THE FRONT ROW WITH ERIC PLUMMER: Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016

Don’t look now prep sports fans, but the fall season is creeping up as fast as Usain Bolt. High school fields, mostly dormant this summer, are now filled with the cracking of football pads and the thud of feet on soccer balls, as teams prepare for their openers.

One particular game is already circled in red on a lot of calendars, when the Post Falls Trojans head north across the Long Bridge to face Sandpoint in a highly anticipated football tilt on Aug. 26 at Barlow Stadium, which will be televised live on SWX.

SEASON OPENERS are always rife with adrenaline, nerves and passion, as teams finally get to pound on players with different colored jerseys and helmets. But this particular game is going to be brimming with extra emotion, for both sides.

The Trojans will be taking the field for the first time under new coach Blaine Bennett, who takes over for Jeff Hinz, the popular head coach at Post Falls for the past 12 years who died after a battle with cancer on July 20. Tears will no doubt be shed, but football has proven a cathartic force in the past, and we can only hope it will again in 12 days.

The Bulldogs will be taking the field for the first time under new head coach George Yarno, who also experienced a recent loss when his father, George Yarno Sr., passed away on Monday, which happened to be Yarno Jr.’s first official day as a head coach.

At the end of practice on Tuesday, an emotional Yarno told his charges to make sure and tell family members that you love them, and thanked the team for letting him be out there coaching them. The team responded with a chant for the new coach.

One can only imagine how tough it is to lead a team under those circumstances, but Yarno was out their coaching up the team all week. And one can only imagine the impact Yarno Sr., a 10 year NFL offensive guard and longtime college and NFL offensive line coach, had on Yarno Jr., an All-American center at Idaho State just starting his first head coaching stint.

Good luck to both the Trojans and Bulldogs — not just on Aug. 26 — but moving forward.

Kramer slighted yet again by NFL Hall of Fame

The NFL Hall of Fame has elected another class, and once again there remains one big glaring omission: Jerry Kramer.

Each passing year, the snub seems bigger. Each year, despite the protestations of NFL writer Peter King and countless former players and coaches, the Hall of Fame keeps its head in the sand and Kramer, a Sandpoint High School, University of Idaho and Green Bay Packer legend, out of his deserved and rightful place in Canton, Ohio.

It’s time to do something about it, and any Idaho football fan is encouraged to take action by writing a letter to: Pro Football Hall of Fame, Attn: Senior Selection Committee, 2121 George Halas Dr. NW, Canton, OH 44708.

Remind them that Kramer was the pulling guard on one of the signature plays in NFL history — the famed Packer Sweep. Remind them that he threw arguably the biggest block in NFL history to help Bart Starr sneak the ball over the goal line for the winning touchdown in the “Ice Bowl,” a 21-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys in the 1967 NFL championship. Remind them the All-Pro guard once kicked three field goals in a 16-7 win over Frank Gifford’s New York Giants in the 1962 NFL championship, and that he carried Vince Lombardi off the field on his shoulders after winning the first two Super Bowls.

Or better yet, come up with your own reasons, and they are many, so that we can be treated to one of the greatest Hall of Fame acceptance speeches ever, for surely it would be.

This year the Senior Selection Committee doubled up to add two nominees in Oakland quarterback Kenny “The Snake” Stabler and Lions guard Dick Stanfel.

Stanfel was a five-time All-Pro, and no doubt deserving of the honor. But will all due respect, was he a better guard than Kramer? Sadly, Stanfel and Stabler were honored posthumously, never getting to enjoy the honor. It would be a damn shame if that same fate awaits Kramer.

Kramer is a Hall of Famer. Period. The honor is past long overdue. As Idaho football fans, we need to do something about it.

Long live the gunslingers

This year’s NFL Hall of Fame class, highlighted by NFL gunslinger Brett Favre, included another freewheeling player in Stabler.

It was great to see Favre and Stabler honored, as both are part of an endangered species — quarterbacks who actually took risks. In today’s game, ball security and reducing turnovers are so preached and ingrained that playmaking is all but being coached out of QBs. Gone are the days of actually trying to pick up first downs on 3rd and 10, instead opting for a safe check down or throwing the ball out of bounds and punting.

Stabler threw 192 TDs and 222 picks in his colorful career, while Favre threw three picks for every five touchdowns. Those ratios today would make most coaches’ heads explode, and would most likely result in holding a clipboard and fetching lunch for the starters.

Ah, but the pair actually took chances and slung the rock, and neither ever went straight to the safe check down on 3rd and long. It wasn’t in their DNA. But winning sure was.

Eric Plummer is the sports editor of the Daily Bee in Sandpoint. For comments, suggestions or story ideas, he can be reached at eplummer@bonnercountydailybee.com.