Football is in the air. From the professional level to the mites, everyone is getting ready for the 2008 season, and I can’t wait. While the regular season doesn’t begin today, we do have some appetizers. Isabella, Thorsby and Billingsley all had jamborees last night, and there are more tonight.

Chilton County High School is making the drive up to Shelby County to play the now 4A Calera Eagles. CCHS will have a good measuring stick to test its new team and new coach Brian Carter. Calera is coming off a trip to the semifinals after losing to Class 3A champ Cordova. While the Eagles’ high-powered offense lost a lot of components from last year’s team, they should still be a good tough football team. This is probably the best way for the Tigers to tune-up for county rival Jemison.

Speaking of the Panthers, one of the more interesting scrimmages tonight includes Jemison hosting Verbena. If this sounds odd to you, you’re not alone. These two teams very rarely ever play each other in football mainly because Jemison is a 4A school and Verbena is 1A.

This is what makes the jamboree week interesting to me. Two teams that don’t ever get a chance to play each other have a chance to see how they stack up against each other.

Then, Maplesville is traveling to Sweet Water to face the host Bulldogs and 1A power Brantley. This again should be a preview of the playoffs. Maplesville lost a good bit from last year, but I’m sure coach Brent Hubbert still has plenty of players to fill the holes. In fact, those returning players have gotten a lot of playing time because the coaches took out starters very early in the game after getting big leads.

Playing Sweet Water and Brantley in jamboree games will help Maplesville know just where they stand compared to the best teams in the state. Sweet Water and Brantley are ranked first and third, respectively. Like last year when these three teams played in Maplesville, I think this jamboree could likely be the most interesting match-up of the preseason. There’s no doubt that these three will see each other again.

We’re just six days away from the kickoff of the season. If you can’t wait for next week, go find a jamboree tonight and get your football fix. While this week doesn’t count toward the regular season, a good showing tonight can help a team get ready for next week.