R-C Sports Notebook: Year-in-Review

I spent most of Friday thumbing through the 154 editions we've put out this year trying to put together my annual "year in review" story (which will appear in Wednesday's paper). This year, just for fun, I decided to keep a running tab of a couple different things, just out of curiosity.

So here is my year by the numbers:

146 - Number of games or sporting events I covered in person since Jan. 1, 2008, and just in case you wondered, 133 of those were Douglas High events.

57 - Number of times I got to see a Tiger team win (not counting individual sports here)

34 - Number of times I used the word "Indeed" in my stories. Simple archive search determined this one. Don't think for a second I went through a counted it up myself!

20 - Trips to Reno/Sparks for a sporting event.

19 - Poblano pesto burritos from Q'Doba

18 - Games I saw that weren't decided until the very last play, I'm talking last-second shots, walk-off home runs, big goal-line stands, etc. That's a pretty exciting year.

3 - Number of parents/teachers who expressed concern when I tracked down balls that traveled out of bounds for opposing teams. Just for the record, I did do that for both schools playing - It's a little hard to look a player who's been running for 76 minutes straight in the eyes and basically imply that I'm too lazy to stop the ball for them.

2 - Number of no-hitters, start to finish, I got to witness.

1- Surgery. My appendix, Feb. 5, 2008.

It's that time of the season again when I offer up my best guess as to how the Northern 4A will wrap up in each sport. There'll likely be a little truth, a little luck and a whole lot of missteps along the way. Once again, we'll revisit these after the season is complete.

Boys' Basketball

Playoff teams: High Desert: 1. Reno; 2. Hug. 3. Reed 4. Spanish Springs. Sierra: 1. Manogue; 2. Galena; 3. Fallon; 4. Douglas

Regional Champion: Reno.

Surprise team: Fallon.

Thoughts: Manogue is the toast of the region through the first month, but they still haven't really beaten anybody that lines up like Reno (i.e., roster stacked with guys over 6-5 and probably one of the most lethal guards to ever play in Northern Nevada - depending, of course, on where you put Armon Johnson for his high school position). Douglas and Galena are the wildcards here. Both are young and inexperienced and both have been facing a pretty sharp learning curve for the first month. Either one could pop up and win the league title given the right breaks on the right nights or either one could finish out of playoff contention given the wrong breaks on the wrong nights.

Girls' Basketball

Playoff teams: High Desert: 1. Reno; 2. Reed; 3. Spanish Springs; 4. Hug. Sierra League: 1. Manogue; 2. Douglas; 3. Carson; 4. Manogue.

Regional Champion: Reno

Surprise team: Douglas

Thoughts: Reno is as solid and as deep as they come and let's not forget, they still are the defending regional champs. The Sierra League looks to be an honest toss-up right now. Some might say I have Douglas too high, based on their two losses to open league play, but those were games that could have easily gone the other way. Like the boys' team, the Tigers' are inexperienced, but they still have a dominant force in the paint and in the home-opener against Galena I saw flashes of some of the best full-court press defense from a girls' squad that I've seen in my six years covering Northern 4A basketball.

Wrestling

Final League standings: High Desert: 1. Spanish Springs; 2. Reno; 3. Elko; 4. Hug. Sierra: 1. Douglas; 2. Galena; 3. Carson; 4. Damonte Ranch.

Regional Champion: Galena

Surprise team: South Tahoe

Thoughts: The Sierra League is pretty much the League of Death. The regional champ will be the Sierra League team that can move the most of its wrestlers on to the finals. Douglas' big wins against Galena and Damonte to open the year pretty much put them in prime position to claim the league title. If the Tigers can get past Carson, at this point, it would take a monsterous flop for them to not claim their third league title in four seasons. I have a tough time making a clean prediction on the regional champ because none of these teams have really been in a major individual invite against each other. I simply don't know who has the roster with the most lasting power in that format. I lean toward Galena due to their returning state qualifiers - Jeremy Wilson and Doug DelPorto. I think Douglas has the horses, especially with the recent shuffling of their upper-weight lineup to make a run, and I know Damonte Ranch will be in the mix as well. I've heard Manogue is a dark horse, but haven't seen it in the dual results yet. We'll just have to wait and see.

These two weeks around Christmas and New Year's have kind of become the no-man's land of high school sports around here. Everyone ships out on the round for tournaments and there's not much to stick around here to see.

That'll change Saturday with the Carson Valley Classic wrestling tournament at the high school and the girls' basketball team taking on Woodcreek, Calif., at CVMS. That problem of not getting to see the region's top programs against each other in an individual format yet? That'll be hopefully be addressed on Saturday. The only thing is this tournament, which when it's on is one of the best local invites, has been wiped out by snow storms twice in the last four years. Here's hoping!

If I had a vote for overall player of the year in the Northern 4A Regional basketball honors ballots (and I don't), this is what it would look like, based mostly on their respective performances over the last week:

Boys' Basketball

1. Austin Morgan, Reno; 2. Keith Feutsch, Manogue; 3. Zach Sanford, Reno; 4. Bobby Hunter, Manogue; 5. Taelor Marchbanks, Spanish Springs.

Girls' Basketball

1. Ashley Armstrong, Manogue; 2. Stephanie Rovetti, Reno; 3. Jessica Waggoner, Douglas; 4. Danielle Peacon, Reed; 5. Erica MacKenzie, Reed

- Best business name of the year? SlamDunkEm Bankruptcy Assistance.

If you don't make sure your television is prepared for the Feb. 19 changeover to digital broadcasting, it will grow a pair of legs and walk out the front door, taking the DVD player with it.

- My daughter had her first run in with a stomach bug last week. Aside from feeling awful for her, I was equally amazed at her ability to defy both the laws of physics and spacial relations in terms of how much of her food I was seeing again.

Here are my picks in the U Pick 'Em bowl game with my original thoughts on the bowls and the results of the completed games. My running total so far? 10-4:

EagleBank Bowl

My pick: Wake Forest over Navy

(You know me, I'll go with the option team 9 times out of 10, but when a school gets a couple weeks to prepare a defense for it, well that would be time No. 10)

The result: Wake 29, Navy 19

New Mexico Bowl

My pick: Fresno State over Colorado State

(Never bet against Pat Hill)

The result: Colorado State 40, Fresno State 35

St. Petersberg Bowl

My pick: South Florida over Memphis

(The St. Petersberg Bowl? Seriously? More than half of the teams in all of Division I football playing in the postseason and this is one reason why. But that's a whole different column.)

The result: South Florida 41, Memphis 14

Las Vegas Bowl

My pick: BYU over Arizona

(There was a time when BYU was in the BCS picture, but losses to Utah and TCU ended that.)

The result: Arizona 31, BYU 21

New Orleans Bowl

My pick: Southern Miss over Troy

(Ever since Southern Miss ended TCU's run at the BCS in 2003, I've had trouble picking against them)

The result: Southern Miss 30, Troy 27, OT

Poinsettia Bowl

My Pick: TCU over Boise State

(To me, this is one of the must-see games this bowl season and probably the best matchup outside of Oklahoma-Florida. Having attended TCU, I have to go with the Horned Frogs. The better defense in the postseason almost always comes up with the win, so logical the edge goes to TCU, right?)

The result: TCU 17, Boise State 16

Hawaii Bowl

My Pick: Hawaii over Notre Dame

(There is no team that protects its home field better than the Warriors. That being said, if you're a Hawaii player, don't you feel a little cheated that you don't get to go somewhere else for a bowl game?)

The result: Notre Dame 49, Hawaii 21

Motor City Bowl

My Pick: Central Michigan over Florida Atlantic

(This bowl has actually been pretty entertaining in the past. I like Central in this one because of the proximity to home)

The result: Florida Atlantic 24, Central Michigan 21

Meineke Car Care Bowl

My Pick: West Virginia over North Carolina

(Best bowl name since the Poulan Weed Eater Bowl - but seriously, why not just call it the Meineke Muffler Bowl? 10 times more awesome, if you ask me)

The result: West Virginia 31, North Carolina 30

Champs Sports Bowl

My Pick: Florida State over Wisconsin

(Again, I have to go with the team playing closer to home.)

The result: Florida State 42, Wisconsin 13

Emerald Bowl

My Pick: California over Miami

(I have a soft spot for Cal, and I'm not really sure why. Plus, did anyone else forget that Miami played football this year? Or was it just me?)

The result: California 24, Miami 17

Independence Bowl

My Pick: Louisiana Tech over Northern Illinois

(The Bulldogs are still stung over that last-minute loss to Nevada to end the regular season. Look for them to regroup in a big way.)

The result: Louisiana Tech 17, Northern Illinois 10

Papajohns.com Bowl

My Pick: Rutgers over NC State

(Apparently you can only play in this game if your school colors resemble pizza sauce. Seriously, though, I like Rutgers. Again, I go with the better defense. Time will tell)

The result: Rutgers 29, N.C. State 23

Alamo Bowl

My Pick: Missouri over Northwestern

(Northwestern has an impressive record, but remember Missouri was in the thick of the national title picture earlier this year. Deep in the heart of Big XII country, don't expect the Tigers to falter here)

The result: Missouri 30, Northwestern 23

Humanitarian Bowl

My Pick: Nevada over Maryland

(You can't go against the local team, but more so, the Wolf Pack actually looked pretty good the last time they played in this bowl game (2006 vs. Miami). Nevada has a certain QB that looked pretty good the last time they made the trip to Boise as well.)

Texas Bowl

My Pick: Rice over Western Michigan

(A bowl so good, it didn't even make it to a regular college football network. How exactly does the NFL Network justify covering college football? You know, what with being the NFL Network at all.)

Holiday Bowl

My Pick: Oregon over Oklahoma State

(Oklahoma State is probably the logical pick, but I like Oregon. I like their big-game potential. We'll see, but this is probably a dumb pick.)

Armed Forces Bowl

My Pick: Air Force over Houston

(Much more interesting if this were Navy vs. Air Force, but still, have to go with the option offense)

Sun Bowl

My Pick: Oregon State over Pittsburgh

(Really, the Beavers should have been in the Rose Bowl against Penn State. Instead, they'll be getting ready for Pittsburgh. Pitt is ranked, but how can you go against a running back called Quizz?)

Music City Bowl

My Pick: Vanderbilt over Boston College

(Watching Boston College take on Virginia Tech Saturday, I was impressed with the Eagles' quarterback and not much else.)

Insight Bowl

My Pick: Kansas over Minnesota

(This year, it is pretty tough to go against anyone from the Big XII)

Chick-fil-A Bowl

My Pick: Georgia Tech over LSU

(I wrote about it recently, but I really like what Georgia Tech has in the works. Putting up a win over a very good LSU defense would be a statement victory for sure)

Outback Bowl

My Pick: Iowa over South Carolina

(Really, who cares? Two good, but not great teams. I like Iowa's uniforms better.)

Gator Bowl

My Pick: Nebraska over Clemson

(Just continuing the Big XII theme)

Capital One Bowl

My Pick: Georgia over Michigan State

(Matthew Stafford leads a group of Bulldogs who could potentially be playing their last college game before bolting for the NFL. This could be a big game for them)

Cotton Bowl

My Pick: Texas Tech over Ole Miss

(Ole Miss has the distinction of being the lone team to knock off Florida. Tech has the distinction over being steamrolled by Oklahoma. I pick the Red Raiders based simply on their offense)

Liberty Bowl

My Pick: East Carolina over Kentucky

(There just aren't enough Pirates in college football)

International Bowl

My Pick: UConn over Buffalo

(Possibly the most obscure bowl game of the year. This one is so good, it won't even be played in the United States. Sure Buffalo knocked off Ball State, but seriously, who else?)

GMAC Bowl

My Pick: Tulsa over Ball State

(This is more me hoping to see the Cardinals' decision to decline an invite from Boise State backfire just a little bit more on themselves.)

Rose Bowl

My Pick: Penn State over USC

(Penn State fan growing up, what can I say?)

Orange Bowl

My Pick: Cincinnati over Virginia Tech

(Sure, Tech has the defense, but Cincy is actually really good)

Sugar Bowl

My Pick: Utah over Alabama

(I'm a sucker for the idea of an upset. And make no mistake, this really would be an incredible upset - much bigger than Boise over Oklahoma two years ago)

Fiesta Bowl

My Pick: Texas over Ohio State

(Seriously, how is Ohio State in a BCS bowl? Consolation for the last two postseasons perhaps?)

BCS National Champioship

My Pick: Florida 35, Oklahoma 12

(I've gone almost exclusively with the Big XII teams up to this point, but Florida looked really, really good in beating Alabama and Oklahoma has really, really fallen flat in its BCS appearances over the past two years)

- Every time a character on the island meets with a violent death, the chances of the series ever actually ending get exponentially slimmer.

Irrational Fear: Ronald McDonald and Grimmace

Guilty Pleasure: The Arch Deluxe