It’s all about… everything there is to read about fall sports
Are the Olympics over?
Just in time to get cranked up for fall sports. It’s a busy time of the year for us, more so this year because of the Olympics. But now that they are closing out, we can focus on the local fall sports scene.
Squeezing in time between the Olympics and local football camps, we have been working on our 2004 College and Pro Football Special Section, which will be inserted in Wednesday’s paper. Columnist John Blanchette takes a closer look at Washington State’s first-team all-Pac-10 linebacker Will Derting. We will also have full-page previews of Washington State University, University of Washington, University of Idaho, Eastern Washington University and the Seattle Seahawks. There will be conference previews of the Pac-10, Big Sky and the Sun Belt. Also look for the complete team-by-team schedule for the NFL and NCAA Div. I-A.
And then the fun really begins.
On Thursday, Eastern Washington opens its football season at Nichols State in Thibodeaux, La. Also on Thursday, former Washington State coach Mike Price makes his debut with UTEP at Arizona State. We will take in that game on the way to Albuquerque, the site of Washington State’s opener against New Mexico on Friday. Ah, but there’s more. We’ll hop back on the plane and head to Boise for Saturday’s Idaho-Boise State game. And if that’s not enough football for you, Washington was kind enough to schedule its season opener on a Sunday. They will host Fresno State and we plan to be there.
The following weeks will be back to normal with our local teams playing the traditional Saturday game.
It’s not all about college football, though. On Tuesday, we will have a football preview for the smaller high schools in our area. On Wednesday, the Greater Spokane League will be previewed for our Washington readers and the Idaho readers will get a closer look at the Inland Empire League. On Friday, many of the schools will cross the border to play non-league games in their openers. Among the games are Sandpoint at Central Valley, University at Lake City, Coeur d’Alene at East Valley, Bellermine Prep at Gonzaga Prep and Post Falls at Rogers. Plus, we’ll head over to Seattle on Saturday to watch Mead take on Camas in Qwest Stadium.
It’s not all about high school football, though. On Tuesday we will preview the area college volleyball teams. On Wednesday we will take a sneak peak at the college soccer teams and on Thursday on the Prep Page, we will preview the area volleyball teams. The following Tuesday the high school soccer scene will be highlighted. Cross country will be the focus of the Prep Page on Sept. 9.
It’s not all about athletic events, though. On Sept. 16, look for our annual hunting guide. Outdoors editor Rich Landers is busy putting it all together. Mr. Versatile, Jeff Bunch, will design the hunting section, work night shifts on the desk and follow the Spokane Chiefs through training camp as they prepare for the season opener on Sept. 20.
Do you think now would be a good time to ask for more staff?
It’s all online
In addition to our print coverage, check out The Spokesman-Review Web site (spokesmanreview.com) for all of the high school schedules, results and standings. You will be able to access the results of all the local football, soccer, volleyball and cross country events that are officially reported to The Spokesman-Review sports desk. Within minutes of those results being reported, the information will be on the Web.
In an effort to boost the sports presence on the Web, we will also have two local blogs. Our Washington State beat writer Glenn Kasses will keep online readers up-to-date on news from Pullman and prep editor Vince Grippi will keep up on the high school scene.
In the very near future, look for the re-design of our online sports page at spokesman-review.com/sports.
As always, your questions and comments are welcome.