For most teams, the college-football season starts today. Here’s a good article by Alex Massie on the new website Culture11 about the anthropology of college football, and what makes it a special sport:

Among the most enjoyable parts of college football fandom is exploring a subculture that, for foreigners, remains a hidden sporting gem. College football reigns supremen in the America that tourists never see—few great cities are hotbeds of collegiate football, and foreigners rarely find themselves in Gainesville, Columbus, Athens, South Bend, or Norman. In an age when London papers publish tips for trips to New York, these less familiar places remain uncharted territory and, accordingly, can seem oddly exotic destinations.