The Utah Utes are 1-0 after defeating Florida 24-11, Arizona State-Southern Utah played in a dust storm, and we have officially arrived at week one of the football season. The last Friday or Monday morning without a football game recap is long gone, and we won’t have another one this calendar year.
Breathe the free air again, my friends.
Oregon and Oregon State battle Portland State and San Jose State this weekend, while Washington and Washington State go to war with Boise State and Colorado State. It’s probably the last time these four schools will begin the season in the same conference, so enjoy it. Next year, Oregon and Washington will officially join the Big 10, and the current rumors have Oregon State and Washington State joining the Mountain West conference. No matter where the teams land next season, this is the end of a golden era of football in the states of Oregon and Washington.
In less than a week, the NFL will begin its season. Some of you are preparing for fantasy drafts, and some just realized you were supposed to be prepping for those and may not even remember how to get into your league. No matter which column you are in, I wish you luck. It’s a season-long battle, and as long as your team is in the hunt for the title, it’s a lot of fun. Those teams that can’t catch a break and find themselves in the middle of the league, not missing the playoffs but decent enough to sniff a few wins – that’s the worst. At least the pro teams get a high draft pick; you get to pay your fee and wait for next season.
My office league ditched our decade-old redraft league and opted for a more modern daily version, where everyone has access to the same players, and it promotes skill over chance to win the office title. Some people who struggle with this new version long for the old world, but it’s incredible how different fantasy can be when you aren’t shackled by draft position, waiver order, injuries, or bye weeks. You get to put the fun back into fantasy football, and each week, you get to hand-select your new team.
And how will you keep track of all of your new players and how they are performing in every game every Sunday? Well, the NFL has launched a new version of NFL+ that includes RedZone, so you can watch every scoring play the league has for just $15 a month. You can pay for a whole year to get a reduced cost overall, but that is $80 for the year. I’m not a math wizard, but what do you need RedZone for in February? Sure, you will get the first few months of next season prepaid, but that only makes sense for those who can throw money into a subscription, knowing only half of that is for this season. The rest of us are paying rising daycare bills and may not be capable of paying for anything beyond this season, so to each their own. The NFL+ subscription also gives you access to local and primetime games, so if you were looking for a way to cut the cord and ditch a streaming service or two, this is for you.
Your Seattle Seahawks start their season at home against the LA Rams and will look to build on their surprise season last year, where they made the playoffs despite most folks, including yours truly, expecting them to be a dumpster fire in 2022. They were much better than most of us gave them credit for, and it will be exciting to see what they do for a follow-up now that teams expect them to be good, if not great. They have a bye week taking place just the second week of October, so they will have to survive the longest regular season of all time, but if they make it to the end a playoff-eligible team, no one will doubt their toughness.
Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of summer with students returning to school, football returning to weekends, and a chill in the air that isn’t unwelcome, especially after all the 90s and triple-digit days and muggy days in the 80s we’ve endured this summer.
It’s time for fall, it’s time for football, it’s time for the best season of all.
Welcome back to football. Cherish every game. It’s going to be over before you know it.
