I remember being a middle school student, working on a PowerPoint presentation for Black History Month, when I heard the word Google for the first time. My teacher had just found out about the new search engine with a fun name and told us we should use it for our research.

I’ve worked in the newspaper business for 11 years now, and during football season, I always joke that the weeks run Friday to Friday instead of Monday-Friday.

I’ve spent the last few Friday nights at Crestview High School or Baker High School, enjoying my first taste of Florida High School football.

I spent many Friday nights on the football field at Morgan Academy in Selma, Alabama, covering the hometown Senators.

This will be the first year where Florida residents are legally – and I stress legally (meaning not using offshore sports books) – allowed to bet on the entire college football and NFL seasons.

I’ve worked in three different states during my journalism career, covering education in all of them.

There have been very few times in my life where the world has stopped and everything else has seemed to matter so much less.

Thursday, Aug. 1 was one of those days.

It’s not a secret that I’m probably the biggest sports fanatic out there.

I know there are many people who would challenge me on that, and that’s fine. But I rarely can get enough sports talk, and I enjoy watching just about any athletic event, though nothing beats football on the weekends.

We’re about to hit the campaign season stretch run, as things get a little extra crazy heading into the Aug. 20 primary in Santa Rosa County.

It’s almost over, and then we can all take a deep breath until November.