Southern Fried Football

"This has to go down as an all-time all-timer."
        -- Keith Jackson, ABC Sports

One fall day in around 1955, I was taken to a football game at The Ohio State University. I remember the huge crowd and I remember watching the players -- far below on a distant grass field -- lining up and then jumping on top of each other.

I'd never seen a game on television. In those days very few games were televised -- college officials were fearful that having games on the tube would have a negative impact on attendance at the stadiums.

At about that time, some of the bigger conferences joined forced with television stations to increase the number of games being televised from just one "national" game to the game of the week plus several regional contests.

But it wasn't until around 1980 that the number of games began to proliferate. Now, with cable, nearly every major college team's entire schedule is televised and many are available in the far reaches of the country.

For nearly 40 years, the voice of college football on television (specifically, on ABC Sports) was Keith Jackson.

Though his accent was a bit subtle, there was no doubt that this broadcaster was a southern boy. And the reverence with which he obviously regarded the sport of football led me to believe there must be a special relationship between southerners and the pigskin.

I wonder whether there was some connection between reconstruction and football -- this somewhat violent sport is often compared to war and the intensity with which some teams approach the game could be seen as being a bit like that found on the battlefield.

Teams like "Old Miss" and "The Crimson Tide" seem to invite the addition of "and the South shall rise again..."

Well, I'm probably way out of line, here. I'm no doubt affected by the surprisingly high level of interest among retired people I've met here in the South. And let me tell you, Gainesville, Florida is "in to" today's homecoming game between Florida and Vanderbuilt as if it were the Super Bowl.

When I arrived at my retirement-community destination yesterday, a large-screen television was tuned to the homecoming parade -- a major event. And the conversations were all about football.

I'm interested to see what kind of turnout we'll have for dinner -- which begins at game time...

Laid-back California may be one of the least fanatical rgions when it comes to sports. We tend to get pretty excited near the end of the season -- when one of our favorites is still in the running for post-season play; but it's not uncommon to find stadiums only half-full when teams are having off years or when the weather screams, "go to the beach!" and sun-worshippers can't resist the call.

Whether it's the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat for the Gators today, in Keith Jackson's words, "I think we're in for a whale of a football game."