College Football

@casualtorture, looks like a US based discussion, this.

Even Maryland beating Texas today cannot make me commit to the suffering required to be a Maryland Terrapins fan. They win only enough to break your heart if you come to expect it.

I like Oklahoma, and some of those other high-scoring low-defense Big 12 teams, especially Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. They play those 63-49 types of games. Now that Baker Mayfield has graduated from Oklahoma I am looking forward to see what he can do with the previously hapless and hopeless Cleveland Browns...if he gets off of the bench enough to play much.

Drinks for US College Football? They all work. US, Canadian, Scottish, Irish whiskies, tequila, mezcal, rum...gin. Yes, even beer!

It's like I clicked onto a whisky site in another language. Maybe I can 'fake it till I make it' by saying "whisky"? Sounds like you guys will have plenty of time ahead devoted to watching your teams play it out (with something tasty at hand). Enjoy on both counts!

@Hewie, I'd be just the same as you describe yourself with US College Football if someone launched a discussion on, say, Cricket leagues.

I don’t follow college football, but I love my Steelers. Does that count? So maybe I need to get a Monongahela Rye? Rittenhouse BiB, perhaps?

Is college football of a professional/high standard then? I mean, how close to the pro game is it? I'm guessing fairly good as I hear they get huge crowds and assume that the future pros are in the ranks?

I doubt anyone other than Colin and his dog would bother watching any UK college 'football'

@OdysseusUnbound, the Pittsburgh Steelers have perhaps the most rabid fan-base in the US among professional teams. If you travel all around the US you will find Steelers sports bars almost everywhere you go. That is not true for almost any other team in the NFL. Rittenhouse is a nice rye, and still a very reasonably priced product. Rittenhouse BIB and Wild Turkey 101 Rye were the two products which, about 10 years ago, and through the enthusiasm of US bartenders, "singlehandedly" brought back the popularity of rye whiskey in the USA. Rittenhouse Rye brand was a Philadelphia rye prior to Heaven Hill's acquisition of it and its subsequent move to Kentucky production. The name Rittenhouse is all over the city of Philadelphia, which is 200 miles east of Pittsburgh, and not part of the Monongahela valley region of western Pennsylvania. The Monongahela style of rye was very heavy on percentage of rye content back in the pre-Prohibition days, like 70+% rye content. Rittenhouse was probably more in the Maryland style, which is basically the common straight rye of today with just around the minimum 51% rye content. You won't have any trouble tasting rye grain with Rittenhouse, though.

@RianC, the best teams in US college football are a lot of fun to watch and very entertaining. Compared to the pros the college players are smaller and lighter and the game is not quite as rough. US pro football is a brutal game in which players frequently receive serious injuries. The rules have progressively become more strenuous because of the high frequency of concussions and other serious injuries. It is common for longtime retired pro football players to have brain damage similar to what happens to professional boxers.

As to understanding US football, it has a lot of similarities to rugby...and to trench warfare. The Canadian pro football (CFL) is similar to US pro football, but has its own set of rules. CFL football is a little lighter and more fast-moving than the US version, e.g. CFL rules allow a lot more motion of some of the players before each play begins, than do the NFL rules. I never really thought to compare the two together before, but I do think that it would be accurate to say that the flow and style of US college football is actually very similar to the flow and style of Canadian professional football.

The most wonderful time of the year! It's exclusively beer for me while watching football though. They go together like green eggs n' ham. I'm not huge into college football but am obsessed with everything NFL. Yeah, I'm one of them fantasy football guys and am part of survivor and pick 'em leagues as well. Lots of excitement although it can be very time consuming for an obsessive like me who wants the upper hand in competitive strategy amongst the fellas.

PS - The Steelers are a mess. Tomlin has no control over that locker room and it's gottten even worse with the whole Bell holdout debacle. I wouldn't be surprised if they lost to the Browns in week 1. The weather is also supposed to be a mess for that game, as of now.