I can think of a lot of fun ways to spend a Friday night. One thing on my list, however, probably wouldn’t interest most other people.

I love covering a high school football game for the newspaper.

For several years, I covered games because I had to. I worked as a sports writer at The Evening Sun in Hanover, Pa., where I now live. Since I got out of the newspaper biz, however, I have continued to freelance on occasion to pick up some extra cash and to just enjoy the good fun of high school football.

Because I have lived in this area for 16 years now, I know most of the coaches, reporters from other papers and some of the people who work in the press boxes so it’s not always like work. Then there is just the fun of watching the kids who come to the games as well as the simple competition of high school athletes. I also have a really simple system of doing stats that makes it pretty easy to get all that busy work done without much trouble.

Last night, I covered a game for the York Daily Record, but The Evening Sun also ran my story (they are both owned by the same company). I thought I had a really interesting story on my hands until the game turned into a blowout in the fourth quarter. Still, the little nuggets that come up in even the most lopsided game make the work worthwhile.