CourtesyTwo former Carson High stars recently played against each other in Texas. John Parker, left, plays at Abilene Christian and Trevor Goodale, plays at Texas A&M Commerce.
I keep hearing rumors that if Nevada were to end the season at 6-6 that the school might turn down the bowl bid.I realize that Nevada would go to a bowl on the heels of possibly five straight losses, but when your team has a chance to put $200,000 in the athletic coffers it should do so, especially in today’s economy.I wrote this before Saturday’s game against Fresno State, but even if Nevada lost that game, it would get a 7th win by knocking off New Mexico on the road. I will be in the stands for that one. A 7-5 record isn’t bad.Coach Chris Ault thinks his team should win every game, but that’s not realistic. He doesn’t have the talent to run the table, and he doesn’t have Colin Kaepernick to help the Pack outscore the other teams.•••And, while we are on the subject of Nevada sports, I caution the hoop fans to get overly excited about this year’s team. It’s a young team playing in a much tougher conference. The Mountain West Conference is twice as tough as the WAC, and with the addition of Utah State next season, it will be even better.Playing the likes of New Mexico, UNLV and San Diego State twice a year will be grueling. Even Air Force won’t be a walkover. Just think if Utah and BYU had stayed in the conference, though if that had happened Nevada might not have gotten an invite to the MWC.It’s certainly going to be tougher to get an NCAA invite with New Mexico and UNLV and SDSU in the conference. This is a Pack team with no proven inside players, yet. Hopefully that will change.•••Two former Carson High football stars found themselves on opposing college teams playing against each other recently.Trevor Goodale, a junior tackle at Texas A & M Commerce, went up against Jon Parker and Abilene Christian. Parker’s team was a 24-17 winner. Parker has played in nine of the 10 games at tight end and has three catches for 32 yards.After a standout career at Carson, Goodale went on to Butte College and played two seasons at Carson coach Blair Roman’s alma mater.•••Two former Carson standouts are performing well at Washington State University.Brandi Vega, who shattered the record books in soccer, has helped lead the Cougar women into the NCAA Regionals.Vega had seven goals and five assists while leading the team in shots. The Cougars finished the regular season with a 12-6-1 record, including three straight wins to end the regular season.Richard Shroy, the former CHS cross country and track star, has run in four meets for the Cougars.He was 19th at the Clash of the Inland Northwest (19:15.6) for 6200 meters, was 158th at the 5.0-mile Notre Dame Invitational, was 47th at the Inland Empire Classic with a 26:44 for 8,000 meters and he was 79th at the Pac-12 Championships in Santa Clarita, running a 27:26 for 8,000 meters. Shroy was an honorable mention academic selection for the Pac-12.•••I did endure the 8-hour bus ride down to Henderson with the boys and girls soccer teams, and I thank Bob Bateman, Carson High athletic director, for allowing me the opportunity.We made a stop in Hawthorne and one in Beatty. One of the girls players remarked that she needed fresh air when she vacated the bus in Beatty. I’m surprised I didn’t hear that comment more. Forty-three players, seven coaches, a trainer and myself were on board, so everybody was pretty much packed in.The only thing missing was a TV screen to possibly watch a movie and power so the kids (and adults) could use their iPods. I was pleasantly surprised that the trip wasn’t more rowdy. There were only a a couple of instances that it got a little much.
