Are You Ready for Some Football?

I am a strange woman. I LOVE sports! I mean just about any sport but especially football, tennis, golf, soccer, the Olympics (but who doesn't like the Olympics?). You are just as likely to see me watching some kind of sporting event on the weekend as you are my husband. I attribute my love of sports to a father who was and is a die-hard Dallas Cowboy fan and a brother who excelled in just about any sport he tried but especially soccer and track/cross-country. I attempted to play sports but was not good at anything I tried. Therefore, I learned to enjoy while watching the football games with my dad and watching my little brother's exploits. In high school, I also played flute in the marching band. We sat on the very front row. So, you were either entirely bored the whole game or you learned to appreciate what was going on on the field.

In all my years watching sports, however, I have never enjoyed college sports. I attribute that to growing up in Texas which had numerous professional teams to root for and I did not attend a big Division 1 college. That all changed in November 1999 when we moved to Arkansas from Texas. I love living in Arkansas. It is beautiful here and you can get to six different states in just a few hours. But the thing I love most about Arkansas is my beloved Razorbacks of the University of Arkansas. You see, Arkansas has no professional sports teams and UA is the only large school in the state with teams that routinely do well. If you live here, you have to eat, sleep, live, breathe the Arkansas Razorbacks.

I am excited today because football season has arrived! My Razorbacks play tonight against Western Illinois, a game we are supposed to win, but sadly one that I will have to listen to on the radio, as there is no television coverage. I don't expect our team to do very well this year. It is a rebuilding year due to the fact that we lost several star players to graduation and the NFL (Darren McFadden and Felix Jones). We have a new coach this year as well. Bobby Petrino had wonderful success at Louisville and I expect him to duplicate that success in the next few years but this year there will be growing pains. But one thing my father taught me is not to be a fair weather fan. I will support my team thru thick and thin, wins or losses. If for no other reason than the fact that those young men are on that field every week giving it their all simply for the love of the game. That is one thing I have learned about college sports. While some of those young men will go on to riches and fame in the pros, most of them are out there because they want to be. They love the game. And for that reason, if for no other, they deserve my respect and my support.

Go Hogs!! Woo! Pig! Sooie!!