Ever since the newspaper launched the new natchezdemocrat.com, there has been a persistent joke running through the office.

With the ability to provide news faster and from almost anywhere with an Internet connection, the rumor has spread that the The Democrat’s Web department is getting its own news vehicle. Like those of the national television networks, the natchezdemocrat.com van will be fitted with a satellite dish and brightly colored “Live at Five” stickers.

When I first caught wind of this rumor, I was pumped. I could imagine myself driving down the streets of the Miss-Lou with heads turning as I passed by.

“There goes a real journalist,” I imagined passersby saying.

Imagine my response when I discovered the punch line of this joke was that instead of a car or van, I would be driving a moped. The satellite dish on the news vehicle would be mounted to the top of my helmet.

Although we might not have a “real” news vehicle, natchezdemocrat.com is continually looking to provide new ways to get information to its readers when the news happens.

And that includes sports.

Known for its excellence in high school football, the Miss-Lou consistently produces state championship caliber teams on both sides of the river.

This year is no exception. Six area teams have made the playoffs. Natchez High School, Trinity Episcopal, Ferriday High School, Huntington School, Franklin County and Centreville Academy have earned the chance to win it all.

For your average Miss-Lou sports fan, the current playoff picture presents a problem.

How do you keep up with it all?

You could be like one of those fans that goes to one ball game, listens to another game on the radio and keeps the phone ready for text messages in between plays.

Or you might be one of those fans that constantly asks people on the Internet if they have any updated scores to report while staring at a blank computer screen.

In the Miss-Lou there isn’t one place you can go to get updated live scores, until tonight.

With a little help from The Markets and The Natchez Democrat, Miss-Lou sports fans will now have one place in which to log on to get live updated scores for all of Friday night’s playoff games — natchezdemocrat.com.

Each week of the playoffs, natchezdemocrat.com will be posting live scores from all games, both at home and away.

Reporters and fans at each of the contests will be calling and texting updates from each game to our office.

With four of the five playoff contests being played outside the Miss-Lou, fans who aren’t able to travel away will no longer have to wait until the team bus returns to hear how there favorite team fared.

Those who can log on to the Internet from their cell phones, can find out from their stadium seat how the other local teams are doing.

And when each game is finished, natchezdemocrat.com will send e-mails and text messages with the final results.

For nearly 10 years, The Natchez Democrat has been providing local news and sports coverage from the Internet. From the beginning The Markets, owned by Barry Loy and family, have been a big supporter of local online news.

So when you see Barry this week, tell him thank you for sponsoring the live playoff scores on natchezdemocrat.com.

Who knows, I might just get that moped yet.

Ben Hillyer is the Web editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3540 or ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com