Bowl Season is Too Much for Me
Jan 1, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) smiles on the sideline during the second half against the Florida State Seminoles in the 2015 Rose Bowl college football game at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Gary Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
37 of 38 college football bowl games have been played over the last two weeks, and I’m exhausted.
It’s the first of the year, a time of renewal for mind and body, but I’ve over-dosed on football. I need a break. Bowl season has led me to the point of being completely accepting of football going away for a while…..and I love football season. I know in a few months I’ll want it back again, but right now I’m kind of sick of it.
ESPN has found a way to perfectly place every bowl game so you can watch them all. They’ve lined up the games so they keep getting better and better. First, they whet your appetite with mediocre games featuring teams you don’t really care about and ascend into a series of intriguing match-ups to occupy you for an entire week.
There’s no doubt I was excited to watch virtually every game offered since Christmas. I’ve probably worked about 2.5 days over the last two weeks so I was in good position to view them all. But like a kid who ate too much candy, I’m a little sick to my stomach.
My wife couldn’t really care less about most of these games….so instead of spending time with her and the kids during our time off at the end of the year, I’m in the recliner by myself or “watching” a youngin’ because I want to see this game. Then that game. Then this one. One after the other.
After you watch about 12 football games in succession the desire to keep up this binge starts to fade. But alas, here come the playoffs! You have to stay strong and power through it! Even if it’s starting to get really repetitive during the apex of bowl season, these are the most important games.
After the Sugar Bowl, however, I had no desire to continue watching games despite a full slate on Friday. On Saturday I actually chose to watch Austin Powers in lieu of Florida vs. East Carolina. That’s right, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
Why do we subject ourselves to becoming sloths – slaves to bowl season? Normally, on a Saturday afternoon in the fall there are five or six games I want to watch, and after that day is through it’s over and we wait until the next week. Bowl season strings out the action, allowing you to watch every second of every game your heart desires to watch. It sounds good on paper, but loses its luster when you see how it affects real people (I watched Christmas Vacation twice this year, ha).
Next year, I’m just not going to watch so many bowl games. They don’t hold any residual value so there’s no point in sitting there for hours on end. I mean, do you feel like you would have lost something if you didn’t watch all those games? Instead I’ll do something constructive and/or spend more time with the fam.