Countdown to an ESPN showdown

This weekend, ESPN and its family of networks will televise the second and third games from their 2008 high school football schedule.

Sunday's TV slate features a live broadcast of No. 21 Kansas City Rockhurst at Midlands No. 6 Blue Springs South. It's an attractive matchup between the last two Missouri Class 6 state champions, who both have future Division I quarterbacks providing the star power.

Of course, unlike with college football or the NFL, ESPN nor any other national cable or broadcast network owns the rights to show any high school game it wishes.

Instead, the network must gain permission to show the game and work directly through the high school coaches and administrators to make arrangements for getting the game on the air.

Kansas City Star preps writer Cole Young wrote about all the steps that went into getting Rockhurst vs. Blue Springs South on the air this weekend.