| From Sports Illustrated |
 Paul Finebaum
It was one of those wonderfully surreal scenes we seldom see in college football. Two years ago, standing on the field of the Rose Bowl and watching Alabama celebrate its 13th national championship -- with the band blaring and confetti falling from the clear California sky -- I marveled at the moment. 
When Monday night finally arrives -- assuming it ever does -- 44 interminable days will have elapsed since Alabama last played a football game. Which begs the question: Has there ever been a more prickly period for fans of a team about to play for the BCS national championship? 
On January 4, 2002, Stephen Orr Spurrier stunned the college football world and left Florida for the NFL. "We didn't win anything," Spurrier told me not long after his stunning decision 10 years ago to take a $5 million-a-year deal to coach the Washington Redskins. "We had nothing to show for it." 
As a journalist, one often becomes hardened and cynical, seeing dark clouds on the horizon even when the sun is shining bright and the birds are singing. 
College football fans come in all shapes and sizes. This Christmas season, I've found a few football fanatics who reside fairly close to the North Pole. 
College football has gone from the silly season before BCS Selection Sunday to the ridiculous season in the aftermath. 
The 71-year-old gentleman was shown to his table in a trendy Italian restaurant in Birmingham, Ala., the other day and seemed to slip by everyone completely unnoticed. Other than the waiter who took his order, nobody else seemed aware that, perhaps, the most powerful man in collegiate sports was sitting nearby having a quiet lunch and enjoying 90 minutes away from the hustle and bustle of life in the fast lane. 
When it comes to having extreme bias regarding the importance of the Iron Bowl, the annual battle for bragging rights in the state of Alabama, I readily throw myself on the mercy of the court and plead not guilty by reason of insanity. 
Two weeks ago, with the Game of the Century tied at 6-6 and the clock ticking down in regulation, I found myself standing next to Urban Meyer on the Alabama sideline. Meyer, who won national championships at Florida, was shaking his head as he pointed toward the field. 
The sun was slowly sinking behind Tiger Stadium, and inside Les Miles' career at LSU was firmly on life support. On a glorious day early last November, time had seemingly stood still and the only sound was silence. 
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