Before we get into the meat and potatoes of this column, I want to take a moment to welcome all the freshman to the University. Is it a perfect place? No. But after four years here, I can say it was definitely the right choice.

And while I can’t tell you which majors are the best to take here, I can tell you about the University’s athletic teams. At least I better be able to, as I am the sports editor, after all.

At BG, we have a football team with a new head coach willing to do whatever it takes to bring a Mid-American Conference title back to Doyt Perry Stadium, a women’s basketball team that has won five straight regular season MAC titles, a men’s basketball team coming off a MAC regular season title and a hockey team fighting hard for its existence. That’s not even to mention the other smaller sports – many of which are successful year in and year out.

And if you want info on those teams, you’ve come to the right place. Want more than we have in this print edition? No problem, we’re just a click away on your computer too at www.bgnewssports.com and www.twitter.com/bgnewssports.

Now as sports editor, it is my job to ensure my reporters and I provide the content you want, when you want it. But if the football team gets pounded 56-3, don’t expect us to write about how great it was that we scored a field goal because that’s what you want – expect the truth about why we got destroyed.

That’s right, we’re not going to be cheerleaders no matter how good or bad things may be going. In the real world of journalism, that’s how it is, and being reporters for an independent student newspaper that is not affiliated with the athletic department, we are all real-world journalists.

The coaches, players and athletic department staff all know and respect this journalistic truth. And now I ask that you, the fans, do the same. If the athletic folks don’t think we’re doing a fair job, they aren’t afraid to let us know. And I’d hope you’d do the same.

Sure, I want to see all our teams win championships just as much as the next guy, but there is an announcement in every press box before every game, ‘This is a working press box and cheering will not be tolerated.’ I assure you all my reporters abide by this rule.

But enough rambling about that half of this job. You probably know most teams here are part of the MAC, a mid-major conference. I know, I know. Sounds boring when you could’ve gone about 120 miles south and watched Terrelle Pryor and Evan Turner light it up for the Buckeyes or 60 miles north to Ann Arbor to watch Rich Rodriguez try to bring Michigan’s football program back out of mediocrity, but trust me, there are players here that are worth watching.

Tyler Sheehan. Lauren Prochaska. Joe Jakubowski. The list goes on and on. Will any of them go pro? Hard to say, but what they will do is excite and entertain you.

And another one of my roles here is give you an entertaining section of the newspaper and provide coverage of every sport this school has to offer. In fact, outside of the official athlete Web site, there is no coverage of many of the smaller sports except what we bring you.

Just remember, The BG News is your newspaper, and we are here to serve you, our public. Your duty in this is to let us know when something doesn’t feel quite right. If you disagree with something we do, we definitely want to know why.

But also remember, this is your school and these are your teams, so it’s your job to do the cheering while we do the rest.