Opinion: Don't wish preseason away too quickly

For many of you out there, the last few weeks, days and hours have drug by like the hot August days that we used to experience -- and the cure for this malaise is so tantalizingly close you can literally smell the pigskin.

Sure, you can try to get your fix by watching Canadian football, college football re-runs or -- most painful -- NFL preseason games (such a pale imitation yet so seductively similar to the real thing). But those incarnations only succeed in making the wait for real football seem that much longer.

Yet your sacrifices are minor.

There are plenty of folks out there who have made real sacrifices this summer (and winter and spring for that matter) and are literally aching for the chance for some real football.

Northeast Georgia's high school players and coaches have been waking up early and staying up late -- and cramming plenty of hard work in between -- in preparation for the next three months.

The regular season, and a chance to test themselves and teammates, is just days away -- along with your chance to be along for the ride. (So if you find yourself jonesing for the gridiron too much, just be glad you're not doing it while running your guts out and making sure you stay hydrated.)

In a strange way, however, this football limbo is both the best and worst time for anyone who has ever felt their heart flutter at the sound of shoulder pads popping or caught themselves in a debate over the merits of the modern "spread" offense versus the good-old triple option attack.

Yes the waiting is painful. But think about it; isn't the anticipation a guilty pleasure in and of itself?

Right now, your favorite team -- or the team some of you may play for -- is undefeated. Right now, anything and everything is possible.

Right now, the 2013 season can be even better than 2012.

The odds of three state championships again for northeast Georgia football teams may be pretty long -- or, frankly, quite plausible. But, right now, all seven GHSA titles can reside in the trophy case of your own mind.

OK, so maybe coaches and players aren't allowed to daydream like that -- or at least admit that they might, occasionally, accidentally do so -- but for us fans and reporters there is plenty of opportunity to do so. And the pull of it strengthens with every day that drains toward next week's kickoff (though most area teams will have to wait another week past that).

I can't wait.

There are so many questions to be answered:

-- Can Buford (yet again), Gainesville and Jefferson repeat as state champs?

-- Can North Hall take another step and make the Class AAA championship round?

-- Is Flowery Branch ready to make that trek to the Dome again itself?

-- Will Chestatee and White County maintain last year's forward momentum?

-- Can Jackson County and Rabun County continue the historic surges they began last season? (And will another member of the Flowery Branch coaching tree pull off something similar somewhere else)?

-- With so many area programs in their second season under new head coaches (six of them), will their progression catch opponents by surprise?

-- For that matter, will all those brand new head coaches (eight of them) turn their respective teams around in year one (like what happened in a couple of instances last season)?

-- And, perhaps most intriguing, who will be this year's Cinderella?

We've tried to answer these questions at least a little bit for you in this year's season preview now live on Friday Game Night. But, remember, the real answers can only come in the next few weeks and while some will be great indeed, there's always a few sure to disappoint.

So don't miss a chance to read up, anticipate a little harder and daydream a little longer about what your team might do this season. It's a great guilty pleasure.

-- Morgan Lee is sports editor for Access North Georgia.com

http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/8/264563