(Lots of) Lights, Camera, Football Friday Action!

We are set – at least at the moment – for this week’s Football Friday as we kick off our 27th season.

We plan on having cameras at 28 games involving teams from 18 counties in our viewing area.

Here are the games we are planning to cover on Aug. 24.

Middle Creek at Garner

Green Hope at Durham Jordan

Enloe at Athens Drive

Leesville Road at Cary

E.E. Smith at Seventy-First

C.B. Aycock at Clayton

Wilson Hunt at Rocky Mount

Smithfield-Selma at Nash Central

Goldsboro at Eastern Wayne

Apex at Broughton

Warren County at Durham Hillside

South View at Gray’s Creek

Jack Britt at Pine Forest

Fuquay-Varina at Harnett Central

South Johnston at West Johnston

Panther Creek at Sanderson

Bunn at Southern Nash

Wake Forest-Rolesville at East Wake

Wakefield at Holly Springs

Cardinal Gibbons at Southern Lee

North Moore at Princeton

Southeast Raleigh at Northern Vance

Ravenscroft at Louisburg

Northwood at Western Harnett

Oxford Webb at Person

Northwest Halifax at Northampton West

Weldon at Roanoke Rapids

Pinecrest at Union Pines

Any mistakes in the schedule, please let us know.

As I’ve stated before, getting scores from the games can be a chore, so we’d appreciate all calls. Our toll free number is 1-888-472-9725. That is the best way to ensure that your team’s score makes it on the air, and it sure helps us out.

Now last year, after 10 years of having different schools as our guests to watch the show, we had to vacate our home in Studio A because WRAL became the home station for the North Carolina Education Lottery, and they took over that studio for their nightly drawings.

So, we did the program from our news set, which unfortunately meant we couldn’t have a studio audience anymore. I missed so much the energy and enthusiasm that the students brought, but I thought we had a good season. Having the show in the newsroom allowed us to do everything in high definition, and it did work out.

Well, we will again do the program from the newsroom, but with a twist. It came from our “idea people” and was hatched while I was on vacation last week.

Now, you’ve all seen Greg Fishel, Mike Maze and Elizabeth Gardner do the weather. They stand in front of what we call “the weather wall.” The maps and animations that you see behind them are actually being projected on television in a process called chroma-key while they stand in front of a green background.

It has been decided that we will do Football Friday from the weather wall. So on Friday night around 11.20, you’ll see Greg doing the weather. Soon as he’s through, and during the ensuing commercial breaks and Jeff’s sports, our crack studio crew will be setting up Football Friday. So while Jeff is doing his sportscast, there will be mass confusion going on about 10 feet away. Good thing he is the pro that he is.

A 30-minute show has never been done from this part of the newsroom, so it will be interesting. I will tell you this: the lights over there are really bright – I mean really bright. I don’t know how those weather guys do it. I will try not to squint and will have my sunglasses handy. We took just a one-week lease on  this location. It's renewable, but The Fish drives a hard bargain, and we'll see how it goes.

So lots of light, camera, action.