For some reason, I woke up this morning and was excited.  At what, I am not sure. Maybe I actually slept last night. Very often I stay up late and get up early, tossing and turning in between grabbing at the blanket that has started slipping to the floor.  Or maybe I just woke anticipating the weekend – it is Friday you know, and I tend to romp a bit when I have the time.

More than likely I feel this great because I am rested, ready for the weekend and dreaming about another football game.  I still can’t imagine a better way to spend my Saturday.  Oh yeah, tomorrow’s Saturday.  If you see some fool driving circles around Darrell K. Royal stadium tomorrow in a white 2002 Mustang, you can be assured it is me, lonely for some football.  If you are cute and wave, I might pick you up.

In my entire 23 years of existence, I have only attended four college football games (slapping my wrist as I write).  Now, don’t get me wrong, college football is the bread that nourishes my entire family.  Just to take a stab at it, I would guess that I have spent at least a 1,000 hours sitting in front of the tube, praying my receiver would catch that Hail Mary.  I would imagine I have consumed over 20 lbs. of Thanksgiving Day turkey, screaming at the television between mouthfuls.  However, the fact remains that I do have some regrets – namely, that I was so poor in college that it was better to scalp my ticket and catch the game at a friend’s house.  God knows I’m not the only one who has been in those shoes.

When I was junior at the University of Texas, I got my chance to see my first live college football game.  As a photographer for UT’s yearbook, The Cactus, my first ever experience was directly on the field, in the absolute core of the breathtaking action.  I was able to experience the expansive cheers of the crowd, the deafening roar of the touchdown cannon, the sea of burnt orange color that were the fans, and the crack of helmets and shoulder pads as big sweaty bodies mauled each other right in front of me.  (I was nearly killed by a sideline play that game, and it was awesome.)  Texas walloped OSU 36-10, and I was officially addicted to the experience.

I photographed a few other games as well.  You can see some of my pictures from last year’s Cotton Bowl here.

I guess the whole point of this post is simply this:  if you have never seen a college football game at the stadium, you are not taking the right vitamins.  Get out of the house, go hang out with those guys in the parking lot under the colored tent, and have some real fun.  I don’t care how young or old you are, don’t give up the opportunity to be a fan – NCAA football is priceless.  We have the best tickets to every major NCAA game, so go.  You may not get to stand on the field, but we’ll get you pretty darn close.  Please, whatever you do, don’t end up like this guy: