Episode 138 – It’s college football preview magazine time!

The next time you happen to be in the grocery store or anywhere else with a magazine rack to browse and skim, do yourself a favor and make sure to walk by the magazine rack. You should start seeing the annual preseason college football magazines start to fill the rack. If that does not get you excited, then what will?

I have always been a fan of these preseason magazines. There have been years when I would buy the national addition from each magazine publisher. As someone who covers college football today I find myself even more interested in the magazines, and they actually have become a nice easy reference guide at times. Naturally, I have been curious about the process of putting these all together, especially in an age where we not only get national editions but numerous conference or region-specific editions to provide a little bit more information. I am sure there are some junkies out there who buy all of the national and available region editions. If that describes you, I admire your devotion.

But how do these magazines continue to put together a quality product year-in and year-out when faced with increasing competition sources from the Internet? More importantly, how does a business built on a foundation in print media adapt to the latest digital trends and options?

To walk us through a bit of the magazine production process I was joined by Steven Lassan from Athlon Sports. Lassan is the college football editor at Athlon Sports and AthlonSports.com and has been kind enough to invite me to participate from time to time with their ongoing round table discussions with staff members. In addition to getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the magazine business, we also touch on a couple nuggets from the past couple of weeks in college football, with quick takes on Brady Hoke calling out Notre Dame and Bob Stoops saying the SEC is over-hyped. For good measure I threw in a Mack Brown question.

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Podcast – Tim Tolley from FanSided150.com

Click to visit FanSied 150.

I had planned on posting a nice interview I recorded with Tim Tolley, from FanSided150.com. Unfortunately, after needing to reschedule a couple of times with Tim and finally getting a chance to record the podcast with him yesterday there was some sort of technical error that wiped out the final 20 minutes of what was about a 25 minute conversation.

I had noticed a glitch for a couple of seconds during the recording process but believed I had caught it quickly enough to still keep the recording going largely without a problem. However, when it came time to mixing the audio down I somehow lost the majority of the conversation. Unfortunately, this was one of the times I decided not to record our Skype chat through a second audio recording program, as I often do. Please, let this be a lesson to any podcasters out there, new and veteran, don’t risk cutting corners when recording a conversation. Scout’s motto: Always be prepared.

The audio attached to this podcast cuts off rather abruptly.  I am aware of that and unfortunately at this time there is no way to fix it. Tim was kind enough to offer his time though and in fairness to him I wanted to share the little bit of audio I did have anyway.

I will return with a new podcast sometime next week and will take some extra measures to ensure there are no hiccups. In the meantime, I encourage you all to check out the FanSided 150 for free recruiting analysis all year round. Follow FanSided 150 on Twitter. Follow Tim on Twitter as well.

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Podcast: Skipping around SEC spring football

Butch Jones taking over at Tennessee is one of many stories in the SEC this spring. AP Photo.

For folks like you and me, college football never stops. Sure, the games may be months away and we are now two months removed from the final college football game of the most recent season, but there is always something to talk about.

Between recruiting, realignment and players creating headlines through their own fault or not, we always have some college football discussion going on. Perhaps in no other conference is this more true than in the SEC, where fans will eat and breathe college football year round. At times this comes in uncomfortable amounts, but at the core of it all we just want any excuse to talk about the sport we love.

That is why we saw a national debate over whether or not Jadeveon Clowney should play for South Carolina blow up one week. It is why so much attention was given to Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel taking online courses. It is why shirtless photos of Steve Spurrier pop up and why Les Miles does the Harlem Shake.

But once you get past the Johnny Manziel madness and come to grips with the fact that Jadeveon Clowney is in fact going to play football this season, there is still a lot of ground to cover around the rest of the SEC.

When I want to talk about the SEC, Bleacher Report’s SEC writer Barrett Sallee is one of my favorite guys to reach out to. On today’s podcast Sallee discusses with me not only the life of Johnny Manziel but some of the key things to watch this spring around the conference. Some of the topics discussed include:

• How does Nick Saban keep his program grounded coming off a second consecutive BCS title?
• Manziel’s epic off-season aside, what does Texas A&M have to look forward to and work on this spring?
• Are we really overlooking the LSU Tigers?
• What is the next step for Ole Miss after making noise in recruiting?
• Is Gus Malzahn ready to turn Auburn around?
• Is it possible Florida finds an offense this spring?
• Can Georgia find a way to lock down on defense?
• Will the two-quarterback system be in play for the Gamecocks?
• Does sending 115 hand-written letters to a recruit actually work?

To hear what Sallee has to say about that and more, check out the podcast. Full audio is embedded below, or you can click here to listen.

One thing I did forget to mention was the recent story of Manziel allegedly pushing a graduate assistant after throwing an interception in a spring practice. I will not speak for Sallee, but it seems to have been a moment that blew out of proportion and has since been quieted by comments from Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin chalking it up as a “things happen in practice” incident. I tend to agree with that based on what I have read to this point, but should a similar episode be reported again then there will be a time to take a closer look at it all.

Feel free to share your thoughts on Manziel or any other spring football topic covered here with a comment below.

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Podcast: Can USC football bounce back in 2013?

Lane Kiffin will be under a microscope in 2013 as USC looks to bounce back. Photo: Getty Images

Lane Kiffin may be on one of the hottest seats in college football in 2013. After taking a preseason championship contender to a seven-win season ending with a loss to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl, how could it not be? … Continue Reading

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Podcast: Gildan New Mexico Bowl, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Preview

The college bowl season is here! This weekend we get two bowl games to kick things off, with a pair of talented running backs highlighting the Gildan New Mexico Bowl and a clash of MACtion vs stout defense in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. The fun is about to get started in a big way this bowl season, and we’ll try to cover as much of it as possible right here.

To kick things off here is a brief preview of each bowl game being played Saturday, along with a podcast conversation about each at the bottom.

Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Saturday, December 15, 2012
1 p.m. ET, ESPN

Nevada Wolfpack (7-5, 4-4 MWC) vs. Arizona Wildcats (7-5, 4-5 Pac 12)

The first game on the bowl schedule this season should be a dandy if you are a fan of running backs. This game will feature two of the top running backs in the nation, with Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey being named first-team All-American by the Associated Press and Nevada’s Stefphon Jefferson being named third-team All-American on Tuesday. Carey ended the regular season leading the Pac 12 in rushing with 1,757 yards and 20 touchdowns and Jefferson led the Mountain West Conference with 1,703 yards and 22 touchdowns. With both teams showing some signs of struggling up front on defense, this could be a huge afternoon for two terrific running backs.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Saturday, December 15, 2012
4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

Toledo (9-3, 6-2 MAC) vs. Utah State (10-2, 6-0 WAC)

Utah State, last year’s leading cause of heartburn in the state of Utah, is back in Boise and looking to leave the blue turf with an elusive win. The Aggies have not won a bowl game since 1993, as a member of the Big West. With a dynamic quarterback in Chuckie Keeton leading an offense built more on methodically moving the football rather than go for the big play, featuring running back Kerwynn Williams doing a little bit of everything, and one of the stingiest defenses in the country, we should have a good battle with Toledo from the MAC. Toledo’s defense is led by linebacker Dan Molls, with 166 tackles on the year, but the secondary is among the best in the nation with 17 interceptions and four touchdowns.

Podcast, Episode 134

Previewing these two games and even briefly dabbling in a the FCS Final Four is Kyle Kensing from Saturday Blitz and Arizona Desert Swarm. Kensing is a member fo the Football Writers Association of America, along with host Kevin McGuire, and created The Detmer Award. The Detmer Award was recently awarded to Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch. We discuss the origin of The Detmer Award, Lynch’s award-worthy season and take a look at each of the four schools playing in a bowl game this weekend. We close with a quick hit on the FCS Final Four. Defending champion North Dakota State looks to move back to the championship game this weekend with a Final Four rematch with Georgia Southern. In the other match-up we have 2010 national champion Eastern Washington hosting last year’s runner-up from Sam Houston State.

Follow Kensing on Twitter. You can follow host Kevin McGuire on Twitter too.

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