I have about a week or so to get ready for football season. Last year when it came time for football season, I had injured myself a week or so earlier, so Rocky had to find someone else to cover the games.

When I got better, the person who replaced me, Kerry, was doing a good job, so I simply took the season off.

Part of the sickness of this profession is that you somehow want to find yourself working all the time. But when you add up the time spent covering the game, the time spent interviewing the coaches, the time spent writing the story … well, it’s not that great of an opportunity.

Don’t get me wrong. If I am needed I will cover games and be dedicated to it. But not being able to cover games really is not the end of the world.

And I can choose what game I want to go to, since I won’t be covering the event. This Friday I will probably go see Pickens play Easley — my alma mater against the team I covered for about 20 years. Next week I am looking at the Easley-Daniel matchup, keeping it in the county. I need to include a Liberty game in there this season and meet up with my friends in Liberty.

Then Saturdays I will be following college football. Again, not having to cover any game is really an advantage. Of course, most games I will watch on television. My father taught me a long time ago that the advantage of watching a game on television is that little switch that says “off.”

I look forward to seeing what Clemson and South Carolina can do this season. Clemson breaks in a new quarterback and replaces almost all of its offense. But the defense should be better. South Carolina has to replace several key players on offense and defense, but judging from what I hear on the radio, the Gamecocks are more than up for the task.

I grew up pulling for South Carolina, but as a freshman in college, I stood behind a young lady who was a Clemson cheerleader one morning at a convenience store. I immediately began to pull for the Tigers. I will never buy chocolate milk at 7 a.m. without thinking about her.

She stood in front of me, smiled, and asked, “you going to the game today?”

Of course I was. Free tickets were a big part of a college freshman’s life. So I smiled and said “Yeah.”

“Well, pull for the Tigers!” she smiled and said.

I thought of asking her to marry me and bear my idiot children, but all that came out was, “OK.”

Clemson won the national title that year, partially because of the efforts of stars like William “The Refrigerator” Perry. I like to think it may have been because one cheerleader had no pressure, as she had met the man she would someday marry.

She’s holding out pretty good, but I know someday she will come up to me and offer to resume our long-forgotten romance.

If I had any sense I would make time to go to a few Furman University games next season. Furman is just across the Saluda River from where I live, and the games are probably pretty fun. Kind of like a Pickens game was for me in high school, except I hope I won’t be thinking about how good-looking my classmates were.