Looking Back, Part I

On a recent late Saturday night (or early on Sunday morning, depending on your definition), I found myself driving fast on an open road for the first time since returning from the Stagg Bowl in mid-December. With my music blasting and the Corolla bounding along at cruising speed, it reminded me of all the miles I traveled last fall.

Writing my book has been cause for reviewing all of the notes I collected throughout the season. As you might imagine, there are a whole lot of 'em. I already declared my Tailgate Awards back in January, but I thought it worthwhile to cover some other aspects of football fandom and give everyone further insight on what this observer saw along the way. When possible, I'll focus on what everyone else believes, not just my thoughts. All the fans I spoke with have a wealth of opinions and they were not shy in sharing them. Next week, we'll continue the roundup with another slew of judgments.

Most hated fans
This topic came up way more than I expected, and I expected it to come up often. Y'all love to hate one another. While the Florida Gators are widely considered rude, abrasive, and generally obnoxious by fans throughout the south, no fan base engendered quite so much out and out disdain as the one that supports the Ohio State Buckeyes. People from all across the nation regretted encountering nuts dressed in scarlet and gray. Sure in Ann Arbor, there was enough mutual hatred to go around, but from South Bend, to Seattle, to Austin, to Lincoln, to pretty much every southern school, the Buckeyes were deemed the most notable of a-holes. Everyone had their own story about their obnoxiousness. I was treated very well in Columbus, but had they asked about my college football pedigree, things may have gone differently.

How can you hate a sweet face like this one?

Most resented team
Having your own network will piss off a lot of people. I don't believe I heard a single bad word about Notre Dame fans or South Bend or really even the football team (though that may have been because of their pitiable performance this season). But all across the country, everyone seemed particularly sensitive to the special treatment afforded the Irish. Whether it's the whole NBC thing or claims of being overrated in the polls or an easier time getting into the BCS, many folks wish that Notre Dame would just go away. They even quickly dismissed the team's glorious past while in the same breath lauding their own program's history. A lot of this is envy, but it's not going anywhere, no matter how well Notre Dame plays in upcoming seasons. Honorable mention here goes to Rutgers for the special attention they get from the New York media at the first signs of success.

Resented or not, this tat is an All-American

Most hated team
Why is there a team that's most hated and one that's most resented? Because to say that people resent USC would be a gross understatement. They hate those guys. This is likely all ESPN's fault. When their "pundits" gave the Trojans a two-month tongue-bathing in the leadup up to the 2005 Rose Bowl, they simultaneously turned everyone against the team. I vividly recall Mark May claiming that Michigan's 1997 defense wouldn't hold USC under 50 points. If I had a nickel for every time someone said, "If USC was in the SEC, they'd lose four games every season," my gas would have been free.

OK, maybe they deserve it?

Greatest "respect for the game"
This is really a tough call. I'm tempted to give Notre Dame the nod simply because nobody gave me even the smallest sideways glance when they learned I was wolverine. But by a hair, I'm going with Nebraska. Sure, one guy nearly started a fight with me after inadvertently poking me in the eye, but all day, the fans seemed to put the game above their own program. Really, at every stop, I found tons of fans who eagerly claimed that this is the best sport on the planet (not that I needed any convincing).
Least "respect for the game"
You think I'm going to say Rutgers here, but you'd be wrong. Even though they're relative newborns, they couldn't be more excited about joining the masses and doing things the right way (though the pathetic shuttle bus system there is an affront to all that's right in the world). Honestly, this is a really tough one, and I am having trouble labeling any fan base the "least respectful." In a pinch, I'd go with Wisconsin simply because of the harsh attitude toward any Hawkeyes in town, but there were enough good fans that I feel a bit bad saying so.

Stay classy, Madison

Funniest Fans
The splendor of the in-game Wisconsin Badger student section is pretty amazing. It's incredibly well choreographed and joyfully irreverent. But at Tennessee, everyone made a point of being hilarious. They were either drunkenly making a sweet fool of themselves or cracking one-liners about all measure of topics.

Can't recall what they're laughin' about, but it was pretty funny whatever it was

Best razzing
There was a ton of banter in all shapes and sizes at the Cocktail Party, but as the day wore on it degenerated into arguments about fashion (yeah, the jorts thing). All in all, pretty good. There were mocking t-shirts galore at the Red River Shootout as well. Surpassing those efforts, however, was a gang set up on Donohue Drive for the Iron Bowl brought a toy megaphone and hurled the most creatively vociferous invective available at every Bama backer that passed. They told me that they were "collecting birds" and the over/under for the day would be 20. I think they surpassed their goal by mid-afternoon.

This guy didn't get razzed in the least, though

Meanest thing I saw
On the whole, people were pretty respectful out there. Some people told me tales of knocking over porta-potties or violent fisticuffs. But I didn't witness much true hostility. The worst incident took place in Ann Arbor, where some Buckeye fans were doused with beers. Shame on you Michigan kids. We're s'posed to be better than them.

Best Surprise
When I set up my itinerary, I knew I wanted to hit a non D-IA program. Thanks to a compelling recent history and the fact that their homecoming game lined up perfectly with my schedule, I had the good fortune of selecting Bridgewater College. Not only was I welcomed with open arms, I was lucky enough to have stumbled on to one of the great tailgating crews in the country, Stone Station. I ate high on the hog and made some great new friends who I got to see again at the Stagg Bowl.

A post-communion handshake

Best in-game tradition
I have to go with a split decision on this one. One for the players, and one for the fans. At Clemson, the ceremonial rock-cannon-hill combo is incredibly exhilarating. That I was there for the season opener and a nationally televised Monday night Bowden Bowl certainly didn't harm the energy. Equally exuberant is the jump-around between the third and fourth quarters at Wisconsin. I don't know if I've ever grinned harder than watching that entire stadium bounce around to House of Pain. TV doesn't do it justice. You simply must go jump for yourself some time. Seriously, check this out and try to tell me you don't want to be there:


My favorite fan photos
This is nearly impossible to choose. Many of the above would certainly be in the running. Here are my top three:

Why I love this one: Shows just how much fun everyone has at the tailgate leading up to the game

WILTO: The kids at Nebraska had been lined up the night before. Still a few hours away from kickoff, they couldn't contain their excitement, hosting the #1 team in the country and hoping they had a chance to win

WILTO: That moment in the seconds following a huge TD against the #1 team in the country. There's nothing in the world like it. Look how happy these people are!

Least rational fans
Every program had a ton of these. Many in SEC country conveniently forgot that USC had beaten Arkansas 50-14 in '06, and then when I brought it up they often denied the game's existence. Notre Dame probably deserves a mention as everyone thought they were in for a strong season, but that's pretty much your standard pre-season delusion, right? I'm just gonna go ahead and call this one a 25-way tie. It's part of the college football fan experience that we believe what we want to believe. No team has cornered the market on that one.

Biggest Disappointment
There was honestly very little I that I could claim disappointed me. Washington's crowd was pretty difficult to get talking about anything (with a few pretty cool exceptions). I was foolish enough to accept my dinner from a very sick waitress, nearly ruining my Grand Canyon trip, so shame on me there. But the greatest true disappointment was that Michigan didn't manage to find the endzone against Ohio State. I didn't even care that much about winning the game. I knew it would be tough with Henne and Hart injured. But I wanted that moment where everyone goes crazy and falls all over each other in jubilation. I saw it everywhere I went - got addicted to it, really. But in Ann Arbor, it just wasn't meant to be...

That's it for round one. If I seemed unduly harsh on your school, rest easy. I'll have more to say next week where perhaps I can change to lauding your finer qualities.

New Post A'comin'

Hey Everyone,

I know it's been quite a while since you've heard from me here, but it doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about you - er about college football. Yeah, it's the offseason, and there's really not much news other than a few players getting arrested. Or those junior high kids making commitments which really won't mean anything since the coaches will likely be at different schools by the time the kid can drive, let alone go to college. I'm working on a posting looking back at '07 that should be up in the next day or two. So check back for that.

In the meantime, it's baseball season and that means others have taken up the task of punishing themselves by driving all over hill and dale. My friend Dan (aka the SI Tour Guy) and his pal Dave are traipsing across the USA, attending a baseball game in a different city every single day. I would try to claim that I inspired such an endeavor, but Dan saw me at my most humbled and exhausted (in Los Angeles for Game #16) which means such claims would be patently ridiculous. If anything, my drive would be more of a cautionary tale. I just force-fed the boys some Giordano's stuffed pizza here in Chicago, so they should have enough energy to last them through the rest of their schedule. You can track all of their travels on their blog, Foulballs.org, an entertaining read whether you're into beisbol or not. Check it out.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I was very clear when envisioning the goal and substance of this site that I didn’t want it to be one of those, “here’s what I’m up to” blogs. But with the offseason upon all of us, and nothing to write about save for meaningless Terrelle Pryor speculation, I thought I would go ahead say here’s what I’m up to. (Plus, you gotta love any sentence that ends with two prepositions.)

The knee is quite literally kicking ass. I can bend it far enough to touch heel to butt, which feels far more liberating than it probably should. I am walking without a limp and able to go up and down stairs with ease which is even more liberating as I live on the third floor. The weather in Chicago has been so lousy this winter, perhaps I picked the best time to be incarcerated by the healing process, anyway. In sum, I’m ahead of schedule and fully expect to be running around again in six months (if all continues to go well, knockonwood, yaddayaddayadda). In the end, all I’ll have to show for this is a few small scars and significant medical bills.

These friends didn't recognize me (even before all those beers)

The beard is coming along nicely. It wasn’t supposed to get this far. I had a milestone set up for myself and figured it would be hit at least two weeks ago. I’ve yet to hit it. But I do keep plugging away at the book. It’s quite a process. Stew wasn’t kidding. Ideally, I’ll be getting rid of this thing by this weekend. The irony is that I have been writing about the Smoky Mountains and I am starting to resemble one of the Oak Ridge Boys.

The Oak Ridge Boys. Just 'cause.

If any football developments or travel-related news arise, you can expect me to weigh in on it here. I will likely put out a few more thoughts and musings on the past season. The only real story: Everyone can’t wait for next season – even the good folks in South Bend. In the meanwhile, the sister-blog, Fighting the Youth, is up and running with at least a couple postings every week. The topics are wholly different, but hey it’s the offseason. Aside from Orson's Fulmer Cup updates, there's not much to read anyway.

On The Mend

Hi everybody! As promised, the new ACL is firmly in place. At least it feels like it is. Honestly, I don’t know how I could tell if something had gone wrong, but it certainly seems like the joint has been improved. I also got a nice dose of microfracture surgery as well. Let’s home I'm more Amare Stoudemire than Chris Webber. It’s now been nearly three weeks since the surgery, and it is amazing how every day I awake with obvious improvements. I can’t wait for each new morning because I know it’s going to be that much better.

Dr. Nick is not my doctor

But I highly recommend everyone avoid this predicament if at all possible. Arthroscopic knee surgery isn’t nearly as fun as it sounds. Fortunately, in the immediate aftermath, my parents offered me my old room and plenty of nurturing. Mom’s an excellent cook, so I ate far better than I deserved. And I didn’t have to worry about very much. But it wasn’t exactly the best week of my life. I grew a bit stir crazy. Seriously, it’s my old room – from high school. Plus, the knee didn’t feel too good. It had swollen to the size of a ripe cantaloupe, and even getting out of bed was a big chore.

The peak of discomfort came Sunday night at two in the morning. Despite being on narcotics for the pain, the top half of my shin somehow managed to throb, stab, ache and burn all at once. It felt as though it was not made of bone, but carved directly from pain itself. I have never felt anything remotely as painful as this, nor do I ever hope to again. But that is behind me and the pain is minimal at this point. I'm off crutches and can even climb stairs. The overarching lesson here is that I don't ever want to go through this again. I hereby pledge to keep these limbs in shape and stretch them before any future athletic contests.

Speaking of which, I’m back at Athletico, doing my kneehab. For three weeks in, they say I’m doing great and I plan to keep working my tail off to stay ahead of the curve. My overarching goal is to dunk. That’s technically not something I’ve done before – a football once, but everyone knows that doesn’t count. As long as I can conquer my own impatience, I am certain of a full recovery.

When not doing leg raises and heel slides (don’t ask), I spend my time working on the book. In advice-seeking e-mails with SI.com's Stewart Mandel back when I first quit work, he told me, “It’s quite a process.” The implication of that statement was surely, “Are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?” I didn’t. In some ways I still don’t. It’s the most daunting challenge I’ve ever faced. Some days are unnervingly devoid of progress, but the ones where the prose flows are incredibly rewarding. At the rate I’m going, you will be able to read the final tome just in time for the 2114 season.

Not an authentic mugshot

I’ve grown a “playoff beard” of sorts which is going to remain until I reach certain self-imposed milestones. It’s scraggly and unattractive, but that’s part of the point. Still, the Chicago Tribune claims that beards are making a comeback. So maybe I’m hip for the first time in my life. People ask me what the book’s going to be called. For now, the working title is something I heard a USC fan emphatically tell her friends a couple hours before kickoff: “I’m so drunk!” It’s got a nice ring to it, no?

Finally, thanks for all the well-wishing from friends over the past few weeks. It's meant a lot to me and made the boredom of being laid up that much easier. Hopefully I'll be leaping tall buildings before you know it.

The Song About the Sweet Lovin' Woman

For anyone who’s been along for the ride from the very start, you may recall back in August reading about the unfortunate meeting of my knee and momentum’s sudden change. While I can recall the immediate pain of that moment and all the laments about fate sticking its thumb in my eye, I easily forget how close this trip came to never happening. For about a week, the entire endeavor hung in the balance. Thanks to a non-disastrous diagnosis and a lot of hard work at Athletico, I was hardly even limping when I rolled into South Bend.

This is a day I’ve been looking to with equal parts eagerness and dread for the last five months. I am not nervous about the procedure itself, for I have a capable and talented doctor ready to work his modern medicinal magic. However, the aftermath causes me great anxiety. I have no option but to deal with it. I have already put in countless hours of physical therapy every day since the injury occurred. The “kneehab” that lies ahead will be slower and surely more painful than the previous experience. It’s not something to be feared, but it is where the dread comes in. It is perhaps fitting that for the first time since mid-November, the knee has been hurting over the last few days. Maybe it knows what’s about to happen and is sounding its last yelp of independence.

Over the course of seventeen hard-hitting football games, I saw my fair share of injuries. Some of the players went down with bad knee sprains or perhaps worse. It’s so hard to tell when you’re watching a game live. Needless to say, I felt a sort of kinship with those kids in their moments of agony. They didn’t know of me, and had no idea the empathy I felt when they fell. But it was there nonetheless. I also had the good fortune of meeting dozens of regular Joes like me all across the country who’ve gone through this same experience and come out on the other side good as new. Today, I think of their encouragement more than anything else. While I know this will be painful, arduous, and perhaps even emotionally trying, I am sick of having a busted knee. I want to run again. Even a few steps would be exciting. This is the only way to do it.

I had the mixed fortune of stumbling across a video of one of these operations on Youtube. I provide the link here for those of you who are less squeamish. I really wish I would have waited to watch this until after I was finished. Click here if you’re up for it (not safe for lunchtime). Here’s a much longer one with way more information, and they actually digress to college football at some point.

Obviously the blog will take a hiatus for at least a week or two, but thanks to everyone who’s been wishing me luck lately. And thanks to all the folks, young and old who have shared their success stories with me. I’d like to claim that I’ll be thinking of you as they cut and yank and drill and fasten, but I clearly won’t be thinking of anything. That’s for the best, to be sure. With any luck, by next fall you can toss me a pass on a deep post pattern. I can’t wait.

Haiku Review, Part V

Last round of these. Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Vermont, you'll all have to wait for the next excursion since I didn't see ya this time.

The Hill’s built to thrill
I found mine in Knoxville with
Tons of joyful Vols


Dallas sprawl and smog
Texas weather at state fair
Such deep-fried goodness


You can’t comprehend
The Salt Flats’ beauty unless
You’ve been there yourself


Three lines can’t describe
Exuberance of D-3
Visit Stone Station!


The hardest I worked
Many were too cool for school
A grand old venue


My two quick pass-throughs
Bolstered the stereotypes
Before AD did


Rowdy or vulgar
Bucky loves a good party
My hosts gave me one


It’s oh so vacant
The more I think about it
My ticket’s BS

Haiku Review, Part IV

By now, you know the drill, right? In case you don't click here.

National Mecca
It's not for everyone, but
You must respect it


I’m just passing thru
Do they have college football?
Maybe a hoops book…


My first second state
Family took care of me
Columbus meant well


Oil wells bore away
While butterflies gently flit
Until I smash them


Can’t pump your own gas
Everyone gave me the bird
Not sure what I’d done


If I never drive
In this friggin state again
It will be too soon


The break I needed
And the school that embraced me
Fiiine ladies each time


Great to see old friend
Shocking how long it had been
Whoah, you have two sons!