Football Season, A Love / Hate Relationship.

Saturday is the first day of the college football season. There is a certain feeling that follows quickly on the heels of the opening day kickoff.  After seeing a team play it can become difficult to entertain illusions of invincibility.  Before the first game teams are filled with Supermen, supreme beings, monstrous, murderous, animals, fast, flexible and beastly, unfeeling, and incapable of anything resembling compassion or empathy.

After the first game there may be some misgivings, it might seem like they are a little too kind, maybe a little too generous.  On a few plays they really made that team look good.  Sure, everybody should feel proud about their performance, but, charity begins at home, right.

Fortunately, it is just the first week and nobody really plays anybody good.  Except, of course, for those teams that play opponents with a significant advantage in size, speed and budget (funny how those three things travel in a pack).  How the small schools of the world should be pitied, traveling long distances for a paycheck and a painful loss.  But, the teams with the most fans normally win on the first weekend.  The University of Idaho football team probably has very good fans, fans who represent the university admirably on those long, cross country trips to Gainesville, but try to find a Vandal shirt in your local sporting good store (it is such a cool name, I would have one if they were easy to find).

But, until that first weekend all is well with the world, and after the first weekend things are not a lot worse.   No matter what happens though, it is the place of a fan to remember past glories as the most glorious, and look at the future as a promised land, filled with championships, trophies, and unbelievable success.

Such is the life of a fan.  Sports teams are a device used to bring esteem, and self worth.  When the prowess and ability of others is a source of fulfillment and they fall a little short it is only natural to feel bitter and resentful, screaming at the television, and cursing so loudly and profanely that your dog blushes, a little.

But, there is always next year.