Next semester I will be the sports editor of the Daily Kent Stater, and I want you to know about all the great stuff that will be happening in the newspaper and on the Web.

One issue that most people have with our sports section, when I have conversations about the paper, is the lack of coverage on the Cleveland sports teams. While I agree they are important, we are the Kent State newspaper, and we need to run stories that pertain to Kent State first.

But I agree with you, and I would like to cover Cleveland sports. So, on the Stater’s Web site, KentNewsNet.com, we will provide you, the reader, the kind of coverage on those teams that you want. As editor, I will provide columns and commentary on those teams with an intellectual approach you won’t find anywhere else on the Web.

And don’t worry, Steelers fans. We have Pittsburgh reporters who can provide you with stories on your team … unless of course the Browns beat them in the first round of playoffs this year.

While March Madness is going on, log on to KentNewsNet.com to get the stories you want to read about the field of 65.

If you like blogs, videos and podcasts, make sure you log on to KentNewsNet.com next semester and read, watch and listen to those stories you enjoy reading, written by intelligent sports fans for intelligent sports fans. I want to make KentNewsNet.com the kind of sports Web site that you feel you have to visit every day to feel complete as a sports fan. With so many Kent State sports going on in the spring, I also want you go to our Web site to read the stories about the wonderful teams on this campus.

The site has the potential to be everything the Kent State student wants his or her sports Web site to be, and I encourage you to log on to KentNewsNet.com every day because we are going to do great things that will make you laugh, make you think and make you appreciate sports just a little more.

If you’re going to be away from the university over the break, make sure you log on to KentNewsNet.com for coverage of the men’s and women’s basketball teams, including the men’s team trip to North Carolina Jan. 2 and the start of Mid-American Conference play.

Even when school is in session and you cannot make it to the M.A.C. Center or make it to the road games, visit the Web site and find out what the score is while the game is going on.

But we are not going to abandon the sports page while expanding the Web site. We as a staff will still provide students with coverage of all the games for all the sports. We will still feature a column, and we will still give you the features and profiles of the athletes in ways that all of us at Kent State can relate to.

So, continue to read the Stater, but don’t forget about the Web site. When you are snowed in at your parents’ house over break and want to know what is going on with the Flashes, log on to KentNewsNet.com and find what the team is doing.

So, be prepared to witness a revolution in sports coverage with the Daily Kent Stater, have a great finals week and while you’re trying to forget everything about Kent State over break, don’t forget to check out KentNewsNet.com.

Contact future sports editor Jeff Russ at [email protected].