Take a walk through any grocery store, restaurant or shopping center and keep your ears open. Quickly you will realize that magical time of the year has returned - football season.

Even outside of Lawrence County, it is not uncommon to hear someone say, "So, how about those Tigers? Are we going to be undefeated?" or "Boy, those Panthers are going to be good and win the conference again."

Lawrence County high schools take to the gridiron Friday. College and NFL teams will follow in successive weeks. Football fans are often a noticeable and boisterous bunch. Team colors usually show through.

Just like all the football players who have pumped iron in anticipation of kickoff, here at The Ironton Tribune we have been doing lots of work in the off-season ourselves. Sports editor Jimmy Walker has not just sat on his laurels. Walker was not content with what we believe was already the best coverage of our high schools.

No, we are ready for a kickoff of our own and you won't have to wait long for it. In fact, you may have already missed the first quarter. We unveiled our Pigskin Preview 2005 in Wednesday's edition.

It featured a full rundown of what is going on with all seven of Lawrence County's football teams some solid scouting information on a few local rivals such as Wheelersburg and Green.

Like a middle linebacker filling the hole, the hits keep coming fast and furious. In today's edition, you will find our new "Inside the Huddle" high school preview page.

Every Thursday we will give you the scoop on what to look for when the lights come on Friday. Readers can look forward to overviews of all the match-ups, players to watch, an in-depth look at the game of the week and the always-unpredictable Gridiron Goober.

We will continue to provide unparalleled high school football coverage throughout the week but Thursday will be the can't-miss day.

Not that interested in the high school ballers? Don't worry we thought about you as well. Starting Sept. 2, we will have a treat for all the Buckeye fans out there. And we know there are a lot of you.

Each week we will provide a full page dedicated to nothing but Ohio State football. It will offer a little of everything from stats, feature stories, schedules, match-ups and more. We know all those crimson and silver fans will be excited to see what is in store each week.

But don't think that we will forsake Marshall University and local boy Mark Snyder. We have already increased our coverage and will make sure everyone can keep tabs on the progress as Snyder leads the Herd into a new era.

NFL season begins shortly and we will be right there, too. As always we will provide full coverage of the Bengals and Browns. Plus, we will make sure you know what else is going on around the league.

Next Wednesday we will provide a special section focused on college and pro teams of interest.

So if you want to be water cooler MVP with all the facts and figures, there is only one place to turn.

Football season is here. At last.

Michael Caldwell is the managing editor at The Ironton Tribune. To reach him, call (740) 532-1445 ext. 24 or by e-mail at mike.caldwell@irontontribune.com.