Don't get me wrong: it's not that I am not a football fan.
Yes, I bought full season tickets this year; and yes, I went to the games. (At least, until I had to pay a towing fee and a parking ticket in the same month and found selling tickets necessary for survival.)
I cheered hard for the Iron Bowl, harder for the SEC Championship and hardest for the BCS. Yes, I was at Toomer's Corner, along with thousands of others, when we won.
Like I said, it's not that I am not a football fan. It's just that I am also a fan of many other things.
Come on, admit it. Football is the very air we breathe around here. I don't have a problem with passion by any stretch of the imagination. Take it from a person who believes apathy to be the root of all evil--I think passion is among the greatest traits a person can have.
But I do have a problem with passion that eclipses EVERYTHING else. And the truth is, when people think of Auburn, you can safely bet they associate it with our football team and nothing else.
At the very least, you can assume that our artistic and cultural organizations are furthest from the minds of most people.
I find this a bit depressing.
Yeah, I know. It's Auburn, Ala., not New York.
So maybe our cultural resources are comparatively limited. But that doesn't mean we should show a complete disinterest in what we do have. This is a university, after all, with so much more to offer than we give it credit for. We have choirs, theatre productions and art exhibits. We host speakers on every topic imaginable. We are home to organizations for any religion, hobby, interest or community outreach you can think of. We conduct research in every scientific field. We're building our own satellite.
With all due respect, I think any of the projects or organizations at Auburn University should be equally as appreciated as our athletics department. Make sure you take this the right way: it's not that I wish we valued our football team any less, but that we valued other aspects of our community more.
It's now the beginning of spring semester, and already I'm hearing the complaints that there will be nothing to do in Auburn without football. False.
Go out into your community. Explore a little. You'll probably surprise yourself with the things you'll discover, even in a town as small as this one.
Hit up a few concerts, support some local bands. Attend a poetry reading (I know where you can find one). Go to lectures; there are plenty of them and they're generally open to anyone who wishes to attend. I can almost guarantee you'll find a topic that interests you. Do some volunteering and give a little back to the community.
In short, do something. If you find that the end of football season leaves a hole in your life, fill it with other things. Learn to appreciate the diverse interests of our community, however small. Be passionate, but be passionate about many things. And when football season rolls back around next fall, celebrate with as much enthusiasm as you have.
Like I said, it's not that I'm not a football fan.
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