You think this could work?

I'm toying the idea of doing a "GENERIC" cover with stencil lettering and a bar code.

 

We did the same thing for my college newspaper. I can definitely work, but you just have to tailor it to the guy. Find a Madden cover that's a portrait maybe? I wouldn't go for a normal cut-out, like him carrying the ball or something. When we did it, our illustrator tried to make it more like NBA Street, where it was very urban and filled with graffiti, kinda drawn in a Boondocks style.
Here's the link: (the bottom left corner has the cover art and you can download the PDF)
http://www.theshorthorn.com/new/archives/2006/fall/111006/basketball/

 

Sometimes, what we in the industry see as hokey is loved by the readers. And that begs the question, are we here to get props from our colleagues or serve the readers, who probably will love that cover?
I'd say go with the cover, unless your competition did something similar last year. And it sounds pretty obvious to go with No. 2 recruit for your cover.

 

Correct, you are. Calhoun is incredible, and he runs behind a pitiful offensive line.

Starting last year we got two covers with our section, so we have a second cover to showcase other players. We had a one-player cover last year (that I was not a big fan of), but he was chasing Earl Campbell's school rushing record. But the last one before that was of Adrian Peterson, and we all know how he turned out.

 

The answer to your question is yes, it could work. Maybe you could throw boxes in there of other prominent players, coaches or teams (like the screen shot windows on the back of a video game cover) to show some love for everyone else. Good luck.

 

My point is not whether it would be hokey or not, but that it's go nothing to do with high school football. If they did have a Podunk Times Blue-Chippers for X-Box 360 and this kid was a running back for it, I'd say go for it.

If this kid is the biggest stud in 50 years, go crazy with him on the cover but instead of making it a video game, maybe think of it as a magazine cover with a great portrait.

I think a story to do would be to talk to coaches and players and ask how you tackle this kid or beat this team.

 

jermie? do his parents know they spelled jeremy wrong?

 

modesto bee did this exact same idea a couple years ago.

had a player on the cover. i think it was hilmar QB nathan costa, who's now at oregon. reporter will de board was mugged in the same way madden is on these types of games, and there was an all-de board team.

the cover art was pretty cool. it looked just like a madden game cover.

it got a little too hokey for me when i read one of the inside stories. apparently, someone on staff "created" the best high school teams in the modesto area in the past decade and played them off against each other tournament style in simulation mode to determine the best district high school team of all time or some nonsense.

please don't do that.

but the cover art was very cool. so were several of the other inside features.

 

Don't have to worry about the simulated tournament. Not that nerdy.

And, yes, that's the way the kid's name is spelled. Terrible, I know.

 

This is a great point, and one we don't always remember.

 

That's the spelling they wanted. Your comment.... man, no comment.

 

For the longest time the football coach and the basketball coach spelled it Jeremi, so that's what we ran for his entire freshman year and football season of his sophomore year. When Van's basketball team went to the state tournament, there was a different spelling, so I just made him spell it for me slow.

And J-E-R-M-I-E is what came out.