A few tears for NCAA football...

This week has a few things that bring tears to my eyes...not all bad, not all good. The storylines in college football are hard not to follow. Someone said to me that it is too difficult to follow because there are so many teams. But doesn't that make it more compelling, that there are so many teams. So as I watched so many games this weekend, I had tears in my eyes.

1) Virginia Tech defeats Virginia...dammit, I have to watch this boring ass team in the ACC championship. Beamer ball is gone, and they are boring to watch. I can't stand their fans and they think that they should in the national championship hunt every year. They barely win the ACC. Sad tears...

2) Graham Harrell shatters two fingers in the first half of Texas Tech's game versus Baylor. He tells the trainers to tape them up and he plays the rest of the game, bringing his team back to victory. He threw for one touchdown and 180 yards in the second half. And when I say shattered, I mean shattered...surgery Sunday took 4 hours and included 17 pins and 2 plates. (Harrell is one TD away from Colt Brennan's FBS record of 131). Painful tears...

3) Great games present and in the future. The Georgia Tech/Georgia game this weekend was fun to watch. There was a lot of scoring, a lot of running, and a great rivalry. It was hard not to watch this game...so much fun. Florida and Alabama win and are to face each other in the SEC championship game. This is going to be fun to watch. A real grudge match, a real football conference, and real meaning (sorry USC v. ND was boring to watch). Happy tears...

4) Lastly, Tennessee. This plot holds a place in my heart. They play well and beat Kentucky. The season ends on a high note. But it was a sad day...Phillip Fulmer's last game at UT.

He has been a part of UT football for almost 40 years, he started playing for them in 1968. Here are some stats:

Record 152-52, that is 100 wins over .500 and a 75% winning percentage.
2 conference championships and a national championship
Fulmer has a road on UT's campus named after him
Coached more that 1200 players
6 top 10 finishes (in the nation) with 8 bowl game victories.
2 losing seasons with with 14 winning ones (9 seasons with 10+ victories)
only 3 seasons when UT wasn't either first or second in the east division of the SEC

So as a Vol fan and a Fulmer follower, I am crying some emotional tears. I look forward to the future with Lane Kiffin and hope that he can be successful. But it is hard to watch such a big man in Tennessee history leave...especially after a 10-4 record in 2007.

For some tears please read: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3735054&sportCat=ncf

I am going to grab my Kleenex box and look forward to next Saturday...Army/Navy, SEC Championship, Big 12 Championship.