The Williamsport Sun-Gazette is pleased to present "Football Fever 2012: Hunger Pains," a 96-page, full-color, glossy magazine devoted to previewing the upcoming high school football season.
The 96-page glossy hits stores this week, selling for $4.95. It is available at Wal-Mart, Wegmans, Weis Markets and the Sun-Gazette starting Monday.
The goal of "Football Fever 2012" is to give fans a head start on the high school football season, as preseason camps open Monday. It contains previews of all 17 area teams, plus feature stories on people and issues of interest.
It also is a far more complete football preview product than the Sun-Gazette ever has offered.
The Sun-Gazette always has sought a solution to satisfying both football fans and those interested in the Little League World Series, which runs during most of the preseason, according to sports editor Ben Brigandi.
This is a bold venture that provides more complete information at the outset of the preseason, rather than waiting until the season opener to publish a preseason special section in the newspaper, he added.
"The award-winning sports reporters at the Sun-Gazette have always provided this area's best local high school sports coverage," said Sun-Gazette Publisher Bernard A. Oravec. "Now we can showcase these 'experts' in a highly collectible and easy-to-read football magazine."
Schools featured in "Football Fever 2012" are:
Williamsport;
Montoursville;
Loyalsock Township;
Jersey Shore;
South Williamsport;
Hughesville;
Central Mountain;
Lewisburg;
Montgomery;
Warrior Run;
Canton;
Milton;
Muncy;
Bucktail;
Wellsboro;
North Penn; and
Cowanesque Valley.
Each school has dedicated pages detailing top returning players, plus "can't miss games" and some of the Sun-Gazette sports staff's top memories of each school.
The cover showcases two of the area's top returning players in Devin Miller, of Williamsport, and Brandon Smith, of Lewisburg, along with South Williamsport cheerleader Mackenzie Miller.
"I am confident our readers will really enjoy this new magazine," Oravec said. "It has the qualities of a national magazine, but with great local information about our high school teams, written by the reporters who know them best."
The Sun-Gazette also is pleased to resume End Zone Extra this fall, which will run Friday through Sunday. Each Friday, beginning Aug. 31, the sports staff will preview all of the games for each area high school football team.
Each Saturday, beginning Sept. 1, the Sun-Gazette will provide full coverage of the games.
Each Sunday's End Zone Extra will cover the Penn State football games.
