The Unatego school board will appoint veteran varsity assistant Frank Microni as the new head football coach tomorrow night -- several hours after the first practice of the season.

   In fairness to the board, the timing really couldn't be helped. Art Rigas vacated the job last month in order to join the staff at Hartwick College. and tomorrow is the first chance for the board to formally approve first-year AD Bill May's recommendation.

   Microni, who also coaches the baseball team, worked under Rigas and two previous coaches.

   No place like home: After two years of playing its home football games everywhere except at home, Liverpool sports teams are finally ready to settle back in at its own facility this fall.

   Problems beneath the field and surrounding all-weather track were discovered in December 2007, forcing the school board to shutter the Warriors' stadium. Budget issues and several failed votes on propositions to rebuild and/or renovate left the facility useless for more than a year before repairs were OK'd.

   The football team's '07 season ended with three games on the road, and this fall's schedule begins with two more away from Liverpool. That will mean the Warriors will have played 23 straight football road games.

   "It will be a big relief to walk out of our building and into our stadium for a home game," coach Dave Mancuso told The Post-Standard. "We've played 18 straight away games over the last two seasons. It was nice playing four games at the (Carrier) Dome last fall, but having to get on a school bus for every game we play is not an ideal situation. It gets old."

   Class action: I dropped by TullyRunners.com a couple of days ago and was pleased to see a ton of great material, which was no surprise. Distance-running fans have come to love that site for its reference material, speed ratings and intelligent analysis.

   One particularly interesting nugget was the list of classification changes for the upcoming season. Around 90 schools are moving up or down a class this season based on a combination of new BEDS numbers and new cutoffs from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association to help even out the number of schools per class.

   One change that absolutely screams at the reader for attention is that the girls from Honeoye Falls-Lima (second in the '09 state meet), North Shore (third) and Scotia-Glenville (fifth) are all moving up to Class A this fall. Given the fact that many top teams remain good for long stretches of time and that none of last year's state qualifiers in the Class are scheduled to move up or down, 'A' figures to be a highly competitive bunch this fall.

RoadToSyracuse.com Football Site

   The most noteworthy boys development was HF-L going up a class after winning Class B last fall. The Cougars will need to rebuild minus Alex Deir and Steve Mangan (the top two finishers in their class in '09) but would have still been dangerous in Class B. In fact, they should still be competitive in 'A.'

   The Devils made him do it: I'm not sure this story could get much stranger without Tila Tequila and Insane Clown Posse being involved, so here it goes:

   A Georgia pastor was arrested twice last week for protesting Warner Robins High School’s “Demon” nickname and mascot. The Rev. Donald Crosby of Kingdom Builders Church of Jesus Christ in Macon, Ga., said the logo just encourages children (his son attends the school) to be evil.

   "I don’t scare easily," he said. "Lock me up as many times as you have to lock me up. Even kill me if you have to. I’m standing up for Jesus.”    Crosby was charged with disorderly conduct and picketing without a permit on Monday. He was released on a $650 bond, then was arrested again on Thursday despite acquiring a permit.

   A column in the Macon Telegraph came down on Crosby's side last week, taking aim at school administrators and local residents who won't give him the courtesy of at least listening to his argument.

   "[W}hat grieves me, isn’t his attempt to change the mascot, but of so-called Christians who are willing to go to great lengths to stop him," editorial page editor Charles E. Richardson wrote. "Someone has labeled him a sex offender by circulating a picture of a felon with the same name who looks nothing like Pastor Crosby. That’s just mean and ugly. I guess you could say, demonic."

   Extra points: Elbert Jovante Woods, the son of former Cincinnati Bengals running back Ickey Woods, died Saturday after suffering a severe asthma attack. Woods, 16, was about to begin his junior season at Cincinnati Princeton High.