Written by Robby Carriger
This was supposed to be the best football season ever for me. I was born in Oklahoma, and in an effort to spare you 12 years’ worth of details from my life, I now call Chicago home. This sequence of events led to my football fandom. I have been crazy about the University of Oklahoma since I was little and now bleed crimson-and-cream.
My time in Chicago created a Chicago Bears fandom that, despite years of disappointment and 2,342,342 quarterbacks in the last decade, just will not go away.
So you can imagine my excitement this winter and spring when Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham decided to stick around college one more year and go after a national championship and a few co-eds rather than the first-round millions they were guaranteed in the NFL. Then there are da Bears. Despite all the drama, much like most Bears fans, I was excited about the Jay Cutler trade. It seemed as though all the pieces were falling into place. Rare is the day when you can say that this year is the year for both your college and pro teams, but here I was in August, giggling like a 14-year-old outside the “New Moon” premiere.
Fast forward to December. A few knee injuries, a torn-up shoulder and a broken wrist later, I am now 10 pounds heavier, thanks to some depressed eating, and I think I saw a gray hair in the mirror this morning. Bradford and Gresham played fewer than two games of football combined in 2009, the Bears lost Urlacher and another starting linebacker for the season in the first half, and yes, I have seen every redzone interception Jay Cutler has thrown. What happened to the perfect year of football?!
However, there’s something liberating about your favorite teams laying stinkers. 2009 has been perhaps the most enjoyable season of football I have had in years. Despite the anxiety of watching every OU and Bears game, my football tastes have branched out, to say the least.
The nausea caused by my own teams has been replaced with interest and intrigue in teams I never really cared about before. All of the story lines of the 2009 football season have been that much more interesting, and I have a much greater respect for the great parity and talent across the country. Here are a few things I may not have enjoyed much if the Bears and Sooners were mauling every opponent like they were supposed to.
The emergence of TCU and Cincinnati as legitimate title contenders
When you are rooting for your favorite team to hold onto a BCS spot, you really hate busters like these small schools. But when the bowl your team is headed to is named after an online car insurer, you enjoy the little guy. The prospect of seeing these surprise teams square off against national powers this January has me giddy.
Brian Kelly has done an amazing job taking Cincinnati from a basketball school to a football power in the Big East. Meanwhile, people know more about TCU now than when Ladanian Tomlinson went there, and they are strangely called the Horned Frogs. Texas Christian has amassed a perfect record this season while absolutely annihilating opponents with ease. Tell me you wouldn’t enjoy watching that offense go blow for blow with Florida or seeing if Brian Kelly is on the same coaching level as Nick Saban. (Note: Boise State could fit into this category but was left off intentionally. You should understand why. Stupid hook and ladder.)
The Tennessee Titans
Before I was a Bears fan, the Houston Oilers were my team. But when they packed up and headed to Nashville, I took my fandom elsewhere. However, find me someone who is not a little excited about the re-emergence of Vince Young as a starting quarterback. His playmaking ability alone should be enough to keep you glued to the TV, but combine that with budding superstar Chris Johnson racking up 150 yards a game (not to mention carrying my fantasy team), and you have a football game that is watchable even for the casual fan. After starting 0-6, this team is making a playoff push and has some of the most exciting games in the league. Plus you get about five to six shots of Jeff Fisher’s moustache per game.
Toby Gerhart
Ever go to a peewee football game and there is this one kid who is bigger, stronger and faster than everyone? You watch him, and the whole time you are on the edge of the bleachers, partly because you’re amazed at his ability and partly because you are genuinely concerned he is going to run over people like Spike from “Little Giants”.
That is what it is like watching Stanford’s running back Toby Gerhart. The bulldozer of a man plays both football and baseball for the Cardinal and has a chance to bring the most hardware to Stanford since the chess club there got team retainers. He probably won’t win the Heisman, but you should see him in New York along with Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy. He will be in the running for several other awards and should win “the most exciting to watch” award along with “the guy you would least want to tackle” award.
Fantasy Football
I have always played fantasy football. I just wanted to use part of this column to laugh at the fact I beat Joe Mahaffey by 64 points this week.
So there you have it. It has been a rough season for me as a fan, but I have learned that there is more to watching football than winning. But let’s be serious, I would rather my teams be good. There’s always next year.
