One of our blog followers, Carol has slated a Football Workshop for July 24 in the Birmingham, Alabama area. I will be there to present the basics from my point of view. Space is limited, so contact Carol as soon as possible at cjdinbama@charter.net. She’ll send you the necessary info. Hope you can come join us for some fun and information as we count down to the beginning of the 2010 Season!

Well, its just hit me today. There is no more football. I know it’s Valentine’s day and that has been very nice. However, I turned on ESPN and it featured that delightful sport, Pro-Bowling.

Football recruiting news is over, National Signing day is past, new coaches have been hired and most new coaches have assembled their staffs. The Super Bowl actually had my interest this year and I was tickled to death for the Saints and the win for the City of New Orleans.  But today, just one week later there is grid-iron silence.

I tried basketball yesterday…even went to the Arkansas/Alabama game. Then, I watched a bit of the Tennessee/Kentucky game and cheered for the underdog (UT), but they lost handily.

If you are desperate for college football news (like me), you might try Rivals Radio on Sirius Satelite. They are talking a bit about the Big 10′s plan to expand by adding another team. Texas is being considered. And, try JOX 94.5 in Birmingham from 10:00-2:00 weekdays, because although they will likely discuss basketball, they tend to speak about college football fairly regularly. But even then it is either old news or speculation about next year, etc. Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad they’re there, but its just not filling the void.

I may try reading. Perhaps a book about dogs having “souls” that I received for Christmas. My husband gave me a “how to” Spanish course on CD-ROM so that’s an option. I could memorize some more college football referee hand signals; that would be useful. The Thomas Kincade jigsaw puzzle from Christmas 2008 is laid out on the dining table-too many colors. There is promise of snow tonight; however, it is 47 degrees and I can’t see how that will happen.

It’s just the college football season withdrawal blues. Heaven knows I do get a bit obsessed about the whole deal. Maybe this will be a character builder for me; a time to expand my horizons, branch out and grow personally. That might be a good idea.

203 days till the kick off of College Football 2010.

Hello to all. I just couldn’t resist posting this comment from a reader who wrote to me on FaceBook. The chuckle was just too good to pass up!! By the way, I know the woman they are referring to, and she is one of the most intelligent and savvy women I know! The names and a couple of other identifying features have been changed, to “protect the innocent”!

Here it is……

“Our (sorority)pledge class spent last wk. end trying to explain football to Kate.  Suzy and I even asked if she really went to the games while we were in college.  She said she spent most of the games “wondering if she liked her date” – ha.  She also said your football blog for women was “good but over her head” – WOW!!!  So, I’m asking you to ‘dumb’ it down a little (more) for Kate – we’re hoping she’ll catch up by the next reunion.  ;~)”

If you are wondering about the definition of “girls”, well, don’t give it another thought. I use the term broadly here. If you are female, you qualify. If you’re male, well you are certainly welcome as well!

I figure that folks reading this blog fall into about 3 categories, but don’t be hurt if one doesn’t fit you exactly.

1. The first category will be for girls who grew up on high school and college football and have had knowledge about the game for so long that they can’t remember “not knowing” and loving football. Do you remember going to games as a girl with your parents….sitting under an Army blanket, sipping hot chocolate while the hometown boys played their hearts out for their school? You knew those players when you saw them on the street; you knew their folks and where they went to church; you recognized them in their “letter sweaters” and thought their girlfriends were the luckiest girls alive.

On Saturday mornings, you and the rest of the family got your chores out of the way, so you could gather around the radio to listen to your favorite college team. Maybe you raked leaves together while the little transistor radio blasted out the familiar voice of your team’s play by play announcer was like honey on a biscuit as long as your team was winning. When they were losing, he made you feel like a whole nation of people was disappointed right along with you. When you were old enough for high school, you played football with your friends- male and female, at one of the team player’s homes on Sunday afternoon. The game always had to end in time for everyone to get cleaned up to go back to Sunday night church.

Then, when the time came…you might have even picked that team for your very own and made that college your Alma Mater. That can really cement a girl’s football loyalty for life! No man, marriage, professional advancement or moves out of State will sway this girl – she’s in it no matter what, come good years or not so good years. This girl is a fan.

2. This category is a little bit more common, I think. It is for girls who just never really paid attention to the details of what was going on in the game. It was the social atmosphere of high school and college football that brought excitement.

You meant to and were going to, but you just never got around to understanding what was going on. If you are reading this, then you’ve probably decided you’d like to be able to follow a game this season and you’d enjoy throwing around some words like, “linebacker, offensive linemen, 4/3 defense and holding penalty”.

Some of you might want to go even further and be able to understand what the refs were saying with all those hand signal thingies. But the real serious girls want to make the kind of intelligent comments during the games that make the men in the room take their hands out of the snack mix and put down their drinks to turn and look your way in amazement!  What a feeling of power!!

3. Now this last category is for girls who are ready to have something to do this college football season. You have sat by year after year while everyone you knew seemed enthralled with game after game. It was not only “not fun”, it was downright awful to realize that for 14 + weeks you were going to have to endure something you deplored, all the while preparing snacks and cleaning the house up- before and after for the loud guests you and your male invited over.

“This year”, you decided…”I will join in and be a part of this, even if it kills me”. Don’t worry though, it won’t.  College football is just like anything you don’t understand. Once you have a little knowledge of it you will find that it isn’t so bad after all. You might even get the chance to do a little pay-back by yelling and trashing up someone else’s home this season. And, if this opportunity presents itself, you’d be foolish to pass it up!

Category 1 Girls:  You will want to follow this blog because like it or not, the sports radio and tv folks ALL cater to men. Here, you will be able to talk intelligently about your team, the coaches, other teams and express your opinions without fearing that anyone will “roll their eyes” because you ( a girl) dare to speak about college football! You’ll read interesting info and find interesting links to make this season “girl friendly”, but not “fluffy”!

Categories 2 and 3 Girls: You will want to follow this blog because it will have great links and info for you to build that football knowledge! You can learn those hand signals, ask questions without fear of a patronizing answer, and gain a base knowledge that will turn this college football season into a pleasant and perhaps, positive experience for you. Set a goal…what do you want to know? Tell us about your frustrations, talk with disdain about the “bias and arrogance of Gary Daniel”, learn to take that remote and flip to Sports Center before HE does. It will be a moment of triumph!

I heard on local sports-talk radio today that men believe Southern women to be well informed about college football.  True?…maybe, but men never really talk to us about it, do they? Well, here’s a place where we can talk about it, ask the questions, show our knowledge and even, our ignorance. We’re gonna make it through this college football season as a unit – the “washed and the unwashed” alike!

From the kick off of Division I Football on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009, all the way to the final BCS college rankings in January 2010, I will be posting information and providing a format for us “Southern Girls” to weigh in with comments and questions.