Sorry, but football

I know that whining about how it’s not football season is a Texas cliche. Cliche on the level of male-college-student-listening-over-and-over-to-Pearl-Jam’s-“Black”-after-some-girl-done-him-wrong cliche.

But ... God, I miss football.

The feeling came over me while I was perusing the Star-Telegram and found myself reading a preview of the World Cup ... in Germany ... and considering France’s chances.

WHOA THERE. I don’t hate soccer, and I’ll probably even keep up with the Cup until the U.S. goes down. But I care deeply for soccer about as much as I care deeply for the brand of motor oil in my Saturn wagon.

I realize that there are some things to be grateful for on the present sports scene. The Dallas Mavericks are in the finals. The Rangers are on top of a lousy division. Yay.

But June is just starting and I’m hot and bothered to see what kind of quarterback Tech will have.

I’ve been hoping that this will be the year for the Raiders of Red, but Oklahoma gave every indication it was putting things back together by the end of last season. At least Tech should have a shot at Texas with Vince Young gone. The Aggies are hearing big paws getting louder and louder.

These things get so wrapped into my head that I can smell the crisp days and chill nights and constant breeze around Jones Stadium when the mood takes over.

I don’t care so much about the NFL, because it’s really impossible to care much about the Cowboys nowadays. But here’s what I’m looking for:
– Dallas clings to mediocrity while winning just enough games to keep things interesting until the last three games of the season. Or they may just collapse and suck. Either way, Terrell Owens will screw things up. Yes, bold prediction, I know.
– Former Texas Tech great Wes Welker will continue a successful career with my second-favorite team in Miami. If I’m lucky he’ll pull a Kenny Rogers with the Herald reporter who keeps on whining about how he’s good but not good enough.
– I’ll finally be able to add a “but ...” on the end of the sentence: “Yes, I admit that Vince Young is one of the greatest to ever play college football.”