Ever since my freshman year in High School, I’ve had a lack of interest in football. Now, I was a damn good running back, but when a guy twice your size  takes you down a few times re-evaluation of one’s choice in sport can become necessary. So this article really only pertains to people like my father, who were either star running backs in high school (Freud would just dig that line), or are mind numbingly obsessive/competitive about football in general.

IT just so happens most of America falls into both categories.

Xbox and ESPN have taken advantage of this obsession and have recently added some cool gaming elements to live college football. Viewers can now “bet” which teams will win before the games are streamed over their console. The new gaming element has appropriately dramatic in naming: ESPN College Bowl SHOWDOWN on Xbox Live, and is available to all Xbox Live gold members. The new gaming feature will run through January 10th, 2011, which is for most diehards, not long enough.

Being the diehard tech fan that I am (and that goes year round y’all!), the larger point here for me is how dedicated Microsoft is to the Xbox. With gaming elements such as these, Microsoft is refusing to take the back seat to competitors such as Apple TV and Google TV (ha!) as the center of our media playing world. Features like this, no matter how insignificant they may seem, are the small things that add up in the larger picture of a better product. A win-win situation for football fans, even begrudged ones such as myself.

Viva la Xbox!

[Cross-posted at Winextra]