The mayhem of College Football is upon us once again. And it truly is mayhem. Everything about this sport is unique. It’s exciting, spectacular, complicated, and flawed. From divisions, conferences, NIL, ESPN, The College Football Playoff, College Gameday, Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney, the fans, the bands, the traditions, the rivalries, the passion, the excitement, the anger, the tears, the boosters, Jim Harbaugh, Urban Meyer, Roll Tide to War Eagle and everything in between, how do you even begin to describe and to understand this sport?
To attempt to do so, I teamed up with Brendan Lyman, my old college friend and someone who taught me pretty much everything I know about College Football, on a new podcast titled Run, Pint, Option. Brendan believes that College Football is the closest thing America has to Soccer in Europe in terms of its magnitude and deep impact on cultural identity. Brendan also believes that understanding College Football is key to understanding America, its people and communities, and its politics.
So we decided to talk about it. As two fans of the sport who love it and understand that it is deeply flawed, we wanted to explore what makes College Football unique, and discuss its impact in the context of larger cultural and political themes. This is not going to be a “stick to sports” podcast. We will be getting political. But don’t worry, we won’t make it too academic. We’re going to have plenty discussion of what’s happening on the field as well, especially during the season.
Our first episode is dedicated to the essential question that drives this entire podcast: What makes College Football different? We discuss all the ways in which College Football is unique, some good, some bad, some just weird.
Our second episode discusses conference realignment and the emergence of “super leagues”. Is it good, is it bad, why is it happening, and what does it mean for the future of the sport?
Our third episode, live from Big Ten country here in DC, discusses what we’re most looking forward to in this upcoming season.
Our fourth episode discusses what we aren’t looking forward to this season, and we also dive into the new massive media rights deals and what they mean for the sport.
And our most recent episode is a preview for the season where we discuss what to watch for and who we predict will win it all.
We’re hoping to do this weekly, with plenty of exciting discussions about the sport we all hate to love.
We’re looking for listeners and subscribers so please, give us a try, and interact with us. You can find us on Anchor, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Also, let us know what you think! We want to hear from you. You can email the show at RunPintOption@gmail.com, or if you’re feeling so brave, you can leave us a voice message through Anchor! Regardless of agreement or disagreement, serious or silly, we will read (or play) your correspondence on the show, so let us know what you’re thinking.
We’re looking forward to the season, and we can’t wait to hear from you!
Cary Krongard's Football Blog 