Some thoughts and opinions before heading into the weekend:
n Being a Bay Area sports fan, I was crestfallen when I read that A's shortstop Bobby Crosby had broken his ankle and would miss the rest of the season. Fortunately, the A's have some depth at middle infield.
n And, speaking of Triple-A, I certainly hope the Giants give Dusty Bergman more of a chance than the Angels did the last few years. Bergman did some quality work in the Pacific Coast League the last two seasons, and certainly deserves more than a one-game shot at a career in the majors. Hopefully, the Giants will call him up in the next few days and give him a chance to show his stuff.
n Can you believe the bad luck of the Carson High volleyball team? First, senior middle blocker Nicole Scott came down with a bad virus and spent a couple of days in the hospital. Secondly, Sandra McAlman injured her ankle midway through the first game of Thursday's loss to Whittell. How much more can the young Senators take?
n The possibility of a Golden Baseball League franchise coming to Reno is great, especially when it looks like the Triple-A dream of Sparks may never happen. According to a source at Nevada, the "baseball" stuff has been worked out. Hopefully the UNR hierarchy won't screw this up. I always worry when things like this start getting negotiated. From what I can tell, this is a win-win for Nevada. Peccole Park would get lights paid for and possibly even field turf.
n Some football fans think it's a joke that Nevada's football team is playing schools like Nebraska, Florida State and Notre Dame in the next few years. I certainly don't think Nevada truly expects to win any of these games. These are money games or body-bag games if you will. Nevada believes this will help its recruiting and its desire to be a nationally recognized program. That may be true. Only talking to future recruits will tell us for sure. I think that if Nevada had been able to put some butts in the seats the last few years, the Pack might not have to play these games. By taking on these games, Nevada might be able to operate comfortably in the black. The process has worked at Louisiana Tech, which played road games at Auburn, Miami and Tennessee last year, raking in approximately $2 million total. It's money Louisiana Tech sorely needs because of travel costs from being in the WAC.
n My heart goes out to the people of New Orleans. T Scott Boatright, who works in the sports information office at Louisiana Tech, grew up near New Orleans and said that hundreds of refugees are staying in Ruston, La. Boatright, in fact, has nine or 10 relatives staying with him. Boatright said one of his relatives has been evacuated, but hasn't been located yet. Boatright said that gas was around $3.20 a gallon, and that the area could be headed for a shortage. He said that one of the Louisiana Tech players had already lost two relatives, and that the player's mother had yet to be found.
n If you like to be a couch potato during the fall, you are in luck. There are 12 games on the tube today. Keep an eye on the Boise State-Georgia game and the Auburn-Georgia Tech game. The WAC has a lot at stake with Hawai'i and BSU in action. Competitive games by Hawai'i and Boise State will help the WAC's reputation immensely.
n I was happy when several Nevada high schools opted to play their home football games next Thursday instead of Friday because of Nevada's home football game against Washington State. There were a couple of more that could have stepped up to the plate and scheduled games for Thursday or Saturday instead? Nevada officials are hoping to get a big walk-up crowd for next Friday's game, but who knows if that will happen with ESPN2 showing the game live.
n Nevada basketball coach Mark Fox seems to be holding his own in the recruiting wars. He got a commitment from Texas high schooler Brandon Fields, who visited Nevada last weekend and even came by Mackay Stadium for some of Nevada's football scrimmage. Fields played summer ball with Jeremy Mayfield, who didn't have good enough scores and grades to get into Nevada. Fields is still hopeful that Mayfield will come to Nevada. I'd pass on that guy. He had his chance and blew it.
n Kudos to Nevada's athletic department for trying to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Cash donations are being accepted at next Friday's Washington State football game, a fraternity is accepting cash donations at Nevada's volleyball tournament today (Noon, 5 and 7 p.m.) and the Nevada cheerleading squad is sponsoring a car wash from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday in the Sam's Club parking lot at 4835 Kietzke Lane.
Darrell Moody can be reached at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281
