It’s one of the longest but most enjoyable work days of the year for me.
For the 16th straight year, on the first day Tennessee high school football teams can practice in pads, I crammed as many visits into the day as possible. The result was 20 area teams visited (19 in Tennessee), 286 total miles logged, a heat index that topped out near 105 and plenty of curse words yelled by coaches, players and myself along the way.
There were two Hamilton County schools I couldn’t visit – Red Bank, which was away at a team camp out of town, and Brainerd, which closed its practices to the public and media.
My son was supposed to ride along to keep me company and drive so I could write along the way, but apparently the 5 a.m. wake-up call was too much to ask of a 20-something who had a full weekend. So off I went, solo.
(All times Eastern)