So last night my nephew calls me all frantic about missing Lebanon High’s first preseason game. He needed the 2024 football schedule like yesterday. Figured it’d be simple, right? Wrong. Spent two hours hitting digital walls before I nailed it. Here’s how the chaos went down.
First Attempt: The Obvious Google Trap
Opened my laptop, typed “Lebanon High School football schedule 2024” straight into Google. Clicked the first five links like a desperate squirrel. Got:
- A 2023 PDF rotting on some shady sports blog
- A “page not found” for Lebanon High’s old athletics site
- Three ads for football cleats
Zero actual schedules. Just dusty internet crumbs.
Phase Two: Social Media Rabbit Hole
Pivoted to Facebook. Searched “Lebanon High football parents group”. Found a semi-active group from 2021. Scrolled for ages. One mom complained about concession stand prices last season. Another argued about parking. Zero schedule posts. Almost threw my coffee mug.
The Local Breakthrough
Remembered the barista at Main Street Coffee always knows everything. Messaged her: “Hey, where do parents get the football schedule now?” She fired back in 30 seconds: “They only post it on the new school portal. Nobody checks the website anymore.” Mind blown. Why didn’t I start with an actual human?
Finally… Victory
Went straight to the official Lebanon School District homepage. Hunted for “Athletics”. Buried under “Students & Families” tab. Clicked “Fall Sports” → “Football” → and bam: a clean, updated 2024 schedule with home/away games and times. No login needed. Took four clicks total from the district site. Emailed it to my nephew. He replied: “Wow… why’s it hidden there?” Exactly, kid.
Lessons Learned (The Hard Way)
- School sites bury sports info like it’s classified intel.
- Google’s first page lies. Those “helpful” links are usually ghosts.
- Always ask locals first. Saved me three more hours of rage-searching.
Showed my nephew the portal tonight. He laughed: “So we just ignore Google forever now?” Basically, yeah. Sometimes the easy way starts hard.