Gratitude: College Football (After a Fashion)

Today, I am grateful for:

College football. I will say that now, on opening Saturday, but let's see if it's still true in a few weeks.

I like college football, but I am a shameless frontrunner. When my Tennessee Volunteers were winning or in contention for national championships on a regular basis, I was a pretty ardent fan (though I was still hard to please; the year they went 13-0 and won the national title, I complained the entire season that they underachieved, which they did).

Of late, however, the Vols have been weak, miserable, badly coached and ill-supported (which shows up badly when your 104,000-seat stadium is half full.

But today, all is optimism. I'm even looking forward to soon taking my annual excursion up toWashington & Lee to see football played at its basic amateur level: Division III. At W&L, where admission is free, I get fun football played by kids who love the game. It is competitive and entertaining. I wish I could stop there, but nooooooo, gotta obsess on those orange and white Vols.

Sigh.

(Photo: 1025thegame.com)