Beyond College Football: A Photo Essay Example

I used to be a big college football fan. I can say, without ego, that my friends and I were the life of the party in downtown Austin following the Longhorn's championship loss to Alabama in 2009. Colt McCoy and I were BFF, basically.

Colt McCoy threw for 12 yards on Sautrday. "I had a lousy day," he said.
I'm using this as a sample.

I also really like the Big 12; for that matter, I still kinda miss the old Southwest Conference. I followed the secession of Nebraska and Colorado from the Big 12 with rapt attention; a year later, I paid even closer to the well-deserved exile of A&M and Missouri from the Big 12 to the SEC. I think we traded up with West Virginia and TCU.

Anyway, I was really looking forward to the A&M / Florida game earlier this year. My Dad went to Florida, so I have a soft spot for the gators. But I couldn't enjoy the game because the broadcasters kept showing the horrible hit that Devon Walker, a Tulane safety, took that fractured his spine in a game against Tulsa. It was pretty gruesome.

The aftermath of a painful hit that fractured Devon Walker's spine.

Since then, I've felt guilty watching football. I feel a wee bit culpable watching a sport with potential for catastrophic personal injury. And it's rough - just now there was a conversation in the J-school office about the UT / West Virginia game last weekend - but I think it's doable.

So, instead, I'm concentrating on the upcoming college basketball season and watching some soccer here and there. And I do think the UT / West Virginia basketball game will wind up being better than the football game. We'll burninate their couch this time!

UT Men's Basketball Coach Rick Barnes, the Burninator

And that's my tongue-in-cheek example of an online photoessay.