Thus it begins...

The Beautiful Game begins this week. No, not futbol, but that most special of all games, college football.

Much blood, sweat, and tears will be shed over these next glorious four months--and that just by the fans.Months of hard work in the off season--by players and staff alike--to get to the starting point of more than 3 months of arduous work.

No event in American life is more American than college football.The bands, the crowds, the tradition, the helmets, the mascots, and the passion of the fans create an atmosphere that no other sport can match. It is a mixture of carnival, theater, and sport.

In this grand game we Americans congregate to watch our fellow Americans grapple with each other and their physical limits to achieve victory on the field and in the soul.

We watch it because we relate. We care because the on the field battle is the physical manifestation of our own struggles in life. Each of us are struggling to break that tackle that impedes us, to block the onrushing challenges that confront us each day.

At approximately 3:30pm on the 4th of September, 2010, 110,000 Maize and Blue clad fans will lustily cheer as the announcer declares "Band, take the field" thus beginning the sacred ceremony that will end in the Winged Warriors come a-chargin' from the bowels of Michigan Stadium.

No matter the result of the game, those 110,000 fans of all races, genders, political views, and religion, will have for three hours become One Voice. One voice singing "The Victors" after each Michigan touchdown, one voice groaning in agony after each score by the opponent.

That temporary unification is ultimately what makes this game so special. In a time where there is so much division we can always for four hours each fall Saturday apply the ointment of college football and experience the sensation of unanimous belief.

Let the games begin.