Gerber: Football fever in area schools and citywide video of Chattanooga

photo Alison Gerber

Are you ready for some football?

In case you missed our prep football special section, which published Friday, catch it online at timesfreepress.com/news/sports/preps. Our sports editors, writers, designers and staff photographers worked hard to cover a lot of ground. There are 72 pages packed with information on 58 high school teams, reports on our area's best prospects, dozens of photos and more. The preview includes the rosters of area teams with more than 1,000 names of high school players trying to make their Friday night memories last a lifetime.

And if you're a college fan - and who isn't around here, right? - pick up the paper on Sunday, Aug. 25, for our 40-page college football preview section, featuring stories, schedules, the latest depth charts and break downs on the Vols, Bulldogs, Tide and Mocs. Plus, we'll publish all the schedules for the major college football programs around the country, quick-hit previews of all the area schools and get the thoughts on the upcoming season from staff writers Mark Wiedmer and David Paschall, the only two sports media members in the area with a Heisman Trophy ballot.

And for schedules for local high schools, SEC teams and the Titans, Falcons, Braves and Lookouts, visit http://timesfreepress.com/sports/schedules.

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Reporter Mary Helen Miller has spent that last few weeks doing a high-tech version of weaving and knitting.

Miller, a multimedia reporter at the Times Free Press, has been piecing together video clips into a short film that documents a day in Chattanooga. She experimented in crowdsourcing - the practice of soliciting contributions from a large group of people - and asked residents to send in clips documenting the events in their lives on July 18. The idea is to capture the moments big and small that make up an ordinary day.

See her video tapestry at www.timesfreepress.com/oneday.

And if you're a fan of video, please take a look at photojournalist Dan Henry's time-lapse video of the construction of three colossal crosses along Interstate 75 at the Crossing Church. The crosses - a 125-foot-high cross, the tallest in the area, and two 100-foot crosses - are visible from I-75 near the Bonny Oaks Drive exit. You can watch them go up in just 59 seconds at timesfreepress.com/cross.

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Readers haven't been shy about sharing their opinions on the newspaper's new look. Fortunately, our black-and-white section fronts and weather page are temporary.

The changes you see in the paper lately are the result of a massive construction project under way at our offices on East 11th Street. We're putting in new printing presses that will allow color on almost every page. But meanwhile, you'll notice smaller type size, sections fronts devoid of color and a Life section that is smaller in width and length.

Unfortunately, progress is sometimes painful. Just think of it as our Highway 27 project - a hassle right now but a better road (and better newspaper) when it's all done.

In the meantime, thanks for your patience.

Alison Gerber is editor of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Reach her at agerber@timesfreepress.com.

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