In 1894, the United States Congress surprised Americans everywhere by actually doing something important: They officially recognized Labor Day.

First proposed by leaders of the labor movement in the early 1880s and adopted by forward-thinking state governments in the years that followed, the idea behind Labor Day was simple: To give hard-working folks one wonderful day off—24 hours free from the backbreaking labor, heartbreaking hopelessness and general malaise of their workaday lives.

It was a grand idea. Truly, it was.

Which is why, I think, that Labor Day remains with us. And so this weekend, 114 years after Congress actually did something important for once, all of us (well, most of us) will get that much-needed day off: We shall bar-b-que. We shall drink. We shall spend time with our friends and families. Some of us (including Your Editor) shall celebrate a wedding.

We shall not go to work.

But maybe most importantly, we shall watch college football. America’s grandest game.

Now, I sincerely doubt those congressmen back in 1894 were big college football fans—generally speaking, politicians lack the imagination and joie-de-vivre that allows the rest of us to enjoy intercollegiate football—but nonetheless, the powerbrokers of the college football world recognized the opportunity given to them. And so it came to be that those powerbrokers went about creating one of the great weekend sporting bonanzas of the year.

The results of their hard work? Five straight days of college football.

In other words, they have perfected Labor Day.

Check your television schedules for the weekend to come, folks, and you will notice that we literally have games to watch every day until Monday: South Carolina (and the Ole Ball Coach) vs. North Carolina State tonight; a titanic clash between Temple vs. Army Friday night (and, by the way, if anyone can turn Temple into a winner, it’s Al Golden); a veritable feast of great games on Saturday (we’ll discuss them later); Kentucky vs. Louisville on Sunday; and finally, to cap it all off, an intriguing UCLA-Tennessee matchup at the hallowed Rose Bowl on Monday—Labor Day.

College football for five straight days? A day off on Monday? Plenty of reason to fire up the grilles and drink finely crafted beers?

How wonderful. How American.

How perfect.

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Welcome Back: A Note from Your Editor

Hello again, folks, and welcome back to another season of The College Football Athenaeum.

Once again, you have found your way to the Internet home of The Intelligent College Football Fan. Yes, that’s right, if you’re reading this, you are among the intellectual elite of American sport. Congrats.

Before we get to the news, I wanted to do some quick housekeeping. So here goes. If you’re a longtime reader, you probably know the drill by now: TCFA is published each Friday (previewing the weekend’s games) and each Monday (wrapping up the weekend that was and generally battling our collective college football hangover). If you wish to partake in our weekly Guest Prognostication Challenge, and fight for a chance to play in the annual TCFA Bowl, please drop Your Editor a note and we’ll see if we can fit you in. Also, please note that I have updated our Diversions page, where I attempt to force y'all to listen to music I like and drink what I like to drink. More updates to come.

Finally, if you find the need to read even more of my work, please click on over to my site at About.com. Earlier this year, I was named About.com’s college football writer, and I update that site almost every day. Check out my conference previews, my Top 25 and more.

OK, that’s all for now. Thanks again for joining us here for the 2008 season. Let’s get on with the news …

Out And About: News And Notes You May Have Missed

• One story dominated the college football off-season more than any other. No, not Terrelle Pryor’s endless recruitment. No, not the Big Ten Network’s clash with Time Warner Cable (the Big Ten won, by the way, as well as they should have). And no, not USC’s brutal battle with “skin irritation.” The biggest story of the spring, instead, was the death of Uga VI—the beloved bulldog mascot of the University of Georgia. All of the Ugas have been revered down in Athens, of course, but it's safe to say Uga VI is held in special regard. That’s because he was by far the most successful of the Ugas, leading the Dawgs to a 87-27 record and two SEC championships in his time sitting on that block of ice. Alas, poor Uga VI succumbed to a heart ailment, and the Bulldog nation has been waiting ever since for the arrival of their new Uga—in other words, Uga VII. Well, the wait is almost over. Uga VII will be introduced to the Georgia community at a special ceremony at Sanford Stadium on Saturday. The unveiling will bring to a close a 61-day ordeal for the family of Sonny Seiler, who have supplied each of the Ugas Georgia has used since the tradition began in the 1950s. Asked to explain how the new Uga was selected, Seiler this week told the Macon Telegraph: "It wasn't a beauty contest. We had three to choose from, and we took our time. We've got an excellent dog. We're not going to put a puppy out there to fill that collar. He is 3 years old. He is Uga VI's son. And he is almost full-grown."

• We turn now to the only man who may challenge Nick Saban for the title of Shadiest Coach In College Football: Rich Rodriguez. As we all know by now, Rodriguez committed the college football cardinal sin of dissing his own alma mater (Editor's Note: I will never diss Penn State. Never. At least not here.), even though they were paying him like $5 billion a year, for the bluer pastures of Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he fits in about as well as Bill Callahan did at Nebraska (and we know how that turned out). That being said, the man can coach. He won four Big East championships (although, is that really an accomplishment?) in seven seasons at West Virginia, and built one of the most feared offenses in the game. Last year, the ‘Eers averaged nearly 457 yards per game. Michigan, meanwhile, ranked second-to-last in the Big Ten in the same department. So now the question becomes: What can Rodriguez do for Michigan’s offense? It might be a stretch to think he can do much of anything, especially given the amount of talent the team has lost (Some names: Henne, Hart, Manningham, Long, Arrington … Boren [ha!]), but there are apparently some out there who think there’s enough talent left on this roster.  In fact, Michigan is ranked No. 24 in the USA Coaches Poll. They take on the Utah Utes this weekend—upset alert, folks—and Utes coach Kyle Whittingham is expecting nothing less than mighty Michigan. Said Whittingham: "They have a great tradition in the system. It's out go the old and in come the new. There isn't a lot of drop-off in athleticism and talent; experience, yes, but not talent." Well, actually there is a drop-off in talent. But I'm sure they'll still beat Penn State.

• Here’s a shocker: Terrelle Pryor is not the starting quarterback at Ohio State. Here’s another: He’s going to play a whole lot anyway. The Greatest Recruit In The History of College Football At Least For Now has impressed The Vest and his staff in Columbus, and while The Vest isn’t exactly offering up a whole lot of detail about how Pryor will be used, he has said the kid is going to be used somehow. In fact, The Vest says Pryor may even get some snaps in the first half of Ohio State’s sure-to-be-a-nailbiter against Youngstown State. Tressel's announcement was considered such big news by ESPN that The Ever More Annoying And Domineering Sports Network actually ran a "Breaking News" alert about it. I mean, come on. Said The Vest: "There's not anything that we've been doing this summer that [Terrelle] has not done. There's no play that people have said, 'OK, well, Terrelle can't do this one, he's never done this one before,' because that's what practice is. This is his chance to do it.” My prediction: Pryor will score at least 15 touchdowns this season

Quick Hits: Straight And To The Point

• Quote of the Week: Swann Seiler, eldest daughter of Uga owner Sonny Seiler, on why the family hated getting the late Uga VI dressed for gameday down in Athens: "Once he had [his jersey] on, he was fine. But he didn't like for you to pull it over his head and legs. It was always a battle. He would draw blood. We used to flip a coin to see who had to dress him."

• Quote of the Week, Part II: Swann Seiler, on what would happen if Uga VII were to pass unexpectedly: "We always have an heir and a spare. My family has been doing this for a long time. The line is secure."

• Ohio State cornerback Malcolm Jenkins says he has enjoyed putting Buckeye freshman quarterback and ESPN Object of Obsession Terrelle Pryor through the ringer over the past few months. But Jenkins also says he’s been impressed how Pryor has handled the hazing. Said Jenkins: "I challenged him and talked junk. He got mad a few times ... The way to test somebody's humbleness or where they are mentally is to challenge them verbally to see how they can handle people coming at them. In a game, a lot of guys talk junk. You have to be able to just take it in stride and keep your cool. At first he had a little trouble with it, but he's fine now."

• The biggest game of the weekend (all due respect to Temple vs. Army) is the Saturday night clash between the very hyped Clemson Tigers and the very promising Alabama Crimson Tide. It was going to be a great game no matter what. But it figures to be even more so now that Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning has accused ‘Bama’s coaches of cheating. Asked about Alabama freshmen receivers Julio Jones and B.J. Scott this week, Koenning inexplicably went on somewhat of a, well, rant. Here’s what he said (to reporters!): "Julio? You know what, I actually ran into Julio in the spring recruiting. I said hello to him and said, 'I guess I'll be seeing you at the end of August.' Then he got out and got in his Escalade and drove off. That's serious. And then I went over and watched Scott at Vigor High School at the track over there, and he was running around. He went and got in his Escalade out at track practice and drove off. So I'm familiar with those two guys." Of course, the remarks caused a firestorm. So now Koenning is backpedaling. As he said on Wednesday: "It was my misjudgement in saying something in a joking manner that got taken and run with.” And then he drove off in his Escalade.

• There’s an awful lot of hype around Illinois quarterback Juice Williams (and, for that matter, the Illini). But here’s Juice’s stats for last year: 755 rushing yards (good); 1,743 passing yards (bad). That’s 134 passing yards per game. Last among Big Ten quarterbacks. Hmm.

• In the Department of Ominous Quotes That Portend Bad Things for Coaches on the Hot Seat, we turn to Syracuse Director of Athletics Daryl Gross. Interviewed this week by the Syracuse Post-Standard, Gross was asked about the future of coach Greg Robinson and what Gross would like to see this year as far as “improvement” in the football program. Said Gross: “We'll know if they are better than last year. I don't think it's that complicated. I think you'll know, just as well as I'll know. If it's not good, we'll know that too. Greg (Robinson) will know it. He'll know it before we know it. He's a big boy. He's held up the Lombardi Trophy. He's seen every level of football, on and off the field. So he's sophisticated and he understands that we need to get better.”