Ingesting the Opposition - Week 5: Having a Drink with Idle

Off weeks are strange beasts. Sure, they present fleeting breaks from the madness that allow for the pursuit of other less meaningful endeavors, like catching up with yard work and spending time with your family.

But, at least for me, they're often accompanied by surprisingly strong shades of ambivalence. College football is happening on my television, but something's off. Yeah, I see the images of men running around doing football stuff, but deep down I know that at no point in the day will my utter existence be on the line. Remember the indescribable awe you felt early in the fourth quarter of the game against LSU Saturday night, and the immediate sense of dread that shook you to your very core only twenty minutes later? Those emotions don't happen when your team's idle, and you know it.

This  particular off week, though, is different. We all witnessed the unequivocal domination that occurred for fifty-five minutes in Baton Rouge Saturday night, and we all know what happened to that brief moment of existential despair that gripped us in the waning moments of the game. Instead of jumping straight into another week of preparation for one of the many minotaurs that populate the tortuous maze that is an SEC West schedule, we get to revel in the splendor of the victorious underdog who not only swiped his lunch money back from the bully, but pulled the dude's pants down and paraded him and his tighty-whities around the playground for the entire school to see.

So this week, instead of going through the motions, resolve to embrace the idle. Pour yourself your favorite beverage, be it a pint of beer, a flute of champagne, two fingers of bourbon, or, if you're teetotaling, a glass of Cheerwine or cup of tea, and take a minute. Enjoy it. Just be. There's time for worrying about next week next week. Your team got an unbelievable win. LSU's athletic deities were placated. All is right with college football, even if only for this brief moment.

My libation of choice for this mindful revel in satisfaction? Single barrel bourbon on the rocks.

After all, if you're going to do something, it's worth doing right.