Football Eve
It was a bleak, cold day in February. Early February. A Sunday, as a matter of fact. That depression that hits every year, usually in late January, began to sink in. Although the calendar had given us a few more days, in the end, it was inevitable. I knew that what stood in front of me was a seemingly insurmountable mountain of time, yet that time would heal the wounds, as the old saying goes. But the 7+ months of darkness that stood in front of me (and those who go with me) could only begin to heal with the dawn of the next morning.
Yes, I'm talking about the end of the NFL football season. And the beginning of a new one. The NFL season kicks off (don't you just LOVE that cliche?) with a Thursday night edition of Monday Night Football. Which means Sunday afternoon now means something else besides waiting for my wife to wake up from a nap and alphabetizing my CD's for the jillionth time.
Lost of people that I work with are very much into college football and not really into NFL. I'm just the opposite. I used to be of the belief that the pros were the overpaid pampered crybabies playing, and the college boys were the purists who were truly playing "for love of the game" (that would make a good movie title, by the way). Then you have the Albert Means story, and plenty others like it, that shows the "underground" that exists in college recruiting, and it might not be such a pure and untarnished sport after all. Throw in the fact that the two colleges I attended (Vanderbilt and Memphis) have football teams that rival women's cross country in popularity, and it's easy to see why the Titans get the "everything stops" treatment, and the Michigan Wolverines get the "who gives a flip?" I watch the marquee matchups, local interest games, the bowl games, the national championship, etc. but if Wyoming is playing Oregon on ABC, I just might turn the channel and try to find Paige Davis flashing her adorable little tummy on Trading Spaces.
Week 1--Titans @ Steelers. In years past, this was a great intra-division rivalry, and they're still whining about the playoff game and our kicker's "acting" when their stupid guy ran into him in the first place. I'm not too optimistic, given the fact that we essentially blew up a team that went 5-11 last year, and the boys from steel town were one game from the Super Bowl. Maybe we can make it look respectable.
I didn't really follow all of the offseason moves, so I won't make any futile playoff predictions and Super Bowl bets, but I will predict the success (or lack thereof) for my team: A lot of rookies were forced into action last year, so we've got a lot of unheralded experience. A healthy Steve McNair and a talented, only-recently-been-noticed receiver in Drew Bennett, and a couple of talented running backs should helps us win some games. Our key, as it always has been, is staying healthy. My prediction: 8-8, missing the playoffs for the 2nd straight year. We'll be 0-2 versus the Colts, and 1-1 versus Houston and Jacksonville.
Yes, I'm talking about the end of the NFL football season. And the beginning of a new one. The NFL season kicks off (don't you just LOVE that cliche?) with a Thursday night edition of Monday Night Football. Which means Sunday afternoon now means something else besides waiting for my wife to wake up from a nap and alphabetizing my CD's for the jillionth time.
Lost of people that I work with are very much into college football and not really into NFL. I'm just the opposite. I used to be of the belief that the pros were the overpaid pampered crybabies playing, and the college boys were the purists who were truly playing "for love of the game" (that would make a good movie title, by the way). Then you have the Albert Means story, and plenty others like it, that shows the "underground" that exists in college recruiting, and it might not be such a pure and untarnished sport after all. Throw in the fact that the two colleges I attended (Vanderbilt and Memphis) have football teams that rival women's cross country in popularity, and it's easy to see why the Titans get the "everything stops" treatment, and the Michigan Wolverines get the "who gives a flip?" I watch the marquee matchups, local interest games, the bowl games, the national championship, etc. but if Wyoming is playing Oregon on ABC, I just might turn the channel and try to find Paige Davis flashing her adorable little tummy on Trading Spaces.
Week 1--Titans @ Steelers. In years past, this was a great intra-division rivalry, and they're still whining about the playoff game and our kicker's "acting" when their stupid guy ran into him in the first place. I'm not too optimistic, given the fact that we essentially blew up a team that went 5-11 last year, and the boys from steel town were one game from the Super Bowl. Maybe we can make it look respectable.
I didn't really follow all of the offseason moves, so I won't make any futile playoff predictions and Super Bowl bets, but I will predict the success (or lack thereof) for my team: A lot of rookies were forced into action last year, so we've got a lot of unheralded experience. A healthy Steve McNair and a talented, only-recently-been-noticed receiver in Drew Bennett, and a couple of talented running backs should helps us win some games. Our key, as it always has been, is staying healthy. My prediction: 8-8, missing the playoffs for the 2nd straight year. We'll be 0-2 versus the Colts, and 1-1 versus Houston and Jacksonville.
posted by Eric C at 2:41 PM
2 Comments:
Paige Davis isn't on there anymore so your gonna have to find another cute tummy....Michelle
You are much more optimistic about the Titans this year than I am...I think it will be a good year if we go 5-11 again. I think McNair ends his career before January, and Volek becomes the starting QB.
As far as becoming an NFL fan rather than college, I have a few thoughts on that as well. There are so many college football players now who play only as a warm-up to the NFL, and don't care about the "student" half of student-athlete, that it really distracts me from enjoying college football. College football has become such a money machine that it just sickens me. The win at all cost mentality belongs to the NFL only, not to college football.
Look at Notre Dame. That is supposed to be a school where academics is still prized higher than athletics. Tyrone Willingham came in, recruited good kids, graduated his players, and won some games. Guess what? He didn't win enough, because he was fired after only 3 years. Why? Because he didn't win 10 games a year.
I'm disgusted with the whole thing. And I'm disgusted with myself that I keep watching and attending the games too. Deep down inside, I want to love college football, and I'm optimistic that some day this will all change. I just don't know how or when.
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