It Is Time...

Yes, it is time. Tonight is the official start to college football with my Fighting Gamecocks taking on the NC State Wolfpack on ESPN. I have been waiting for this day since the National Championship game was over in January. Yes, I am a football fanatic.
Being raised in South Carolina, I have been going to Carolina games since I was conceived. I have wonderful memories of tailgating all through my "growing up years" and have always felt somewhat of a "sinking feeling" when the season was over (NFL doesn't count). Is it crazy that a woman gets this excited about a game where a bunch of guys throw a pigskin back and forth? If you think so, then you weren't raised in the South.
Again, as a South Carolinian, you are either a Gamecock or Tiger fan. My family's blood runs garnet and black. I thought one of our friends, Clayon McCathern, summed it up very well when we first visited he and Regan's home. They have a picture of First Baptist Church hanging on one wall of their den and a picture of Williams-Brice on the opposite wall. He and Drew were talking and he remarked, "Here are our two houses of worship."
When I moved to North Carolina, I was quite surprised to find out that football is not king but rather basketball and to add insult to injury, up here when you say "Carolina" they think you're talking about UNC! The nerve! :) Thankfully, I married a man who loves basketball but is also very much a football fan. We love sitting around together and watching the games all day Saturday. Plus, we're in Mountaineer Country, home of 3-time back-to-back National Champions. Could it get any better?
Now, before you go dismissing me and thinking me mad/crazy, football is not an idol to me. It does not hold a higher place in my life than the Lord but I am passionate about the game.
So, here's to all my fellow football fanatics and here's to passing the torch...