College Football in January
What does this time of the year mean to you? Christmas is behind us. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, well, they are gone. All of the food, all of the shopping, visiting with family and friends, work schedules, short trips, long trips, decorations, and the list goes on and on. It’s kind of a letdown. A real drag for many with the taking down of decorations, the thoughts and stresses the money spent, the dreaded New Year’s Resolutions, and of course, the weight. By weight, I don’t mean the resulting pressure from the holidays; I mean the weight gained from six straight weeks of holiday food.
For many, this time of year is about the culmination of the College Football season. By now, there are only a handful of games left with the College Football Playoff National Championship being the biggie. I am marginally interested in the Armed Forces Bowl because it features a matchup between Southern Miss and Tulane. This matchup is interesting to me primarily because I attended Southern Miss long ago, but because it is a remix of some of the greatest gridiron battles that I have ever seen in person. Without question though, the biggest thing going right now is LSU vs. Clemson.
Being an LSU fan, I am more into college football than I normally would be in January, but that isn’t what this post is about. Generally, I’m interested in the sociology of sports, specifically; I’m interested in the sociology of college football fans.
What is it about college football that makes a person run around and holler “roll tide?” What is it about college football that makes a person get into a limo to bring chandeliers and fine silver to put under a canopy to eat tailgate food in preparation of watching a game and singing a song called “Hotly Toddy”? What makes Florida Gator fans stand and slap their hands together mimicking the jaws of an alligator snapping down its prey? What makes one wear a rubber hog on their head? Is it an Elephant or a Crimson Tide? What is a Crimson Tide anyway? Is it a Tiger or a War Eagle? What is a War Eagle anyway? Why would someone want to “Hold That Tiger?” Chickens, Wild Hogs, Black Bears, Bull Dogs, Hound Dogs, Ducks, Buffalos, Badgers, Beavers, Gophers, and Lions all make up a list of some of the animal mascots associated with College Football. I can understand these. But what about Land Sharks, Kegs, Sooner Schooners, Hokies, Huskers, Boiler Makers, Buckeyes, Rambling Wrecks and Fighting Okra? What is an Ibis? Volunteer for what? I think I may have met a Demon Deacon before.
It’s all confusing. Millions upon millions of dollars are spent each year directly related to College Football. NCAA licensed and school licensed clothing, tickets, food, beverages, tailgating supplies, and lodging are examples of revenue generated because of the sport. People have custom paint jobs on vehicles, decorate their homes and yards with team memorabilia, they gamble on football, and they buy motorhomes because of football. Some even move money “under the table,” to attract recruits, all in the name of helping their team gain an edge.
Not only do fans spend tons of money, but they also develop pure hatred for their rival teams. Each school has at least one big rivalry game every year and sometimes more than one. If a new coach come in a builds a program and the school begins to enjoy success and then leaves for a better coaching job in the same conference, a new rivalry begins. If a team loses to a rival it will likely be fans who initiate a campaign calling for the removal of a coach. Sometimes, idiots take these rivalries too far, but for the most part, it is all harmless. One of my favorite stories about College Football that serves to explain about fans and their rivalries took place when David Cutcliffe was coaching at Ole Miss. During an interview, a reporter asked about a statement made by then LSU coach, Nick Saban, and how Saban commented that the Ole Miss fans were rude to the LSU team bus as it was leaving campus after a game. Cutcliffe’s reply, though I couldn’t find a direct quote, went something to the effect of obviously; he hasn’t been on an Ole Miss bus leaving LSU. Then there are the “Johnny-come-lately” or “bandwagon” fans that only jump on board when their team is having a winning season. All of a sudden, they have the attire, the bumper stickers, the flags, and will wear you out on social media after every win. Overall though, it’s all in fun.
I’m here to tell you today that approximately 38 years ago I signed up for Sociology 101 at the University of Southern Mississippi. The only reason I passed was due to an extra credit project where 6 of us, 3 guys and 3 girls went to an after-hours gay bar to observe. Remember that this was in the early eighties and South Mississippi, so it wasn’t quite as commonplace as you might imagine today. At any rate, I passed the course on the strength of that report and honestly, what I learned from that project was solely what I learned in the course. But because of the project, I guess I learned to observe and hence, my observations of College Football in January.
Most fans, and by this I mean men, women, old ladies, children from like the age of 11, at the diner, at the coffee shop, at the truck stop, and in the break room, start their next season in December before the current season is complete. You see, mid-December is the first “Early Signing Day.” This is the first opportunity for recruits to make official, their commitments to a school. There is another “signing day” in February. But to fans, this is where hopes for next season are born. Teams are graded and ranked on the strength of their recruiting class. Presumably, pre-season rankings begin here, and no pun intended, but you can bet that the bookies are already paying attention. There are writers and editors of publications and administrators of websites devoted to College Football who are constantly looking for that morsel of information that might catapult them to the top and increase their following. Regular folks think that College football is just something that happens for a few Saturdays in the fall but they are sadly mistaken. I was a pro football fan until they started all of the kneeling crap, and after years of being a Denver Broncos fan, I joined the ranks of those who prefer College Football.
While this may seem like insanity to you and probably as foreign as visiting a gay bar was for me in1982. You probably know it’s there, but you just can’t understand it.
College Football in January, honestly, just defies explanation. Most fans don’t have a dog in the hunt and many only continue to watch to root against a team, rather than for the other. Some fans who say they are rooting for “so-in-so” because they are “just being loyal to their favorite conference.”
For me, well, it’s 2020 and my team lives to play one more game. It’s been a magical season for LSU, but as any Alabama fan can testify, it just doesn’t matter if you don’t win them all.