OT: Why do you enjoy college football?

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cuz its the fucking shit dude.  no other reason.

If you have to ask you are never going to get it...sorry but it is that simple.

It's not something that's easy to explain. It's all about the rivalries and fans' passion. Most people have a connection with the college they went to. Obviously there isn't the same kind of connection to an NFL team, unless you worked in the organization.

I mean in college football you see the crowds and players getting stoked.  The NFL seems to do everything in its power to keep the excitement from coming out on the field.  In many cases, you may have gone to the college you root for so it feels kind of like home.

and of course all the tradition and rivalries.  The NFL is a bunch of rich mercenaries that will chase the $$ to any team that will pay them.

I'm not delusional enough to think that the college kids bleed their school colors, but they certainly seem more emotionally invested than the pros.  Obviously all want to win at whatever level, but the college game seems to be more emotionally charged.

seriously?

because it's uniquely American.  It existed before all the professional sports leagues.  It's timeless.  Like a slice of apple pie.  If a foreigner came to me and asked for an outstanding American sports experience I would take them to a college football game.

You're not getting the best action, as only four to five members of an entire team even make an NFL roster. 

I think you're starting from a flawed premise here.  A higher level of talent does not necessarily mean a better level of excitement.  In the NFL, defenses are ahead of the offenses, so much so that the league constantly has to change the rules.  And they're so hard-hitting that a lot of the different offenses you see in college simply can't be run. 

Besides all the pagentry, tradition, and the fact that players come and go, I think college football is just a more entertaining level of football.  The level of skill and athleticism is just right.  High school is boring because most of the players can't play.  The NFL is boring because the defenses are too good and overwhelm the offenses.  College has just the right balance.  

Just thinking about this while watching WVU-Marshall, two teams I have no reason to care about. The interconnected nature of the entire college football system, though, spanning the whole country, keeps me interested in the most random games. I don't know why people get initially hooked (besides the obvious - attending college), but once you are hooked, it's so fun because you instantly have a rooting interest in almost every game. For example. during WVU-Marshall, I am rooting for Marshall, for no better reason than I know a WVU fan who gives me business about Rodriguez. I hate this, therefore, I root for Marshall. Also, OSU played Marshall, we will play OSU, so Marshall's subsequent results say something to me about the strength of a future (hated) opponent. As the season goes on, the webs of transitive "this team beat that team" connections get so big and interesting its almost information (and fun) overload.

Oh, and it just fucking rulezzzzzzz.

1. dual threat QBs

2. the option

3. marching bands

4. student sections

5. (more) trick plays

and all-around, the enthusiasm in college football is unmatched in any other sport at any level in the US. probably even gives euro-soccer a run for its money

edit:

6. traditions

7. bowl games (for better or worse)

To me, it's the purest sport. As I tell my friends, on the 8th day, God looked around and said, "something is missing", then he made college sports. There is nothing quite like watching 18 to 20-something year old men play a game that they love simply for the love of the game.

 

All jokes about athletes and agents/gifts aside, these men play football at the collegiate level for no other reason than to play something that they truly love and enjoy. Sure, there are a few studs along the way who play for an NFL contract, but look at any roster at any program,and the vast majority of players will never see an NFL field. So why do they sweat and bleed and toil through three, four, or more years for maybe nothing after it's over? Maybe it's the same reason why we obsess over a game that holds no otherworldly significance: Passion.

 

To me, it is the heart and soul of those men that take the field ever Saturday that makes me love this game. It's the heat that burns inside of me every time I see someone wearing Notre Dame, Michigan State, or anything resembling Ohio State gear, causing me to think irrational thoughts and lose focus on what I was doing previously. It's the bands and the songs they play for their boys to fight, to win, to give their all.

 

It's the realization that this is a microcosm of life, a lesson to all of us that we can do many great things alone, but through teamwork we can achieve things never thought possible on our own. It is truth that in life there are true enemies, and there are those who are opposed of you, but are still to be respected.

 

I guess, to me, the reason I love this game so much, is because it drives the soul to desire. So many times in our lives there are opportunities where we simply want to quit, when life has become too much for us to handle. But, at the end of the day, we brush it all off, and say to ourselves that it's all worth it, for something, whether its tangible or not, its worth it. college football is all of that and more. We can see it in the last few years, the strife and the utter disappointment that this team and this program has had to endure, yet they kept getting back up and fighting on to better themselves. There was a drive to be more than what people said they were, and to see men barely younger than myself state something that heavy with their actions, then I can keep going with my job or my exams when all the world seems to be crashing down on me.

 

So cheer on for those men in Maize and Blue tomorrow. They fight on for the love of a game that they know in the back of their minds that they may never play again in a few short years: at least we have a more certain path. But for tomorrow, it's all about Passion and Soul...and of course,kicking Notre Dame's ass!

Childhood connection.  I can't really justify it in any way, and it occasionally embarrasses me but I got hooked on Michigan football at a very young age and can't kick the habit.

I could complain about college football for days on end, but watching Michigan and the feeling I get from a victory are very addicting, and I cherish it.

Well, huh, might as, might as well ask why is a tree good? Why is the sunset good? Why are boobs good?

The fanfare around college football, the legendary games, coaches and players, the perfect sport, the multiple histories told differently by different sides inspires something like nationalism in each school.  It sucks you in.  Then you go to school there and watch games in the holy arenas of the sport, and you see new legends born with your own eyes.  There is no closer connection between fan and athlete than in college sports.  Your social life and friendships revolve to a point around the games, and the game experiences get woven into the fabric of your whole college experience.  Its like a new sibling being born or getting married, the bond is unbreakable, no matter the circumstances.

I don't enjoy college football as much as I am addicted to it.  It became part of me.

Maize and Blue

There's a limited number of games per year so it's not as saturated as other major scheduled sports. This causes me to appreciate and inticipate the season unlike any other "professional sport". Also, when the kids are playing for a future NFL position they're hungry; willing to play the hardest possibly of their entire career. Plus players in the NFL are constantly worried about money or playing for a championship team. They always want what others have instead of being thankful for making it in the first place IMO. If every NFL player was like Woodson, I would have (quite) a bit more love for the game.

I think it also has to do with identifying with an institution that goes beyond the sport. Universities are held to high esteem.

I was watching some generic show, probably on ESPN, and it said that pro football came out way ahead of college football in a poll.  I suspect the validity of the poll, but it did provoke a bit of thought.  It made me wonder how the fans outside of college towns feel, and if my lifetime Ann Arbor sample was too small. 

If you are from the Ann Arbor area, as I am (or at least was for over forty years), you had two "home" football teams growing up: the Wolverines and the Lions.  The Wolverines are, as we all know, the winningest college football team of all time, while the Lions only lifetime "records" usually start with "worst."  It is certainly natural for anyone in this position to identify a lot more with the team that is successful than the team that can only be called, at best, suck-sessful. 

I like to think college football is better for most of the same reasons that everyone else has already mentioned.  To me, though, it's never been a matter of reason; I just have a lot more passion for college football than the NFL.  I think that college teams, especially in terms of their playbooks, have stronger identities than NFL teams do.  Even though the turnover is probably close to the same, the coaches seem to stay longer in college. 

Also, most players only play with one team in their careers.  And if they transfer, they usually don't have much of a record of success at their first school, so people usually identify college players more with one school or team than two. 

So, give me the pomp, give me the marching bands, give me the student section going bonkers over their team.  And, for one game for all the marbles give me the late but never to be forgotten Bob Ufer on the radio and Keith Jackson on television.  Nobody doing NFL games comes close to either for conveying excitement.

If it was even close, I would suggest one tiebreaker: college doesn't black out home games because of a few empty seats. 

This is my third attempt at writing something; I'm just going to go with I don't know the 'knows', I just do.

 

My brother asked me the same thing the other day, and it turned into an
hour long monologue. I like college better than pro because of the parity
of players on the field. Some who are ready to play on sunday play
against some who never will. I think that makes the games more
explosive, gives a better chance of a big play and lets the skill players
and positions stand out. In the nfl, everybody's huge, fast and mean, which
for the most part, let's defenses cancel out offenses and makes for a
boring game. (As far as I'm concerned)
And, of course, the schools, rivalries, the giant stadiums, traditions,
marching bands. A short season, so almost every game is a playoff
atmosphere. Cheerleaders (I know, there are nfl cheerleaders, but they're
ridiculous). Which brings me to a topic for another thread; why the hell
can't Michigan have song girls???

Because of games like last night. The underdog trying to pull the upset, and the favorite coming back in the 4th quarter

A college football comeback is always great to see

And who can forget the atmosphere...most college football stadiums actually have higher attendance than NFL games. The band on the field during pre-game and halftime, the atmosphere at the arenas whenever your team scores a touchdown...

I don't care if there's corruption or it's about money. There's been a lot of talk about that lately with Green selling jerseys and Bush's Heisman. Nearly every program  is caught violating NCAA rules...in addition these types of shady money deals rarely have anything to do with on the field performance, which is what I am most focused on.

In the end, the corruption and money cannot take away what I love the most about college football, which is the rivalry and passion in these games. The comebacks. The atmosphere.

It may not be perfect, we still don't have a playoff system, but damn it, it's still pretty entertaining without one.

I like the sound of pads colliding. 

I just love the tradition and the players just playing for the love of the game. Seems like NFL they play for a paycheck and play for a job next year. In college, its about way more than that. Its about Pride and hard work and about representing your school.

Why did people like the gladiators so much?

Anwer: bloodlust and drama.

 

Dwight Shrute

It's awesome.

I find college football far superior to NFL. College kids (for the most part) play with more heart than their NFL counterparts. Probably because they still have somthing to play for and don't get handed millions of dollars for never playing a snap. Not to say that pro ball doesn't have guys that love the game, but it's not the same IMO

Because just about any damn thing can happen. Ex. 1, last nights WVU vs. Marshall game. Even my wife stayed up for the fourth quarter of that one and she doesn't like football.