Hey, it’s 2024, and nothing says “high school football” than mid-friggin’-August, huh?

Granted, it’s been a less mean summer than usual, fewer days of walking to the mailbox and having a film of annoying sweat on you by the time you’re back inside.

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

But it’s still the middle of August and, even more absurdly, many kids will have been in school for about two weeks at this point.

Brutal.

So let’s go straight into a football-only stream of Loughdmouthings consciousness.

Future sermons will include annoyance at the GHSA sticking to eight regions per classification when one classification has nothing to do with another, especially with Class A (all of which is another debate).

But, man, these Central Georgia regions are going to be tight and full of surprises.

Sure, the convoluted power rating system for Class A/Division I through Class AAA won’t even be worth worrying about – like the playoff ratings in college – until past the halfway point of the season, but it’ll make for some serious scoreboard-watching and calculating in late October.

Some teams that normally squeeze – often undeserving of the label “playoff team” - into the postseason because of a weak or small region will sit home, and good teams heretfor stuck at home can keep playing.

Which means we’ll see fewer routs and more good games in the first round of the public version of A-AAA in the postseason.

Now, we have this system because folks panicked after one year – one year – after the last reclassification. So you can assume there’ll be handwringing and changes with the next reclassification..

Hopefully, those making decisions – which are not 15 people in Thomaston but representatives from every region in the state – will eventually realize the need for a power system all the way through.

If, of course, fairness is important. …

Let’s wait until the first week is in the books before pondering who has a shot to make a run to a state championship game. …

Dear beloved Friday night gamecasters: Being in love with your voices shouldn't prevent telling us the dang score in a 10-minute period. Sponsors won't be offended by scores. And relevant stuff can still get shared by the golden voices. Indeed. Really. (Repost/share as needed to the offending parties. Please) …

Remember, whether it’s from your team or not, take “commitments” with a grain of salt. If you criticize, criticize consistently.

For one, they’re not commitments much any more, Kids, just say you’re announcing your first commitment, toward your initial signing day.

For two, the more drama these attention-getting kids hype on social media, the less substance involved. Keep on eye on that. How impactful in college are the kids who spend two years all but begging for hugs and attention –and, well, money – from fan bases on social media?

People start to need questioning coaches and players on signing day about those sports “lessons” that are decreasingly lessons, like working hard and battling through adversity and being a good teammate and getting better.

“If you don’t start right away, are you going to look to leave or are you going to be mature and realize the truth and try to get better??

And coaches should stop recruiting players who they don’t think can answer that question properly, because there’s enough talent out there that can probably answer that question properly. …

Memo to all high school stadium public address announcers: It’s OK to be an adult and mature. It’s OK to not say “Let’s check the flag” after every single penalty because, well, you have no choice. It’s OK to not infer ref incompetence when you have no idea of the rules. …

For the 83rd year, bands aren’t supposed to play when teams are at the line of scrimmage. For the 83rd year, 67 percent of bands will play when they’re not supposed to.

Refs must like the music. …

Dear GHSA, the records from last for scores of teams are off. Plus, it’s time to ditch the column that has records within classification. Tis irrelevant to civilians. Accuracy, though, is relevant.

Records have been a little bit of an issue for awhile. Also, making official and public games that are forfeits – so it shows up in the Georgia High School Football Historians Association website we all love and consul daily – is a good thing, too. …

When you don’t care who wins, things are interesting and entertaining.

And maaaaan, some of the Central Georgia regions are going to be a blast to watch.

First on the list in Region 2-A/Division I.

Dublin isn’t far removed from a state championship. ACE Charter is now a playoff program. Bleckley County and Northeast are getting annoyed at their inability to get over playoff humps.

Washington County is annoyed at having gone backwards since some fascinating political machinations. Dodge County had a rare stumble last year but will be back to being playoff caliber.

All six will be in the playoff hunt in the new GHSA playoff format for Class A/I to AAA, sponsored by Advil, Jack Daniel’s, the nearest CBD gummy store, and Pepto Bismol.

Southwest was next on the list, but without QB Chase Dupree and four games to start the season against teams that went 10-3, 8-3, 9-3, and 9-3 last year, contention will be tough.

I do despise 10-team regions, and the GHSA absolutely must find a way to eliminate that. May make life in Thomaston a little more difficult, but teams sure would like to be able to schedule a money game to go with another non-region game.

The overall combined record from last year in total isn’t that great, but, but it’s a region with two 9-3s, two 8-3s, and a 6-5. That’s jammed.

In Region 1-5A, good grief. That group went 56-21. And we get Perry-Warner Robins for the first time since the 1960s.

You want a stupid region? Welcome to 2-5A.

A pair of 15-0s (Coffee and Thomas County Central), a 10-3, and a 9-3.

Good luck, Veterans and Northside. Ouch.

Very, very few of the dozen GHSA regions with Central Georgia teams aren’t pretty jammed with either plenty of playoff-caliber teams or plenty of parity. Once October gets here, more games will have serious playoff implications than not. …

Hey, kid, before you offer the grateful commitment, please, check out the name of the school before you thumb your plans. Please. Adults, dive in and edit before a kid posts, so a kid looks like he has a clue (by simply using the right name of the school).

And you are supposed to capitalize God’s name and references. …

The gathering of teams at Fort Valley State this weekend will be interesting, for all sorts of reasons, football and otherwise.

The reality – hype and hyperbole aside – is for four games, Bibb County is highly likely to finish second in attendance, and none of the six games will have anywhere near the hoped-for crowds, because of program history, cost of attendance, travel to another county for a county event, parking fees few were told about ($10 or 20, $100 for tailgating, $200 for RVs), not much ticket info, no cash sales, everything having to be done online before the game, and little public info on it until a few weeks ago.

That, and, well, the only matchups with teams that had winning records in 2023 are Macon County-Southwest and Perry-Baldwin.

Crowds for local games are depressing enough - sometimes embarrassing - when the games are in town, so how many folks are going to drive 35-40 miles for, well, a Bibb County event not in Bibb County?

The best matchup is Perry and Baldwin, a pair of former region rivals. Baldwin may bring some folks happy with new blood on the sidelines, and hopeful with the possibility of knocking off the defending 4A champ. Peach County needs to show up in the stands to get some momentum against a good team that may have a chip on its shoulder. Howard and Westside are pretty even.

Of the four games – excluding Perry-Baldwin and Howard-Westside – Bibb County is a Maxwell Ratings underdog by 31, 14, 3, and 34 points. …

A high five, fist bumps, thumbs up to the teams that play inter-association games, i.e. GHSA vs. GIAA.

Tattnall has certainly not run from anybody the past few years, taking on GHSA teams making state championship games. This week, FPD is venturing outside. Coming up: Stratford-Wilkinson County, FPD-Marion County, Brentwood-GMC Prep.

Always nice to see some unclenching, some hutzpah, some open minds in scheduling.

The GHSA teams worrying about a loss to a GIAA team? Stop. A loss in September to a good team – labels don’t necessarily dictate things - that makes your team better down the line is a positive.

And ask the fans if they rather win that September game and lose down the line or in the playoffs (while stifling the urge to bop them on the head). …

Just because you didn’t see it – be you with headphones and a mic or just in the stands – doesn’t mean it wasn’t a penalty. Flags happen far away from the ball all the time. …

Yes, the Macon Touchdown Club needs to figure out a way to get the doubleheader going again, suck up some conceptions and mindsets and whatevers.

Yes, at Ed DeFore. Yes, teams will want to play because of the financial boost they get under the Club’s fiscal format, and positive experiences in the past. Yes, because a stadium with fewer empty seats is better than a bigger stadium with more empty seats. …

Good to see more work done at McConnell-Talbert (which no, people, does not seat 12,000 tushies). Now, if somebody can sponsor an elevator on the visitor’s side, that would be outstanding. …

Dear Fridaynightstreamingscreamers: You're not getting paid by how many words a minute you can blur, nor by volume, so, slower and lower. Nobody's getting a coaching job from what they say on Friday night. And as always - stunningly - time & score in & out of every single break. …

The more people talk about unbelievable crowds and a big stage and incredible atmosphere, expect major disappointment. Reality always beats wishful thinking and hyperbole. Reality is worth considering. …

It’s kind of amazing that Perry and Warner Robins haven’t played football since 1965. Gerald Weeks was Warner Robins’ head coach, and went 1-9 in his only season in the job (at Warner Robins or anywhere else), Joe Sumrall taking over and going 1-9 in his first year on the job.

The Demons are on their ninth head coach since then.

Herb St. John was in his 12th season with the Panthers, with three left to go. Perry has, ahem, been through 12 head coaches since then, until Kevin Smith - another year, and Smith’s birthday might become a public giving-thanks day in Perry - took over in 2017. …

Pay attention to players in high school who have their hands out. Just like with college players sticking their hands out, you’re unlikely to see great or consistent play.

Team players don’t have their hands out, especially before they’ve done a damn thing. …

Nugget: The county of Houston has had four GHSA state champions in the last decade, in 2023 (Perry, 4A), 2021 and ’22 (Warner Robins, 5A), and 2014 (Northside, 5A). …

Let’s get the first week out of the way before pondering who might be able to make a run toward a state championship game. The first week must be taken with a grain of salt, for it defines nothing but the first week.

Still, we’ll finally have seen something, figured out who had the good summer, wait on teams who need a few games under their belts for an identity to form.

The season is long at its start, seems short at its conclusion, and inspiring of examination and discussion in the middle.