UPS and DOWNS for the First Week of September

UPS to being in the First Week of September! Football in America is BACK! Sure, there's a taste of it with pre-season NFL games, and besides the classic Montana/ND State opener last Saturday, there have been a handful of lower division games as well to whet our referee's whistle. But the season starts for real in TWO days, with the Thursday night games kicking off the FBS weekend's slate for "Week Zero".

DOWNS on the death of the "Pigskin Classic" or "Kickoff Classic" type games that used to be set aside on this Week Zero without any competition from other, more trivial contests that aren't much of a contest (when an SEC team plays a Division 1-AA team, that's not usually a contest - it's Christians being slaughtered by the lions - or, more likely, Tigers). Granted, those games are still there - Alabama/Wisconsin, VaTech/Ohio State, Louisville/Auburn, and so forth. But it feels much more like just an ordinary week of football, not something "SPECIAL" as it used to feel.

DOWNS to the NFL waiting ANOTHER week before they start their regular season. I don't think it has anything to do with the NCAA schedule - frankly, the NFL is so big that it doesn't care much about the actions of anything below it. But here's a novel idea: Start the season THIS week, when we're primed and ready for it! Then, the season ends in the last week of December instead of the beginning of January, and once the New Year's Six games are done in the FBS, we're on to the playoffs instead of yet another home-and-away round that's mostly unnecessary. The Super Bowl comes back to the last weekend in January, and everyone's happy.

UPS to the POSITIVE ROLE MODELS in all levels of football these days! The two top players in the NFL, without question, are the reigning MVP Aaron Rogers of the Packers and reigning Defensive POY J.J. Watt of the Texans. Both men are not only possessors of clean rap sheets, they're the absolute best human beings you can imagine representing your organization. Rodgers, always an intelligent interview, is a past winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award for his charity work. Watt is legendary for his ability to connect with civilians: even last Saturday, he was out two hours before the Texans/Saints game in the Superdome, throwing the football back and forth with any fan who wanted to in the stands (even the upper deck!). Nothing will ever top his "marriage" to the crying six-year old whose video about wanting to marry him went viral a couple of years ago, but there always seems to be something. They're certainly not alone in being positive role models in the NFL: Larry Fitzgerald went well out of his way in his interview Sunday on Fox to make his younger teammates the focus of the discussion, for example. Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Charles Woodson, and so many other players are remarkable for having achieved such success, fame, and wealth at a young age, but not have it spoil them as people. The AFL has a similar group of leaders in its top players - Gary Ablett Jr., Scott Pendelbury, Adam Goodes, and a host of other players set examples that are hard to quibble with. Charles Barkley famously said "I am not a role model"...but sorry, Charlie: you were. Not your choice. Not once you became great at your sport.