View from the sidelines

Friday night's win in Smithville brought a lot of firsts to people on the Pioneer sideline. CJ Taylor threw his first career touchdown pass, coach Matt Turner got his first road victory and it was my first game on the sidelines as a reporter.

It has been a month full of new experiences for me at the Warren County Sports Authority. Nothing could prepare me for the first football game though - it's a totally different animal.

It didn’t take long for me to find out when it’s game time, Jeff Simmons doesn’t play around. Early in the game, CJ forced a big fumble and I gave fist pump when the Pioneers recovered. Jeff turned to me and said, “Hey man we can’t be fans right now. We have to be reporters.” From then on, my only celebration was a swift move to my pocket to update the fans keeping up on Twitter (Make sure to follow up on Twitter @SimmonsSaysWC - I'm going to get Jeff to change the tag because it's 'Tales from Trevor' on Friday night now).

Being a reporter that’s right on the sidelines with the team brings a whole new perspective to the games. As Jeff and I would weave our way through the players to get to the opposite end of the bench, you hear a lot more than what you hear from the stands. You can hear coach Turner and the staff yelling the team commands prenap (and there are a lot). The trash talk is more prevalent than I once though - players are always jawing back and forth after the play is over. Even the refs are vocal, making sure the players and coaches stay out of the way of the chains.

All these things bring another level of excitement to the game for me. I knew it was going to be a different night the moment we got in the car to head to Smithville. Jeff had a different vibe - his energy was apparent. It's something he loves to do - and I love being right in the middle of the action too.

This season is going to be a wild ride for the players. I can’t wait to be on the sidelines and keeping the fans at home updated all season long. Jeff keeps telling me I'm going to get in front of the camera soon.

Hey, why not try another first?