The Tri-Eight Conference seemed to be in Athens Drive's control last year, that is until a late-season hiccup against Middle Creek. The conference ended up in a 3-way tie between the Jaguars, the Mustangs, and Fuquay-Varina.

This year, I don't think there will be a very dominant team, but my favorite to win it is Apex.

Apex returns their starting quarterback Houston Hawley, a player with three years of varsity experience. Last year, Hawley went 162 of 331 passing for 1,742 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Cougars had a 6-6 season in 2007, and that was with an injured Kevin Fogg.

Fogg will likely prove to be one of the top five running backs in the Triangle. The rising senior should have a big year in 2008, especially in conference play because the Tri-Eight will not have the best defensive teams in the area.

This year's Apex team will probably be on the most athletic teams Bob Wolfe has had some time. Wolfe, known for his running game, is expected to run a spread

It's that time again, high school football season is knocking on the front door.

Practice doesn't officially begin until Aug. 1, but 7-on-7 leagues, and summer workouts have been going on for the last several weeks.

We will be kicking off the 2008 High School Football Tour with this blogpost! I'm going to give you my 2008 projections and answer a few questions I've gotten over the last few weeks from readers.

Each Friday during the month of July, I will be previewing one of the four 4-A conferences in the Triangle. On Friday July 4, I will preview the Tri-Eight Conference.

Meanwhile, here are my early projections:

Cap Seven Conference

Wake Forest-Rolesville
Millbrook
Leesville Road
Enloe
Sanderson
Broughton
Wakefield

Greater Neuse River Conference

Garner
Southeast Raleigh
West Johnston
Clayton
Smithfield-Selma
East Wake
Knightdale
Holly

Over the last few weeks several articles and blogs have been published across North Carolina discussing the N.C. High School Athletic Association's large endowment fund, as well as the salary for the Association's top man.

Let me give you some figures:

• The last year the NCHSAA didn't make money was 1988. Since, the Association has grown a little less than 20 percent a year, and is currently worth more than $18 million.
• The $18 million includes $11.5 million in an endowment fund. This fund was created by the NCHSAA's executive director Charlie Adams in 1991.
• According to a report in the News & Observer, about one-third of the earnings of the endowment fund have been returned to the member schools.
• Adams is paid $190,164 a year, according to the same report.

I refuse to sit here and talk about how the NCHSAA should give money back to the schools. I also refuse to sit and type a blog about how Charlie Adams is over paid.

Where

Do you have any interest in athletics in Wake County? If so, watch out!

The Wake County Board of Education announced today that they would like to move forward with plans to give the Wake County Board of Commissioners the power to purchase land and manage facilities for public schools in Wake County.

I've discussed this since the idea was proposed by the Wake Education Partnership and the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, and bottom line, it's a bad idea.

Having talked to several Wake County Public School System employees, I got the feeling that they knew the importance of athletics in the academic community. I remember one county commissioner saying something to the tune of, "All a school needs is four walls and a roof."

Maybe that comment was pure arrogance, maybe it was a joke, or maybe it was meant as a true belief. That is what concerns me.

It's no secret that the Board of Education and Board of Commissioners don't always agree when it

I'm a little biased when it comes to this issue, but I do think this is a legitimate question that high school basketball fans should discuss. Is AAU basketball a good thing to have?

As you might know, I am an assistant coach on a local 15U AAU team, and if I didn't think it was worthwhile and beneficial, I wouldn't be doing it.

AAU provides another avenue for players to go up against competition from across the state, and even the country. A lot of recruiting takes place on the AAU circuit as well. Coaches from all over converge on Orlando (or Little Rock, Ark., this year for my age group) to watch top talent every July.

Watching prospects go up against top talent from across the country makes the star-grades a lot more accurate than watching them play top talent from other parts of the county. That it is why you don't hear many college coaches complaining about AAU basketball. The complaining comes from the high schools.

The biggest complaint I have heard from