For the players, coaches and fans, high school football season began on Friday night.

For me, it started at 9:08 Saturday morning. This chastising and bitter voice-mail message served as my season-opening kickoff:

“OK, I have been a subscriber for many, many years and I am sick and tired of Tremper always gettin’ the big bill over Bradford. Uh, Tremper lost. They get pictures in the paper. Bradford won. They get a little article on the third page. Whatever. Why are you so biased? Why can’t you give them equal time? It’s just sickening how you treat Tremper.”

I’m sure Tremper was sickened by the coverage after the Trojans saw their 19-8 loss to Onalaska splashed all over Saturday’s front page.

I have been over this all before but, with the onset of a new school year, I feel compelled to hold a review session.

I don’t mind complaints about coverage. In fact, I welcome them. Oftentimes, they force me to re-examine how we operate. Sometimes, a complaint changes the way we do things. A few years ago, a reader absolutely berated me for not publishing a state college football roundup in Sunday’s editions. Turned out, that was a good idea and it is something we have done ever since.

Complaints that are inaccurate ... those I do mind.

The above complaint is inaccurate as are most complaints on the Bradford-Tremper/Tremper-Bradford rivalry.

Tremper does not always get “the big bill” over Bradford. That wasn’t the case on our four-page wrap-around section on Thursday or the game previews on Friday where the teams received equal play. The only reason Tremper got “pictures in the paper” Saturday was because the team was at home and Bradford was on the road at Burlington.

That’s all. Blame the schedule maker, not the Kenosha News!

If Bradford was at home and Tremper was on the road, Bradford would have gotten the “pictures in the paper” and Tremper would have been blanked.

It has happened many times before and it will happen (on both sides of town) again. However, there will be times, based on the importance of the game, that photographers will go to road games while home games go uncovered.

Tremper did lose and Bradford won Friday, that much is true. However, Bradford did not “get a little article on the third page.” In fact, the article started on the front page above the Tremper headline and was continued on the third page. It should also be pointed out the Bradford article was actually longer than the article penned on the Tremper game.

There are no apologies for the Tremper loss, as opposed to the Bradford victory, being the top story. Sometimes shocking losses are more newsworthy than victories.

I firmly believe readers don’t want us to give teams “equal time.” I don’t think readers want us giving a 1-7 team playing a nothing game on the road the same weight as a 7-1 team playing at home for a conference championship.

My hope is that when a parent or a fan sees the newspaper, they know that stories were assigned, written, photographed and edited based on our one true bias:

Getting the best story.

Have a great season, everyone, and as Mike Larsen urged in his column Thursday, please, please, enjoy the journey.

Contact David Marran at dmarran@kenoshanews.com.