Why I Enjoy College Football

The college football season is only three months away. I look forward to watching my team, the Alabama Crimson Tide, as they take the field September 1^st. I have been a Bama fan since I was a child; I guess you could say my family strongly persuaded me in that direction. Everyone in my immediate family went to the U of A, including me (well, for one semester anyway). Growing up, my Mom would be in a bad mood the rest of the day if Alabama lost. My grandmother chided my husband recently because he had a blue rope and an orange rope touching (as he was cutting dangerous limbs from her trees). She informed him that those two colors were not allowed together on her property (you have to be an Alabama or Auburn fan to appreciate that one). As much as I enjoy college football, I don’t particularly care for pro football. To me, college ball is more fun and more spirited.

Reasons I enjoy college football more than pro:

• Every year is a different season for college football as seniors graduate and freshmen arrive.
• College players are playing for team pride and possibly a chance to move on to the pros once they graduate. Every game is important.
• College has a much broader variety of mascots than the pros, not to mention exotic mascots like elephants, horned toads, terrapins, and wolverines. There are even teams with man’s best friend as a mascot (bulldogs and huskies).
• In college, your rallying cry can be different from your mascot. For example, Alabama fans yell “Roll Tide!” but their mascot is Big Al, an African elephant. Auburn is even more complicated. Their fans yell “War Eagle!” but they also have a tiger as a mascot. They are known as the Auburn Tigers but at the stadium they have a real golden eagle on the field AND a guy dressed up in a tiger suit (surely there is a good reason for both mascots, and a golden eagle is a safer choice for a live mascot).
• College football fans (especially in the SEC) are some of the most passionate fans in sports. Watching a game live in the stadium is electric.
• During halftime at a college game, you can listen to music played by the team bands.
• College has more bowl games than you can shake a stick at. You practically need a losing season NOT to make it to some bowl game. I used to joke that they were going to add a “Toilet Bowl” so the two worst teams could have a game.
• The variety of bowl games makes watching TV a lot of fun around the holidays and New Years; it seems to add to the festive holiday atmosphere. I only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials (that might have something to do with the fact that the Atlanta Falcons never seem to make it past the playoffs).

In my opinion, college football is hard to beat. Someone pass me the chips, a cold drink, and the remote. It’s going to be another great season. In the meantime, have a happy summer!