ROCK CLIMBING, CAMPING, AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL

On my weekends, I like to get off of the  treadmill of life and enjoy something different.  At times, this leads me to pack up my Jeep and head to the hills.    Rock climbing, hiking, and camping are great and really take me away.  There is nothing quite so relaxing as sleeping in a tent on a Friday night.  Friday night, for me, is great because only a few hours previous I will have been engaged in the "work" of the week.  

Fall is one season that I don't usually camp.  The reason:  High School Football.  HS Football and College Football hold a special place in my heart.  I love tailgating before HS games on Friday nights.  The sun is just starting to go down and the evening is still warm.  The anticipation of the upcoming game is buzzing in the air.  Catching up with friends and family around a common event is the foundation of life.  I love hearing the band warm up and the sound of the drum line!  The drum line is the best.  Once I hear that distinctive sound of a collegiate or high school drum line, I start to salivate.  It is a Pavlovian experience to be sure.  Being a dog, I know Pavlov. 

The palpable feeling in the air of a college town prior to a home football game is as close to heaven as anything I know.  Especially if it is a big game.  The whole town is focused on one topic, everyone is making preparations for the same end, and the town seems to shut down and attend that one event.  Karl Marx once said that, "religion is the opiate of the people."  I think that today's opiate is entertainment.  If I were to rank opiates, college football is the most potent.  Think about it, live music concerts rarely deliver a "fantastic" experience, the NFL is nice, but mostly disappointing, and baseball is 15 seconds of excitement spread out over 3 hours.   I do like reading books and going to movies, but they still lack that special spiritual punch.  

I attended a MMA event once.  I found the fights fun, but the crowd seemed to be full of troglydytical half-breeds.  The fighters seem like nice guys outside of the octagon, but their groupies are hating life.  Crowds at sporting events, that is a great topic for another entry.  I will save that one for another time.