Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Rites of Summer

We have officially come to the summer season here in the United States. The calendar declared it yesterday on June 21. Believe it or not, the daylight starts to get shorter.

Summer, shorter daylight and the thoughts of college football?

You bet.

It’s time for all the college football magazines to appear on a newsstand near you. Maybe in this digital age the preview magazine will become a dinosaur, but let’s hope not. It a rite of summer just like swimming pools and barbeques.

Growing up as a kid, I turned to Street and Smith for my college football preview fix. The old black and white photos and less than fancy feeling paper highlighted the magazine. Street and Smith was probably the king of preview magazine in a small environment.

But now there are a host of different publications competing for the preview audience. There are fancy color photos and highlighted teams and conferences depending upon the region of the country you reside. For example, in my region, the magazines focus on the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences.

Most people think Phil Steele puts out the most complete preview these days. Steele also seems to have a knack for correctly predicting the finishes of various teams.

So if you are hungry for some college football and cannot wait until the fall, you can satisfy your craving with one of many magazine preview choices. You can even read it while you’re down at the swimming pool.

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