8/14/2020



          Well it actually looks like we may play some high school football this year in Alabama. The first games are scheduled to begin in just a few days. It will prove to be a very stressful season without a doubt from beginning to end. There are still many questions without an easy answer that will be answered as the season progresses. Hopefully we will be able to hold it all together and most teams will get to play a full schedule or something close to it.

          Around the nation at least 14 states have cancelled the football season or postponed it until spring. North Carolina just decided to move the sport and try again in the spring. Vermont is playing 7-on-7 touch football instead of the traditional eleven man football. Florida decided today to start fall practices Aug. 24. Most states have pushed back the start of their seasons until after the first of September. Only a few states will play their first football games this week or next week..

          We will be making a few adjustments around here at AHSFHS.org to try and make it through the season along with the schools and administrators. I have decided not to do the Computer Ratings simply because I do not see a path to have a rating system that would accurately reflect each team's strength. With so many games being cancelled it would not work well. There is also the fact that some teams may not be playing at full strength at some point during the season. So I think it best if we do not post the ratings this season.

          The second thing would be the scoring averages we produce each week. Only games played will be included. I will need to rewrite some of the script to take out the forfeited games so we get a better picture of each school's offense and defense performances. Some schools may only play a few games while others may play a full schedule so it will be interesting.

          I will not remove the cancelled games on a team's schedule until we have a very clear indication of whether the game was actually cancelled or one team forfeited the contest. That may prove to be more difficult than it would seem on the surface. It is possible that some schools may not agree on whether a game was cancelled or one of the teams forfeited the game. I fell certain over time we will be able to resolve all of these issues. But it may take a few days after some scheduled games to get them resolved with certainty.

          Forfeits will not appear on a team's schedule until at least after the scheduled date of that game. For instance Barbour County will not show the forfeited games until after they were scheduled to be played. If an opponent of Barbour County is able to reschedule a game, then Barbour County will just show an open date for that week.

          I will still post a list of scheduled games each week although some games that appear on the list are cancelled in advance. I know they are cancelled but until we are sure they were not forfeits they will remain on the schedule. I know it is confusing but it is the way it is for now. The Tidbits and Records will still be posted each week. It may be later Sunday before everything is resolved but we will continue to produce the article each week.

          As of this writing many teams are already facing shutdowns and cancellation of games. Our best wishes go out to those teams and coaches. With nearly 400 teams in the state it is impossible to know what is happening at each school with everything changing almost daily. We will do our best to keep you informed throughout the season and hopefully at the end of the year AHSFHS.org will be able to add the 2020 football season to our historical records and move on to better times.

          I am open to suggestions and ideas from everyone on how to get through this. So let me know of your thoughts and ideas by email.

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