Listen to November 7, 2013 High School Football America radio show

This edition of High School Football America features two of the top two teams from different ends of the size spectrum.  First, host Jeff Fisher journeys to Texas to talk with DeSoto head coach Claude Mathis whose team is ranked #5 nationally by High School Football America. 

Then from the the big state of Texas, Fisher heads north to tiny Connecticut to speak with Ansonia High School head coach Tom Brockett.  Ansonia, playing in the state's smallest classification has won 18 state championships - four of them under Brockett.

Listen to High School Football America - December 13th Show

by Jeff Fisher
Editor-in-Chief
High School Football America
Follow @HSFBamerica




If you missed last Thursday's High School Football America show, you missed a good one.  However, if you did, all you have to do to hear it is click-on the "play button or arrow" above to listen whenever you want.

On this show, Jeff Fisher talks with Corona Centennial (California) head coach Matt Logan about his team's preparation for its showdown with De La Salle in the California Open Division championship game.

Fisher also previews the Pennsylvania state championships with Dave Mika of EasternPAFootball.com and WesternPAFootball.net.

Fisher's third guest is Rim of the World (California) High School running back Jake Taylor, who became the sixth player in high school football history to rush for 4,000 yards in a season.

The show wraps-up with a flashback interview that Fisher and Trish Hoffman did back in June 2011 with Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel after he was named the 2011 National Football Player of the Year by the National High School Coaches Association.

High School Football in Ireland

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

For those of you that can't wait until the switch is flipped on the Friday Night Lights, don't worry, there's some Friday morning and afternoon football in Dublin, Ireland that will help you scratch that itch until your favorite team hits the field tonight.

The 2012 Global Ireland Football Tournament is just about underway in Dublin with the Kent School from Connecticut getting ready to play the National School of American Football team from the United Kingdom.  This will be the second time that Kent has played overseas.  Three years ago, Kent defeated Fiton College 27-6 in the Global Bowl in Bristol, England.

There are three all-U.S. match-ups starting with Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, California and Arizona-power Hamilton.  The other two match-ups are: Loyola Academy from Illinois against Dallas Jesuit from Texas and Father Judge from Philadelphia playing Notre Dame Prep from Arizona.

All three of these games represent that first time an all-American high school football game has been played outside of the 50 states.

Earlier this year, GIFT founder and former University of Notre Dame quarterback Patrick Steenberge joined me on High School Football America to talk about the event.  You can listen to that interview by clicking here.

All games, except for the Loyola/Jesuit game will be streamed live.  Click here to watch.

"The Turnaround" High School Football America's Look Inside Lubbock High School Football

by Jeff Fisher 

High School Football America

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than just good.

That’s definitely the case when it comes to today’s post that has us very happy at High School Football America.

If you are a regular reader of our blog, then you know we have moved High School Football America to Los Angeles for a radio show on KLAC AM 570 Fox Sports LA.  This is just the first step in a journey to become a leader in high school sports journalism.

High School Football America – SoCal, which is heard Saturday nights from 10 P.M. to midnight, is just a small part of the overall changes (check out the new logo to the left) we’re making in LA.  With the move to LA comes a redesigned website that will debut on September 10^th and many new partners like Kellogg's Frosted Flakes® that will allow us to fulfill our mission of telling the story of America through great high school sports stories.

Some would say it’s hard to cut through the clutter of what’s out there for high school football fans to choose from.  Some say the country’s too big and the market is too fractured.

We say…NOT… if you go back to old school journalism, which is simply based on good storytelling. 

That gets me to the point of today’s story and why it’s better to be lucky than just good.

My lifelong friend Corky Blake, a sports writer and editor at The Express-Times in my hometown of Easton, Pennsylvania, wrote a story about our move to Los Angeles on August 19th.  The story itself put a smile on my face in the middle of a very hectic life as Trish Hoffman and I serve as chief cook and bottle washers of High School Football America.

This entrepreneurial effort is as America as it gets, and it’s probably one reason Trish added the word “America” into our name when she named the company back in 2008.

Corky and I have the same philosophy when it comes to journalism - the story always needs to be about the subject, not the person writing it.  If you focus on the story, you’ll be a respected journalist.  Corky has achieved that status from my perspective.

While Corky was interviewing me, I had a thought that I wanted to give our readers a true inside look at what it was like to be a high school football coach in America.  I didn’t know who, what, when or where, but I knew that I wanted to find someone that could find time in an already crazy, jam-packed life of high school football.

This is where the luck came in.

On the day our High School Football America story hit the pages of The Express Times and its internet site a head football coach in Texas, who happens to be from my hometown area which is known as the Lehigh Valley, read the story.  His name is Jason Strunk, head coach of the Lubbock High School Westerners' football program.

Lubbock High School has a proud football tradition with three Texas high school football champs from the late 30’s to the 50’s.

I don’t think I have to explain Texas football here, but let’s just say that a Texas football championship may exceed the best gift anyone could receive on Christmas morning!

Until August 19^th, Coach Strunk and I had never officially met.  Yes, he watched my high school football highlights show called The Big Ticket on WFMZ-TV in Allentown when he was a player at Northampton High School.  Yes, he was a follower on Twitter, but until Jason read Corky’s story, he didn’t know that we were kindred spirits from eastern Pennsylvania.

1939 Lubbock State Championship team
Reprinted courtesy of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Yes, Texas is the crown jewel in the crown of high school football, but Pennsylvania doesn’t have to take a back seat when it comes to the tradition of the sport that is played at over 15,000 schools across America.

After reading the stories, Jason immediately “tweeted” me about our connection, which goes further than our hometown area of the Lehigh Valley.  I actually lived in Jason’s hometown of Northampton for 13 years.

I have to admit, while Jason knew a lot about me when he hit me up on Twitter, I knew little about him…thank goodness for Google!

To my surprise, the Google search showed an article written by Corky Blake (yes, my Corky Blake) about Jason Strunk, who left the Lehigh Valley to turn around the high school football program at Plant City High School in Florida.

Armed with Google-knowledge, I tweeted Jason back to say we should talk.  After exchanging cell phone numbers, we agreed to talk on Monday. 

As I thumbed-out the Twitter message suggesting a call, it dawned on me that Jason should be our featured high school football coach correspondent.

Why?

Corky Blake’s story from September 2011 talked about Jason turning around the Plant City program before leaving too take a coaching job at Purdue University.  It then talked about his next challenge – turning around Lubbock High School, which is right down the block from Texas Tech.

1952 Lubbock teammates holding state championship trophy
Reprinted courtesy of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

While Lubbock has three state championships, it also hasn’t had a winning season since 1975, the year before Jason Strunk was born!  The Westerners are also currently on a 22-game losing streak heading into the team’s season opener Thursday at Canyon High School.

Obviously the Eyes of Texas haven’t been smiling on Lubbock High football.

Jason and I talked on Monday, August 20^th and by the end of our 30 minute chat, we agreed that he was going to be High School Football America’s poster child for an inside look at turning around a proud football program in the football-crazed state of Texas throughout the 2012 season.

And, like a typical high school football coach, Jason is attacking the assignment as hard as he’s attacking that 22-game losing streak. 

Like I said at the top, sometimes it’s just good to be lucky, and that’s the case here.  If it weren’t for my friend Corky and his connection to Jason and myself, I’m not sure who’d be writing this column this year.  However, I do know this, High School Football America is extremely pleased that Jason has agreed to do it for us and for you.

Jason began his journey into journalism by sending me several photographs, new and old, and then his first “story”.

So without further ado – I give you “The Turnaround”, an inside look at Lubbock by Jason Strunk.

Welcome to Lubbock Football…Day #1

by Jason Strunk

Head Football Coach

Lubbock High School

Jason Strunk in action on the sideline
Reprinted courtesy of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

My name is Jason Strunk, Head Football Coach and Athletic Director at Lubbock High School, located in Lubbock, Texas.

Last week Jeff Fisher presented the idea to me about being a guest columnist for High School Football America. Without hesitation, I accepted the offer. I cannot think of a better way for us to tell our story of rebuilding the mighty Westerner football program! I felt this would be a great way to get our program, players, coaches and support staff some recognition for all they do for me on a daily basis.

My goal is to share with you the daily life of rebuilding a west Texas football program from the ground up. I hope you find these entries insightful and interesting.

2012 kicks off this week! Please enjoy the ride with us!

My Background

I am currently the head football coach at Lubbock High School, home of the Westerners. We are a 4A school (dropped down from 5A following last season). Prior to LHS, I was an assistant at Purdue University. Coaching in the Big Ten Conference was the best move I have ever made. Coaching Division I football was always a dream of mine. The lessons I learned on that level will be with me for the rest of my career. I can also say, with 100% certainty, that had I not coached at Purdue I would not have been hired in Texas.

Jason & Tracy Strunk with daughter Kennedy & son Mac

Before my family and I packed up for Indiana, I was the Head Coach at Plant City High School, a 5A school located about twenty minutes east of Tampa, Florida. I inherited a program that had not experienced much success in recent years. After struggling through year one, we rebounded in year two and qualified for the state playoffs. We posted the best record (7-3) the school had achieved in fourteen years. Our program was featured on ESPN.com and several other major media outlets for our quick turnaround. It didn't hurt that we had a handful of national recruits either. Coaching in Florida was a fantastic experience on all levels.

Moving to Florida was a dramatic step for our family. My wife and I grew up in Pennsylvania and moving away from family was a tough decision. It was a tough decision for me on a professional level as well. I spent the 2007 season as the Linebackers coach at Muhlenberg College. We were 10-0 in the regular season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA play offs. It was one of the most enjoyable seasons I have ever been apart of. Giving up a sure thing at Muhlenberg was a difficult decision. However, I felt that being a Head Coach in Florida would help me advance further in the profession.

From 1996 to 2006 I spent my time growing in the profession on the high school sidelines. I started off as a volunteer coach and advanced all the way to Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator by 2003. From 2003 to 2006 I helped with a remarkable turnaround at my alma mater, Northampton Area High School. In a four year span we won 31 games and qualified for the playoffs three times, including winning an Eastern Conference championship. Winning 31 games in four years was no small feat; Northampton only won 7 games in four years prior to our run.

As we progress over the course of this season I will be referencing my past quite a bit. I am a firm believer that experience is the best teacher. My past experience is a major factor in my day-to-day life. I draw from lessons learned in the past daily!

Editor’s Note:  I interviewed Jason on last Thursday’s national radio show.  Click here to listen to that show.  Also, between now and the relaunch of www.highschoolfootballamerica.com on September 10^th, “The Turnaround” will appear here on our main blog.

You can follow Coach Strunk on Twitter. His handle is @WestTXCoach.

High School Football America - SoCal on AM 570 Fox Sports LA Tonight

by Jeff Fisher

High School Football America

We are locked-and-loaded tonight’s High School Football America – SoCal show on AM 570 Fox Sports LA.  Everything kicks-off at 10 PM as we continue getting you ready for next week’s Week 0 season openers.

Both hours of the show will be action-packed with guests from throughout our massive coverage area.

Vista Murrieta Practice

Murrieta, CA

The show will begin with Coley Candaele, head coach of Vista Murrieta, talking about his squad’s lofty national rankings thanks to some great returning talent led by USC-recruit Su’a Cravens.  Later in the first half hour, MaxPreps’ national high school football writer and main contributor to the website’s national rankings, will discuss why the Broncos deserve being ranking in all four of the major national polls.

El Toro’s Rob Frith will also be on the show talking about his very talented quarterback Conner Manning, who’s given his verbal commitment to Utah.  Frith will also talk about his program’s move into the rugged South Coast League this season. 

We’ll start the second half hour of the show talking 8-man football.  Yes, High School Football America – SoCal is designed to be well-balanced.

Bill Rivera is the head coach at Excelsior Charter in Victorville in the High Desert, plus the president of the 8-man Coaches Association.

Excelsior has finished runner-up the last two years in the CIF Southern Section 8-Man division with losses both years to Windward in the championship games.  This year Windward has moved-up to 11-man football.

It’s a couple of weeks away, but if you really need a fix in Week 1, plus want to help a great cause, head to Westlake High School for the Battle for Veterans Football Invitational.

Mark Soto, executive director of the event, will join us Saturday night to talk about his event that begins in northern California in Week 0 and spreads south for four games August 31^st and September 1^st.

The Battle for Veterans Football Invitational will feature six games over two weekends while raising money for wounded veterans.

Here is the schedule for the games at Del Oro High School in Loomis next weekend and Westlake High the following weekend:

at Del Oro HS

August 24, 2012 - Oaks Christian at Del Oro

August 25, 2012 - Westlake vs. Granite Bay

at Westlake HS

August 31, 2012 - Oceanside vs. Oakdale

August 31, 2012 - Del Oro vs. Westlake

September 1, 2012 -  Upland vs. Windsor

September 1, 2012 - Oaks Christian vs. Granite Bay

Our third coach of the night will be Jeff Steinberg of Santiago High School in Corona.  Coach Steinberg will take us inside his 2012 squad that is hoping to take another next step this year after a 7-4 season last season and a trip to the CIF-SS playoffs.

This will be the first of two consecutive weeks of talking football in Corona.  Next week, Centennial head coach Matt Logan will be a guest to talk about his team’s opener August 31^st against St. Bonaventure from the Marmonte League.

And speaking of the Marmonte League, Sean Celinsky, the latest edition to the High School Football America – SoCal team, will make his debut Saturday night to preview the 10 team league.

Sean and I will get a good glimpse of the new chain of command at Oaks Chrisitan tonight when we’ll check-out the Lions scrimmage against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks.  Jeff Woodruff, a longtime college coach, is taking over for Bill Redell, the school’s first and only football coach, who retired earlier this year.

Tonight’s scrimmage between the two will stand-out a little more than most because these two teams had a bench-clearing brawl during the Saugus summer passing tournament.  It will be interesting to see what happens tonight when the pads and helmets are involved.

The Worm also returns tomorrow night when Garth “Worm” Wyckoff stops by for a look at Laguna Hills of the Sea View League, which had its streak of six straight Sea View League titles snapped last year by El Toro.  Worm will also talk about the other schools in the lague.

We’re still working on some other guests, so stay turned to us on Twitter at @hsfbamerica to learn about the rest of the show.

You can also keep-up with Southern California on our KLAC AM 570 blog by clicking here.

36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31 Days and Counting

Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Lots going on so I had to take a couple of days away from the computer to be with friends and family back east.

First on Saturday, we attended the wedding of our good friend Phil Stambaugh and his beautiful new wife Courtney in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.  Phil is the head football coach at Pius X in Roseto, Pennsylvania and I've been working on a documentary on this unique and very tiny northeastern Pennsylvania town...only 1,600 people reside in Roseto.

It was great to catch-up with Phil and Courtney's family, plus hang-out with our other friends, who are assistants on Phil's coaching staff.

Sunday was a trip to my hometown of Wilson Borough in Easton, Pennsylvania to see my mom, brother Ron and nephew Colten before heading west for the permanent move to Los Angeles for the start of the KLAC 570 AM radio show on August 11th.

Monday began with an investor meeting, which we feel really good about when it comes to our capital raise.

Tuesday and Wednesday were all about driving back to Chicago, which included detours to take pictures of some old high school football stadiums in Berwick and Sharon, Pennsylvania and Paul Brown Stadium in Massillon, Ohio.

I'll share those pics tomorrow when we hit the 30 days and counting mark.

Jeff

37 Days and Counting

Jeff Fisher

High School Football America

With a 531 mile drive from Toledo, Ohio to suburban Philadelphia, there wasn't much to do business-wise, other than catch-up on phone calls.

Thanks to traffic and construction in Ohio and western Pennsylvania our scheduled evening meeting in  Philadelphia had to be moved to Monday morning, but there was some good in the delay.  With no need to rush to Philadelphia, we took a detour off the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Manheim.

Why Manheim?

First, great high school football!

The Manheim Central Barons won the 2003 PIAA Class 3A state title, plus finished runner-up in the same class in 2009.

Second, and most important, Manheim is the hometown of my mentor Richard "Dick" Hammer, who at 77-years old is still "the voice" of Lafayette College football and basketball.

Dick, and it's still hard not to call him Mr. Hammer, is the gentleman that played a HUGE role in my development during my teenage years.

Dick and his wife Millie of 50+ years met in Manheim, a community of 4,700 residents.  Both Dick and Millie are like a second set of parents to me.  I truly mean it when I say that these two may be the kindest and calmest couple I've ever met!!

While it wasn't planned, I decided that during our meal and drinks at JoBoy's Brew Pub, I'd call Dick to let him know that we landed our high school sports talk show on KLAC 570 AM in Los Angeles.  Even, though we made the announcement on June 28th, I hadn't called the man that made it all possible, by believing in me enough to give me my first on-air gig.

Because the universe works in mysterious ways, both Dick and Millie answered my call at the same time on different phone extensions, I was able to share the LA news at the same time.

To say it was an emotional call would be an understatement.  I truly believe that Dick Hammer is the one that installed my confidence to achieve in journalism.  After 15 minutes of chatting, I hung-up with tears of joy in my eyes.

Of course, some of the tears may have been accentuated by the fact that I had just downed two of JoBoy's Smoked ABT's.  ABT stands for Atomic Buffalo Turds, a name that Trish was flabbergasted by and I just that was so cool.

The ABT are jalapenos that aren't de-seeded or de-veined.  They are stuffed with cream cheese and topped with bacon.  These are not poppers and they are hot as hell!  

I'm also mad that I didn't snap a picture of the ABT.  

I'm also happy to say that they were the best "turbs" I've ever eaten!

BTW...thank god that the restaurant had many of its own handcrafted beers, because otherwise, I may not have been able to cool down from the ABTs.  They had nine of their brews on tap this night and I enjoyed three of them: Manheim Red (of course), German Wheat and 44 Magnum.  I also taste-tested Hopitude and Scottish Ale.  All of the beers that I tasted were awesome and well-balanced.

Note: JoBoy's only serves its beer.  There's no liquor served, but they do have some nice wines from two local wineries.

Manheim is smack-dab in the in the middle of Pennsylvania Dutch country, which is my heritage.  I LOVE the way my family and the area residents cook.  You CAN'T get a bad meal around here.  It's cooked the old school way with love.

JoBoy's, however, isn't about PA Dutch cooking...it's southern style and that made my southern girl Trish very happy.  Restaurant is run by the husband/wife team Maria Jo and Jeff "Boy" Harless. 

Aside from the ABTs, we tried their okra, collard greens, southern chips and salsa, plus Jo's chicken corn that stood-up to the test of high quality southern food.  The real treat was when Jeff served us a taste of Thursday night's special...a smoked NY Strip.  Yes, it was Friday, but this cut of meet was delicious and actually had the texture of prime rib.  This is a MUST have, if you are nearby on a Thursday.

As we left to take some pictures around town, Trish thanked the Jeff and company for giving her a little bit of the south in the north.

We then headed to the high school for those football field pics that I love so much, plus an awesome picture of a covered bridge that literally sits at the end of the school property.  Shearer's Bridge, which was moved to this location in 1971, was built in 1847, rebuilt in 1855.

The back story on Manheim is it was founded in 1762 by Henry "Baron" William Stiegel.  The high school still carries Henry's nickname the Barons.

As we headed back to the turnpike to Philly, we were treated to an incredible sunset and I treated myself to a cherry Tastykake.  

Tastykakes are pure Philly, and the only thing else I need to enjoy is a cheesesteak.

Ahhhh...Tastykakes, but this is their cherry pie

Sunset in Lancaster County

38 Days and Counting

Outside the plane window at LAX

Just call us road warriors .

This is the pic as we sat on the plane preparing to fly out of LA this morning…land in Chicago…grab a rental car and immediately began our trip to Philadelphia and New York City.

18 hours after waking-up in Sherman Oaks, California to fly to Chicago and then driving 261 miles, we’re now ready to fall asleep in a Hampton Inn outside of Toledo, Ohio.  It will be rise-and-grind tomorrow around 6:30 to begin the final 531 miles to Philly for an investor meeting around 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

We use Hilton Hotels almost exclusively, because Hilton’s award system is awesome. Several years ago, we didn’t have to spend one cent on hotels during a two-week trip to Europe.  Of course, we did spend a lot of money to get those points, but Hilton doubles and sometimes triples points, which adds-up quickly, especially for a Diamond member like Trish.

Hampton Inn in Toledo, Ohio 1 A.M.

I also found the power of social media when I had to tweet something bad that occurred when we walked into our room.  I’ll spare the details, but I will tell you that it’s something that’s never happened to us, and hopefully will never happen again.

BTW…I don’t normally believe in going the Twitter route for something like this, but with the front desk not having the power to help being able to help at 1 A.M., I was forced to make a statement.  Thanks to Hilton Honors on Twitter, I’m once again a happy camper.  I also want to say that the front desk person was sweet and understanding, but powerless at this time in the morning.  I'm sure it will be taken care of in the morning.

I love airplane flights from LA to Chicago.  It gives us 3 hours and 45 minutes worth of un-interrupted work time, which I used to write emails and and two proposals, one for a new investor pitch, the other to a sponsor.

What I didn't love was the 100 degree temperature (check the dashboard reading) we found in Chicago.  We left LA when it was 75 and beautiful.  

Exit 64 on Ohio Turnpike

The Drive itself was relatively painless with very little traffic to contend with coming out of O’Hare and through Chicago.  Thanks to an iPod hook-up in our rental car…yes National Car Rental again, we were able to pass the miles by listening to Bruce Springsteen’s live show in London a couple years ago called London Calling.  30 songs that started in Chicago and ended as I got off the Ohio Turnpike to head to the hotel.

One interesting/frustrating thing that happened today was that Trish’s Blackberry died…and with no time to get a new one until tomorrow, it was wild to see her “withdrawl” from not having a phone. LOL

We really do rely on our smartphones to run a business.

Long day with more time spent on my butt than I like, but it gave me plenty of time to get ready for several big meetings coming-up over the next four days.

As to why we didn’t fly from LA to Philly or NYC?  Watching those pennies and believe it or not, it was a lot cheaper to be a road warrior.

As The Boss signs on Born in the USA's No Surrender  “No retreat baby, no surrender”.

Good night.

39 Days and Counting

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Even on the 4th of July the switch was on.

Spent about an hour on the phone with Lone Star Gridiron talking about how we may be able to work together.  It's a great website run by two guys that have the same passion for high school football as I do.

It amazes me how many passionate guys are talking-up  high school football on the internet, just for the good of the game.  I love it and want to help as many as I can.

I also spent about two straight hours on Twitter and picked-up 24 followers.  If you want to follow us, click here.

Otherwise, a pretty peaceful and restful day other than chilling by the pool with Trish listening to Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run front to back.

Trish Hoffman picking corn for 4th of July dinner

Now time to pick some corn from the urban garden in the front of Lois and Chip's home and grill some ribs.

Chilling to prepare for our flight back to Chicago where we'll immediately hop into a rental car and begin the trek east for more meetings.

Happy Birthday America!!

Go watch some fireworks!!

Jeff

40 Days and Counting

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Some days it's quality over quantity, especially when it comes to this week that is very messed-up for business with July 4th falling on a Wednesday.

First, since I really haven't talked at all about the football aspect of what we're doing, I made a stop after all of our meetings at Beverly Hills High School to take this pic.

The reason?

I love that Beverly Hills High's nickname is the Normans.  It's just a cool name.

For those of you wondering, what is a Norman?  Well, the Normans were the people who lived in the Normandy region of France.

The Normans most "famous" person is William the Conquerer, who oversaw the conquest of England in 1066.  William served as the first Norman King of England from 1066 until his death in 1087.

One other cool note about Beverly High is that the school's "Swim Pool" was the scene of the school dance in the Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life featuring Jimmy Stewart.  The pool was built beneath a basketball court that opened to reveal the 25-yard swimming pool.

Finally, Beverly Hills High is not the school in Beverly Hills 90210.  The fictional West Beverly High School was actually Torrance High School.

Thus ends today's history lesson. :-)

As far as quantity over quality that I mentioned earlier, we only had two meetings on Tuesday, but both went extremely well.

The first was an investor call that was arranged by a friend/business acquaintance, who's been extremely supportive of our effort by looking at our business plan or sometimes just cheerleading that we're on the right track.  He also asks awesome questions that sharpen me for the moment when I need to speak to an investor.

Before telling you about the meeting, let me say this, we've only know this person since the beginning of March when we met him at the Maxwell Football Club's 75th Gala.  The MFC is the country's oldest football club and we're currently working with the organization on a great partnership that we look forward to announcing in the coming weeks.

I point-out the fact that our relationship is new, because it speaks to how important it is to get out there and network.  You just never know when opportunity comes knocking.

At this point I need to mention that these are my girlfriend Trish's words since the day we met.  BTW...she's right.

Our preliminary investor call when extremely well.  Finding investors is a numbers game, the more people you talk with, the better your odds are of finding the doe-ray-me.

Each and every investor meeting is like taking a master's degree class to me, and every one is different.

One of the biggest things I've had to improve upon is getting my pitch down...once again, insert Trish's voice telling me not to tell my entire life's story.

Yes, I've been long-winded at times, but I'm getting better at saying the who, what, when and how in a concise story.

Obviously, listening is the other skill you need, but more importantly, it's being able to listen, plus address any concerns or questions that arise during your listening.

Yesterday's call was a little bit longer than most, because of the "warm introduction" we received from our friend.  Warm introductions are awesome and speed-up the process when you are on a tight deadline like we are on right now.

The call ended on a positive note with all agreeing that we would be back in-touch in 7-10 days after the investor did a little more research.

After that conference call, we immediately hopped into our National Car rental to drive to Hollywood for an advertising meeting.  I mention National, in case, they want to become a sponsor. :-)

Rule 1...never miss an opportunity to promote a sponsor.

Our meeting was with a friend, who is the CEO of a well-known advertising firm.  The meeting was at Sur Restaurant on Robertson near Melrose, which I highly recommend for lunch.  It has great open air dining in the front of this uniquely decorated space.

Once again, it was a great meeting as we got our friend up-to-speed on what we are doing in LA and nationally when it comes to high school sports.  We then proceeded to brainstorm, which of the firm's clients would be interested in hearing our pitch.

We came away with a target list of the Burger King, Ford, Home Depot and the US Marines.  But more important we came away with a wealth of information about how our vision for storytelling puts us in a position to create content that advertisers will be able to use in multiple ways with America's burgeoning digital age upon us.

With everything finished for the official part of the day, it was time to head to our favorite spot, which is poolside at the Beverly Hilton for a drink and a breakdown of the day.

The post-game analysis of the day with Trish went from 5 P.M. at the pool and then right through lights out at 10 P.M. when it was time for bed.

What is it like to be an entrepreneur?

There's no off-switch.

Rise and grind for the 4th of July tomorrow!

Happy Birthday America, which sounds very close to High School Football America...don't you think?