SEC Game of the Week
October 18 at 12:30 ET on Raycom
by Bob Epling
(originally published as special for The Campus Game 10.14.08)
“It was burgers and fries and cherry pies in a world we used to know.”
Charley Pride, 1978
A world we used to know.
Country music balladeer Charlie Pride lamented a fading love in that simple, but classic, song, and also longed for a past that was long gone.
Plenty of us today have trouble recognizing the college football world we used to know.
“It was burgers and fries and cherry pies in a world we used to know.”
Charley Pride, 1978
A world we used to know.
Country music balladeer Charlie Pride lamented a fading love in that simple, but classic, song, and also longed for a past that was long gone.
Plenty of us today have trouble recognizing the college football world we used to know.
In the world we used to know, there were powerhouses and patsies, haves and have-nots, heroes and homecoming opponents.
In the world we used to know, there were veers and wishbones, three yards and a cloud of dust and the power-I, not five wides, spread attacks, and the no huddle.
In the world we used to know, there were names and faces that had lived life, names like Bear, Ara, Vince, and Joe Pa, not job-hoppers or pretty boys like Petrino, Urban, Pete, and Joe Pa … hey, scratch that last one because that still is the world we used to know.
In the world we used to know, Michigan beat Appalachian State and Toledo, if the Wolverines scheduled them at all.
In the world we used to know, throwing the ball meant three things could happen … and two of them were bad.
In the world we used to know, teams told television when they could kickoff instead of making fans wait until the week of the big game to know whether to pack bacon and eggs or a midnight snack for the tailgate party.
In the world we used to know, South Florida, Central Florida, and Florida Atlantic were our vacation choices.
In the world we used to know, Vanderbilt was the perfect homecoming opponent.
As the song says, it was simple and good back then.
Not anymore.
In the world we know today, old state U. can lose to say-who any given Saturday.
In the world we know today, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest can sit atop the SEC and ACC standings.
In the world we know today, it is three years and a cloud of dust as top players bolt for NFL riches.
Maybe fans of the traditional big-time powers were like Charley and his girl in that song … “walking in the sand, hand in hand, never thinking that it could end.”
It ended.
It's not the world we used to know.
Still, for just another Saturday, the Dogs can take us back to burgers and fries and cherry pies ... when it was simple and good back then.
Game Ball: Georgia
