Friday, October 24, 2008

What it is is football


The weirdest thing has happened to me this year. I care about college football (American football, not soccer football). I'm sure it's just my little psychotic way of escaping all the wedding folderol, the world financial collapse, and the presidential election, but it seems to be working.

Andy Griffith (pre-Mayberry and Matlock) skyrocketed to fame in 1953 with his stand-up routine "What It Was Was Football," describing what the game looked like to someone without a football-clue. Here's the YouTube rendition, complete with illustrations that ran in Mad Magazine in the late 1950s. Big Orange, indeed.

Anyway, in addition to thinking the Griffith routine was funny when I was little, I enjoyed going to football games in junior high and high school. But really only for social aspect of it and the after-game meals or slumber parties afterwards. Fortunately, somewhere along the line I took in the rules of the game, so I understood what was going on. And I graduated from the University of Alabama when Bear Bryant was still the head football coach. 'Nuff said there.

But for the past 35 years I've pretty much ignored college football (and I never followed the pros - no heart in it). I never cared whether Alabama was in the Top 10 or bottom 5, or whether Tennessee was up or down. I guess I haven't needed the college football pacifier for three decades, but this year? Yeah. I need it.

Alabama's ranked No. 2 right now. Tomorrow's the Alabama-Tennessee game, which I've always considered a win-win for me, since I'm a fan of both. I'd like to see Bama win tomorrow (and Texas lose) to keep them ranked. Whatever happens, college football will keep my mind off of all the other weird world events that keep popping up.


But if all this wrestlin' over a punkin' keeps me sane right now, I'm all for it, whoever wins.

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