Football: Speed is of the essence and the main topic for our special football section that will be inserted into Thursday’s paper.

The section features players of speed from every local college team and every local high school league.

The section will also have scouting reports for each high school league and schedules for every team. There is also a complete team-by-team FBS schedule.

GU women face Stanford again

Women’s basketball: Two traditional national powers highlight the schedule for the Gonzaga women’s basketball team, which is gunning for its eighth straight West Coast Conference title and fourth berth to the NCAA tournament.

After opening at home Nov. 11 against Hofstra, which features sophomore Katie Loper of Post Falls, the Zags play at Stanford, which eliminated them in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament last March.

Gonzaga gets Portland State, USC, Eastern Washington at home and goes to Idaho and Washington State. The Bulldogs meet Georgia in Las Vegas in December.

Conference play, which includes newcomer Brigham Young, starts Dec. 29 in Portland.

Dave Trimmer

NFL kicks off with Kid Rock

NFL: Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum and Maroon 5 will play the “NFL Kickoff 2011” concert outside Lambeau Field before the Green Bay Packers’ Sept. 8 opener against the New Orleans Saints.

The concert will take place on a stage adjacent to Lambeau Field, continuing the NFL’s recent tradition of big-name musical acts playing before the first game of the season.

Associated Press