Fall Sundays

Now that I've pretty much sworn off the NFL, what am I to do on Sundays?

Get my reading and writing out of the way for one. Get my grading and lesson planning done for another. Enjoy my soon-to-be-here daughter for yet another.

I just enjoyed watching college football last weekend far too much to ever go back to watching the NFL. Now, the Bengals, my favorite team, are perennial losers, but still I think of all those Sundays when I was a kid listening to my father complain how he wasted an entire afternoon watching the Vikings lose.

Why waste the day that way?

I guess I've finally lost my faith in pro football.

It just doesn't have the charm and innocence of the college game. It doesn't have a perennial doormat like Vanderbilt beating their first ranked team (South Carolina) at home in 58 years. I enjoyed watching that game far more than I did the boring NFL game (Giants over the Redskins) that was on another channel.

You never have to worry about college athletes holding out for more money, negotiating shoe deals, or changing their names to garner more attention for themselves.

The cool air and sharp sunshine and burst of reds, oranges, and yellows will not be the only thing in the atmosphere that will make this fall a breathe of fresh air for me.