The Anti-Awards: Let the Madness Begin

It’s the middle of August, and in 2002, this means that the madness is about to begin. With all apologies to college basketball, there is only one sport in America that can truly be associated with widespread fan dementia – college football.

Sure, college hoops has its one month of “madness”, but does it have massive fan bases that show up early for game day – five days early? (And no, Cameron Crazies, you do not count. Sitting around in a bunch of tents, studying, and playing “If I Were Coach K’s Boyfriend…” is not the same as a fleet of alumni in RVs arriving on a random Monday to take over campus, drinking beer, cooking dead animal and urinating in public all week.)

Face it, college basketball just ain’t college football. It tries to be mean, cruel, and intense, but outside of three weeks, it falls short. Football doesn’t. It’s fifteen weeks of butt kicking, teeth spitting attitude. It’s nasty, raw, rough and tumble, and in your face. And most importantly, it’s about to begin.

That being the case, I usually find it appropriate at this time of year to offer up my ruminations and predictions on what the season will bring. You know, who is going to win what, where, and how. Unfortunately, so does every other sportswriter, wannabe sportswriter, bartender, cab driver and talk show host in the country. So I decided to change things up this year. Forget picking favorites and winners. To paraphrase Tom Cruise in Rain Man: let me let you in on a little something – favorites and winners stink.

...