Ladies and gentlemen, Boston University football is back!

Okay, try to contain your excitement.

In case you hadn't heard, tossing the pigskin is officially back in style on Commonwealth Ave. It's a club team, of course, with no official affiliation with the school, but at this point, who cares? The greatest team sport in the world has been returned to our school, and I couldn't be happier.

I don't know about you, but when I first read the headline in this newspaper exclaiming the revival of college football, I went into what I affectionately choose to call a "spoma," also known as a sports coma. It's a state of sports-induced euphoria that usually leaves the individual unresponsive to stimuli and, in my case, muttering things like "Need football." Yes, it exists. Ask my roommate.

Why was I so happy? BU hasn't had an organized football team since 1997. In the world of college football, and sports in general, that is a lifetime. In 1997, Michael Jordan had just earned his fifth ring in Chicago and the Cleveland Indians were competing in the World Series. (I know, I was surprised too.)

And yes, I was happy because I'm an absolute football fanatic. It's slightly pathetic how much I've grown to love football over the past decade of my life. Remember that cute blonde girl in "Remember the Titans" with the curly hair, the foul mouth and the annoying tendency to express her opinions about football a little too enthusiastically?

Yeah, that was me, minus the blonde hair.

Instead of waking up early on Saturday morning to watch cartoons, I got up to prepare myself for a long day of college football. (In case you're wondering, my brothers dropped me on my head when I was a child and shook every Barbie-loving, boy-band-worshipping bone out of my body. Only metaphorically Mom, of course!)

Call me crazy, but college football embodies everything you love about sports. Athletes motivated by love of the game rather than money? Check. Passionate and devoted fans week after week? Check. Scrappy teams upsetting perennial powerhouses on national television? Check. Guys in tight pants? Check. (Don't judge me.)

This is why it's my humble opinion that every college student deserves to experience the wonderful world of college football. I know hockey is the absolute bee's knees over here, but there's nothing quite like Saturday afternoon game days when a hated rival is rolling into town and everyone on campus can feel the pressure. Maybe that same feeling arises before those anticipated Boston College matchups, but I have yet to see anything like fandom in college football.

Yes, I'm definitely getting ahead of myself, but can you really blame me? It's football!

You see, I went to a community college before I came to BU, and although the school had a perfectly legitimate football team, at the end of the day, it's a community college. Games aren't given special debate spots on PTI or nationally televised every weekend. Football at community college is more of a hobby than anything else, and there's nothing wrong with that.

But I was especially spoiled growing up. When I was attending that community college, I knew that greener grass existed, and I suppose my oldest brother is responsible for that. He played offensive lineman for the UCLA football team from 1995-1999, and although he never gained the notoriety he deserved, he still reaped the benefits of being a college football player.

I am, of course, talking about getting tickets for his family to a game against USC, the hated evil empire with a masked enemy as their coach. (Wait, that's in "Star Wars" too? What a coincidence!)

I was only 8 years old at the time, but that game is single-handedly responsible for my passionate and sometimes pathetic obsession with sports. I don't remember the details or the final score, but the atmosphere in the crowd is one of the most vivid memories I have from my youth. It seemed like every college-aged kid in Los Angeles was leading cheers for both teams, and (cliché alert!) all I can remember was that I hoped my college experience involved a similar unity.

So when I transferred to BU, I was more than slightly disappointed that football had been removed from the sports menu over a decade ago. As sad as it sounds, I almost picked another school for their sports teams. (Good head on my shoulders, I know.) Luckily, those weird people who call themselves my parents convinced me otherwise, and here I am, giddy as a kid on Christmas that I will have a football team to call my own.

Yes, I know perfectly well that BU's club games won't be given national or even state-wide attention just yet, but I firmly believe that this is the first step in regaining the pride our school once had for its football team.

So, my fellow anxious Terriers, get out those football jerseys and dust off the pigskins, because football is back. Let the "spomas" officially commence.</p>