Today should feel like Christmas. Instead it feels like a wake.
The Thursday before Labor Day is traditionally the kickoff date of the college football season. It’s the day my favorite sport kicks back into high gear. I dream about this day all summer long.
Instead of 110,000 fans in Neyland Stadium, I’m thinking about the 185,000 Americans who died of COVID-19.
Instead of failed third down conversions, I’m thinking about our country’s failed response. It’s depressing.
Today is usually a day when the alarm goes off and I can’t wait to go to work, because I know there’s football waiting for me on the other end. This day has provided so many good memories over the past 20 years.
UConn traditionally starts its season with a Thursday night home game before Labor Day. Of course, in recent years it has included embarrassing defeats to FCS teams. But during the first Randy Edsall tenure, when I still lived in Connecticut, it was our first opportunity to tailgate, drink beers, and enjoy the fading summer sun.
There have been big games on this day too, from Boise State beating up on Oregon in Chip Kelly’s first game or Utah making Jim Harbaugh’s debut for Michigan a losing effort. We’ve seen ESPN launch the SEC Network and ACC Network on this day. Russell Wilson debuted for Wisconsin on this day in 2011, announcing his arrival as a true national superstar.
There have been classic games too, like App State taking Tennessee to the final minutes in 2016. Or that classic Thursday night in 2013, when Ole Miss and Vanderbilt put on a fourth quarter offensive showcase, followed by Rutgers and Fresno St going to overtime at about 3am east coast time.
I won’t be staying up until 3am tonight watching college football. In fact, I may not watch any college football tonight.
There is one game on TV tonight, but it’s hard to get up for South Alabama at Southern Miss. There was one game last week too, and the FCS kickoff was the least-watched ever. Even before the game started, Austin Peay announced several key players were left behind after testing positive for COVID-19.
In other parts of the world, countries are returning to some sort of normalcy because they are properly testing, isolating, and tracing cases. In the United States, college campuses have become the epicenter for some of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the world.
It’s so depressing because it shouldn’t be like this. We’ve been fighting this since March. How are things not better?
In a normal year, I am giddily sitting in my office counting down the hours until kickoff. The world feels alive come Labor Day weekend, a new beginning for all of us. Schools are back in session. Offices are in full swing with summer vacations winding down. The US Open is rocking New York City. Baseball is ramping up for the pennant races. The NFL is around the corner.
Instead, I’ll be watching the New York Islanders trying to make their first conference final since I was 10 years old. I should be ecstatic. I should be over the moon. But something about everything feels off.
2020 has been the longest, toughest, worst year I can remember. Today is merely another painful reminder. I’m fortunate enough where I’m allowed to be depressed about college football, and not fighting COVID-19 or struggling to pay rent.
I’m just missing the feeling of joy that comes with my favorite sport coming back stronger than ever. Let’s hope I don’t have to write this piece again next year.
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The Thursday before Labor Day is traditionally the kickoff date of the college football season. It’s the day my favorite sport kicks back into high gear. I dream about this day all summer long.
Instead of failed third down conversions, I’m thinking about our country’s failed response. It’s depressing.
Today is usually a day when the alarm goes off and I can’t wait to go to work, because I know there’s football waiting for me on the other end. This day has provided so many good memories over the past 20 years.
UConn traditionally starts its season with a Thursday night home game before Labor Day. Of course, in recent years it has included embarrassing defeats to FCS teams. But during the first Randy Edsall tenure, when I still lived in Connecticut, it was our first opportunity to tailgate, drink beers, and enjoy the fading summer sun.
There have been classic games too, like App State taking Tennessee to the final minutes in 2016. Or that classic Thursday night in 2013, when Ole Miss and Vanderbilt put on a fourth quarter offensive showcase, followed by Rutgers and Fresno St going to overtime at about 3am east coast time.
I won’t be staying up until 3am tonight watching college football. In fact, I may not watch any college football tonight.
There is one game on TV tonight, but it’s hard to get up for South Alabama at Southern Miss. There was one game last week too, and the FCS kickoff was the least-watched ever. Even before the game started, Austin Peay announced several key players were left behind after testing positive for COVID-19.
In other parts of the world, countries are returning to some sort of normalcy because they are properly testing, isolating, and tracing cases. In the United States, college campuses have become the epicenter for some of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the world.
It’s so depressing because it shouldn’t be like this. We’ve been fighting this since March. How are things not better?
In a normal year, I am giddily sitting in my office counting down the hours until kickoff. The world feels alive come Labor Day weekend, a new beginning for all of us. Schools are back in session. Offices are in full swing with summer vacations winding down. The US Open is rocking New York City. Baseball is ramping up for the pennant races. The NFL is around the corner.
Instead, I’ll be watching the New York Islanders trying to make their first conference final since I was 10 years old. I should be ecstatic. I should be over the moon. But something about everything feels off.
2020 has been the longest, toughest, worst year I can remember. Today is merely another painful reminder. I’m fortunate enough where I’m allowed to be depressed about college football, and not fighting COVID-19 or struggling to pay rent.
I’m just missing the feeling of joy that comes with my favorite sport coming back stronger than ever. Let’s hope I don’t have to write this piece again next year.
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