The fall is the best time of year. The weather changes, football is on, and it’s completely acceptable to wear bright colors orange and blue to work. For men (and women) around the country, late August is sort of like mid-December for little kids approaching Christmas. “What did Santa get me?” turns into “Can we beat Boise State and Carolina in two consecutive games?” The excitement is there and it’s a beautiful thing.

As anticipation turns to reality, there are a number of changes or implications to football being here. Let’s have a look.

Work

Everything about work changes during football season. The way you approach it, productivity levels, vacation time, conversations you have with co-workers, everything.

Let’s be honest. Football is one gigantic distraction to work, and that is exactly how we want it. When millions of NFL fans were panicking about the lockout possibly impacting the season, it had nothing to do with whether or not we had games on sunday afternoons. Rather, millions were panicking about having to work 40 hours a week during the fall without the distraction of football.

Consider the inventions over the years to enhance football as a distraction. Fantasy football easily outpaces real work for millions during the fall. Jim, I need those reports by the end of the day! No problem, I’ll just play GM here for a few hours and make the trade of the century, then get right on it. Seriously, is there anything better than knocking out a couple mock drafts during work hours?

Add to the equation pick’em leagues where we pick the winners of anywhere from 5 to 50 games each weekend. Each season demonstrates how terrible we are at this, but it doesn’t matter, we’ll spend hours mapping out our strategy and our potential upsets. Nothing is more important that calling the winner of the Maryland v Wake Forrest game in mid-October. Side note: the 2011 SEC Pick’Em game is now live!

Finances

Nothing speaks louder than where you put your money, and for SEC fans, financial behavior indeed changes in the fall. Listen to some southern callers into the Dave Ramsey Show in the fall and you’re likely to hear something as follows: Dave, I’m working on my baby steps, but I’m taking a break because it’s football season. Why would you be taking a break because it’s football season? Well, we got a real shot this year to win the west.

Any respectable fan knows football season costs money. Whether it is road tripping to a game or simply picking up a couple cases and some meat to throw on the grill on Saturday, cash needs to be reallocated away from other less significant areas and towards football.

Social Time

Nothing is better about the fall than getting together with family and friends on Saturdays in the fall. Planning a long day of football – preferably one that starts with getting the smoker going early in the morning – is a beautiful thing.

Question: would you rather spend an entire day on the beach in the Bahamas or an entire day playing corn hole in your buddy’s back yard with college football on? Be honest.

Yes, everything changes come the start of September. It’s not always logical or rational, but I guess that is why the word that is used is fan – short for fanatic.