from time to time to watch the service academies run it with such discipline.
10. 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 can hum along to the fight song. That's big time. Also a big sucker for the teams who make the trip over to the stands following a win for the " Eyes of Texas " or " Rocky Top." Good stuff. Seeing the stands shake at Camp Randall to House Of Pain is also pretty cool.
9. Pushups. Cannons. Galloping Steeds. Stampeding Buffaloes. Dawgs. Check out this list if you’re not getting the idea yet.
8. Real Rivalries. The Epic Carnival crew does a damn good job, so we'll leave this one to them.
7. B.M.O.C.’s. You can be Chad Henne.... And young co-eds boisterously post photos of themselves with OMG... Chad Henne! Drink it in Chad. I'm not convinced you've got the mental makeup to hold a clipboard at the next level. See also: Tim Tebow. This guy, I like. 6. Kickoffs: Because they typically sound like this in big-time college stadiums.
5. 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 #20. We're not conference-biased, either. See? 4. Old School (at 79 and 32): If you haven't heard, the Nittany Lions will be cleaning Beaver Stadium after every home game this year as a disciplinary action after a few team members got busted fighting in an on-campus bar. Player on the team screws up. Reflection on the team. Team is punished. OLD-SCHOOL. Love it. Don't care if he doesn't do a thing any more. Joe goes, when Joe decides to go. At least that's how it should be.
It seems like the right things happen more often in the college game. Once in awhile emotion drives decisions (for better or sometimes worse). In this case, it makes me happy. Pat Fitzgerald was a hard-nosed, do-right college football player. For me, he was Northwestern Football during their "glory years." He should be at the helm for those fighting purple 'Cats. With a year under his belt, it'd be great to see them somehow squeeze out an over .500 record and go to a bowl. Speaking of which...
3. 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.
2. Post-Game Celebrations. This is what it looked like after Kentucky beat Georgia. That kind of emotion makes college football fantastic. I mean this is, for all and intents and purposes, a pretty "average" game on the SEC confernece schedule. I'ts not Bama/Auburn or UF/FSU. Sure, it's a little childish and stupid but that's what makes it fun.
1. The Heisman: Typically, I hate hype. But I enjoy the Heisman hoopla. What other award are you literally discussing from months before the season all the way through? Can't wait to hear Corso and Herbstreit discussing "Heisman stock" the second week of the season. Heck, a kid from Hawaii is in the mix. Speaking of BMOC. You are Colt Brennan. You've got a second lease on your college football career. You go to school in HAWAII. On scholarship. You've got an entire state pushing your Heisman candidacy. Your coach lets you drop back and throw 50x/game. Ahh... Here's to college football. We're ready.
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