Juan Villa / The Collegian

I hate spring football. I’m talking about college spring football practice. It’s not the practice itself that I specifically hate, it’s the fact that media outlets, such as ESPN prey on such useless “scrimmages.â€Â

Spring. Football. Those words do not go together.

Fall. Football. Yep, that sounds much better.

Here̢۪s an example of how awesome college football spring practice coverage can be.

I was flipping through my digital cable guide last week when I stopped on my lunch-time choice, ESPN.

They were showing the Florida football team. They were scrimmaging themselves.

The announcers were really into it, giving play-by-play and analyzing what was happening.

Juan Villa / The Collegian

They even managed a phone call from Archie Griffin, the only college football player to win the Heisman twice.

They were calling him because they were talking about Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman last year as a sophomore and is probably a front-runner again this year. It was just like the regular season.

Griffin finished his thoughts and the announcers let him go. They got right back into the game.

Florida was split into blue and white squads. It began to get intense, the blue squad was getting close to the goal line.

Then, the improbable happened. They went for a field goal. It was wide left. I mean, way wide left. The ball didn̢۪t even get to the crossbar. It almost hopped up into the stands on the fourth wobbly bounce.

What a fantastic stand by the white squad. Oh wait. Watching it I noticed they didn̢۪t even try to block the kick.

Actually, some of them ducked as the twirling ball sailed just over their heads.

The white and blue squads essentially gave each other high fives to simulate a field goal attempt and then dived out of the way.

Then, the improbable happened again.

They lined up for a second field goal. The same squad.

The announcer stumbled.

The genius announcers told me that they were still searching for a kicker. I looked to the top of the ESPN telecast.

“Florida Spring Practiceâ€Â is what it said.

“What?â€Â is what I said.

As they lined up for the second kick I noticed something else.

The coaches were on the field. I thought this was football.

So I ask, do we really need to watch football during the off-season.

It̢۪s called the off-season for a reason. I̢۪m thrilled that I don̢۪t have to watch football or even hear about it during the spring.

But, here goes ESPN and many other sources covering the spring practice.

Now, I can deal with a some football in the spring. I, like many other football fans, follow the draft a little bit.

But that̢۪s the NFL, and I can handle it for a little bit at a time during the spring and summer.

I don̢۪t go crazy when Terrell Owens goes bonkers again. Sometimes, it̢۪s nice to get a little break from baseball.

But baseball just started! Focus on baseball people.

Stop telling me that Bulldog TE Bear Pascoe looks like he worked out during the winter. I could probably have guessed that on my own.

Don̢۪t talk about Tebow when all he̢۪s doing is standing on the sideline. He didn̢۪t even have his helmet.

Preseason football isn̢۪t that huge of a sign about how a football team will do.

Sorry Raider Nation, but if Oakland beats New England in preseason, it doesn̢۪t mean it̢۪ll happen come September.

Tell me about Tom Brandstater and Ryan Mathews when the season is about two weeks away.

If they get hurt, let me know. The same goes for every college team.

If I want to watch football, there̢۪s the arena football league during the summer.

There̢۪s no need to get excited about the Fresno State scrimmage tomorrow.

I know the opposite side of the argument. Some people want to know. They don̢۪t like baseball or hockey.

You might say if I don̢۪t want to hear about or watch spring football practice, then I should just turn off the television.

So that’s what I did.