I miss the preview magazines.

A

aztecjim

Active member
Ever since the mid 70s I have spent much of my summers in search of college football preview magazines. I could noT wait for Street and Smith's, Sporting News, Football Action, Game Plan, and all the rest. I would have them stacked on my desk, reading them daily, comparing predictions, and so on. Now we are down to Lindy's, Athlon, and Phil Steele. I still HAVE a collection of S&S and Sporting News mags going back to 1976, Having them online just isn't the same as having something in my hands,
 
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aztecjim said:
Ever since the mid 70s I have spent much of my summers in search of college football preview magazines. I could noT wait for Street and Smith's, Sporting News, Football Action, Game Plan, and all the rest. I would have them stacked on my desk, reading them daily, comparing predictions, and so on. Now we are down to Lindy's, Athlon, and Phil Steele. I still HAVE a collection of S&S and Sporting News mags going back to 1976, Having them online just isn't the same as having something in my hands,
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Exactly why I miss the old Cleveland Plain Dealer. Loved actually having the paper and reading it cover to cover. The paper now is a joke and is not up to date. Everything is online and I agree, its not the same. I also couldnt wait for my Thursday addition of sports illustrated to be delivered.
 
I enjoy having an abundance of information at my fingertips at all times. It’s made me a smarter fan. No more waiting until mid August to figure out who is a legit title team.
 
Gbulldog said:
Exactly why I miss the old Cleveland Plain Dealer. Loved actually having the paper and reading it cover to cover. The paper now is a joke and is not up to date. Everything is online and I agree, it’s not the same. I also couldnt wait for my Thursday addition of sports illustrated to be delivered.
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Things change. This is one thing that changed for the better.
 
Stirred not Shaken said:
That is your opinion, I disagree 20 years ago numerous magazines, newspaper articles about the upcoming football season to read now very little.
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What? There’s endless amounts of material to read/listen to. If anything, it’s oversaturated. But I’d rather have all of this info on hand than wait 8 months for the magazines to come out.
 
bob99 said:
Too much online is biased. Some of the conference members get next to nothing coverage.
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There’s tons of information available for each team. There’s all kinds of message boards too. No, this is better. the old ways.
 
It's hard to fathom these things being reliable anymore in the current transfer portal landscape. There's still so much movement happening by the time they have to go to print. I feel bad for Steele especially. I've grown out of his style, but he's so dependent on historical context to predict the future for programs and that's dang near impossible now.
 
oxat622 said:
It's hard to fathom these things being reliable anymore in the current transfer portal landscape. There's still so much movement happening by the time they have to go to print. I feel bad for Steele especially. I've grown out of his style, but he's so dependent on historical context to predict the future for programs and that's dang near impossible now.
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Yes. I loved the old preview mags, especially Sporting News, but they benefitted heavily from predictable roster information and historical performance. Can’t really be done in print anymore with the portal, NIL, spring transfers, summer transfers, early enrolling freshmen, injuries, etc. There is much more information available these days and you can actually watch pretty much any team you want, as pretty much every college game is televised or streamed. I still miss the anticipation of waiting for the preview magazines, though, and the ability to chill and slowly flip through the pages at my leisure.
 
Omar said:
There’s tons of information available for each team. There’s all kinds of message boards too. No, this is better. the old ways.
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Yeah, those are really insightful, the boards that have inside info you have to pay for. I follow OSU sure I can go to EW's but they have little little info on other teams. With the old magazines you got info on top 20 teams as well as conference breakdowns, where do you find that type of in depth info now?
cjb5656 said:
Yes. I loved the old preview mags, especially Sporting News, but they benefitted heavily from predictable roster information and historical performance. Can’t really be done in print anymore with the portal, NIL, spring transfers, summer transfers, early enrolling freshmen, injuries, etc. There is much more information available these days and you can actually watch pretty much any team you want, as pretty much every college game is televised or streamed. I still miss the anticipation of waiting for the preview magazines, though, and the ability to chill and slowly flip through the pages at my leisure.
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Yeah, if you want to pay for it. Streaming (you tube tv) and cable are not cheap.

Edit: IMO we have gone backwards when it comes to TV viewing.
 
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Stirred not Shaken said:
Yeah, those are really insightful, the boards that have inside info you have to pay for. I follow OSU sure I can go to EW's but they have little little info on other teams. With the old magazines you got info on top 20 teams as well as conference breakdowns, where do you find that type of in depth info now?

Yeah, if you want to pay for it. Streaming (you tube tv) and cable are not cheap.
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That paid info always gets leaked to the public sites. There’s also tons of podcasts this time of year that give an opponent rundown.
 
oxat622 said:
It's hard to fathom these things being reliable anymore in the current transfer portal landscape. There's still so much movement happening by the time they have to go to print. I feel bad for Steele especially. I've grown out of his style, but he's so dependent on historical context to predict the future for programs and that's dang near impossible now.
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You must be talking about a different "Steele." Out of his style? Dependent on historical context in what sense? How many returners each team has? Degree of talent? If you were talking about Lindey's or Street & Smith I'd say sure. Not Phil Steele.

Phil Steele is by far the best college football publication and it is not even close. The data available at the subscribers fingertips is really good.

The problem for much of the 45+ crowd is you cannot find it at most stores and must order online or subscribe digitally.
 
bob99 said:
Too much online is biased. Some of the conference members get next to nothing coverage.
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Stirred not Shaken said:
Yeah, those are really insightful, the boards that have inside info you have to pay for. I follow OSU sure I can go to EW's but they have little little info on other teams. With the old magazines you got info on top 20 teams as well as conference breakdowns, where do you find that type of in depth info now?

Yeah, if you want to pay for it. Streaming (you tube tv) and cable are not cheap.

Edit: IMO we have gone backwards when it comes to TV viewing.
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Of course with the new revenue sharing business model for college football, will any viewing option be pay per view per game?
And that will be on top of paying for your cable or internet service.
 
irish_buffalo said:
You must be talking about a different "Steele." Out of his style? Dependent on historical context in what sense? How many returners each team has? Degree of talent? If you were talking about Lindey's or Street & Smith I'd say sure. Not Phil Steele.

Phil Steele is by far the best college football publication and it is not even close. The data available at the subscribers fingertips is really good.

The problem for much of the 45+ crowd is you cannot find it at most stores and must order online or subscribe digitally.
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Steele prides himself on presenting a tidal wave of detail and statistics so that he can toot his own horn about he was the only person to correctly predict team X would do such and such. When those details are more volatile, it hurts his style the most. I used to be into him for that but more and more I find I just prefer a more narrative style.
 
cjb5656 said:
Yes. I loved the old preview mags, especially Sporting News, but they benefitted heavily from predictable roster information and historical performance. Can’t really be done in print anymore with the portal, NIL, spring transfers, summer transfers, early enrolling freshmen, injuries, etc. There is much more information available these days and you can actually watch pretty much any team you want, as pretty much every college game is televised or streamed. I still miss the anticipation of waiting for the preview magazines, though, and the ability to chill and slowly flip through the pages at my leisure.
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The Portal in the spring doesn’t usually see many impact transfers. Maybe the runner up in a QB competition bolts but for the most part, it’s not even players on the 2 Deep leaving.
 
aztecjim said:
Ever since the mid 70s I have spent much of my summers in search of college football preview magazines. I could noT wait for Street and Smith's, Sporting News, Football Action, Game Plan, and all the rest. I would have them stacked on my desk, reading them daily, comparing predictions, and so on. Now we are down to Lindy's, Athlon, and Phil Steele. I still HAVE a collection of S&S and Sporting News mags going back to 1976, Having them online just isn't the same as having something in my hands,
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THESE days, you'd hafta take out a second mortgage on your house, to afford those magazines.
 
Omar said:
The Portal in the spring doesn’t usually see many impact transfers. Maybe the runner up in a QB competition bolts but for the most part, it’s not even players on the 2 Deep leaving.
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The portal is probably why the sports magazines are no longer relevant. Just before the portal deadline and after the printing of the aforementioned. UGA had acquired transfers from the U, Vanderbilt, UF, MO., FSU, Stanford, and South Carolina. And three more starters for UGA last Saturday were TRUE FRESHMEN who have barely gotten their dorm assignments!
 
irish_buffalo said:
You must be talking about a different "Steele." Out of his style? Dependent on historical context in what sense? How many returners each team has? Degree of talent? If you were talking about Lindey's or Street & Smith I'd say sure. Not Phil Steele.

Phil Steele is by far the best college football publication and it is not even close. The data available at the subscribers fingertips is really good.

The problem for much of the 45+ crowd is you cannot find it at most stores and must order online or subscribe digitally.
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I RESEMBLE that remark!!! I'm currently three quarters of a century ole, and subscribe to a fairly significant number or digital publications. They ARE a TAD pricey however, for the content you receive.
 
Omar said:
The Portal in the spring doesn’t usually see many impact transfers. Maybe the runner up in a QB competition bolts but for the most part, it’s not even players on the 2 Deep leaving.
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AU CONTRAIRE, my good pilgrim. In the Spring, UGA'S ALL AMERICAN and starting MLB, Jamon Dumas Johnson, transferred to OLE KENTUCK, and is NOW STARTING for the Fighting Hillbillies. SAME o SAME o, for UGA back up QB Brock Vandergriff. And the starting QB1 for Nebraska entered the transfer portal in Spring as well.
 
SWGA Fan said:
AU CONTRAIRE, my good pilgrim. In the Spring, UGA'S ALL AMERICAN and starting MLB, Jamon Dumas Johnson, transferred to OLE KENTUCK, and is NOW STARTING for the Fighting Hillbillies. SAME o SAME o, for UGA back up QB Brock Vandergriff. And the starting QB1 for Nebraska entered the transfer portal in Spring as well.
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USUALLY in the key word,
 
Somewhere I have an old Athlon preview mag from like '77. Jeff Logan on the cover. The cheerleader pics included one of Sela Ward, the actress. Fascinating to go back and see who ended up playing in the NFL.
 
MontetheCarlo said:
Somewhere I have an old Athlon preview mag from like '77. Jeff Logan on the cover. The cheerleader pics included one of Sela Ward, the actress. Fascinating to go back and see who ended up playing in the NFL.
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I have college football previews going back to the 80's. I moved recently and stumbled across them all and took a couple minutes to go back and leaf through some of them. Pretty cool seeing all of the players that made it and some stars that did not.
 
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