We have reached our breaking point. We are right on the brink of a meltdown. The system can’t take much more.

Aside from the point that sounds like an episode of Macgyver, this is where we are. The football offseason is almost over, and there is legitimately no more left to say.

The same media nerds—like me—that have been at every practice and press conference since the beginning of August have run out of questions to ask. The same players and coaches that have been called upon to give interviews time and time again have run out of answers to provide.

There’s simply not anything new to say.

At one practice, I looked around and saw nothing but recycled interviews—players who already told us everything they knew, coaches who were tired of answering questions the same way one hundred times. The repetitive nature of the Q & A session was obvious, and that’s when it hit me.

The term “information fatigue” had never occurred to me before that day, but it seemed an apt descriptor for the tired process that was playing out in front of me. It’s the phenomenon that comes about when talkers and listeners are both tired of performing their respective duties.

Often, I describe sports media—and media in general, honestly—as a function of supply and demand. People demand stories and information, therefore a need develops for the supply that we in the newspaper/website/radio/television/blog business can provide.

The offseason is a trying time for this balance because demand often outweighs supply by a wide margin. The balance is struck again at the start of practice, even if the smallest details can get blown out of proportion due to the information starvation associated with summer.

There comes a time, however, when the suppliers just get tired of supplying. High demand has tapped out the available info, so there really isn’t much left to say—and we all know it.

Sure, there are questions to ask regarding Wofford’s scheme and the challenges its offense presents. There are comparisons to be drawn to 2011, when the Terriers had the ball with a chance to tie the game in the final minutes in Memorial Stadium. There are even questions regarding depth and experience in key spots.

However, the page has been turned from conjecture to fact, at least in the minds of newsmakers and news consumers. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, so it doesn’t make sense to focus on the darkness of the tunnel. We just want to look toward the light as it approaches.

Gameday is the light that illuminates an offseason of speculation. With that day nearly here, information fatigue becomes a reminder of how long and arduous the trek from season to season can be.

Truthfully, we have milked every story for all it is worth. We have squeezed every single droplet out of the offseason sponge.

We’re all ready for gameday, and we’re tired of talking. All of us.

God Bless!

WQ