CLEMSON — Growing up, this was my favorite time of the summer.

We had been out of school for just a couple of weeks, so we still had the entire summer to do whatever we wanted to do.

For me, it was riding my bike. I had an old off-road blue Huffy dirt bike. I loved that thing. I rode it until the wheels fell off.

I would jump on that bike and hit the open road. Usually, I would ride it to my best friend’s house. Berry and I pretty much did everything together. Though we stayed out of trouble for the most part.

We hung out with a couple of buddies from in town—Duane, Tracy, Jason, Joey and Brian—that completed the crew. It was always fun, whether we were swimming in the river, riding up and down the roads, going to the beach, playing some kind of sport, singing in the church choir or trying to steal a smile or two from the girls at the local Pizza Hut.

If I was not with them, I was with brothers or my cousin. There was always something to do, though most of the time it required using our imagination. We did not have smart phones like the young kids have now.

Generally, we were thrown out of the house around 9 a.m., and we did not return until the sun set, which at this time of the year was around 8:30 on most nights.

There was some dead time we had to fill, which usually meant going to the 7-Eleven by the school’s tennis courts. That is the place where I would get my football and baseball cards, as well as the latest editions of Detective Comics starting Batman.

However, the second week in June also meant magazine season, in particular college football preview season.

I lived for the second week of June. I always kept a watchful eye on the magazine racks – Athlon, the Sporting News, Sport Magazine, Sports Illustrated and Lindy’s. They filled the front row of the magazine racks with them.

I spent all of my birthday money on them, and of course, I read them from start to finish. I even read the editor’s letter. It was college football, after all. I wanted to soak up as much information as I could.

All we have to do now is jump on our phones and all the information is right at our fingertips. But back then, you had to ride your bike several miles to the 7-Eleven convenience store and purchase a magazine.

I got one a week until I read them all.

College football was different back then. It was not always about the money or who had the fanciest facilities. The game was pure. Sure, there was a little cheating going on, but nothing like the greed we see going on in today’s college football.

I read it all. I knew who coached every team, how many returning starters were coming back and who had the most lettermen. I knew about the quarterbacks, the running backs and who had the stud linebackers.

It was all in there. Previews of all the teams, the top 20, the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Pac 10 and Big 8. It was summertime, it’s what I did.

It is what I am doing right now. I do not see Berry as much as used to, and that blue Huffy dirt bike has been gone for a while now.

Pizza Hut is nothing like it used to be, though I did have a pretty lady smile at me in the grocery store today. I am sure she was just being nice.

Anyway, things change. Life happens. You grow up, you make new friends, you get married and you have a family. But there are some things that do not change.

I still go to the local 7-Eleven. I still read my Detective Comics starting Batman and just I picked up my Athlon Sports and Lindy’s College Football magazines. I guess some things never change.