Editor's Cut - Year End Review

You ever have one of those mornings when you step outside, look around and actually look up at the sky? It's a more prevalent gesture in the summertime, when it's (usually) warm and (usually) the skies are clear. Suddenly, everything slows down. Invariably, when doing this, you start to reflect; what happened over the past year, the past day, the past week, the past hour. I don't know if this could be classified as reminiscing so much as it is taking stock. Here at the magazine, we had one of those moments as a collective staff. Not a "Groundhog Day" moment, mind you, but a recollection of all that happened this year. And it lasted an entire month. While other High School Sports - The Magazine // Vype High School Sports Magazine franchises around the country did a "Year End Review" last summer, we did not. It was a decision based on a couple of simple facts: (1) We had only been around three months and had very little in the archives in terms of photos to adequately tell the 2006-07 story; (2) We felt we had a better idea of doing a "Summer Issue" that would highlight what today's high school student athletes wanted to be, post-graduation. We had a lot of fun finding out about kids from all over the Central Indiana area last July - like Brownsburg's Riley Woodruff, who hopes to one day work for NASA. But as the July issue approached this year, we simply found that a "Year End Review" was just the ticket. After covering the lives and lifestyles of student-athletes in the area for nearly 15 months, we had an abundance of photos that we never published, despite the fact that Multimedia Editor Dave McConnell and I argued and fought over nearly every photo published in the last 15 issues. This July issue, our "2007-08 Year End Review", is simply a reflection of what took place during the 2007-08 high school athletic school year in Central Indiana. In a world that moves faster and faster each day, where the days run together to the point you wake up one day and find it's June when it feels like Christmas just happened, HSSTM // VYPE felt it was important to take stock of the moments that defined our days, weeks, months, careers and experiences over the past 11 months. Because of the importance of such a task - not as important as finding a medical cure, but certainly more important than, say, taking out the trash - Dave and I went through nearly every photo that was taken between Aug. 1, 2007 and June 15, 2008. Needless to say, there was a lot. And once again, we went 12 rounds over nearly every photo, like Ali-Frazier, until we finally agreed on what to run in this issue. But don't let me make the whole process sound like a trip to the dentist - on the contrary; it was a heck of a lot of fun. Many times, one of us would jump out of a chair after finding a photo: "OOOOHHH! That was sweet! We've got to run that one." And that was only part of it. After we nailed down which photos to use, we divided the months up and set out on a journey to track down as much information as we could find. It was like a scavenger hunt or the next sequel of the "Indiana Jones" saga. Sometimes, you felt like you'd hit a dead-end while trying to locate some unique or interesting stat - searching for an angle to a game, a student-athlete or a team that had yet to be uncovered. But there, just when we felt like we'd never find it, a random fact or stat would shine through. Plus, we had the task of trying to fit an entire worth's month of notable events and thrilling action into two or three pages. Not everyone who made an impact during the past 10 months or set a school record or won a state title made it into the magazine. But so many did. Roughly 70 schools are mentioned or featured in the upcoming issue. Just about every sport we covered gets its props, as do the people who made news that needs to be remembered in 15-20 years. Our new art director and graphic designer, Beth Miller, jumped into the process and had to deal with hundreds of photos and rough, poorly drawn page sketches thrown on her desk. Our eyes hurt. Our fingers came close to bleeding from pounding the keyboard and clicking the mouse. But in the end, we knew we had to put together an issue that would be truly worthy of being called "Collector's Edition". Did we do it? Did we actually make it happen and bring you a fitting tribute to the 2007-08 Central Indiana high school sports campaign? We'll let you be the judge. The "Year End Review" will be available next Monday, June 30. And, you'll be able to check the entire issue out, per usual, for free at vype.com/centralindiana, through our digital magazine. After perusing the new issue, hit up the inbox at letters.centralindiana@vype.com and let us know what you think. In just a little over a month, the 2008-09 high school sports year begins again. But before it sneaks up on us and moves way too fast (again), let's take one final moment to reflect on all that happened in '07-'08 - because it was a great year - and a great ride.