I believe that we have said this every year that we have been in existence, but it is worth repeating. Please attempt to adhere to the following guidelines when reporting on a practice. We will pull messages that do not conform to these guidelines.

DO NOT REPORT INJURIES - If you are at practice and someone gets hurt, do NOT post that in a message. Injury reports should ONLY come from the Athletic Department.

DO NOT REPORT SPECIFIC FORMATIONS OR PLAYS - Do NOT scout for our opponents. The team may try different formations or plays in practice, some of which are intended to be a "surprise" for an upcoming opponent. I know you are dying to tell the world that you saw Mike Kuykendall throw the bomb, but that type of information does not need to be here.

DO NOT CALL-OUT A PLAYER - Believe it or not the players and the player's parents read these boards. There is a fine line here, so read your post from the perspective of the parent or player. You can say "So and so should have made that catch .." but don't post (as has happened) "So and So is a Lazy S.O.B. and should be benched" or "So and So should just quit so we can get another scholarship". Comments like that cross the line. Again, this is a real gray area, so use discretion.

DO NOT REPEAT THINGS MEANT FOR THE TEAM - If you are at practice, and Erickson gives the team a speech, that speech is intended for the team ONLY.

Now, some other things to keep in mind while you are actually at practice.

LEAVE THE PLAYERS ALONE - If you are at practice and they are running team drill, don't go up to some player on the sidelines and start talking to him. Eventhough he isn't playing, he still needs to be paying attention.

LEAVE THE RECRUITS ALONE - Yes, you will see a recruit at practice, but do NOT go up and try to talk to him. The NCAA does NOT permit you to have conversations with the recruit.

PAY ATTENTION AND STAY OUT OF THE WAY - Be aware of where you are in relationship to the drills and equipment. If you are on the sidelines, PAY ATTENTION; you never know when the deep ball is coming your way, or when the running back will get knocked four yards out of bounds into your lap. And, for goodness sakes, if you bring a chair, don't sit right on the sidelines.

Sorry for the lecture, but if we want to keep practices open, we need to all learn some rules. The coaches don't want to see stuff posted on the web that crosses the line, and they don't want to have to baby sit fans at practice. I will now step down from my soapbox.

Alex and Lucky