Football's back! But...

I'm having a hard time getting excited about it. Five years ago, I lived for college football, mostly for Michigan State football. I loved spending entire Saturdays -- or as much of those days as I could manage -- watching games from all over the country. The turning point for me came when MSU's coach was John L. Smith and his teams only managed four (4) wins a few seasons in a row. Some might say I jumped off the bandwagon. I never stopped loving MSU football, but when they bottomed out it was a wake-up call for me that there are more important (and entertaining) things in life than college football.

The last few years I've tried to carve out enough time each fall Saturday to watch the Spartans. I make no time for other games, even ones that would be great to watch. Family and other personal time is more fun when it's balanced with a little football, and vice versa.

Yesterday I watched the Spartans trounce lowly Montana State, 44-3, in the season opener in East Lansing. The game, quite frankly, was boring. When there is nothing at stake, it's simply harder to enjoy the game. I don't regret spending 3 hours and $25 to watch the game at a local watering hole, but I don't think I would have been heartbroken to have missed the game, either.

This fall I'm actually more excited about the Beatles remastered CDs than I am football. Surely that will wear off once I actually get my box set from amazon.com. For now, though, hearing that great music remixed and remastered is all I can think about (in terms of entertainment.) It's hard to focus on much else. Next week can't come soon enough.