Why I Don't Talk About Football in the Offseason

Small town media is small.

I love the Oregon Ducks, as anyone who reads this blog in the fall is already well aware of. I enjoy watching football and I enjoy playing Tecmo Super Bowl. I've even been known to watch a little bit of NFL on the side, though the pro game increasingly seems like the world's most elaborate and expensive reality TV show instead of just a fun sport. I have a hard time talking about or even thinking about football in the offseason, however. I usually have a hard time putting my finger on it, other than the fact that it's weird to speak so often about something that doesn't happen roughly 350 days out of the year.

I read something today that suddenly seemed like the perfect example of why I have a hard time with it in the offseason. De'Anthony Thomas, the (now former) Duck speed demon retweeted something that some random person said on the internet. And this was news, apparently? I could go in depth into what internet etiquette says about what someone does or doesn't retweet and try to find the hidden messages behind it all, but why bother? I wasn't thrilled when DAT jumped to the NFL and am not entirely optimistic about his prospects, but he had some big moments as a Duck. Unfortunately, injuries likely prevented him from being an All-American All-Star Whatever in college. And he's in Kansas City now. I'll root like hell for him (from the box score at least) whenever he gets a chance to do something in the pros like I would for any Duck. Do I honestly care if he had concerns about the current Oregon head coach? No! I'm not even sure how much I'd care if DAT was still on the team and there was a game tomorrow. I'm glad that we're not reading stories about guys getting into trouble with the law, but this age of terrible local journalism means that writers... er... content generators have to dredge up things from social media outlets to drum up interest and get the all-important clicks.

I'll see you all in the fall, Mighty Oregon.

Many thanks to Too Many Grandmas/Verlanders/Manninghams for the De'Anthony card, as well as some other Ducks that will be featured some time down the road. I wish Upper Deck football cards weren't so pricey, because they still put out a nice looking college set.