College football is a passion for me. It consumes me. There is not a day that passes that I do not have to have my college football fix.
I confess, I am a college football junkie.
Anything and everything about college football interests me and can potentially be turned into a "who is better" discussion or debate in my opinion.
It is like this game people play that involves Kevin Bacon, where you have to tie whatever movie or actor your opponent chooses back to Kevin Bacon.
The way it is played is, you say a movie or actor's name, and your opponent has to explain how that relates to Kevin Bacon.
For instance, Gone With the Wind was produced by MGM, which produced Two Men And A Baby, which starred Ted Danson, who produced Dances With Wolves with Joe Blow in it, who then played with Kevin Bacon in Stir of Echoes.
Believe it or not, that is the way I look at college football.
My Kevin Bacon game involves college football, and my Kevin Bacon is Alabama. I see everything through those Crimson-colored glasses.
By that, I mean if anyone is playing college football anywhere, anytime, I ask myself this question: How does this affect Alabama?
For example, Penn St. played Ohio St. So I watch that game hoping Penn St would blow out OSU because Ohio St. already had been blown out by Southern Cal, and Alabama might end up playing Penn St. in the BCS Championship game.
So that affects Alabama, because if Alabama were to barely beat Penn St. in the BCS Championship Game, I would not want USC fans arguing they beat a team who lost to the team that we beat worse than Penn St. did.
Since Penn St. did not blow out OSU, USC fans could make that argument. You see?
Is this crazy sounding to you, or do we all do this?
Do we all see every college game played through our team's colored glasses?
Sometimes it is very simple—for example...Georgia playing Florida. Alabama already defeated Georgia. It will not serve any purpose for Alabama to play Georgia again, so I will root for Florida because Alabama could then play Florida in the SEC Championship game if they win that game. You see, that is how that game affects Alabama.
Other times it is not so clear-cut.
Texas is No. 1. This one is a head scratcher for me.
If Texas wins they keep the top spot, which you would think would be bad for Alabama. You would assume that I would want Texas to lose so that Alabama would be ranked No. 1.
My twisted mind sees this differently.
As long as Alabama can stay in the top two, we will play in the BCS National Championship Game. The top two teams are the only ones that have that opportunity. So I see being ranked first as a disadvantage at this point in the season.
If Texas were to lose, it will put a big No.1 bull's-eye on Alabama's butt. We do not need the No. 1 jinx to deal with right now while trying to stay undefeated and stay in contention for the BCS game.
Right? ... WRONG!
What happens if Texas keeps winning and then somehow Penn St. were to pass Alabama in the BCS standings? I would then look back on my choice and think, if only Texas had lost we would still be in the top two and playing in the BCS Championship Game.
I'll take my chances with being ranked No. 1.
8 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Ken 8 months ago
I know how you feel... only you do a much better job at describing it!
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Franklin Crittenden 8 months ago
Thanks Ken, it is hard to describe to someone who doesn't have the same obsession.
Thanks for the comment.
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Jim Bob Kern 8 months ago
Good article Franklin. I go to sleep and wake up thinking most of these same things. Except for the Kevin Bacon thing during football season, BUT maybe I could see Alonzo Gee performing the Jimmy Dolans "Shake & Bake" during the Tide's basketball season.
It's good to know that I'm not the only one that suffers from collegefootballitize on the brain.
You described the symptoms very well... good job!
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Franklin Crittenden 8 months ago
Jim Bob. I wake up in the middle of the night and try to figure out games three weeks away and how they will affect Alabama. Scary huh?
Thanks for reading. By the way I just rewrote it again. See I am obsessed!
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Michael Inglis 8 months ago
To be honest with you I'm scared to death every time Alabama takes the field because it looks like if you lose one game this year you won't be playing for the NC. LSU was fortunate enough to los twice last year and still win the NC.
Whether Bama is playing Arkansas St or UF I'm scared they might lose.
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Franklin Crittenden 8 months ago
Michael, thanks for the comment.
It goes with the territory. The crown is heavy. If we want to wear the crown we have to pass the test.
We will find out what this team is made of. Everything has fallen into place this year, all we have to do is close the deal. This is what we wanted! Be positive!
Roll Tide!
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Joel Harris 8 months ago
Franklin,
It looks like you won't have to look back and say "what if texas had lost..."
We just need to remember this. Bama doesn't have to be the best team in the nation. They just need to be the best team that's on the field.
Roll Tide.
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Franklin Crittenden 8 months ago
Joel, everything is right in front of us. All we have to do is be great enough to reach out and take it!
I appreciate your comments. Roll Tide!
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