Hey all, there have been a couple fan rumblings about getting something on the blog, which means people are getting into soccer mode. That’s good.

You’ll get your wish tomorrow. The preseason coaches meeting is tomorrow at 6:30. I plan to be there. There should be plenty to talk about then. One of the things I’ll tackle is the new league alignments, which are completely different than last year. So expect to see that at least, plus whatever else comes out of the meeting.

Readers should know that The Journal News is undergoing a lot of changes right now. Most of you are aware that the newspaper industry isn’t doing so well right now. The Journal News is no exception. We’ve had to make a lot of cutbacks over the last few months. Some of my colleagues and friends have lost their jobs. One of those was Jeff Gold, who covered girls soccer last year and was a contributor to this blog.

August has brought further change. We are still sorting through personnel issues today. Unfortunately this has brought us close to the school year. Normally at this time we would be talking to coaches and players, blogging regularly, and working on preview sections for the newspaper. Because of our restructuring, reporters have not been given those responsibilities yet because few are sure how it’s going to shake out.

This is why the blog has been quiet. I can’t even promise you that I’ll be the boys soccer beat writer this fall. I hope I am but there are no guarantees. I asked special permission to attend the preseason soccer meeting because it’s so important, but beyond that I make no promises.

The football blog has been active for a few reasons. First, because football starts practice earlier than the other sports. Second, because football writer Kevin Devaney is the one person in the department who can be sure what sport he will cover in the fall. Third, because like it or not football is top dog in this area. Football brings in more readers and has more interest than any other high school sport. Fans of other sports don’t like it but it’s true.

Please give us a little patience as we sort things out. Sports editor Susie Arth is committed to local sports and I know that as soon as things stabilize she will give soccer the attention it deserves. We will definitely have the situation sorted out before the fall season begins. Just bear with us and keep checking back. I’ll update you as soon as I have information about anything soccer-related.