As we approach the end of the winter high school sports season, more sports will begin their quest to win their respective state tournaments. One huge positive that came out of the COVID pandemic is the expanded coverage of live sports at the high school level. Schools and local cable access stations like our own Hastings Community TV have worked hard to cover the various state high school tournaments for those that cannot make it in person. That also means there are a plethora of nefarious websites out there run by the evil people of the world trying to scam you out of your hard-earned money.

I’ll be honest, I truly loathe scammers. I hate that they trick people into giving them money, especially when they prey on our older neighbors. They add a bunch of work for those of us that are admins for groups on social media, they steal millions of dollars each year, frustrate law enforcement and victims. It is simply awful what they do. That is why this quick story is being written, to hopefully protect you a little from those jerks.

How does this help you? Easy, here is the simplest thing I can tell you. Hastings has three different types of local media: Print/Digital -You have us here at the Hastings Journal for your print and digital print news needs. We also help spread the word of last-minute changes or quick updates on our website, www.hastingsjournal.news or our Facebook account, ‘HastingsJournal.’ Any links we actively share there are legit links. If you are not certain, don’t click it, ask and I will be the one that personally responds.

Radio/online audio streaming -KDWA provides the audio play by play of many local sports events. They are a legit source for the game audio.

TV/online video streaming -Hastings Community TV, or HCTV14. They are the legit video source for Hastings area sports.

A fourth and fifth option for streaming is two websites known as HUDL and Live Barn. Both of these services put automated cameras in various sports venues and charges an access fee for the end user to watch. They are legit, they are expensive, and their systems are 100 percent automated, so they do not always follow the play properly and they do not give you the greatest quality views. The advantage is, they are in a lot of area schools, so you can catch away games with them.

We know that the live sports programming is important for supporting our community’s student athletes. We also know that many people cannot always listen or watch live, and we know that the community values the recaps and photos provided by us here at the Hastings Journal. We encourage you to support ALL of us, print, radio and TV. The Hastings community is so incredibly lucky to have all three sources, and we all want you to be not only well informed, but also safe online.

That safety is why we promise here that we will only share links on our website and social media to credible, approved and safe broadcasts of games. Scammers will often post to our social media pages either as a comment on a thread or a post on our wall. HCTV has made the same promise. When the links are commented, we do our best to quickly remove, block and hide the scammers so you don’t see them, but sometimes we are simply too busy covering the event to catch them right away.

As tournaments progress deeper into the brackets, the Minnesota State High School league begins to monopolize the access and limits the live coverage to their own providers. We will also share those links as needed and we will make sure to sign off on them as legit.