Decided to drop into the local Barnes & Noble on my way to lunch and what do I find waiting for my grubby hands at the front of the magazine aisle? Why yes it's a fresh stack of Phil Steele's 2016 College Football previews, West coast cover (C-Mac, Baker, Jackson, and Rosen). So crisp and clean with nary a wrinkle they are a sight to behold knowing how torn and tattered my copy will be come Halloween (knock on wood). Despite being another year older and a bit more grumpy, I must say it does bring a smile to my face in anticipation of a fall Saturday afternoon spent with a few bucks down on the line. Not even the gal at the counter asking if I wanted to join their B&N club membership or for my e-mail address could disrupt my mood. Time to fire up Excel and get cracking on those spreadsheets boys!
I hear you Clover, the individual team write-ups are not my primary interest with this publication. Do we really need to know who the Boise QB was from 4 years ago? I don't think it's that relevant, but rather I do like the projected starting lineups and to keep track of the returning starters, injuries, and so on. Some of the more general articles have a quantitive slant which lends themselves to spreadsheet type analysis useful in creating power ratings and setting lines for individual game matchups.
The other magazine I really like and just picked up the other day is Marc Lawrence's Playbook. The format of this publication is obviously with the gambler in mind as you get an easy to access schedule for every team and everything is pretty much in ATS stats. I will carry this mag around with me pretty much every day during the football season, I know some folks prefer a digital copy but I prefer print.
