The Calm Before the Storm

For sports writers and editors at the New York Post or USA Today, the highlight of their year might be the Super Bowl or the Olympics.
At The Mercury, Friday, August 31 has been circled on our calendars for months.
The first "Football Friday" is like jumping headfirst into a very cold swimming pool.
The summer has been relatively quiet, with the six of us taking our trips to the shore, long weekends at home, or -- for at least one lucky member of the staff -- cruises through the Mediterranean Sea.
Now it's on, for real.


Tomorrow night, in addition to 10 high school football games, the local slate is as follows:

• 1 cross country meet
• 8 field hockey games
• 1 college football game
• 6 boys soccer games
• 5 girls soccer games
• 1 men's college soccer game
• 1 women's college soccer game
• 2 girls tennis matches
• 1 girls volleyball match
• 2 women's college volleyball matches

The football chaos is magnified because, instead of the 10 PAC-10 schools facing each other, plus a Daniel Boone game (6 games), everyone is playing a non-league game. Plus, only one school (Pope John Paul) is playing on Saturday.
My job on Friday nights in years past has been to man the desk, answer the phone, help out with some page layout, and make sure everything was done on time.
This year, though, I'm more excited for Friday night than ever before.
That's because I'll be quarterbacking this new website, Mercury Sports Live. That means constant score updates, posting video clips from our reporters on the sidelines, and keeping you up to date on everything that is Friday night football.
We'll be learning on the fly, and that is an exciting feeling for all of us at The Mercury. So get involved, and let us know what you'd like you see and what we can do better.
Comment on our posts, or talk to us on Twitter @PottsMercSports (or hit me up @smoore1117).

Otherwise, Happy Football Friday Eve! And we'll see you before kickoff.

-- Steve Moore