Yes, we are football obsessed in the South...

[GrantDawg]

This was the cover lead article with pitcure on ajc.com this morning:

Parkview back elusive
Caleb King's future at school clouded

By CARROLL ROGERS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/03/06
Caleb King, rated the top high school running back in the nation by Rivals.com, was not on the field for Parkview High School's first day of practice Wednesday. His absence wasn't surprising because he's in Texas taking summer school classes.
But earlier this summer, King visited Greater Atlanta Christian, where his brother was hired as a community coach. That has raised questions about where the star tailback will spend his senior season.

Sarah Ianacone / Special (ENLARGE)

Caleb King spent this summer taking classes in Texas.

Parkview coach Cecil Flowe seemed unconcerned about King's absence Wednesday.
"He's still in Texas; he's finishing some summer schoolwork," Flowe said. "He's due back [in town] on the fourth, and we'll put him back to work. ... Caleb told me he's going to be here, and I take Caleb at his word."
King has been taking classes at a private school in the Houston area for the better part of the summer while living with a cousin. He is not expected to be finished with classes until Friday and wouldn't be back home until the weekend, according to his brother Andre King.
"I've had Timmy Gustafson, and we've had Clint Sammons and Jeff Francoeur; they were all playing in a national [baseball] tournament when they were seniors, and they missed this part of practice, but I knew where they were," Flowe said.
"Caleb's situation is academic, but he's working to get ahead, and that's big, because he knows what he has to do. He's very mature about that now. It's like, 'I've got things I have to accomplish if I want to be playing at the next level.' And I allow him to do that, and I won't penalize him for that."
Greater Atlanta Christian coach Jimmy Chupp did not return messages this week. His team is at a football retreat in North Georgia. Recently though, Chupp confirmed that he had hired Andre King, Caleb's 33-year-old brother and guardian, and that Caleb King had visited GAC.
"He has visited our campus," Chupp said two weeks ago. "He's been here and came and talked to me, but I don't have any information. I just don't have anything to share with you at this point."
Andre King, who also is in camp with GAC, didn't return messages Wednesday. When asked Friday about Caleb's plans, Andre King wouldn't comment.
Andre King acknowledged Friday that he and Caleb were moving out of the house he rented a few miles from Parkview. Sitting in a kitchen surrounded by stacks of folded cardboard boxes, King wouldn't say where they were moving.
To make a Georgia High School Association-approved transfer to GAC, Caleb King would have to move out of Parkview's district. According to GHSA rules, he could live anywhere else in Gwinnett County, attend GAC and be eligible to compete.
Their moving wouldn't guarantee he's leaving Parkview. Gwinnett County rules allow upperclassmen an option to move out of a district and still attend that school, as long as they stay in Gwinnett County and can get to events on time.
King's absence and a relative lack of communication has created confusion. Parkview's offensive coordinator Robert Hill said he had called King on his cellphone recently.
"He answered and said 'I'm in class; I'll call you back,' " Hill said. "I've called him three or four times, and he hasn't called me back."
One of King's teammates at Parkview — senior cornerback Julian Whitehead — said people have been coming to him for answers, and he doesn't have them.
"I think he wants to stay here, but I really have no idea," Whitehead said Monday. "I asked him awhile back, at the beginning of the summer, and he kind of said he's not sure. ... Everybody else seems to think I know more than I do because we were the closest on the team. I haven't really talked to him at all. I know he's coming back Friday or Saturday. We'll find out [next week]."
Parkview's first game is a month away — the Panthers play Warner Robins at the Georgia Dome on Sept. 2 in the Corky Kell Classic. Without King, they would have to fill a void left by arguably one of the best backs in Georgia history. King took a shot at Herschel Walker's state record by rushing for 2,768 yards last year, the most by a junior in GHSA history.
"My teammates are all talking about we've all got to work hard," Whitehead said. "One player doesn't make the team. There are 22 positions on the field."
Watching the end of Parkview's morning practice Wednesday, Doug Steward, father of junior Winton Steward, said that King "is really phenomenal and we would love to have that sort of talent back, but everybody has to make decisions for their own reasons. The Parkview community would love to see him back in orange and white, but we need to respect his decision."

[GrantDawg]

Is that really the most important story in the ATL today?

[Joe]

they must have run out of stories on Tucker

[Ben E Lou]

No, they LOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE Parkview over there in particular, and Gwinnett County in general. If there's even a HINT of a high school story from Brookwood, Parkview or Buford, then Marist, Stephenson and Tucker take the back seat every time, even though those three schools have had just-as-good or better playoff runs lately, and have definitely sent more kids to D1 lately.

[IMetTrentGreen]

caleb king is legit. future superstar

[ISiddiqui]

Friends don't let friends read the AJC.

[oliegirl]

You make it sound like being football obsessed is a bad thing...

[Pumpy Tudors]

Football obsessed? But high school football isn't really football.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by oliegirl

You make it sound like being football obsessed is a bad thing...

In other news, the State of Colorado has been rated as the #1 Most Fit State (as in the highest percentage of population living the lifestyle of fitness and health). Probably has something to do with the relatively lack of interest in prep sports and having all of these outdoor things to do. That made the front page of papers here. Priorities.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Is that really the most important story in the ATL today?

Define "important".

It's almost certainly one of the most interesting stories to AJC readers, so in that regard, there's certainly some importance attached to it.

And, just as a microcosm of their readership, it's one of less than a dozen stories they've printed in the past three days I found interesting enough to spend even 30 seconds on, and I'm a long way from being a Parkview booster.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

No, they LOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE Parkview over there in particular, and Gwinnett County in general. If there's even a HINT of a high school story from Brookwood, Parkview or Buford, then Marist, Stephenson and Tucker take the back seat every time, even though those three schools have had just-as-good or better playoff runs lately, and have definitely sent more kids to D1 lately.

True enough, although I'm reasonably sure that has a good bit to do with the existence of the Gwinnett Extra edition (or whatever the heck it's called). They have to have content for it, so those GwinCo stories are getting written regardless and then they're used to fill up the HS slots in the main paper (as it cuts down on the time/money invested in writing up other metro HS content).

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

In other news, the State of Colorado has been rated as the #1 Most Fit State (as in the highest percentage of population living the lifestyle of fitness and health). Probably has something to do with the relatively lack of interest in prep sports and having all of these outdoor things to do. That made the front page of papers here. Priorities.

Well, duh! I've tried to get my wife to move there several times to no avail. Damn her!!

[Buccaneer]

Case in point: In today's Denver Post sports section (10 pages), there were not a single word mentioning any prep sports, let alone football. During football season, our local paper (convering an area of about 500,000 people and 21 high schools), prep football news are relegated to pages 4-5 or 6-7 day after the games and only part of one page rest of the week. And football is probably the biggest prep sport here, relatively speaking. I do believe, now that I think about it, we get more consistent coverage on hiking, fishing and hunting.