From the notebook.............*With only two short weeks remaining until the official start of the 2010 MAIS football season coaching staffs are in the process of planning and preparing for the August 20th start. The same can be said for Southern Sports & Travel as improvements have been made in preparation for the upcoming year. Improvements such as a new web design, audio clips, video highlights, Facebook page specifically for game photos, player profiles and a wider coverage to include all four MAIS classes. These improvements are part of a long range plan to provide not only quality coverage of MAIS athletics but also highlight the many gifted coaches and athletes in the association.
*Big “Shout Out” for former MAIS standouts Witt Haggard of Lamar and Pack Toler of Jackson Prep. Both Haggard and Toler are officially Ole Miss Rebels. Haggard is a quarterback and Toler is listed as a safety on the Rebel’s roster.
*One topic that repeatedly comes up in many of my conversations about the upcoming football season is the desire to move the season back to begin on the first Friday of September. I’ve yet to hear a serious counter to that suggestion. The MAIS wisely nixed the state basketball playoff format that was introduced last season and put the previous format back into place. Many hope serious consideration will be put upon the need to revamp the early start of football season as well.
*I’ve received several calls regarding player profile videos and what I can now say with confidence is that there are two methods in which the profiles can be posted. Videos can be uploaded to YouTube and then published on Southern Sports & Travel or completed player profile videos on DVD can be mailed to me and I’ll post them.
*The 2010 Football Preview will be posted on Tuesday. Many hours of sending faxes and making phone calls over the past two weeks have produced good results in the area of gathering information but there is still work to be done. Phone calls, messages and multiple faxes have been sent to all 89 MAIS schools participating in football.
*Another new feature for the 2010 football season is the “Fast Facts” links on the right sidebar of the website. These links provide tidbits of information about all the teams and the hope is to have the links 100% complete by August 20th.
*Many thanks to the schools that have purchased sponsorship ads to help Southern Sports & Travel continue to grow. Without continued support this site will obviously fail to provide coverage to MAIS athletics. To purchase an ad please email me at aafandaman@yahoo.com for rates.
*Beginning in two weeks I’ll be a weekly regular on Sportstalk 107.7 fm. I’ll be discussing MAIS football with Robbie Hamilton either on Tuesday or Wednesday mornings. We’ll discuss the previous weeks’ big matchups and the ones upcoming. Might even include some predictions. Sportstalk 107.7 fm provides a live internet stream and their link is posted on Southern Sports & Travel.
*Southern Sports & Travel featured games for the first three weeks are already in the books. Week one will feature Oak Forest at Centreville….Week two will be Washington at River Oaks….Week three will feature two matchups: Riverfield at Brookhaven and Central Hinds at Lamar.
*Live scores will be posted each Friday night. Please email me at aafandaman@yahoo.com or text me at 985-750-3455 if you can provide scores on game nights.
