College Football: The Best of American Sports

Baseball may be America’s pastime, but football is king.

America lives and breathes the sport of football. The NFL is one of the most efficiently run and profitable businesses on the planet. Anytime you can convince 70,000 people to drive for an hour, drop $40 on parking, another $100 on tickets, and another $100 on concessions every weekend, every fall, you know you have a good business plan.

In my case, I am a die-hard New England Patriots fan, and every time my dad and I want to grab a couple tickets and make our way down to Foxboro for a game, we drop easily $300-$350 dollars for the experience. If you total the amount we spend over the multiple games we go to, we shell out over $1000 for three or four games—if we’re lucky.

I love my Patriots, and I love the NFL. I come from a pro sports city, and I am a pro sports kind of guy. However, as the college football season kicks in and I watch games such as Florida State vs. Miami, Alabama vs. Virginia Tech, and Notre Dame vs. Michigan, I have started to come to a conclusion: the college football experience trumps even the best pro one.

Now, I do not really have a college football team to cheer for. My dad went to Duke University, so my favorite Division I school is the Duke Blue Devils.

This is excellent in the winter during basketball season, but I am more likely to cover my head in a paper bag come football season than I am to voice my allegiance to the Dukies. For this reason, I have never really been a part of a full college football experience.

As a result, I have always closely followed the NFL, and I have always preferred the NFL to any college football game. However, as I watch more and more college football here at college, I am beginning to regret this.

At Gillette Stadium, my dad and I often remark at how quiet the stadium can become. We look around, and we realize that as many as 15,000 of 65,000 total fans present in the stadium are either inside their luxury boxes or are indifferent to the game as they try and woo various clientele that they have brought with them. It makes for a lackluster experience, one that can sometimes leave a little something to be desired.

College football, on the other hand, does not suffer from this predicament. At Michigan, 106,201 fans pack The Big House every weekend. A sea of red made up of 102,329 screaming Ohio State fans make their way to the Horseshoe every Saturday in the fall. Close to 91,000 people pack The Swamp in Florida, 100,119 people crowd into the DKR at Texas, and 92,400 fans populate Death Valley at LSU every single weekend.

These are the experiences you live for. It is no coincidence when watching a major college football game on TV that the camera begins to shake and vibrate during every turning point moment in the game. It is impressive, and it is absolutely awe-inspiring.

Yes, going to a major college football game can still be somewhat expensive (to see Ohio State play Michigan in Michigan will cost you $65 a ticket on average), but the experience and utility you will receive for that ticket price is much more enjoyable than the one you will receive for a similar price at an NFL stadium.

When you watch an NFL game, you are watching a bunch of pro men who earn an average of $1.25 million a year to play a game. In college, you are watching a bunch of kids play for free, simply hoping to reach that next level. Many of them never will, and they are simply playing for the love of the game.

And that is why it is so enjoyable. The pride that these players and these fans take in their team is unrivaled by any fan base in the NFL. Granted, the NFL has its share of rabid fans, but it’s still not like a college football game.

You get lost in the atmosphere. Even though you may not root for one team or another, you can’t help but get lost in the excitement. I have found this to be true more and more as I continue to expose myself to college football. I simply cannot resist the urge to get excited and jump into the fray, cheering for a team.

Don’t get me wrong, my Patriots will always be number one in my heart. No college team will ever change that, regardless of the circumstances.

However, as I watch more games, the NFL cannot match the intensity. If the Patriots aren’t playing, I have a difficult time getting into an NFL game. This doesn’t happen when I watch college football.

So the next time you and 107,282 other screaming fans pack into Beaver Stadium for a Penn State football game, remember this: In American sports, there is no greater experience.

You are living the dream of the average American sports fan. You are a part of college football.

Baseball may be our pastime, and the NFL may be our king, but college football is our emperor—it is the best of the American sporting world.