The Real World: College Football and Why We Love The Drama

Everyone who follows college football knows that there's more to the game than the game itself. It's all about the hype and the hatred. And that's what makes it that much more popular.

We all love the hate, the rivalries like OSU-Michigan, Florida-Georgia, and USC-UCLA. There's also the pregame scuffles before the game where the teams shout obscenities at each other. In some instances, there's even rioting postgame.

Truthfully, there's no such thing as a friendly rivalry and that's why we love it. We love to see two teams go to war.

We love to see post-snap fights.

We love crazy moments such as the 2007 Georgia celebration.

We love to hate the other guy and watch them cry when your team wins a big game.

Why do we love it? It's the same reason we watch the Real World: for all the hatred and drama and fighting involved. Did I mention the crying?

Nowadays, there's more drama outside football games: Kiffin vs Meyer, ESPN vs Ohio State, and due to a recent slew of stupid comments, Iowa vs me.

We watch because we have an addiction to the game outside the game. There's something to the idea of being hated by people that will never know your name.

People that watch games and remember the moments that sometimes had nothing to do with football, like the OSU team ripping down the Michigan "Go Blue" banner in Ann Arbor one year.

And in some areas, rivalries turn into postgame fights. Why is that?

There is no true answer. It's just the business of college football meets the reality TV era.

People love to hear erroneous guarantees from players and to see them come up empty.

People love to pound on the team that everyone loves to hate.

People love to watch their team destroy their biggest rival.

But really, rivalries are spawned by history and proximity. Having your enemy right in your backyard ignites hatred and therein lies the root of rivalry.

And there is no such thing as a friendly game in football. College football is a free-for-all combat sport where you have no friends except the guys that share your colors.

Perfect example is College Gameday on campus:

Not only do fans hold up signs supporting their team, but also demeaning not only the team you play, but their rivals as well.

We watch because we are addicted to the drama and the hate.

That's why college football is one of America's most exciting and most watched sports.  Drama is as only as fun as the actors that take part in it, and of course there's no better actors than real people.

We love to hate. We love to poke fun in the misery of others.

We love it because we can't keep our eyes off it. But it's great entertainment.

The only thing better than the drama is the stunning underdog. But we love it because it keeps us glued to the television.

Someone once said that sports is the ultimate drama. Any additional storyline is just the icing on the proverbial cake.

We want to hear what people say and get riled up about the next controversy.

And maybe there is no answer as to why we love it. We just do, and that's probably the best answer.

And it's also fun to know that when you win the big game, you hold bragging rights for a whole year.