We're essentially at the halfway point of the fall sports season and, as has become surprisingly routine over the past three years, the Tiger varsity programs have a number of programs right in the thick of the league and regional title races.
Volleyball, girls' soccer and football are right in the mix, which is nothing new. Boys' soccer has made a return to the thick of the title hunt with an impressive eight-game unbeaten streak since opening the year 0-2.
Boys' tennis standout James TenBroeck and girls' golf two-time defending regional champ Bethany Wurster have walked their way into favorites' roles with only a handful of regular season contests left.
But the surprise this year, particularly to me, is the girls' tennis team. Douglas coach Roger Rusmisel said before the year that the girls had taken it upon themselves to turn themselves into one of the upper-eschelon programs in the region with their offseason schedule.
They put in a ton of work, lifting and running during the spring and drawing a large number of participants to the voluntary workouts in the summer.
With only three regular season matches left, two of which are in league play, it appears all that work has paid off in large, sweeping dividends.
Douglas is unbeaten on the year, which would be impressive enough on its own, but the only formidable opponent left on the schedule is rival Carson (who Douglas was set to take on Tuesday afternoon, just after the writing of this column). A win there could mean the school's first-ever Sierra League title.
Two-time defending regional champ Amelia Ritger has continued her dominance of the north, and senior Cesarina Ceglia has shown immense improvement in her fourth season with the team. Freshman standout Kari TenBroeck appears to be Ritger's heir apparent, giving Douglas the top group of singles players in the region.
What has been truly impressive this year, though, is the performance of the athletic core of doubles players. As a group, they have gone 37-17 in sets on the year.
Time will tell, but in a relatively short turnaround period, Douglas seems to have accomplished its goal. It seems for the time being, that the sky is the limit for this group.
I'm planning to be at these games this week, so check online for updates:
TUESDAY
No. 1 Douglas girls' soccer vs. No. 10 Manogue & Douglas vs. Carson girls' tennis, 3:30 p.m. (I'll be bouncing between the two contests ... If Douglas wins the tennis match they will have all but clinched the Sierra League title - Only Fallon and Damonte Ranch will be left on the league schedule after Tuesday and Douglas will need to beat just one of those to clinch.)
No. 5 Douglas volleyball vs. No. 1 Damonte Ranch, 6 p.m. (I'll be doing the Cover It Live updates on www.recordcourier.com for this one, so if you can't make it, you can follow the match as it happens on our Web site)
WEDNESDAY
No. 5 Douglas boys' soccer vs. No. 4 Manogue, 3:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
No. 5 Douglas football at Galena, 7:30 p.m. (Cover It Live udpates)
- I wrote a little about this in the story about the match, but the Douglas volleyball team's 22-0 run against Galena last week was one of the strangest stretches of volleyball I've seen in six years here. It was a combination of a immense meltdown on the Grizzlies part (Galena had been playing a great match prior to the run) and an opportunistic Douglas offense.
- It doesn't matter what I'm eating, it's a given that one of the last two bites will somehow end up on my shirt.
- Douglas boys' soccer forward/midfielder Edgar Arceo added another two goals last week to bring his career total to 45. The school record is 60, set by Mike Gransbery. The season record is 31, set by Jeremy Louthan in 1999. Arceo has six goals so far this season.
Arceo also has three assists on the year and 23 in his career. The Northern 4A and school record is 35, set by Eddie Vega.
- The girls' soccer 4A state record for shutouts in a season is 13, held by Douglas' own Ashley Sulprizio (1999). Tiger sophomore Brianna Randall has posted five shutouts in eight games so far this season.
- One other record within the realm of possibility this year: The girls' soccer state and school record for goals in a season is 26 (Morgan LeFever, 2006). Alex Laing has eight in 10 games so far. Teammates Katie Dry and CJ Baumgartner each have six.
The Douglas and Galena football teams will meet up in Reno this week. When was the first time the two teams met and what was the outcome?
- "I don't think right now we're as good as you that cover us think or expect us to be; I don't think we're as good as what our fans want us to be." - San Diego Chargers head coach Norv Turner.
- Signs your 2-year-old is dictating too much of the family's television habits: A commercial for the Toy Story and Toy Story 2 double feature in 3D comes on and your wife says 'Hey, we should take a date night and see that.'
For a brief moment, before you realize you can use date nights to go see movies that would be of no interest to your children, it actually sounds like a great idea.
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Visit recordcourier.profootball.upickem.net to sign up and make your picks.
I got a little cocky after going 14-2 in week 1. Got brought right back down to earth on Sunday.
Here are my picks for week three:
Ravens over Browns
Titans over Jets
Giants over Buccaneers
Packers over Rams
Patriots over Falcons
49ers over Vikings
Texans over Jaguars
Redskins over Lions
Saints over Bills
Bears over Seahawks
Bengals over Steelers
Broncos over Raiders
Chargers over Dolphins
Cowboys over Panthers
Tiebreaker: Cardinals 28, Colts 21
Regular Season Survivor: Giants
Last week: 9-7. Season: 23-9. Season Survivor: Still alive.
Celebrating Edd Roush, the only player ever ejected from a Major League Baseball game for sleeping in the outfield.
- It would seem Twitter has claimed the common sense of yet another professional football player: Washington Redskins rookie linebacker Robert Henson, who has yet to step on the field of play two weeks into his professional career, had some choice words for Washington fans who booed the team during Sunday's 9-7 win over the Rams.
"All you fake half hearted Skins fan can .. I won't go there but I dislike you very strongly, don't come to Fed Ex to boo dim wits!!"
He went on to say: "The question is who are you to say you know what's best for the team and you work 9 to 5 at Mcdonalds."
He has since apologized. On Twitter.
Make sure to drop by my "From the Bleachers" blog this week at www.recordcourier.com/bleachers.
The basic schedule goes like this:
Mondays: How the Top 10 fared
Tuesdays: Four Surprises and One Not-So-Much
Wednesdays: Sierra Nevada Sports Media Rankings + my ballot
Thursdays: My Player of the Year Ballot this week
Friday: Weekend picks
Plus, keep an eye out for other items posted to the blog.
1995. Douglas won 44-20 in Minden.
