Letter from the Editor
Each week IHSFW.com's Editor-in-Chief Vincent Johnson will be bringing his thoughts on topics & events in the world of high school football to this page. Read what he has to say, then feel free to chime in on the IHSFW.com message board to give your own thoughts.

Fans Know More than the Press (9/9/07)

It's a big state out there and if there is one thing I have found out in the 8 years I've been running this site is that collectively the fans know more than the press.

I travel all around the state and in week 1 this year I had most likely seen more games/ teams play than most of you that read this will see in a season (7 games/14 teams), but you know more than we do. So don't be afraid to email, call or walk up to a reporter at the next game you're at and let them know about your team.

The fact of the matter is you've got us beat when it comes to your team.

Don't get me wrong here, I don't think anyone out there should go up and challenge Sun Times high school guru & legend Taylor Bell to a game of Trivial Pursuit "Illinois High School Edition", but Taylor, along with the rest of us have learned a thing or two from listening to the fans.

Everything from rankings to coverage can be influenced by the fans. With 550 schools playing football some of the good one slip through unoticed. Let us know.

Did your team win a big game? Nominate them for Team of the Week.

Is there a player on your team that had an incredible game? Nominate them for Player of the Week.

Think we missed your team in the Big 30? Talk about it on our message board.

Here's a short list of things I've learned from fans over the year;
In 2000 by week 5 lots of fans had already emailed to tell me about Harrisburg, that team would go 14-0 and win the 3A state title, maybe on of the most dominate small school teams over the last 10 years.

We started getting word about Hubbard's Robert Hughes during his sophomore year. Hughes is now at Notre Dame.

2006 state champs Maroa-Forsyth, we were there during week 3 2005, Luke Hockaday's junior season, because of fan tips.

These and countless other stories all came from you the fan, so don't think you're being a homer if you want us to know about your school. Just email us.

Road Trip; Send me to your school

Week 4 is coming up and that means road trip, if you think you've got a good match up this week or you just want me to see your team post up on the message board or send me off an email. Friday & Saturday.

Also, is there a local restaurant that has "good eatin's", let me know. I'll be making a list of great places to visit for fans before and after games.

Vincent D. Johnson
Editor-in-Chief/IHSFW.com