With all of the sports world’s focus on the London Olympics that begin on Friday and the Major League Baseball season continuing to plug away through the dog days of summer, the opening of NFL training camps on Monday may have gotten lost in the shuffle for some fans.

    Not for me.

    This is the beginning of my favorite time of year, football season.

    Don’t get me wrong I love baseball, but with my San Diego Padres toiling near the bottom of National League West, it is time for me to shift my focus elsewhere.

    While most of the country will be watching the Olympics this weekend, I will be celebrating my birthday and more than likely watching the NFL Network for the latest training camp updates.

    Don’t get me wrong I enjoy watching the Olympics and will no doubt spend a large chunk of time checking out how the nation is faring in the games, but there is only so much table tennis, rowing and beach volleyball I can watch.

    While most teams won’t have their full teams in camp until Sunday, many rookies and selected veterans have already checked in and started workouts, and with the recent rash of arrests and the possibility of having replacement officials, getting back to work is something I am sure commissioner Roger Goodell is happy about.

    For some reason this offseason has been one filled with off-field incidents for the league and its players.

    The Detroit Lions have unfortunately gotten most of the bad publicity this summer as the team has racked up seven arrests since their season ended with a playoff loss to the Saints.

    One arrest for a player on a team is unacceptable, but seven gives the appearance that things are out control in Detroit.

    The Lions are not the only team with offseason trouble; the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson and the Cowboys’ Dez Bryant also have had their fair share of news for the wrong reasons.

    Hopefully with the start of training camp, we can focus more on football and less on the police blotter.

    What makes training camp great to me is the story lines.

    Every year there is a position battle that catches my eye. It is fun to see how a rookie or free agent fits in with his new team. This season there are plenty of story lines to watch with none bigger than what is going on in New Orleans.

    The ‘bounty gate’ scandal rocked the league and cost the Saints their head coach for the season and the suspensions of a handful of players. How the team reacts will be something to follow. They also have the highest-paid player in the league in quarterback Drew Brees.

    Randy Moss is looking to revive his career in San Francisco and heads into camp as the 49ers’ best receiver. Let’s see if he stays there.

    The Broncos realized Tim Tebow was not the future of the franchise, sending him to the Jets. In his place is future hall-of-famer Peyton Manning.

    I could go on and on with other things I will be watching over the next six weeks but I will save those for another time.

    So enjoy the fact that  the NFL is back in full swing. Oh and just a reminder: college and high school teams begin practicing in two weeks.