Monday was shaping up just as another uneventful day in the life of
the Stan Man, with yours truly catching up on just a few errands to pass the
time on an off day from my actual paying job.
This included the always-fun ordeals of paying bills, hanging laundry and
housecleaning, and I even managed to survive the muggy conditions to get in a
one-hour walk without passing out or experiencing Galloping Sudden Death
Syndrome. I am having to man up and get in at least one walk per day as I
continue my continuous quest to become horribly gaunt while still taking on the
fighting form of my distant mentor Vin Diesel.
After enjoying a Strawberry Kiwi Breeze from Smoothie King for lunch, I
headed to complete my final errand of the day as it was time to stock up my pad
with a few groceries.
I lumbered into the grocery store, and quickly found myself taking a
hopeful, if not desperate, glance toward the magazine rack.
It was at that point that my eyes located a coveted prize that immediately
caused fireworks to go off in my head, my knees to buckle just a tad and also
caused my mind to drift toward love songs, romantic poetry, long walks on the
beach and so much other fluff.
No, it was not the sight of a beautiful woman perhaps reading an issue of
Cosmopolitan or Cat Fancy, nor was it someone headed toward me with a fresh new
supply of Diet Sunkist.
At long last, it was the appearance
of the first shiny and glossy college football preview magazine on the shelves,
with University of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron gracing the cover of the
Lindy's 2013 football special. There was also an Auburn edition of the same
magazine, I guess for those who are less fortunate. Of course I am kidding, but I digress.
For those of you who know me well, then you also know about my very
unhealthy and quite possibly unstable fanaticism about all things college
football, including football mags such as Lindy's and Athlon.
When these magazines begin to appear at local stores, it is the first
official sign to me that college football is finally just around the corner, so
as I skipped over to the magazine rack to secure my personal copy of the
Lindy's preview book, I probably resembled a man who has been wandering a
desert for days before finally locating his oasis. I am sure my eyes were
bulging somewhat, and I may have felt some involuntary movement from a few of
my joints. I think I actually foamed at the mouth a little too.
This is quite the situation, folks. I never said it was pretty.
Although I am also a huge college softball fan who finds himself currently
riveted by the ongoing march to the Women's College World Series, this is the
only thing that I really have to keep me fairly enthralled during this hot,
steamy and mainly barren part of the sports calendar.
Being a Cubs fan of course means that my major league baseball season is
over for the most part, although my young team is actually showing signs of
being a pretty good team MAYBE two years down the road. The SEC baseball
tourney is also about to begin, but I have little doubt that either Vanderbilt
or LSU will have their way with this year's event at the Hoover Met.
I also have no real interest in the NBA playoffs, as to me pro basketball
will never regain the magic that it had in the 1980s and 1990s, and I really
have no rooting interest in any of the teams that remain in this year's edition
of the postseason.
So really, until August arrives, and the beginning of fall practice for
college football programs around the nation, I will have to rely on the college
football mags and ESPN's College Football Live to fulfill much of my appetite
until actual college and pro football games begin.....Did I mention that I am
also a HUGE NFL fan as well?
Not to say that the spring and early summer has been totally devoid of
intriguing football conversation
The NFL draft did not provide a whole ton of excitement, but a little
intrigue anyway, such as the issue of where troubled projects such as Tyrann
Mathieu and Manti Te'o would land, if indeed they were selected at all.
And various discussions about the upcoming college football playoff and the
SEC Network have football fans,
especially for us in SEC Country, drooling about the endless possibilities for
the mightiest football conference in the world, and how it could continue to
dominate at least well into the immediate future.
It is also fairly entertaining to watch the jealousy toward Nick Saban and
the UA football program continue to grow, evident by the increasing number of
coaches that are now comparing Saban to Satan himself, and taking their shots
at both Alabama and the SEC while the Crimson Tide and the conference continue
to simply go about their business of accumulating more championship trophies. These coaches include Oklahoma's Bob Stoops,
who despite being one of the nation's highest paid coaches, really does not
have much to show for that pay recently, and who really has not been relevant
for several years.
When the magazines, however, begin to come out, that is when football fans
can really get into the meat of actual predictions, schedules, rosters, key
games and items such as that.
It also makes for great reading during those late summer trips to the lake
or to the beach, and I am definitely looking forward to some quality reading
out in the sun in just a few weeks from now when the Griffin family heads to
Orange Beach for some much needed bonding and beaching. Nothing like reading about football while
listening to the waves and the seagulls.
Do not fear. Football is now OFFICIALLY just around the corner, and if you
don't believe me, then just head to your nearest grocery store or bookstore.
Be loud and proud about it, as the football magazines are arriving!
And if you think that I am the only one who could possibly get this excited
about something that others might find so insignificant and silly, then just
ask my good buddy Matthew.
I think I just heard a shout of "Hallelujah!" from him, all the
way from Pell City.
