An Ode to Football

It was two weeks ago when I was about to post my in depth picks for the remaining bowl games when my computer decided to hit the sack early, leaving me with no post and little desire to seemingly waste another 30 minutes of holiday break. The result was three weeks of nothing and a few individuals accusing me of "blog drifting." I know everyone has seemed to falter when it comes to posting lately, but its the freaking winter holiday smorgasbord; don't we all deserve some time off?

But since that time of year has past, its time to get back to work. I was going to touch on this with my bowl pickoff a few weeks ago, but now that the football season begins to wind down, I think its time to look back at quite a memorable season. It always seems to end too soon, but it was great while it lasted. There's nothing like Football in America.

Months ago, when the muggy August heat resonated through the country, the leaves's began to fade; the arctic Canadian air began to creep down the long North American continent, and the undeniable feeling of football was in the air. Every team was equal, but all eying the top of the heap at the end of the season. So, as the heat of summer gave way to an all out blast of autumn, we witnessed an onslaught of memorable, and less than memorable games, performances and media hypes.

In the National Football League, we saw yet another Colts hot start with talk of a record breaking season, only to see a near fatal collapse. We witnessed a more than regrettable draft pick; the feel good story of the rising of the Saints, the realization that Bret Farve is human, and that perhapses a single quarterback can be the difference in Baltimore. The public lynching of Drew Bledsoe, followed by the weeks of Romo-mania and a season ending slick ball only added to the literal remake of that classic soap opera "Dallas." (Don't forget the oft antagonizing comic relief of T.O.) We saw the a slew of rookie quarterbacks sidelined for the likes of washed up veterans, only to see a mid season switch and the newcomers building up steam for next year. LT became more than just a high fantasy draft name and grew to the title of all out superstar. The Eagles learned from previous seasons and had a fiery backup ready when #5 bit the dust again. And the Monsters of the Midway made a resurgence, but have yet to prove their lofty record.

In College Football we saw multiple top ranked meetings through the season, both resulting in the Buckeyes of Ohio State prevailing. Despite every kind of setback, the Oklahoma Sooners sat atop the Big 12 at the end of the year, only to be outlasted by the seemingly unknown Boise State Broncos and their endless bag of tricks. A running back would lead Arkansas in every way possible to the SEC championships, only to be beat by the eventual National Champs and an all out brawl was the cherry on top of Miami's train wreck season sunday. Rutgers and Wake Forest both had magical seasons as they played the part of giant killers. And both Ohio State and Michigan, considered by most the two best teams in the country, where pushed around and embarrassed at their elevated bowl games.

And let's not forget the long and glorious season of Jr. High vs. High School bouts. There was a massive mid season meeting on grass with the introduction of of my long asked for stadium lighting and more than a few Jr. High victories. But, as to be expected, High school simply took care of business.

For the majority of the teams out there, their seasons are over. Some have exceeded expectations, some have found new lows (cough, cough, Detroit) but all are making changes and looking forward to next year. There will always be next year...

Final thoughts on this years hometown teams:

Texas Longhorns- It began with a lofty ranking and ended with a nail-biter against a .500 team. At first I had thought that this team was still getting the bugs out early in the season, but as the loss column expanded and a less than perfect bowl performance ended a late season slide, I finally recognized that this team just wasn't as good as everyone would like to believe. We made a decent showing against OSU but throughout the season we never took that championship form and it was only a matter of time before it came back to bight us. Those lucky wins at Nebraska and Texas Tech where just that, and a knocked out QB and a bad pass interferences call were the just ends. That secondary full of outstanding players never gelled and the running game fell apart in pressure situations. Thank God we had someone to pick up the slack at quarterback. Most of the defense and offensive line are gutted going into next year, but talent on offense and one heck of a recruiting class might make some noise.

Texas A&M Aggies- They had a feisty QB and powerful two back tandem, but the team in a whole was still far from greatness. I've yet to see Steven McGee throw the ball well and is still just another glorified halfback under center. However this team came out on top more often than not and looked as if they might gain some momentum into next year. But of course you had to lay an egg in late December and continue to add to that bowl shaped omelet.

Dallas Cowboys- Although it may have seemed sudden, my hatred for this team took years to develop. The image of this team has been tarnished for so long and once the hype began this season, I had officially had enough. They have talent, but they don't use it consistently. I sort of bought into the Bill Parcels hype for a while, but I've had enough, the inconsistency and random collapses are on his shoulders and I don't think he's done a good job. T.O. isn't the problem. They will have talent next year, the question is if they are going to use it.

A Few Thing I Think I Think- (about this season)
>I think there are a lot of down right bad commercials out there, but those Diet Pepsi commercials take the cake. There are some out there that are bearable, maybe they even produced a chuckle or two the first time around, but these ads are just god-awful. First there were the cheesy Pepsi machine playing football ads, then one with Reggie Bush. Now they have the pathetic voice over clips that cause you to desperately claw for the remote. At least those beer commercials have that stupid guy humor that mildly entertains each time. Even those Jackie Chan Super Bowl ads were pathetic. Who advertises for a diet soda anyway?

>I think the broadcast by NBC has been great this year. They really hit the nail on the head with their no-nonsense feel and endless array of top notch annalists. So why do they have that punk like music video by Pink (at least I think that's her) before each broadcast. It's such a quirky song and doesn't fit at all anyway. I'd show you the clip, but I don't think its even watchable. Who at NBC wrote that check?

Video of the Year- Boise State Wins Fiesta Bowl
There was a contest this season where fans could vote for the game changing performance of the year. Due to the fact that this performance was in a bowl game, it wasn't part of the competition. Too bad, cause this was, hands down, the greatest play this year. Even more than that, it was probably the greatest 15 minutes of football. Add the live TV proposal after the game and it makes some of the greatest TV ever. Hollywood couldn't of written it up. For those few who watched the end of this game you know what I'm talking about and this little video can't nearly display what this game was like. But here you go anyway...