Welcome To Football Season

by Larry Carlson

Since I was a kid, the period of late August and early September has always been bittersweet.

Bitter is the signal that summer is over.  I still say that the three ugliest words in the English language are: Back to school.

And there is likely nothing sadder than a closed swimming pool amid 99-degree heat, the day after Labor Day.  Cruel and unusual punishment to the soul.

It matters little that we still have two months of hot weather.

If beaches are emptied and pools are shut down, there is cause for profound sorrow, in my book.

But sweet, very, very sweet is the delivery of another bouncing baby college football season.

This has always been the dependable wonder cure for the end-of-summertime blues.

Long ago, in almost-prehistoric times, college football did not answer the opening whistle until late September.  The Texas Longhorns first national championship season began against Tulane on Sept 20, 1963.  

The Horns' most recent title, in 2005, kicked off with Louisiana on Sept 3.

Football fans should be grateful, very grateful for the earlier start.  Sure, we can gripe about the power of television money and the resulting insane -- and dangerous, especially for fans -- kickoff times of 11 a.m. and 2:30.  But let's be honest.  We're taking what they're giving.  Just like the athletic departments.

We, the armchair QBs, are pretty spoiled these days, what with almost every worthwhile college football contest available on somebody's channel.  If you're at home, you're set with your own food and drinks, air-conditioning and convenient access to restrooms

And if you're attending a Texas home game, it comes with more bells and whistles than ever.

"Ahhh...the pageantry of college football," longtime ABC-TV play-by-play man Chris Schenkel used to gush on every telecast.

If you've got burnt orange blood coursing through those veins, you can't wait for the sights and sounds of the Longhorn band and the first strains of "Texas Fight" and "March Grandioso."  Time for goosebumps.

There's Big Bertha, there's Bevo and there's Smokey, the trusty UT cannon.

Also present are cheerleaders and pom girls galore.  Tens of thousands of folks wearing burnt orange.  And more than one-hundred thousand fans in the stadium.

Nobody in Texas had ever heard of tailgating back in the '60s and '70s, and now UT punches up some pretty good settings, menus and refreshments.  And Longhorn fans will need to continue to amp things up as they approach entry into the SEC, home to the best football AND tailgating.  Callin' Baton Rouge, among others.

So, yep, it's the time of the season.  Nobody is sensing autumn in the air, and leaves are only wafting down because they're crispy from the drought.  But it is football season again, and Texas fans are revved about all the talent amassed by Coach Steve Sarkisian.  Anticipation for boiling Rice (2:30 kickoff) is high and hot; but visions of sugar-ribs dance in the heads of UT fans who have counted down the days until they get another crack at Saint Nick, this time in T-Town.

If you're an ardent college football fanatic, by definition, you revere traditions.  Just about all the traditions across America, minus the swaying at Kyle Field and very strange looking white-clad, buzz-cut dudes with curious hand signals.

But you probably even still like the tradition of Lee Corso, the game's first 900-year-old man, putting on a hat at ESPN's Gameday.  You'll again be happy to hear from TV sideline reporters with not much real news, just lame questions for tight-lipped coaches trailing by 17 at halftime.

Admit it.  You're likely even geeked up about a new set of Dr Pepper commercials starring

Brian Bos-worthless.  And I know I, for one, can't wait for Tuesday and Wednesday night 

Mid-American Conference MAC-tion games between teams like Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green and Northern Illinois.

Back to the Longhorns.  Texas has so many traditions, none more valued, nor neglected of late, than that winning tradition that younger Horn backers have never really experienced.  

Cue the band, bang on Big Bertha and hope that Smokey stays hot.  

Texas again looks promising and is definitely unbeaten.

Let the games begin.

(TLSN's Larry Carlson teaches sports media at Texas State University.  He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America.)