HondaReport.com - Column: Athlon vs. TSN

What good is mid-summer information about football teams that aren't even practicing (officially)? Well ... if you have to ask, you're probably not hooked on UH football. Here's a look at a couple of college football preseason magazines, and which one I think is worth the money for those of us who don't need a 12-step program for our (Rainbow) Warrior addiction.

The problems that face football writers in May, June or even July are pretty much related to timing.

Honestly, what happens in May stays in May. A starter out of the spring could easily slip to No. 3 on the depth chart by opening kickoff. That's life in college football. That's why preseason magazines offer a lot to chew on, but that's only because the hungry dawgs — I would be one of them — need something. Anything. Especially in the dog days of mid-summer.

The Sporting News and Athlon Sports released their preseason publications recently. Here's a comparison for those of you who aren't so quick to plunk down $7 for a mag unless you're getting real value.

The Sporting News gives a concise, short preview of UH within its WAC coverage. Pluses: TSN listed passing efficiency in its QB comparisons, which has Colt Brennan at the top. How could he be anywhere else after throwing for 35 TDs and only 13 picks as a sophomore?

The nod, however, goes to Athlon. Because TSN is a year-round publication, the football issue is more like an extra or special to them. Athlon's sole focus is the magazines, and boy, is this one niiiice.

Athlon, which has "Western" in huge font size across its mag, gives much deeper analysis position by position. Athlon also lists complete rosters, though weights have not been updated. (This is likely because they had access only to spring rosters at spring, and the deadline was shortly after that.)

Athlon not only goes 3 pages into UH's report (compared to a half-page by TSN), but provides more color photos (Brennan and Ryan Grice-Mullen in away white-jersey/silver helmet uniforms), and a mug shot of "rising star" Brashton Satele.

My recommendation is that if you are not interested in grabbing every college football issue in mid-July, the 7 bucks is more wisely spent on the Athlon mag than The Sporting News. I haven't looked at the rest of the issue in detail yet, but Athlon does have a little more fun stuff (like cheerleaders and master tailgate kings).

And the more I look at those Raider-esque UH away uniforms, the more I want that jersey and helmet in my collection. Time for a visit to Rainbowtique, perhaps.

In the late 1970s and early '80s, Paul Honda spent $2.50 for an end zone seat at a UH football game when Dick Tomey was head coach. The bus fare to and from Mo'ili'ili was a whopping 10 cents.