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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Johnson's Journal: My body is ready for the return of college football

<p>Helmets representing the 768 college football programs in the U.S. are displayed as fans arrive to spend the night in the College Football Hall of Fame, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014, in Atlanta. The school associated with a fan's registration card will light up their team's helmet upon swiping the card at the entry to the museum.</p>

Helmets representing the 768 college football programs in the U.S. are displayed as fans arrive to spend the night in the College Football Hall of Fame, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014, in Atlanta. The school associated with a fan's registration card will light up their team's helmet upon swiping the card at the entry to the museum.

My senses tell the story of college football better than I can. The stimulation that runs stupendously deep for months on end is the most tangible reminder that this sport is more than a game played by young men, but a living, breathing right of autumn. As sure as I am that the leaves will change, I’m equally as confident that a touchdown pass will bring a visceral reaction from my core.

I miss hearing the violent symphony of power and speed that envelope Saturdays for months. I yearn for the crack of shoulder pads when a special hit that separates receiver from ball can be heard even from high above in my perch in the press deck.

I miss seeing the colors on the way to the stadiums on various campuses across the southeast. The masses of orange and blue that move up and down West University Avenue, or the split directly down the middle in Jacksonville on October’s final weekend during the cocktail party. The bright orange in Knoxville, Tenn., that enters via naval procession is a sight to behold.

Allow me to be journalistically nerdy for a spell when I say I miss the touch of my fingers on my keyboard as they race across it with a deadline to meet and the challenge of turning the story of a football game into 750 words of pure poetry.

I miss the smell of my roommates cooking cheap Sam’s Club burgers bought in bulk, and I miss the taste too, although I know it probably knocks years off of my life with every bite.

But finally, mercifully, it’s back. It has been a long, tedious offseason that seemed to plod along with the pace of a drunken sloth trapped in quicksand even with the distraction that was the World Cup.

This summer, I worked on my golf game and spent time with my loved ones. Both pursuits have now driven me to near lunacy, and I need a diversion — a return to normalcy.

Saturday morning I, like many of you, will wake up and watch College Gameday. I know Lee Corso’s a little senile now, but he’s part of the family. He’s just like your drunken grandfather on Thanksgiving that puts the turkey on his head and waves as thousands cheer — wait, you don’t have a grandpa like that? Sorry to hear that your family’s boring.

For years, College Gameday has been the brunchtime soundtrack for those getting ready to head out for a day of tailgating — or those already there with the possession of a satellite dish, it’s back too.

I wish there was a way to turn the brain capacity Gators fans have devoted to the question “how’s Florida going to do,” into a renewable energy source. We could end our global energy crisis for eons. In six days, you’ll be able to find out.

I breathe easily knowing I’ve made it to the final stretch with the finish line in sight. Florida fans should rest assured that there was only one minor legal issue the whole offseason and no major injuries unlike last season, those are big achievements in and of themselves.

What part of my American human nature makes me love this sport the way I do? Is it the appeal of sanctioned violence? The thirst for chaos? Maybe the nobler endeavor of watching underdogs pull off upsets? Perhaps I enjoy players my own age rising to immeasurable moments of pressure in front of thousands in the stands and millions watching on television?

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I’m not sure what the answer is, but I am sure that I don’t necessarily need to know. What I do need is some sensory overload, and I’ll get it this weekend at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Follow Richard Johnson on Twitter @RagjUF

Helmets representing the 768 college football programs in the U.S. are displayed as fans arrive to spend the night in the College Football Hall of Fame, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014, in Atlanta. The school associated with a fan's registration card will light up their team's helmet upon swiping the card at the entry to the museum.

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