Football fans, are you tired of baseball monopolizing your summer?

Tired of runs, drips and errors? Tired of TV prodding you into thinking the glorified batting practice known as the All-Star Home Run Derby is a legitimate sporting event?

Well, today your relief arrives. “NCAA Football 10″ hits the shelves at stores all over North America.

Yes, now you can fight, fight, fight for your alma mater by suiting up virtual players in the gear of a real school or in gear of your imagination through the create-a-school feature called TeamBuilder. The game includes a peripheral points-based contest, Season Showdown, in which players accumulate credit for their teams in online competition.

Other new features this season:

* Over 1,000 improved game animations
* Updated clock management
* A better “pocket” for the quarterback
* More stadiums to choose from, as well as customizable stadium flourishes
* An adaptive interface enabling “NCAA Football 10″ to “learn” how you play
* The “Road to Glory,” a simulated TV broadcast starring ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, who chronicles the player’s career as a student athlete.
* There’s even a roster of marching bands for the pre-game, for those folks who want to kick a little brass.

As was the case last year, each game platform has different “NCAA Football 10″ box art: former Utah quarterback Brian Johnson on the PlayStation 3 cover; former Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree on the Xbox 360 cover; former Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo on the PlayStation 2 cover; and former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez on the PlayStation Portable cover.

So, break out of that baseball rut, folks — the real game of summer has arrived.