JOSH RICHERT | Gazette's annual football magazine coming next week

Every summer, much of July and August for the Texarkana Gazette sports dept. is dedicated to our annual special section for the upcoming football season. This year, while most everything else has been been altered by COVID-19, was no different for my staff and I.

Along with advertising sales, photography and production depts., the sports dept. contacts local and area coaches for every school in the area, and along with those coaches' help we highlight the teams and players who could make impacts this fall on the gridiron.

The Audible is set to be published Thursday, Aug. 27 with Fouke opening its season that night against Mountain View in Conway.

Most of the other schools will begin their seasons on Friday. One of the only differences for putting together this year's edition was most Gazette employees continue to work remotely (from home) as our offices have yet to be opened back up to the public, and those able to work remotely greatly reduces interaction and possible contact with someone who may have been exposed to the coronavirus.

Some of those precautions will also be in place for stadiums as the season begins. Neither Texas nor Arkansas has been cleared to seat the stadiums at capacity. What this is going to mean is no more "standing room only" crowds at big games.

It means someone or multiple persons - waiting in line for a ticket on Friday night will likely be turned away because the venue has reached the limit of persons allowed in, based on the percentage of occupancy the state's will allow at that time.

It's going to go one of two ways, I imagine. One, people get irritated and football fans aren't ashamed to broadcast their irritations, or two, public venue regulations and guidelines will go out the window and crowds will be able to file into stadiums with no limit on number.

Honestly, neither of these are a great scenario, but I believe the latter to be less volatile than the first. If people want to pack in, shoulder to shoulder, side by side with strangers to watch a high school game, let them.

I mean, they're only putting themselves at risk, right? Well, themselves and their family members who they are around every day. OK, themselves, their family members and anyone they work with closely.

But chances are their kid is out there playing, or at least in uniform on the sidelines. They deserve to be there to cheer on their team.

Granted, if they pack the stadiums, and those people put themselves, their family members and coworkers at risk, and there's a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in that county, because it was a rivalry game that no one wanted to miss, the school district may have to shut down.

The high schools suspend on-campus classes for two weeks. And it's another month before football is even allowed to resume any semblance of a schedule. Would it be worth it?

So maybe restrictions on the number of fans in the stands does make a little sense. Maybe everyone needs to be a little understanding that if you want football to go on, there's going to be some sacrifices made the top being how many will get to actually sit and watch each game.

If you want to be one of those, get your tickets early and show up early. If you don't, and you are one turned away, act like your parents raised you right. Can we all agree on this aspect, at least?

Good luck to all the teams in the area. We hope each and everyone of you are able to complete your season, without interruption, and that those associated with the team, players, coaches, etc. stay healthy and safe and enjoy The Audible.

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