Which NFL teams have it worst?

Maybe the NFL's players should have waited a few more weeks before settling their dispute with owners. Then they might have missed the worst of this summer's heat wave.

But as teams return to training camp over the next few days, they will start workouts in some nasty heat.

The Weather Channel published a list Tuesday of the 10 hottest NFL training camps (see http://bit.ly/q74fqQ), and the Panthers' camp in Spartanburg ranked eighth-worst. Weather Channel meteorologists used averages and factored in both heat and humidity.

This summer's pattern has sent heat into the upper Midwest at times, and that means NFL training camps for teams like the Detroit Lions (Allen Park, Mich.), Green Bay Packers (De Pere, Wis.), and Minnesota Vikings (Mankato, Minn.) might not be a lot of fun some days. Highs of near 100 degrees are expected in some of those places this week.

The added problem this year is the feared lack of conditioning among players. Due to the lockout, NFL players were not able to participate in typical offseason preparations, and it's possible some of them might not be ready to deal with heat, humidity and tough practices.

The NFL has been careful about this issue since Minnesota Vikings player Korey Stringer died in 2001 of heat-related problems.

It's also an issue for fans. If you're headed to Wofford University for Saturday's Panthers' practices, you'll be dealing with 100-degree temperatures and a heat index around 110 degrees. Take plenty of water, and stay in the shade.

This will all seem like a distant dream in December and January, when snow is falling at games in Cleveland (in December, not January -- the Browns have zero chance of making the playoffs); Chicago; Green Bay; Buffalo (December only ... see Cleveland); and New England.

By the way, the Weather Channel's list of the 10 hottest NFL camp sites: 1. Houston Texans (Houston); 2. New Orleans Saints (Metarie, La.); 3. Tampa Bay Bucs (Tampa); 4. Miami Dolphins (Davie, Fla.); 5. Jacksonville Jaguars (Jacksonville); 6. St. Louis Rams (Earth City, Mo.); 7. Tennessee Titans (Nashville); 8. Panthers (Spartanburg); 9. Kansas City Chiefs (St. Louis, Mo.); 10. Atlanta Falcons (Flowery Branch, Ga.).

Tropical Storm Don?: Watch an area of low pressure moving from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula into the Gulf of Mexico. It shows signs of developing into a tropical system and could be a tropical storm within a day or two.

That system could make landfall anywhere from Mexico to Corpus Christi, Texas. But forecasters seem to think the Mexico-Texas border area is the most likely destination.