I got up at 7 a.m. Thursday. That doesn’t sound like a big deal. However, it takes something pretty special to get a night owl such as myself out of bed before the clock hits double digits. In fact, it usually takes something even more special to make it worthwhile.

After rolling over and grunting incoherently at my alarm clock and subsequently muddling through the mundane activities that start every day, I found my diligence justly rewarded.

See, I had received it on pretty good authority that an early rise would allow me to get my first look at the 2009 Demopolis Tiger football team. So, I played the tip. And what I found was little short of remarkable; at leaste to me anyway.

Now, it’s one thing to hear all of the talk from players, coaches, fans, etc. I hear it all the time.

It’s another thing entirely to see the subject of the hype and put said subject through your own meticulous evaluation system. So I decided to do just that.

It should be pointed out that my method of scrutiny on this morning includedstanding around in flip flops, shorts and a T-shirt.

Nonetheless, I could not help be be impressed with what I saw.

And what I saw was a team that looks astoundingly like a 5A football team. Seriously. It was pretty surprising.

It’s not that I doubt the talent of these players or the abilities of their coaching staff. I suppose I just expected to see more rust than what was present Thursday morning.