I have virtually no interest in college football, and that is rather odd. I graduated from the University of Michigan. I live very close to Ann Arbor, and consider it my home. It's hard to imagine a location more focused on college football. People even gladly accept that for a half dozen or so Saturdays out of every year, they will not be able to get anywhere in the city for the span of about six hours as streets are closed to general traffic and endless throngs of outlanders in $200 throwback jerseys with blue & gold flags on their cars make their way in and out of town for the game. 110,000+ Wolverine fans from far and wide go to great effort to get wedged like sardines into the Big House and cheer wildly. Meanwhile, I could get alumni tickets and easily drive the fifteen minutes into town for the game yet I can't be bothered to even watch the game on TV.
I don't hate college football, as many of my friends keep accusing me of. (I've never understood why not sharing someone else's enthusiasm equates to hatred.) I just don't have any interest in it. There are a few reasons for that. One is that there is no permanence of players. Yes, free agents move about in the NFL, but in the pros you can watch a team being built for the long term (unless you're a Lions fan). How long have the Colts been laboring to build a base of talent and then fill holes to get where they are today? You also get to see teams go in the opposite direction as the league catches up to them — think of the Rams days as the greatest show on turf. In college they win the National Championship and if you get one more year out of them before they go pro, count yourself lucky.
Since you aren't really a long term fan of the players in college, to make it interesting, you have to be true to your school to get enthusiastic about the games. Rah-rah-sis-boom-bah, and so forth. I'm not like that. I like living in Ann Arbor, and I think I got a decent education at Michigan, but then, that's what I paid them for. And I paid them a lot. They had no particular interest in me as a person and I have no particular interest in them as an institution. As far as I'm concerned, going to school was roughly equivalent to a business agreement. I gave them money; they let me into some classes. I completed some assignments; they gave me a degree. That's about it.
Article comments
1 - RJ Elliott
"there is no permanence of players"
Totally agree. That is the main reason I am more of the pro football (and basketball) fan than a college fan...
2 - RJ Elliott
"So for an outlay of $3960 we have been returned $4310 giving us a profit of $350 or approximately 1% of the in-state tuition cost for a four-year undergraduate degree at The University of Michigan. (According to this email I just got, I could have gotten a degree from a leading university based on life experience without ever leaving my home. I wonder if they have a football team.)"
ROTFL! :)
3 - Bennett
I know you don't bother to read our comments, but I have to say, again, what a great job you do with this. That your writing is entertaining as well... It's quite an asset to BC.
Thanks!
4 - themurph544
"but that would be like giving a mortgage application to a guy living in a refrigerator box"
So wrong ... but sooooo right !!
5 - David Mazzotta
Thanks Bennett. I do read, and appreciate, all the comments.
6 - David Mazzotta
Homer Nods: For some reason I indicated above that Dan Shanoff was responding to Adrian Wojnarowski.
Adrian Wojnarowski is a sports writer who occasionally contributes to ESPN, but I'm pretty sure Shanoff was quoting Gene Wojciechowski, also a sports writer for ESPN.
My short attention span often prevents me from reading past the third letter of words.
7 - David Mazzotta
Somebody, please, put me out of my misery.
8 - Bennett
You and me both.
It's a good weekend to NOT be in Vegas.
9 - RJ Elliott
Spread Picks
New England -4.5 - WIN
Minnesota +3 - LOSE
Arizona PK - LOSE
Seattle -7 - LOSE
Jacksonville -15 - LOSE
Chicago -3 - ???
So, 1 win, 4 losses, and 1 unknown.
Line Picks
Minnesota, $146.00 - LOSE
Philadelphia, $159.00 - WIN
Tampa Bay, $178.00 - LOSE
Kansas City, $126.00 - LOSE
Arizona, $95.24 - LOSE
Green Bay, $165 - ???
So, 1 win, 4 losses, and 1 unknown.
Uh...I feel for ya buddy... :-/