Reason Number 2 - Commencement of the College Football Season

September boasts the commencement of an athletic season like no other. Today September 2, 2010 marks the official start of the College Football season. The mighty men of Troy will take on the boys from the islands (USC vs. Hawaii) and all will be right in the world when that weird shaped pigskin is booted into the air and the first crack of a helmet is heard. No other sport on any other level takes on the anticipation and excitement that college football brings. Every team starts with a clean slate, every team has a shot at the title, hopes ride high as alumni and fans cheer on their beloved team(s). After ESPN has been consumed by WNBA playoff games, bowling, and the 14th matchup of the Mariners and Rangers all summer, we yearn for sporting excitement. Up to over 100,000 fans will pack stadiums all over the country and join in on fanfare like no other this coming weekend thanks to September. You wake up extra early, you watch Kirk Herbsreit and Erin Andrews on Gameday, and you sit back and spend your Saturday delighting in a sport at its purest form, seeing what upset may shakeup the current Top 25 or what single loss may cost a team their shot for the championship. Or perhaps you have the opportunity to actually head to a game and partake in such activities as “tailgating” – where the aroma of delicious food and beer fill the air, where the sounds of the marching band and the buzz of anticipation ring in your ears. You eat a hotdog and sip on a fine brew, play bean bag toss or ladder golf, toss the football around, and make what seems like a lifetime friendship (for the moment) with people you don’t know simply because they are hammered and wearing the same bright colored shirt you are. You ask your season ticket friend Kevin who you haven’t seen since last year how the wife and kids are, you discuss what players to watch, what the coach should do this season because you clearly know best, and what your season expectations are for 18-22 year old kids you consider assets with ROI. You chuckle, sit back and watch the sweaty overweight 30-35yr old men wearing 19yr old kid’s jerseys, who clearly take the game more serious than the players themselves, run around with a football firmly tucked in their gut dodging and spin-moving each other as though they are scoring a game winning touchdown… but in the parking lot. All in all, you come together in a form of camaraderie that rivals that of a finely trained Navy Seal group and relish in the joy of being on a college campus, packing a stadium, and cheering on your team. This season, college football season, is brought to us by the fine month of September. Fight on!