R-C Sports Notebook: New leagues, new rivals, how could it be bad?

Athletic directors from around the Northern 4A voted to shake up the High Desert and Sierra Leagues Monday afternoon.

If the principals from the region approve, the leagues would essentially trade six teams in order to make a North-South alignment.

Hug, North Valleys and Reno would head to the High Desert and Galena, Bishop Manogue and Fallon would shift to the Sierra.

On its face, it makes plenty of sense in terms of travel as South Tahoe, Carson and Douglas lose the long trips to North Valleys and Hug and Fallon loses its trips to Spanish Springs, Elko and McQueen.

But take it a level deeper, and it makes for an exceptionally competitive Sierra League.

The Galena for Reno trade is basically a wash. There is simply not a sport that either school struggles in and both schools are exceptional in football, basketball, baseball and soccer.

Losing Reno means a slight downgrade in softball and in the running sports (track and cross country) but Galena brings a minor upgrade in wrestling, tennis and golf.

For Douglas, the Tigers lose a big rival in the Huskies, but gain another in the Grizzlies.

Let's say that Bishop Manogue and North Valleys match up next. Both schools have been on the uprise in football and boys' basketball in the last few years, but Manogue will be an upgrade in baseball, softball, girls' basketball, and more or less all of the individual sports.

The Miners also sport arguably the finest athletic complex in the North, and their addition would also mean that all the schools that play Saturday home football games would be in the Sierra League.

Galena and Manogue also make natural rivals for Damonte Ranch, which could prove interesting late in the respective seasons.

That leaves the Hug for Fallon trade. Obviously, Hug's boys' basketball and football teams will be missed, but Fallon brings a large upgrade in soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball and wrestling, in particular.

Having Fallon, Carson, Galena, Damonte Ranch and Douglas (arguably the top wrestling schools in the north) in one league will make for an unbelievable grappling season with must-see matchups nearly every week.

Fallon and Galena also make the Sierra League the top volleyball league, coupled with Douglas, Reno, Carson, South Tahoe and Manogue.

The changes, if approved, would go into effect next year.

We'll know more by week's end.

Douglas defensive lineman/punter/tight end Jeff Nady is certainly drawing a crowd this season.

Nady received his first two Division I scholarship offers last week from Nevada and Colorado State.

Nady is said to be Colorado State's No. 1 defensive lineman prospect at this point, but Nevada has been watching at least since the Hug game of the 2006 season.

UNLV was in the stands for Friday's game against Reno, and California, Washington and Iowa are all taking their shot at courting the 6-7, 246-pounder.

Nady is being recruited primarily as a defensive lineman and has recorded four sacks and recovered three fumbles.

As a tight end, he's caught eight passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns but if he keeps dropping 60-yard bombs into the wind as a punter like he did Friday night, no doubt at least one school will try to utilize him as a punter.

Let's take a step back and really look at Douglas' 21-7 loss to Reno Friday night.

Sure, the Huskies took control of the Sierra League race with the win, but Douglas is still in fine position to claim a home playoff game, if not at least a share of the league title down the road.

Reno, let's remember, still has to take on Hug and has been susceptible in the past to melting down at key points in the season (see last year's season finale loss to Carson with a playoff spot on the line).

The Huskies scored all of their points in a disastrous second quarter for the Tigers, and only once was Reno able to put together an offensive drive of more than 50 yards.

This same Husky defense held perennial power McQueen to just five points in the season opener, so Douglas has nothing to be ashamed of. Those same Lancers have averaged 32.4 points per game since.

The Huskies managed 139 yards on the ground on 40 carries (an average of 3.475 yards per carry) and had 65 yards through the air (from a team averaging 136.4 per game coming into Friday) against the Tiger defense.

Reno's first touchdown came on an interception return and the second came three plays after a fluke punt set the Huskies up at the Douglas 27. It was only on the third that the Huskies sustained a drive as they rumbled 66 yards on eight plays late in the first half for the final score of the game.

Offensively, David Laird threw for 126 yards despite Reno gearing their game plan specifically toward stopping the pass. As a side note, Laird moved into the No. 3 spot in the Douglas record books for career passing yardage behind Luke Rippee (4,064) and Chris Griffith (2,471).

Laird is currently at 1,692 yards in his two-year career at Douglas.

When it came down to it, the game was exactly what it was billed to be " An even matchup between two of the league's top teams.

The difference simply was that Reno made less mistakes and was able to capitalize on the ones Douglas made.

Looking at the way the High Desert League race is shaping up, the top two in the Sierra League will most likely be taking on Bishop Manogue or Reed in the first round of the playoffs.

It's a fair bet that Reed won't be slipping up again, while Manogue still has Galena and McQueen on its schedule.

That means the likely opponent at this point for the No. 2 seed out of the Sierra would be Reed.

The Tigers can't ignore the four remaining teams on their schedule (Damonte Ranch, North Valleys, South Tahoe and Carson) as each is capable of pulling off the big upset. But if Douglas can make it through unscathed, they have that No. 2 spot cemented.

How much does Douglas want a rematch from the season-opening flub against the Raiders? We may end up getting a chance to find out.

I've come to the conclusion that college football only draws five types of commercial advertisers " Cars, beer, prescription drugs that elicit awkward silences in the room, Geico and the Big Ten Network.

I'm going to pick on the car companies for a second.

If I were running things, and I'm not, I would make comercials showing the car doing what it will actually be doing under my ownership.

None of this blasting through ice encrusted snow berms, racing along mountain highways, skating through puddles as deep as Lake Tahoe or, umm, camping.

No, my commercial would show the car's life as it really is. The mundane drive to and from work, waiting in line at the drive-thru and sitting in the mechanic's garage.

Based on the cummulative votes in the Sierra Nevada Sports Media poll, here are the top-ranked overall athletic programs based on football, boys' soccer, girls' soccer and volleyball so far this season.

1. Douglas

2. Galena

3. Truckee

4. Reed

5. Carson