It wasn’t until last Tuesday night that I came to have a full appreciation for just how important college football had become in my everyday life.

After eating, sleeping and breathing the sport since the beginning of August (and even before that really), all of a sudden, I looked up, and well, there was no college football to be played, no college football to be discussed, and really, just a huge void in my life. Honestly, it was like breaking up with a girlfriend, only about 100 times worse, and ended with me questioning everything I thought I knew. What do I do? Where do I go? Who am I? Needless to say, it got pretty bad.

But after a few nights of sitting in bed, eating Ben and Jerry’s and watching replays of old MAC games on ESPN3.com (ohh MACtion, how I’ve missed you), I decided that it was time to be proactive. College football may be over, but that also means a bunch more time has opened up, and I plan on using it as productively as I can. There’s just so much more to life than sitting my couch with a bag of Doritos, and wondering things like “Hmm, I wonder who would win in a fight, Will Muschamp, or a grizzly bear?” It’s time to live life dammit, which is what I plan on doing!

And because of it, I decided to make a list of all the ways I plan on passing the time over the next eight months. Not every item on the list is perfect, and with so little time in the off-season, I know that not every single one will be accomplished. But the path to success starts with a plan, and this is my way of tabulating one.

Here are 50 Ways I plan to pass the time during the college football off-season.

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Go ahead and say it, I already know what you’re thinking: “Aaron, are you really giving us a ‘Things To Look Forward To In 2012 List?’ You’re only like the 3,000th sportswriter to do that this week. Geez, get an original idea. I thought you were better than that.”

First of all, I’m not better than that. But more importantly, come on, lighten up, it’s the New Year! Besides, I could give you a list of 500 things to look forward to in 2012, and it would still be more entertaining, and end quicker than last night’s Baylor-Washington game…which I still can’t believe happened by the way.

All bad jokes aside though, I really do think 2012 could be a banner year for sports. We are in line for quite possibly the most exciting NBA season in recent history, the most exciting NCAA Tournament of my lifetime, and a fantastic Summer Olympics. Not to mention the return of the best pro football player on the planet (Peyton Manning, who we all know will play- and play well- in 2012), the changing address of the best baseball player on the planet (Albert Pujols) and the mental breakdown of the best basketball player on Earth too (I fully expect Kobe Bryant to pull a Tonya Harding and have Troy Murphy clubbed in the knees by the end of February. Mark that down, it will happen.)

Granted, 2011 was a fun year. But there’s plenty more ahead in 2012.

Here are 50 story lines that I’m excited about, plus my BCS bowl game picks…

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Since my book ‘The Unlikeliest Champion’ became available for sale last week, of all the things I’ve learned, the most ironic is undoubtedly this: The act of writing a book takes a lot of time away from well, actually writing on my own. Between doing the PR for the book, packaging, mailing and handling all the other small things that come with the process, not only have I not gotten more than four hours of sleep in a night, not only have I become about 600 percent more irritable, not only is my dog afraid to look me in the eye, but I also haven’t been able to do any actual writing. Which is not only ironic, but also a shame. Because there’s nothing in the world I enjoy doing more.

So with that, I’ve decided to take a break this morning from all book related things. I’ve decided to take a break from the constant e-mailing and phone service. I’ve decided to take a break from endless trips to the post office (it’s ok, my teller there was starting to creep me out anyway). And I’ve decided to just sit down, and write. I don’t know if what you’ll read below is going to come out any good. But at the very least, it’ll be therapeutic for me (And believe me, I need it).

A lot has happened in the world of sports since I last penned a column here or at Crystal Ball Run, and here’s my best attempt to capture it all…with my very own Sports Fan Christmas Wish List.

Now, is a sports Christmas wish list lame and gimmicky? Absolutely. But my brain has crumbled like Feta cheese in the past six days, and a gimmicky column is all I’ve got in me.

Enjoy. And if I don’t talk to you all, hope you enjoy the holiday!

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Well hello everyone! I come to you with some big news.

As some of you may have heard, I Aaron Torres wrote a book. No, seriously...I wrote a book. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I can't believe it either.

The book is called “The Unlikeliest Champion” and it’s about last year’s UConn Men’s Basketball team, and their run to the 2011 National Championship. For those of you wondering, “Why UConn?” just know that I’m an alumnus of the school, and have been a fan for longer than I remember. If I were ever to write a book, this was the topic for me to do it on. The 2011 UConn Huskies truly were a special team, and I consider myself blessed to be the one who had the opportunity to capture it all, and to tell their story.

Now, before I get to the big announcement, I want to take a moment and thank each and every one of you. Since first making new of this book public a few weeks back, the support has been simply overwhelming. I’ve gotten to know so many great people throughout my time writing, and the love that you all have showed me in the last two weeks (and really, the last two years) is something that I can never thank you for. Just know that I do appreciate it.

Now, to the news.

After making my announcement about this book two weeks ago, I’m happy to report that…it is now available for purchase!

For all the details on the book as well as excerpts, insight and more, please visit www.UConnBook.com.

As for the specifics of purchasing, here they are:

The quickest and most efficient way for you to get your hands on this book is to go ahead and purchase it through the publisher. You can do that either by clicking here or at UConnBook.com as well. By purchasing through the publisher, you can pick your own shipping speed, and have the book in your hands in a timeframe which works best from you. You can also purchase the book off of Amazon, and a Kindle version should be available in the coming weeks as well.

Of course, there are other options too.

For those of you who would like me to sign the book, well, first off, I’m flattered that you’re interested. I sincerely mean that. To get an autographed copy, all you’ve got to do is go to UConnBook.com, go to the “Buy The Book” tab on the top right of the site, and click on the “Buy Now,” link. I will be sure and autograph each and every purchase that is made that way. However, be warned: All books purchased from there will not be shipped until early next week. Believe me, I don't like it, but it's the best time-frame the publisher could give me. Regardless, by ordering the book this way, it will still get to you for the holiday. I personally guarantee that.

(Also, please note: If you want any special inscription in your book, please make a note on your PayPal purchase. If that’s a problem, you can also e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

And finally, to everyone who was nice enough to pre-order the book, I absolutely cannot thank you enough. I genuinely mean that. To give you a bit of a time-frame for your purchase as well, your books should be in the mail early next week, and will be in your hands in plenty of time for the holiday. Again, I promise you that. If you do have any additional questions though, feel free to grab me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

And really, that’s all I’ve got for you this evening.

Again, I want to thank you all for the unbelievable support through this process. Writing a book is as tough and challenging as one might expect it to be, but the response from everyone is amazing. It really did make the whole process worthwhile.

And of course, I need to thank the 2011 UConn Huskies for giving us a season we’ll never forget. Sitting here today heading into 2012, I still can’t believe what I saw with my own eyes last spring. Watching them, you really didn't need to be a fan of the team, or really even a fan of college basketball to enjoy it. They were just that fun.

Thank you all, and for any further questions or comments, feel free to post below, or e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . More information, including excerpts and other goodies can be found at www.uconnbook.com as well.

Aaron

Alright, so I’m just going to spill the beans: For weeks I’ve been hinting at, casually mentioning and tweeting about a big surprise I’ve had to share with all of you.

And well, that surprise can’t wait any longer:

(Drumroll, please…)

I wrote a book!

No, seriously, I wrote a book. It’s on the 2011 UConn basketball team, and it’s called 'The Unlikeliest Champion'. And believe me; I’m just as surprised to type out that last sentence as you are to read it. I still can’t believe it actually.

But I did it. It wasn’t without the help of a lot of people (no seriously, A LOT of people), and the incredible support of my family and friends. Not to mention a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears. Well, actually there was no blood or sweat. But I sure did cry a lot.

Anyway, I’m sure you’re probably thinking to yourself: The 2011 Huskies? Hmm. Why UConn and why now?

Well, as most of you know by now, I’m a born and bred UConn guy. Growing up in Connecticut affords you a lot of great opportunities and experiences, but when it comes to sports- and college sports in specific- you’ve only got one choice: You either root for UConn…or you sit alone every day in the elementary school cafeteria. That’s really it. People in this state are born into UConn fandom, live it, and breathe it for 365 days a year. There aren’t many things that this state has to call its own, but UConn and its sports teams are one of them.

As for the 2011 team in specific, well, there’s a reason I wrote about them too. Simply put, in all the years I’ve been watching sports, I’ve never seen an underdog story quite like them. Not just in college basketball. But in sports, too.

Consider the following things:

- Entering 2011, UConn was coming off an 18-16 season, where they not only missed the NCAA Tournament, but got bounced early from the NIT too. Following the season they lost three senior starters to graduation and a high-profile transfer, meaning that other than Kemba Walker, UConn didn’t really return anyone of substance to the 2011 team.

- Of the recruits who came in to replace the departed seniors, only Roscoe Smith was considered “elite.” UConn missed on a bunch of other prospects, and instead ended up with a handful that most had never heard of. Jeremy Lamb hadn’t started for his high school as a junior and Shabazz Napier had to move his graduation up a year to get to Storrs for the 2011 season. Yes, both of things actually happened.

Well, hello everyone! It’s been awhile since I’ve had one of these giveaways, but I figured now was as good a time as any to have another. The holidays are coming up, and man, who couldn’t use a $50 Amazon Gift Card at this time of the year? Luckily that’s what I’ve got for you, thanks to a giveaway that I’m doing with this really cool new website called FanLime.com.

First off, let me explain to you what FanLime is, because I really think it is the next big thing in interaction between athletes and sports personalities and their fans.

Basically, the best way I can put it, is that FanLime is basically Facebook for sports fans. You pick your favorite players, coaches and teams, and FanLime builds a feed catered specifically to your interests, highlighting media, videos and more, specific to you- and only you.  If you’re a Mets fan, no more Yankees articles, highlights and videos. If you’re a Clippers fan, you’ll never have to see Kobe Bryant’s goofy, chin-out grin ever again.

Where it gets interesting though is that FanLime is slowly adding professional athletes (as well as goofy media/blogging personalities like myself) to their stable of members, and I suspect that this will eventually become the best platform yet to interact with them. The site is based on a points system, so the more you interact with each athlete involved (such as this one with the Carolina Panthers Steve Smith), the more points you get. And simply, the more points you get, the more quickly you get vaulted to kind of a “top fan” status type thing.

Now, that “top fan” thing might not mean much to you this second, but let’s think about it big picture. Because let’s say an athlete like Chad Ochocinco or Shaq was trying to do a giveaway with his Top 50 fans, and he had to find a way to figure out who those fans were. Well, isn’t this much easier than trying to figure it out through Facebook or Twitter, or any other platform? To me, the answer is an unequivocal “yes.”

Anyway, let’s get to the giveaway. Because by now I know you’re thinking, “AT, just tell me how I can win that gift card. Papa needs a new outfit for the weekend.”

Don’t worry, I’ve got you. The way to enter is simple.

If you click on this link, it’ll take you right to my page over at FanLime. That goofy guy standing on the chair is yours truly.

On my profile you’ll see a poll, with a question that I believe you all will have an opinion on. The question is this:

If LSU were to remain undefeated, who should they play in the BCS National Championship Game?

The choices- as you may have guessed- are Alabama, Boise State, Oklahoma State and Stanford.

From there, all you’ve got to do is log-in (you can log-in through your regular Facebook account if you please), and when you make your pick, a pop-up will appear. From there you just need to give a sentence or two on why that team should play for the title. (Note: A few people have already entered, so just follow their lead.)

Once you post your response, the response with the most “likes” (similar to Facebook “likes”) gets the gift card. Meaning that the best way to win this gift card is to share the response with your friends, so that they can “like” what you had to say.

(For you folks on Twitter, the easiest avenue, might be to tweet something like “Just entered @Aaron_Torres giveaway. Click here to like my response so I can win a $50 gift card!”

It’s really that simple. Again, click on the link, log-in to the poll, answer your poll question, and get people to “like” your status. It could not be any easier. You can continue getting friends to “like” your response all the way up until next Thursday, when the poll closes.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out either here, on Twitter or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and I’ll be happy to respond as best I can.

Thanks for entering, and I wish you the best of luck in winning the gift card!!!

The more that I think about it, the more I really am greatful for all the great things I've gotten to experience running a website like this. The perks are honestly endless. I get sent free books and clothes in the mail occassionally. I get to talk to some really cool people all over the sports world. And the women, oh my goodness, the women. I'm practically beating them away with a stick at this point (Ok, maybe that last one was a slight exaggeration. But the first two are definitely true.)

Honestly, above all though, my favorite thing about running this website is that I'm just never quite sure who is checking in and reading my stuff. The idea that when I hit publish on an article, there are people all over the country, and all over the globe reading, really is special. The fact that in most cases, I don't know who these people are, where they live, how they found my work, what they do for a living, or anything else about them, only makes the whole thing more mysterious.

Either way, I was reminded of exactly that this week, when one of my readers named Steve in San Diego forwarded along the picture below.

First off, if you're thinking, "Wow, that's a kick-ass man cave!!" Well, you're correct. It absolutely is. As a matter of fact, I want to move in tomorrow. But there's actually more of a story to it than just that.

What's the story? Well, if you look closely, you'll see that in the top left corner, above the framed San Diego Chargers jersey, there is a multi-colored pennant. That pennant was sent to Steve by me, from earlier this spring when I went to spring training. As you may remember, at the time I offered to buy any of the readers of this site one of those pennants, as a thank you from me to all of you for checking out this website. And after taking a few months to get settled, and get set up, Steve was finally able to put up that banner recently, and thought enough to send me a picture. 

Again, this might not mean much to the rest of you. But the idea that someone in San Diego was not only reading my site back in March, but also thought enough of me to forward along that picture all these months later, really does mean more than any of you will ever know.

On a different note, Steve will be entering this picture into a contest for the "Ultimate Man-Cave," in the coming months. And when he does, I expect all of you to help him by voting.

So again, thanks to Steve for forwarding along the picture, and as always a big thanks to everyone for checking out this website. Your support means more than any of you know.

First, let me get the obvious out of the way: I’m not a film or TV critic. Never have been, and never will be. I don’t have the time or the interest, or quite frankly, the stomach to watch 99 percent of the crap on TV right now. For the most part, I feel the same way about most everything on TV that you do about Lane Kiffin’s coaching ability. In other words, I’m pretty much apathetic.

Instead, sports have always been my love and passion, and that’ll never change. Give me a game of basketball over the mind games on Survivor any day of the week. As far as I’m concerned, the drama every Saturday in the SEC is way better than a season’s worth of drama on ER. Or whatever it is that the kids are watching on TV these days.

So with that you’re probably wondering, “Dude, if you don’t watch much TV, then why are you going to write about it today.” Well the short answer is that I’m pissed. I’m pissed that after committing myself to eight episodes (and eight seasons) of Entourage (one of the few things on TV I religiously watch), the show went out with a whimper in the final episode Sunday night. To say it was disappointing would be an understatement. Really, it was an atrocity; something that wasn’t just bad, but insulting to anyone who has followed the show for all these years. These past eight episodes proved to be nothing short of a waste of my time.

Now of course the irony in all this is that like a lot of you, when I heard the final season was only going to be eight episodes, I was genuinely intrigued. So much happened last season, and there was such little time to resolve it all. How would Vince’s drug problem turn out? Would Ari’s marriage woes get fixed? How about Turtle’s tequila business? If anything, I expected these eight episodes to be fast-paced and action-packed.

Looking back now it obviously never happened, as the season got off to a slower start than Mark Teixeira in April (Ironic since Teixeira was a guest on one of the episodes). In episode one, we learned that Vince was sober, and umm...well actually, that was really it. Episode two had less action than a Big Ten basketball game. Meaning, that by the time episode three rolled around, the writers had to basically pack 10 episodes worth of storylines into five shows. Good times!

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I’ve got a big announcement here at Aaron Torres Sports!

Ok, it's not really that big of a deal. But I did want to get this out there.

Obviously by now, you all know that we are mere hours away from the start of the college football season. Not months. Not days. Hours.

Of course that also means that we are also now mere hours away from my first College Football Weekend Preview column of the season as well. That might not mean much to you, but it sure does to me. Understand, there isn’t anything I enjoy writing more than my college football weekend previews.

To me what those columns have evolved into is so much more than just a weekend preview. Really, they’re a fun way to take all the knowledge that I’ve built up over the course of a week, and use every article I’ve read, injury report I’ve scanned, and TV report I’ve viewed, to try and make sense of that knowledge. To try and figure out what it all means, and how it effects the outcomes on Saturday.

At the same time, one of the other reasons that I love doing the column so much is because nothing I write brings out better response from all of you. The e-mails and comments I receive after posting the college football weekend column on Friday, are some of the most interesting, well-thought and intelligent that I get at any point in the year. As I’ve said many times in this space, I learn way more from all you ladies and gentlemen than you do from me. And really, it’s not even close.

Which is why this year, I want to get all of YOU involved, with something that I’m calling “The Fan’s Take.”

Here’s how it works:

This upcoming weekend truly will be bittersweet for me.

On the one hand, it’s the last weekend before college football starts, meaning that… OH MY GOD IT’S ONLY ONE WEEK UNTIL COLLEGE FOOTBALL STARTS. AHHHHH!!!!!!!

On the other hand, it also means that summer is officially over, and that the free time I’ve enjoyed on the weekends over the last few months will all but disappear. Goodbye days on the beach, girls in bikinis and alcoholic drinks with umbrellas in them. Hello 14 hour days on the couch, followed by cram writing sessions Sunday mornings.

Of course if you’re like me, chances are probably pretty good you’ve been procrastinating, enjoying the nice weather, and are ill-prepared for next weekend. Whether you’re hanging on the couch, or heading to the stadium, there is oh so much to do, and such little time to do it. Besides the obvious food prep, tailgate planning and ticket purchasing, there are a million other errands that always seem to pop up when you least expect them.

Which is why this year, rather than getting caught off-guard, I’ve prepared. Over the last few days I’ve sat down, taken some time, and come up with a check-list of everything that needs to get done between now and the first college football Saturday next weekend. Some are errands, some are family commitments, and some are just goofy loose ends that need to be tied up.

Here are 50 things I’ll be doing this weekend. How will you spend this weekend?