News from the week

Another week of prep football. We're already approaching Week 4 and some teams are starting region play. Now, it gets even more interesting.

Last week, I was at the West Jordan at Olympus game. I covered the game for the Deseret News and wrote one of my better articles. I started the season slowly, but I'm getting into it now. All of my articles have been on the D-News web site only, but perhaps they'll see that I'm improving. I have over 15 years of sports writing experience. Every week, I should be doing the job well.

West Jordan-Oly was a good game. I usually stand on the sidelines. In the third quarter, I switched over to the Oly sideline and saw a man I knew. It was Shane Smith. Shane is the head custodian at my kids' elementary school. But he also is an assitant coach at Oly. We talked for a while. I see him at my kids' school frequently, so now we have more in common.

West Jordan is 3-0, but I learned this week that its football stadium has been undergoing renovations and still isn't finished. Athletic Director Dan Cowan said the school is putting in new bleachers and a new track, and it's still not done. Cowan was pretty upset on the phone. So, this week's game against Taylorsville will be a road game for the Jaguars. That's tough.

It seems that stadium problems are rampant here. Last year, it was Jordan. This year, it's Judge Memorial, Bingham and now West Jordan.

"The district just wants to keep improving our facilities, and this is just a hardship," Cowan said. "But they (the construction company) have had more than enough time."

West Jordan only had three home games this year - now the most it will have is two, unless the Jags make it to the postseason.

* - Every week, I have to deliver game programs to the schools. Currently, there is heavy road construction on 10400 South (near Bingham) and 3600 West (near Granger). You would think roads near schools would undergo construction during the summer, when school is not in session. Granger has had four home games to start this season, so I have been by there every Thursday or so this last month. I still can't see where the construction company has made any progress.

* - The big game this week is Bingham vs. Jordan because the Miners' are inaugurating their new stadium, with all its amenities. I've never covered a game at Bingham. I'll be at Brighton, which is hosting Spanish Fork. Other good games are Highland at East, Logan at Judge Memorial (being played at Juan Diego) and Kearns at Lehi. I'm also anxious to see if West Jordan improves to 4-0. With the Jags playing all their games on the road so far, that's a great story.

* - The game to miss is probably Cottonwood at Murray. I covered that game last year, when it was at Cottonwood, and the Colts won 47-0. Frankly, it wasn't that close. Cottonwood linebacker Lynn Katoa was all over the field. He earned a scholarship to the Univ. of Colorado. I figure Cottonwood will do the same thing to Murray this year.