Sports

Change in the air

Danny Aller

During the past year and a half that I've been your sports editor, I, unlike some before me, haven't been one to write a ton of columns.

It's not that I can't.

Or lack the desire.

Or even that I don't have anything interesting to say. (I'm guessing my winning the Georgia Sportswriters Association's "Best Sports Columnist" award  this past year gives me the right to say that for at least six more months, right?).

Anyway, it's just that most times, the limited space our sports section has each day is often better used for more actual news of that day, rather than mine, or one of our staff writer's opinions on, say,  Barry Bonds, Big Brown or Brett Favre.

But in honor of football season and the never-ending variance of opinion

that comes with it, that — along with many things around your Herald sports department — is about to change.

 During the next few months, and along with staff writers Paul Dehner Jr., Scott Chancey and Derek Barichello, I am also going to get back to flexing some column muscle on things happening within both the local and national sports world, as well keeping readers up-to-date with all the new and exciting changes coming to our paper in the next year, all of which will have an impact on your sports section.

Plus, as someone pointed out to me the other day, if I want to defend my "Best Columnist" title, I gotta get out there put up the dukes.

And don't worry: This year, I promise I'll delve beyond calling out Michael Vick, the South Coast League and Wally Backman; or talking it up on U.S. women's soccer, the latest "Fight of the Year," candidate or Florida State football.

It'll just be the first of many changes about to take place.

COVERING THE BIG 4 BETTER

This change comes for all those readers who wrote me during the college football offseason and wondered why we touted our paper as covering the "Big 4" — Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn and Florida State — when in reality, our coverage at times was heavy on the Bulldogs, and not so much on everyone else.

 As a result, this offseason our staff has made arrangements to bring you not only the same thorough Georgia Bulldogs coverage this paper has maintained for years, but we've managed to find ways to ramp up our coverage of the other three. While Paul Dehner Jr. — only the second staff member in The Herald sport section's history to win an APSE Award, doing so earlier this year — will handle our UGA football beat this season, we've worked out a trade of material with our sister newspaper, The Gwinnett Daily Post in Lawrenceville, for stories each week on Georgia Tech.

We'll be in Athens, they'll be Atlanta. It's perfect harmony.

As for Florida State and Auburn, longtime Albany State beat writer Scott Chancey — who will still help watch over the Rams — will now also handle reporting on the Seminoles and Tigers, taking trips to Auburn, Ala., and Tallahassee, Fla., periodically during the season when those teams gear up their biggest games. That way, when former Lee County star D'Vontrey Richardson — maybe one of the best high school football players to ever come out of Southwest Georgia, I am told — begins to make an impact on FSU this season, we'll be there. And when former Westover star Aairon Savage begins rehab from a severe knee injury he suffered late Monday, we'll be there during his journey back.

Albany State, of course, won't be lost in the shuffle. After all, it's Albany State and we're The Albany Herald.

We'd never forget about our Rams.

(The College Pigskin Preview, by the way, comes out Aug. 28 — the night college football season kicks off when Jacksonville State visits Georgia Tech).

PREP PEEK

Taking over the high school beat this year will be our newest staff writer, Derek Barichello, who comes to us from Illinois.

Derek will have an even bigger undertaking this season thanks to the fact we’ve expanded the number of schools we'll cover this year from 21 to 24, adding (back) into the fold, Seminole and Miller counties, and welcoming a new football program going into its first year at Baconton Charter School.

The decision to re-include Seminole and Miller stemmed from a trip I took down to Donalsonville in February to cover the signing of the Indians' star player last year, Bacarri Rambo, who was headed to Georgia.

Upon arriving, I ran into longtime Seminole football coach Alan Ingram, who quickly reminded me — in a friendly manner, of course — "So you guys wanna come down for this, but never to one of our games, huh?" He asked.

"Don't forget, you can go to any gas station in this town, and you'll find an Albany Herald there for sale."

So before I left that day, I checked into Ingram's claim. And sure enough, I went to three stores, and all three sold The Herald.

I can't really explain our gap in coverage last year, other than to say I apologize to all those from Miller and Seminole who missed reading about your teams last season.

We'll do a better job this go round.

Which brings me from the good news to the bad.

Unfortunately — and pay close attention all you Saturday morning high school football armchair quarterbacks — you won't find any of the above information of Seminole, Miller or any other area prep teams in our longstanding special high school football section, "The Pigskin Review."

That's because, effective this season, "The Pigskin Review" will cease to exist. Friday night's coverage of games will now be packaged in our normal sports section right along with Saturday's college football previews.

Sorry for all those who relied on that come Saturday morning, but know this: The great prep football coverage won't change, just the way it’s presented.

(By the way, the High School Pigskin Preview — yes, we still have that — will debut Aug. 23, the day of the season's first game between Bainbridge and Cairo).

LEMME, LEMME UPGRADE YA’

We’re also in the process of a few upgrades these days.

The Herald's sports pages — including our currently average-at-best Web site, Albanyherald.com (remember that address) — are about to look a whole lot better in the near future.

First, the Web site: Not only are we about to overhaul Albanyherald.com (remember that address), but we're doing it in an effort to be more user friendly for you. In sports, that will mean everything from more interactive features that many other national newspapers with well-trafficked Web sites have (can’t go into too much detail about the specifics at the moment, unfortunately), that we’ve been missing.

Albanyherald.com (remember that address) will soon be your one-stop shop for all the daily and up-to-date national news from The Associated Press wires, including breaking headlines.

The new Web site — at Albanyherald.com (remember that address) — will also give us the ability to post breaking local news when it happens, as well as posting updates to those stories as they take place constantly during the day.

And while The Herald already does a fine job of being the first to break most stories around Southwest Georgia, consider this move giving us another leg up.

As for the print version, we're also currently in the process of switching design programs, moving to one that should give The Herald's pages an even better look.

The days are counting down until these things happen.

And when they do, you can probably read all about it on Albanyherald.com (remember that address).

WELL DONE

I just want to end by handing out a few congratulations to several local athletes and teams.

To begin, it was a pleasure to cover coach Derek Stingley and the South Georgia Wildcats in what proved to be yet another record-breaking season.

It's a shame it had to end when — and how — it did.

Best of luck in the offseason to the franchise and we'll (hopefully) see ya’ on the field in 2009.

Secondly, there's an interesting and important local golf story brewing this week on the national level: River Pointe Golf Club pro Sonny Skinner playing in his first major — today's PGA Championship — after an up-and-down 18-year pro career. So join me in rooting on a local boy made good in his quest to fulfill a longtime goal.

Go get ’em, Sonny.

And lastly, big ups to American Legion Post 182 out in Leesburg for bringing the state title back to Southwest Georgia on Monday night. One year after Albany's Post 30 won the crown, Monday's win marked the Post's and coach Steve Glover's first-ever state championship since the group was formed around a decade ago. And with many of those kids likely returning next year, it could be a while before we have to give it back.

Keep up the great work Southwest Georgia sports teams.

And we'll try to keep doing the same.

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