4 More Weeks

As the slowest sports month of the year finally ended - I woke up Monday morning breathing in the refreshing August air. When I hear the word “August” I think of three words come to mind:

1. Hot
2. School
3. Football

Now only two of those things are still relevant in my life. Having recently graduated from Auburn University school now no longer applies to me when I hear the word “August.” Honestly, I didn’t even realize school was near until I went to Wal-Mart and bought a box of Oatmeal Creme Pies and on the front was a small graphic that said “Back To School.” I had to check the box to make sure I saw it correctly, but sure enough those words weren’t far from the truth as it was the last week of July and I realized my sense of time has already begun to leave me. However, hot and football are two things I’m still very familiar with. Growing up humid was never too far behind hot on an August day in Alabama. I’ll never forget those August days in college when I would walk to class and before I could even step foot into the building I would be already be dripping in sweat. Flash forward to now, I’m living in Texas and it’s only gotten hotter. So it’s safe to say the August weather has always been constant in my life, but with that weather has come the joy of college football. Sure there’s technically only one college football game in August this year, but just the mention of that word, “August”, brings to mind the thought of football.

My fandom for college football began at a young age. The competitive spirit and pageantry of the sport hooked me in before I was out of elementary school. A pivotal moment of my fandom happened when I was 8. At this point the 2001 football season was approaching and Auburn had just won the SEC West division a season ago. Ex-Ole Miss Head Coach and now the current Auburn Head Coach Tommy Tuberville had the team heading in the right direction and fans were hopeful for another good season. Despite a 31–14 beat down by Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, Auburn had started 4–1 and 3–0 in conference play. Things were looking bright until #1 Florida came to town. That’s right the Steve Spurrier/Rex Grossman led Florida Gators were the best team in college football and they came to Auburn a 21 point favorite. There was no way Auburn was going to win. Sure they had a promising start to the season, but this is the Florida Gators we’re talking about. Grossman had thrown 22 TDs already and they were coming off absolutely thrashing LSU in Death Valley 44–15. There is just no chance for Auburn… Until Rex Grossman started throwing the ball to the wrong team. Repeatedly. And then a guy by the name of Daniel Cobb comes off the bench to replace Jason Campbell and revitalize what looked to be a dead Auburn offense. It didn’t hurt that Florida couldn’t punt to serve their life that night, and Auburn’s kicker Damon Duval had the perfect hook for his last second game winning field goal. The impossible was defied and Auburn upset #1 Florida 23–20. I remember feeling an excitement I had never felt before in my life as Florida’s last play of the game failed. The team that I root for just did what everyone said they couldn’t. As the crowd rushed the field and the students tore down the goal post I knew in that moment my loyalty to Auburn football had been cemented.

At that young age, though, I knew I couldn’t just be an Auburn fan and not care about the rest of the college football world. College football was too fun. Thus I set out to learn more about other teams beyond Auburn. My dad would always buy the Athlon and Lindy’s preseason football magazines. In them there would be predictions for the each division 1 team as well as past season stats and current full team rosters. Not only did I learn about the football teams and it’s players, but it taught me the mascots of each school and the conferences they were in. I would devour that information like it was my fourth meal. Learning and watching football had become my new favorite hobby and still is today.

My early fascination with college football hopefully gives you an understanding as to why I, along with so many other people, love this game so much. I thank God for this game and that we have the privilege to watch and enjoy it every year. And as I dread walking outside into that miserable Texas heat, it is a sweet reminder that August is here and college football is near.