And so it begins: football season is here, and we’re ready to go [COLUMN]

Published 4:27 pm Friday, August 29, 2014

BY DREW GRANTHUM/Sports Editor

Enough is enough.

I know you’re ready. You’ve counted down the days. You’ve sold booster club raffle tickets, season seats and made plans this fall around Friday nights for the next three months.

I know you’re ready Alabaster. I’ve seen it in the excitement building in the communities from one end of the county to the other. Banners are being hung, store windows are being painted and bumper stickers are being — well, stuck.

It’s football season, folks. And it’s shaping up to be a good one.

And we’re ready too.

We’re ready to bring you the most in-depth, personalized coverage for the teams, players and coaches from every program.

I can think of no better example of this than our annual Shelby County Reporter Football 2014 magazine.

You should have received one in last week’s paper, and we’re certainly proud of this year’s edition. Not only have we beefed up the page count — up 96 this year from 84 last season — we’ve also provided rosters, schedules and other facts and figures that look to tell the tale of this year’s squads.

We’ve also included a handy guide explaining the restructuring of the AHSAA’s classification system, going in depth on what teams moved, what teams stayed put and what the coaches think of the realignment.

It’s one of the most fun things I get the opportunity to be a part of, and I hope you enjoy it, as we attempt to take you inside every program.

Some of our teams have already kicked off the season Aug. 22, but as of 7:05 p.m. in Aug. 29, every program will have gotten their campaign under way.

Hopefully you’ll be up in the stands, cheering your favorite program — with one of our magazines in your hand — to victory.

Can’t get to the game? Well, that’s where we come in.
We strive to get you as close to the game as possible through our in-depth coverage, and do our best to make sure all our teams’ games and scores are reported on as soon as possible on Fridays, via Shelbycountyreporter.com and our SCRSports Twitter feed.

I’m ready, you’re ready. Let’s get this thing started.