Leading off today: I think I write something along these lines every year, but this time I really mean it: High school sports is big news in the news business.

   Newspapers, TV stations, cable systems and pure-play websites are all putting new energy into trying to capture the audience for high school sports news and information, recognizing that there's money to made in a niche that's been the staple of newspaper sports sections for decades.

   Here are some of the recent announcements and developments I've come across:

   (1) I mentioned the other day that Gannett is going to roll out the HighSchoolSports.net brand and technology on all of its newspaper and TV sites by the end of the year. In a bid to jump-start its football effort in Buffalo, WGRZ-TV has made a deal with Dick Gallagher, publisher of Western New York High School Sports magazine for the past 24 years.

   (An aside: The first place Gallagher might be able to contribute is as a proofreader for WGRZ. The station's story on its website said "Channel 2 plans to cover Section IV like never before" when they should have been referring to Section VI.)

   It will be fascinating to see if WGRZ can gain any traction as it competes with The Buffalo News, which has done a solid job of maintaining its print coverage while also ramping up rapidly online in recent years while many other newspapers have been cutting to the bone.

   (2) MaxPreps.com, with whom I occasionally share resources while developing projects like RoadToSyracuse.com, announced on Facebook over the weekend that it will add JV and freshman coverage for football, volleyball and soccer in the fall plus its other sports throughout the school year.

   (3) In the metro New York area, MSG Varsity, Cablevision's network devoted to high school sports, will be offered in high-definition and is scheduling a live "Friday Night Football" package to complement the taped coverage it provided in its first season.

   MSG Varsity debuts hi-def tomorrow. It's first game utilizing the technology is Sept. 10 between Immaculata High School and Ridge High School in New Jersey.

   The cable outlet aired 400 games in a variety of sports in its first year and is adding to its reach this fall by launching a 68-page magazine that will be distributed to schools throughout its coverage area.

RoadToSyracuse.com Football Site

   (4) The Times Union in Albany is throwing a launch party Wednesday for Insider, it's 60-something page magazine breaking down every football team in Section 2. All-state wideout Keaton Flint of Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake is the coverboy.

   Progress: Our list of football scrimmages now contains entries on approximately 85 get-togethers involving about 260 New York teams Aug. 28 through Sept. 4.

   Sections 1 through 6 are all well represented on the list, and I'll add more as information becomes available.

   What gives? There's a mix of outrage and disappointment among players and parents at Adirondack Central, where Dom Ventiquattro appears to be running into trouble gaining re-appointment as varsity softball coach even though the board has already seen fit to keep him on board as a modified football coach.

   Ventiquattro, 54, a phys ed and driver education instructor, has been an Adirondack coach for 25 years, including 18 as the varsity football head coach. He has coached softball for 14 years, the last two as the varsity head coach following the death of close friend Tom Maurer.

   More than a few people are wondering if there's payback involved after Ventiquattro supported a another coach in her unsuccessful bid to be reappointed.