Opinion
Farewell 2011-2012 NFL football season, see you next year
February 10, 2012
I am still full of wings, meatballs, chips and soda. The talk has been about commercials, most bad but a few good, a decent half time show especially compared to last year’s, and sport channels are now focusing on college hoops. This can only mean one thing: all the Super Bowl hoopla is over.
Congratulations to the New York Giants who went from being booed out of the stadium by their own fans in week 12, to catching fire at the right time and winning the big game. Now people are saying Eli might just be the best Manning, and 65-year-old Tom Coughlin went from the hot seat to possibly retiring on top. Even though I could have really cared less about either of the teams in the Super Bowl, as I was still moping over the pitiful way my beloved Packers were knocked out of the playoffs, I am still left depressed knowing another season is done.
This past Monday I woke up with the morning blues and a bad case of post-football season depression. Thank God I have last year’s Super Bowl taped so I can watch the Packers win over and over anytime I want. Now my Sundays will go from doing nothing but sitting in the dorms with all my friends watching football, eating junk food and putting off homework, to just simply doing nothing. Sure there’s March Madness to look forward to, but nothing beats the feeling of waiting and talking all week about the big football game and then getting together with a bunch of friends and watching it.
Sunday during football season is by far the best day of the week. It’s especially fun for me to be friends with some Vikings and Bears fans, because it keeps things interesting and the Bears still suck and the Vikings, well, they are just atrocious. I, along with football fans all around the country, am now left dreaming about September once again. I cannot help but analyze and wonder what next year will bring. One commercial plays around this time every year that every fan can relate too. The commercial goes through showing all different team fans singing the song “Tomorrow” because the day after the Super Bowl every team will be tied for first again.
Fans everywhere are already making their predictions for next year and talking about what their team needs to do to so they can make a trip to the promise land. Vegas already has my Green Bay Packers picked to win it all! Every football fan now has the glimmer of hope that their team will turn it around the following year. They might think that a new coaching hire will turn everything around like with the San Francisco 49ers this year going from 6-10 to 13-3 with new coach Jim Harbaugh. Teams like the Houston Texans who made their first playoff appearance in franchise history this year are thinking that they might just be one big player signing away from making a Super Bowl run. For all of you Viking fans I send out my sympathy to you because it’s going to be a long time before you will ever even smell the playoff hunt again.
The talk is already starting up about the draft and what rookie might step up and make an instant impact. It looks like the story of the year is going to be the Indianapolis Colts and what they decide to do with Peyton Manning this year. They “sucked for Luck.” Andrew Luck that is, who they will draft with their No. 1 pick, but no one seems to know what they are going to do with Manning, the face of their franchise, who was just cleared by doctors to resume his career.
Tim Tebow will surely storm the headlines again, but I am not sure I can handle much more “Tebow-Mania.” I think the guy definitely showed he can win and deserves to be starting in Denver next year, but he is really just an average guy. For some reason it seems people have to either hate or love this guy and everyone wants to talk about him. I would rather hear about how good the Denver defense was or how brilliant they were to bring the option back to the NFL.
I am not sure what next football season will bring but there is no doubt it will not disappoint. If you guys out there are feeling blue and sad about the season being over, do not worry, you’re not alone. On the bright side we are all tied for first right now, so enjoy this moment while you can, especially you Viking fans.
Ryan Tibbitts is a freshman majoring in journalism. He loves all sports but obsesses over his Packers.