Several days ago, my frustration with the Chicago White Sox lead me to a decision I had been contemplating for several years, walking away from the Sox and rekindling my love of college football and basketball.

In 2004, I stopped watching everything other than baseball. I gave up on college football, basketball and baseball and the NFL, NBA, NHL, PGA and NASCAR. MLB and MiLB because my entire life and I didn’t care about anything else. A few times I considered getting back into college sports, but I just couldn’t do it.

So I was ready to finally take the plunge now. I was ready to close my social media accounts and give myself a crash course in football, both college and the NFL. I started watching my old college football DVDs (Rites of Autumn, ESPN Honor Roll) as well as a number of NFL Films on YouTube. I also watched ESPN College GameDay today, the first time since probably 2012, the last time I tried to force myself back into college sports.

The fact of the matter is, I can’t do this. I sold my soul to the White Sox in 2004. As annoyed as I am with the organization, at least I can watch it without wanting to jump out a window. I remember back in the day when ESPN College GameDay was a studio show, and it was nothing like it is now. The last time I saw anything as obnoxious as that was political arguing on Fox News, with everyone talking over each other. How is that entertaining?

In 2005 I wrote a blog on Yahoo about losing interest in the “thug sports,” and quoted a list of arrests in college football and basketball, the NFL and the NBA that had been announced over the previous week. I have done the same on Facebook a couple of times over the past 15 years. MLB or MiLB arrests? Few and far between.

Thug sports are just not for me. It’s taken me a long time to finally accept the fact that there’s no going back to my youth and the sports that I watched back then. But today, I’ve finally come to that conclusion. The White Sox are my life. Nothing is going to change that. They could have hired Kenny Williams Jr. as the new general manager and it wouldn’t have soured me on the White Sox as much as existing has soured me on other sports.

I’m certainly not ripping on anyone who still enjoys the NFL, the NBA and NCAA sports. I love the fact that there are so many options for people to find enjoyment watching. But my life is baseball. Period.

Therefore, I will be sticking to the status quo. I’ll remain on Facebook, X, Instagram and Threads posting White Sox news and scores. And I’ll never be stupid enough again to think anything is going to change. I’m 46 years old, my college sports and NFL fandom ended when I was 27 years old. That’s a long time ago.

And to those reading this from a social media link, if you don’t agree with or like this decision, I ask that you please remove yourself from my friends list or followers. There’s nothing for you here.

I have tried to convince myself that I could follow West Virginia University sports and go back to my roots, listening to my local radio pregame and enjoy myself, as well as attending games again. While that may be possible, I’m not sure I even want to try to find out. I’m in my zone with the White Sox and given how attempting to follow college sports on a national platform has gone, I don’t think following the Mountaineers again would work out any better.

So, that’s how it is. I look forward to continuing to follow the White Sox through the end of the season, the off-season and spring training, as well as the 2024 season and all future seasons as long as I’m alive to see them.

Thank you for taking the time to read. Peace.