By Dave Daily

The month of July has started and we’re now a little over a month before the kickoff of the NFL Preseason. If you don’t bet baseball, the horses, golf, NASCAR, tennis, soccer or any other summer sport, then it’s time to relax. Take a few months off and catch some rays before next football season.

Or you could pick up a magazine and start reading about the latest acquisitions by the Chicago Bears (Jay Cutler?) or the chances of UL Lafayette winning the Sun Belt. There’s nothing wrong with relaxing and getting away from sports and gambling, but procrastination leads to bankrupt-nation (I made that word up).

If you have the time, go to your local newsstand or bookstore and grab a copy of the latest pro and college football annual. There are a lot quality magazines out there including Lindy’s, Athlon’s, Sporting News, Pro Football Weekly (now run by Yahoo) and much more. The one problem with these magazines is that they write most of their stuff after the NFL Draft in late April and miss whatever happens in May and June.

Of course, there’s not a lot that occurs in those months in pro football. Other than Brett Favre pushing to come back in the NFL, there haven’t been serious off-the-field issues or injuries during OTA’s. In college football, there’s usually players that get suspended after spring due to academics or off-the-field issues. That’s why you have the internet and sites like ESPN.com or CNNSI to follow the latest transactions.

There’s also other good college sites out there like CollegeFootballNews.com, NationalChamps.net, CollegeSports-fans.com and Rivals.com, just to name a few.

So while you are taking it easy this summer, don’t forget to do some research and keep up with the latest changes in the college and pro football ranks so you’ll be prepared once the season starts.