11/4/06: Why People Love College Football

November 4, 2006

Are you familiar with that feeling you have when starting into a new relationship with someone that just blows you off your feet and leaves you smiling anytime you think about them? That young and innocent time in a relationship when you really don’t know too much about the other person, so it works because you’ve found nothing to argue about quite yet. Or no matter how small or insignificant you maybe to others, anytime someone speaks bad of the other you immediately step in and dispute it. You may now be asking yourself, “What am I reading? I thought I was reading about college football.” Well no worries, you are. I just use that analogy for those who ask me all the time, “Why do you love college football so much?” I have those exact same feelings every time about this time of year. I can compare my love for college football to that of a young lady, which may explain why I am still single.
I understand that is just a game, but using that analogy each year when the season begins I have this nervous yet anxious feeling that this could be the year for my team. I’ll try to keep this as un-bias as possible, but I’ll let it be known that my team is and always has been the University of Oregon. Being that I am from Melbourne, Florida this is very odd, well unique is a less freakish term so we’ll use that. I was blessed enough to be one of the 50,000 people who packed into Autzen Stadium, September 16 to see if not the greatest, one of the greatest finishes in college football history. For those who have been in a cave since, Oregon beat Oklahoma 34-33 by scoring 14 points and blocking a field goal, all in the final 96 seconds. Now whether or not the calls we’re wrong, which they were, just that any team would not give up and still make this happen should be commended. The emotions that filled the stadium in that final minute brought 50,000 strangers altogether, just for that brief moment. The rollercoaster feeling of taking the lead, to almost giving it all back, then winning in incredible fashion, as cliché as it is, words can not truly express the feeling. The remaining 40,000 loyal fans who had stayed until the end and all who watched on television saw something they will never forget. The sheer joy and surprised agony expressed on both ends, where else is this possible, except maybe in a break-up. Seriously though, grown men in tears, complete strangers hugging each other, two football teams made the lives thousands a little bit better even for just one minute. And all that is exactly why people love college football.
I’m not here to argue that college football is better than pro football, or high school football. They all have traits that make them better than the others. I am here to try to decipher the phenomenon of why Saturdays in the fall are so amazing. If we try to compare college to pro, there are a few things I might be able to come away with. One, college players do not get paid to play. So what do they play for? Well, at 5’10” and 150 pounds I’ve never made much of a football player so I can only guess, the complete love of the game. And really, there’s the one argument that separates college from pro, college players actually care. As much as I would like to boycott his name, Terrell Owens was not half the household name he is now. These are regular college students captivating audiences with their play and not their mouths. Another connection, more of us have been college students than pro athletes. Two, they are playing for a school, alumni, community, and fans from all over. Honestly, can you name the alumni of the Jacksonville Jaguars? No, it’s impossible; there is no true connection from the fans to the players. Look at a school like Boise State. I bet more college fans on the east can tell you that Boise has blue turf than Boise is the capital of Idaho. Three, college stadiums have much more of a “game-day” atmosphere than pro stadiums. With all do respect to the cheese-heads at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, the college stadium reigns supreme over their Sunday counterpart. Sixteen college stadiums average an attendance every game over 80,000 people. Not one NFL team can stake the claim.
Now, what I may feel is far more than I should, and it might be borderline creepy. But I’m also a very superstitious person, and Oregon has been winning lately so I’ll continue to do what I have been doing. I’m not saying every college fan is like me, which is probably good; they have relationships, succeed at school, and sleep better Friday nights. Like I said before, I have never been big enough to take an actual hit, so I’ve had plenty of years to be a fan. That opportunity has given me plenty of time to learn the facets of the game and be able to look ahead to the next opponent, talk about the teams in the conference, and can’t wait to wake up Sunday mornings to see the new rankings. It’s not about whether or not Oregon succeeds, and I’ll probably get plenty of comments that I don’t even attend that school, but that’s what makes this argument. You don’t have to be directly connected to any school to like the game or any team. I enjoy hearing when EOU does well, its great for the team, the students, the community, and the fans. That’s what makes college football great. It brings so many different people, to one single same feeling. If you still care to argue, going back to my initial comparison to a relationship, you remember that feeling when the young love feeling has left and you’ve had your first fight, well you’ve just experienced your first loss. But hey, it’s a long season and there are always recruits!