November. That’s how long we’ll have to wait for the foliage of Augusta National to grace our television screens. My only gripe? The conflict. One of our country’s greatest annual storylines: Alabama vs. Georgia. We are (?) days into quarantine and I’m still looking forward to college football season. In this unprecedented time in our lives, a time which we hope to never endure again, The Masters in November is historic. But competing with one of the largest college games in the country?
College Football is Spectacle.
As far as sports go, there is nothing that compares. The pure absurdity of the sport is unlike anything else. No, I don’t care that the “quality” of football is better in the NFL. Oh, the NBA dominates ESPN highlight reels? Great!
College football is an emotional experience. College football’s unique qualities stem from the fact it’s generally 18 to 22 year olds duking it out. What makes this age group so damn special? Their susceptibility to fuck things up. What did most of us spend those years doing?
But what is spectacle? As far as sport goes, how do we define it? It’s that love of sport, the love of school and the fascination with the unusual that drives our interest in college football. We’ve come to this understanding we’re not watching the best of the best when it comes to play-calling, execution and product. It’s the passion, the excitement, the roar of the student section that captures our intimacy for the game we love.
Something that’s a spectacle is remarkable. But what is remarkable? Let the games speak for themselves. Inadequacy is remarkable. Missed blocks, missed tackles, bad passes; it’s all a part of the experience.
College football is strange, it’s exhilarating and it’s whacky. At times it feels like a mindless game. But as often as we sit scratching our heads, our jaws drop in amusement and our stomachs pain from the laughter in awe. It’s nearly indescribable. If asked to explain your love of the game, good luck formulating that answer. And it’s not a sensation everybody understands and that’s just okay!
It’s the World’s Greatest Inside Joke
It’s that smile you get when you’re in California, wearing a Michigan State t-shirt, and see someone else wearing a Sparty shirt. At the end of the day, it’s a shared experience that we all love and crave. That’s my favorite way to think of it.
One of my absolute favorite quotes is from Maya Angelou, a writer and person that I hold very dear.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
– Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou didn’t know it at the time, but she was talking about college football. Out of all the incredible things I’ve seen or heard in this sport over the years, I really just remember all the fun I had along the way. I don’t necessarily remember every play or even every game, but I do remember how much I’ve enjoyed myself in the presence of college football. I remember all the times I’ve had my heart ripped out, I remember seeing my best friends laughing in the sun as we all enjoyed eternal youth.
Some day Autumn will return, we won’t have to social distance or worry about the spread of some weird disease. The leaves will fall, the beer will flow and you’ll find yourself back on campus on a Saturday morning wondering just how the hell you got to be so lucky to be in that exact place at that exact time.