Let’s be honest here for a moment.

I’m willing to bet that at least once this week, you have been thinking about either attending a high school football game or possibly watching a live Gamestream here on IdahoSports.com. How do I know? I know because A) high school football rocks, B) you are on IdahoSports.com right now, and especially C) for some illogical reason, you decided that reading my blog post was going to be beneficial to you (we can only hope...).

All joking aside, the real fun gets going in a big way this weekend. 48 teams. 24 games. 3 days.  And yes, IdahoSports.com will be at as many of those games as possible.

The official start to the 2012 “Milk Bowl” kicks off Thursday night at Holt Arena with 2A Quarterfinals as the Firth Cougars take on the Wendell Trojans, followed by the West Side Pirates and the New Plymouth Pilgrims in the nightcap. Join Paul Kingsbury, Lorin Jensen and the legendary Scott Gross for both of those matchups.

Friday is the big day for most teams with 18 games taking place around Idaho. And yes, there are some big matchups in the early rounds of the tournament. While I won’t go over all of the matchups, let me highlight some of the games which you can see here on IdahoSports.com:

Blackfoot vs. Bishop Kelly in Blackfoot at 6 p.m. with Lorin Jensen on the call of that game.

Madison vs. Capital in the early game at Holt Arena with myself and Paul Kingsbury bringing you the coverage, followed by the much anticipated Shelley vs. Snake River game in the late matchup.

Pirate Bowl II between Hagerman and Butte County, this time live from Jerome High School, with Scott Burton and Mike Savage from the Magic Valley’s “Friday Night with Scott and Mike” crew will be on hand for that dandy of a matchup.

Better not forget about one of the more prolific matchups in Class 5A, as Highland travels to Boise to take on the Borah Lions from Dona Larsen Park. That game could very well end up determining a finalist for the State Championship.

The only thing that is missing from our slate of games this weekend is legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer to get things “officially” underway. (I called Michael’s rep and asked if he could come, but he said that sadly there was a conflict in his schedule... so he sent me this link instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpFITa9eYoQ)

To use the words from football and basketball play-by-play man Kevin Harlan, BUCKLE UP BABY! It’s playoff time... and anything can happen. So grab your friends and family and head to any playoff site this weekend to catch some great football from our local high school athletes. But if you can’t make it to a game in person, IdahoSports.com has got you covered.

To see if your team is being broadcasted or to watch a broadcast of a State Quarterfinal game, click on this link: http://www.idahosports.com/gamestreams/default.aspx