We haven't blogged about it yet, but college football has started! This is the third weekend of the season, and is being billed as "Separation Saturday" or "Showdown Saturday" depending on which sports site you visit. The reason? There are seven games pitting Top-25 teams against each other.
Lost in the hype, though, was Friday night's game between Kansas and Toledo. I had been looking forward to it all week long; Toledo is a scrappy team from the overachieving Mid-American Conference, while Kansas is a solid, middle-of-the-pack Big 12 team. You could just sense that these two teams were evenly matched. "It's gonna be a barnburner," I told Wendy. "I think Toledo might take it."
The game did not disappoint. It took double-overtime for Toledo to pull out a victory, 37-31. Before the first overtime started, the announcer summed up the unusually exciting game by pointing out there'd been 5 lead changes, 2 safeties, 2 two-point conversions, 2 fourth-down touchdowns, 17 punts, and 17 penalties. And on top of that, Toledo didn't get a single first down in the second half, but still managed to score 14 points! In the end, though, Kansas was doomed by their 5 turnovers. (These last two stats prompted Wendy to ask "Is it really a barnburner if the offenses are so inept?" That's an interesting question that I'll leave as an exercise for the reader.)
This is why I love college football, though. It doesn't matter who's playing -- New Mexico vs. New Mexico State, Kansas vs. Toledo, or Pittsburgh vs. Ohio -- it's so easy to get into it because the games are all about emotion. It's the emotion, the pride, the passion, and the tradition that make it so great. For the next 12 weeks you'll find me glued to the TV on Saturdays, enjoying every touchdown, overtime, last-second field goal, goal-line stand, and fourth-quarter rally.
College football. God bless it.
Update, 7:04pm: I neglected to mention that on Saturdays you will also find me yelling, screaming, and cursing vehemently at the TV (and the officials) when things aren't going well for the Sooners.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Holy Toledo!
by Randy
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2 comments:
Man...both the Sooners and the Tigers had a tough loss this weekend. Better luck next week. :)
Happy Birthday, Wendy! I wouldn't have remembered except for these 3 old women sitting at the diner. They all were born yesterday (literally) and they were talking about how they are Virgos. It made me think that I knew a Virgo and then the light went on. Hope you had a great day!
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