August football looks good

College football is a sport for all seasons. Any Big Ten fan worth his weight in bratwurst will tell you that the cold and snow of November and December, when the sun sets on 3:30 p.m. kickoffs and the ball freezes into a rock with laces, is when the game is truly played, and many of the indelible images of every season come in the late fall and early winter.

But football in August, when practices are held at dusk to avoid the midday heat, the grass is still green and the whole game moves a beat slower as players find their footing and coaches install their offenses and defenses? That time of year when the game is practiced but not truly played? August has its own languid beauty.

The picture above is from Georgia’s practice on August 1, nothing but blue sky and green grass. No pads, no tackling, no real football. But it’s still a much better place than that cubicle.

Here is Arizona State’s Wednesday night practice, via Doug Haller of AZCentral:

And you wonder why Todd Graham called it his dream job. Pittsburgh is a great place, but there’s no part of Pennsylvania that has ever looked like that.

Here is Tennessee’s Wednesday night practice, showing why Butch Jones has had no trouble recruiting a boatload of four-star prospects to Rocky Top (via Tennessee Football):

Remember this when you are huddling for warmth in November: August football looks pretty great.

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