The lure of Friday night

Posted at 10:15 AM on August 21, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Sports

We're told fairly often that the public radio audience isn't interested in sports, but a National Public Radio project might cut through that.

"Friday Night Life" is going to chronicle the culture of high school football:

NPR correspondents Tom Goldman and Mike Pesca will report from around the country from sweltering practices in August through the state championships in November. They'll report from communities big and small. They'll cover the games -- and also tell stories of the athletes and schools, the families and communities who participate.

What you have to love is the network's intention to use social media to help tell the story:

Share Using Twitter:

Tag your tweets #nprfootball.

Share Using YouTube:

Tag your videos with the keyword nprfootball.

Share Using Flickr:

Step 1: If you're not a member yet, join Flickr. It doesn't cost anything to join, though if you want to use it to share a lot of photos -- i.e., hundreds or thousands -- you may want to purchase a Pro account.

Step 2: Upload pics you'd like to share with the Friday Night Lives group. (If you're having trouble uploading, consult Flickr's help guide.)

Step 3. Go to the Friday Night Lives group and click "join this group." Confirm your membership.

Step 4: Find a photo from your collection that you'd like to add to the group. Between the title of the photo and the photo itself, you'll see a series of tabs. Click "Send to Group," then select "Friday Night Lives."

They might want to start in Hawaii where the high school football season was going to be pushed to afternoons to save money on the cost of lights. Businesses stepped forward with the cash, however.

They might stop in North Carolina where a man who's been coaching for 40 years, makes his post-cancer debut tonight.

No doubt they'll end up in Parkersburg, Iowa, where the high school team will play its first season without coach Ed Thomas, who was shot and killed at the school earlier this summer.

I know what some of you public radio types are thinking. And, no, there are no known plans to chronicle the culture of debating teams or chem classes.

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Comments (6)

Whoa -- lots of "public radio types" enjoy watching high school football and other school sports. At its best, it's all about community!

Posted by LK | August 21, 2009 10:56 AM

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I refuse to believe that, LK. We all know that Friday night is for rereading The Aeneid.

Posted by Bob Collins | August 21, 2009 11:10 AM

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Are they going to include the marching bands? ; )

Posted by Heather | August 21, 2009 11:16 AM

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I refuse to be profiled. (MPR member and american football fan)

It would be interesting to listen to some good high school debates. Couldn't be any worse than the all-star-wrestiling style of most political shows currently being broadcast.

Posted by kennedy | August 21, 2009 4:54 PM

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For those who don't know, "I like to watch football" is code in public radio for "please don't spill the humus on my Prius." (g)

Posted by Bob Collins | August 21, 2009 7:16 PM

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...humus...very nice. Took me a week to stop grinning.

Though, for football I prefer organic tortilla chips and salsa. Home made salsa, with ingredients from the farmer's market carried home in my macrame bag stained with fair trade coffee.

o.k. it's usually a couple microwaved hot dogs and a mass produced beer

Posted by kennedy | August 27, 2009 4:45 PM

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