Thoughts From The Valley: The Season Is Essentially Over. Massive Sigh.

The Hangover

HOW I AM FEELING: Full. Just as I had planned, This Particular College Football Thanksgiving Weekend involved a whole lot of eating, a whole lot of drinking and a whole lot of football-watching. Unfortunately, it did not include a Land Grant Trophy Game victory for My Beloved Nittany Lions. For one reason: This team [cliche on the way] "lacks playmakers." In that sense, we are essentially Florida. Or Texas. Or USC. Or Georgia. Could be worse, I suppose. Anyway, it was a fun weekend. Viva Thanksgiving.

WHAT I AM DRINKING: Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA. Big. Bold. Cleveland-ish. And, as I discovered on Saturday, powerful enough to knock you for a loop if you ain't careful. [Dropped a shrimp cocktail on my lap.]

WHAT I AM LISTENING TO: Some god-awful Fox announcer, calling the "action" of the Cleveland Browns-Carolina Panthers game (Your Editor is visiting the fam back in Cleveland this weekend, folks). The Cleveland crowd is silent and lifeless. The players are running around but don't really seem to care one way or the other what happens. My God this is an awful league. I wish my parents had the Fox Soccer Channel. If they did, I'd be watching a Serie A match or something.

VILLA UPDATE: Speaking of The Beautiful Game ... : The Most Beautifully Named Soccer Club In The World Of The Beautiful Game continued its freefall down the Premier League table by suffering a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Arsenal on Saturday morning. But you know what? It was a hugely entertaining match. The same cannot be said of this awful Browns game. Which continues. Endlessly. Toward no end.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE WEEKEND

The season arrives. The season ends.

It is endlessly amazing to me just how fast The Greatest Regular Season In American Sport passes.

It starts in late August. Four months later -- a blink of the proverbial eye, as you might say -- it is over. And each and every season, my thought upon its sad end is the same: What the hel?l How did this end so fast?

Sigh.

Yes, folks, I know that that we have a couple more weekends of college football left here in the year of 2010. We have the SEC championship game and the ACC championship game (snore) and the Big 12 championship game and Army vs. Navy and a whole bunch more beyond that.

But, I mean, let's face it: The season is effectively over.

And holy hell does that make me sad.

This great game that we call college football is a blessing, dear readers. A true blessing. For 14 Saturdays each year, we are given a day-long show of simply unparalleled passion, spirit, excitement and competitveness. The NFL can't match this. The World Series can't match this. March Madness can't match this. Heck, nothing can match this; not even the Premier League.

College football, quite simply, reigns supreme in the world of sport. College football fans care more. College football coaches care more. College football players care more. Which is why this sport kills us--and elevates us--more than any other.

It is a sport that transcends sport. It is not just a game. It is so much more. So very much more.

And here we here, at the end of November, and this wonderful game is about to be over.

Yes, there are still championships to be played. There are still bowl games to be won. There is still a national title to be deciced.

But the heart of the 2010 season is past. It is over. The stories have been written. The legends have been etched.

We look forward now, essentially, to nothing.

Except, of course 2011. Which cannot arrive soon enough.

THREE YARDS AND A CLOUD OF DUST

THREE: Indiana fired Bill Lynch on Sunday. It was sad but inevitable. That guy poured his heart and soul into that job. He just didn't win enough. But you know who would win enough? Mike Leach. Yes. That's right. Mike Leach. He would instantly give an identity to a program that has no identity. And yes, that matters. Plus, he's funny as hell.

TWO: All indications are that Saint Joe Paterno is going to return next season to coach My Beloved Nittany Lions. And let me be clear: No, I don't think this is a good thing for the program. Essentially, Paterno's return means one more year (at least) of treading water in Happy Valley. Lool, I admire the man. I really do. He is quite possibly the greatest coach in college football history. He is a teacher. A leader. A scholar. A winner. But facts are facts, and the facts are that Paterno is simply not capable of doing the job anymore (check out this video; prepare to cringe). As I've said many times this season, when it's gotten to the point where we are rooting for the man to simply sound coherent during his press appearances, you know the time has come for him to move on. Penn State is barely hanging on right now--barely hanging on, that is, to its relevance. I just wonder of anyone up in Happy Valley realizes this. Or cares.

ONE: I won't spend too much time here writing about The Snake-Oil Salesman Wearing A Wizard's Hat, because I spent a good bit of time writing about The Snake-Oil Salesman Wearing A Wizard's Hat over at my other site this morning. But I will just say this: For all of his failings in Ann Arbor, The Wizard's greatest failure is his utter destruction of the once-great (correction: once-perfect) Ohio State-Michigan rivalry. This series is now meaningless. There is no passion to it. No beauty in it. It's over. And that's sad.

TOUCHDOWN: Auburn's comeback over Alabama was quite possibly the greatest comeback that I've ever seen: Down 24, on the road, against SABAN, in Tuscaloosa, the Tigers eventually ... won. Spectacular stuff. I mean, spectacular. That being said, they're going to lose to South Carolina next week. Two reasons: 1. Ball Coach. 2. Lattimore.

OVERTIME: Co-Host Mike takes almost nothing seriously. But he does take the TCFA Podcast seriously. So please offer us your thoughts on the podcast thus far this season by dropping us a note at podcasts@intelligentcollegefootball.com.

For more searing college football insight, please check out my work over at About.com, where you can read my weekly Power Rankings, ponder the About.com Heisman Trophy Watch, get darn-near daily blog updates and more.