Football!...is done for another season

On Monday night, Notre Dame became an honorary Big Ten team. The Irish took it on the chin and in the gut by a much bigger, faster, and stronger SEC opponent. It happens a lot on New Year’s Day. Golden Domers: expect a call from Jim Delany soon to make it official.

Alabama’s drubbing of Notre Dame concluded the 2012 college football season. As seasons go, 2012 was decent. I say decent because it was relatively blah in Big Ten country, and the ire and impatience in the stands was more interesting than anything that happened on the field at Kinnick Stadium. (We did see two great finishes — neither of which were in the Hawkeyes’ favor, though. I remember watching fans hit the exits when the Hawks went up 31-23 with two minutes left against Central Michigan. I told my mom, “This game isn’t over.” No it was not.) There were a lot of good games, though, as there always are.

Normally, the end of the college football season would seriously bum me out. (Relatively speaking, that is. I was never seriously depressed over it. It has always been a bummer, though.) However, this time around I am not feeling it as much. For me, the season ended after the long Thanksgiving weekend. The conference championship games were okay but bowl season did not excite me. The bowls were entertaining, and Bobblehead and I had a lot of fun during our bowl marathon (which I hope we can make an annual event), but they never got me excited and I never made it a point to watch any of the games until New Year’s Day.

I have to admit, it is nice to get Saturdays back. Early in the season, I love dedicating my Saturdays to college football. But late in the season I get the urge to be more productive. I can do that now, and have been.

Another reason I am not too bummed: men’s college basketball. The Big Ten is stacked this season and it will be a joy to watch. Big Ten football may be sinking to lower and lower depths (though the conference’s bowl performance was promising), but Big Ten men’s basketball is the envy of the nation. (The conference needs to deliver in March to truly prove itself.)

And there is baseball. This season I want to follow the Cubs more closely. I have loosely followed them the last couple seasons but really want to get emotionally invested in 2013. That is a dangerous proposition with the Cubs, but, as far as I know, the loveable losers have yet to kill anyone with their infamous futility.

Plus, I have a massive queue of books to read. I may follow Bobblehead’s lead and issue a moratorium on book buying.

Eight months without college football? Bring it on!