In today’s world, in particular today’s high school sports world, you take good news where you can find it. And we got some good news the other day, courtesy of Gov. Pete Ricketts.

It seems a small victory on the cosmic scale but for Nebraska fall sports athletes the chance to get into a weight room in a supervised setting is pretty big on its own merit. There are still social distancing guidelines in place and having 10 or fewer athletes in a weight room will be more easily managed at Potter-Dix than it might be Omaha Burke but at the same time we high school sports fans, players, coaches and assorted other hangers-on are all in this together.

So, we take the new guidelines and run with it.

There was more good news with the governor loosening restrictions on summertime baseball and softball - still not perfect but so much better - and those are the kind of baby steps that can fuel momentum toward our, and I strongly dislike using this phrase, new normal.

While not directly connected it seems like steps like those mentioned above breathe a little air into the sails of the idea of a regular high school football season. By that I mean having the games start on schedule, though that is certainly still very much open for debate, and that doesn’t address the topic of attendance at the games once they begin. Will mommy and daddy get to see Johnny win the big game in person, or will they have to settle for some sort of streaming alternative...or maybe hiding in the family pickup truck on the hill overlooking the field? Just sayin’. It could happen.

Still lots of wood to chop if we are going to have a traditional fall sports season, football in particular, but it feels like we are trending upward in that regard. And this come from a guy who lives in the Central Health District, which our Merrick County shares with Hall County, the leader in the clubhouse for overall confirmed coronavirus cases. We want everybody everywhere - especially in our town, county, state and country - to be well and stay well as soon as possible but with the suggested travel restrictions in place for our health district that is going to curb ol’ @HuskerlandBob’s ability to get out and about this summer.

It already did this spring. By this time I usually have compiled most of our in-person player interviews for feature stories in our magazine but as of today we have completed, let me see now...carry the one...yep, what I thought...none. Doesn’t mean they won’t happen, doesn’t mean there won’t be some sort of furious sprint to the finish to get it all done in time it just means I have not been able to visit a single campus yet this off-season.

Hope that changes real soon.

As for our preseason magazine I continue to plug away on its content and I deeply appreciate the cooperation of so many of our coaches to this point in the game as with all the new rules, regs and teaching methods we have in place it has complicated their professional lives. So, having you all take the time to send your stuff to me is appreciated more than usual, which it say very much.

I am glad you are following along on our website and hope you are enjoying our team previews and other features. We have many more surprises in store but for now I remind us all we are one day closer, and by that I certainly hope that means one day closer to high school fall sports in general, and football in particular.