Sports

For the first time since 1996 and only the eighth time in history, Cooperstown will not be welcoming anybody to the hallowed ground of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and we could be seeing a lot more years like this to come unfortunately. The 2013 ballot saw many newcomer names that were superstars in their playing days.

Carson Now is proud to begin its third year of being a host to Western Nevada College Baseball broadcasts. Western Nevada Baseball is now widely known as a national power across the USA. In 2012, Carson Now brought you the exciting season that saw the Wildcats baseball program make it to their third JUCO World Series appearance. This year, the Wildcats will have a strong team that is anxious at retaking that trip to Grand Junction, Colorado.

The University of Nevada appears to have chosen their new head coach for football. Texas A&M Special Teams Cordinator Brian Polian is expected to take the helm.

Just when you thought things were put to rest in State College, the drama continues.

Chris Ault, the Godfather of the “Pistol Offense” has decided to step down from his position as head coach of the Nevada football team. As I stated in my previous article, I believe that he is the best coach for this program but in the back of my mind I saw this change coming. With the way the program has gone the last couple of years after Colin Kaepernick left, and with his staff diminishing under him it was only a matter of time.

Chris Ault has been a very successful coach for Nevada. Yet, every time Nevada Football has a ‘less-than-impressive’ finish to the season, some fans call for him to leave or be relieved of his position.

Let’s take a look at just exactly what Ault has done for the Nevada Football program:
He has been the Head Coach for 28 seasons. In those seasons he has compiled a 233-109-1 overall record. Ault has only had three losing seasons. Three. He has led Nevada to nine conference titles. Under his belt, Nevada has been to the postseason 17 times and that includes a current 8 year streak.

Certainly there are things in this world that are bigger than sports. Unfortunately, today in Newtown, Connecticut a shooting at an elementary school has happened. It is unthinkable and unimaginable. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this horrific tragedy.

In today’s world we ask ourselves over and over again why, and more often than not, we never seem to find the answers.

I hope that we all come together at this time for the victims of this tragedy. Please hug and hold close your loved ones every chance you get. Today is a day of mourning and grieving.

Running up the score at the professional ranks in any sport should not be an issue. The latest example was yesterday’s NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals.

RENO, Nev. — Thirty-two Wolf Pack student-athletes representing 12 teams have applied for graduation at the University of Nevada this winter. Ceremonies for the 2012 Winter Commencement are set for Saturday, Dec. 8 at Lawlor Events Center.

The Carson High School/Douglas High School Rivalry dates back decades and was voted the best in Nevada.

In the contest being held by USA Today for the best rivalry in the country, The Carson/Douglas received 86% of the vote blowing away the competition while the Moapa Valley/Virgin Valley rivalry got 11% for second place, and the Bishop Gorman/Palo Verde rivalry finished third with just 3% of the vote.

The Carson High School Bowling Team fell off of its pedestal last year for the first time in 12 years. The team, which have been champions every year since its inception in 2000-2001, lost by one pin to the Reed High School Bowling Team in early 2012.

Now, coaches Vern Barnes, Kevin Costa, and David Lethcoe are looking to get the team back up on that championship track. The Carson team has a great mixture of veterans and new faces on the roster to steer this team back into the winners circle.

Major League Baseball’s Matt Williams is coming home. The Carson High School graduate who is a World Series winner and five-time All-Star will headline the 10th annual Western Nevada College Wildcats Athletics Gala Dinner on Thursday, Jan. 24, at the Downtown Reno Ballroom. The event will also benefit Carson High School baseball and softball.

Tickets are $100, with tables of 10 for $850 through December 31 and $1,000 afterward. They are available through the WNC Foundation at 445-3240 or at www.wnc.edu/wildcatsgala/.

The Gold Dust West Casino has a state of the art bowling center in Carson City that is the best place in town to take the family bowling for a day or night out.

The annual three day Capital Classic High School Basketball Invitational, sponsored by Carson City Host Lions, will be on Thursday December 6th and Friday 7th with doors opening at 4:00 PM. Thursday's lineup is 4;30 PM Reed vs Sparks 6:00 PM Wooster vs Incline Village, and 7;30 PM Carson vs Damonte Ranch. Friday's lineup is 4:30 PM Sparks vs Damonte Ranch 6:00 PM Incline Village vs Hug 7:30 PM Carson vs Reed. Saturday the 8th, doors open at 11:30 AM, play starts at 11:45 AM with Carson vs Incline Village 1:15 PM Damonte Ranch vs Reed 2:30 PM Carson vs Sparks.

Utah officials announced plans Monday for a longshot bid for another Winter Olympics, saying they already have the venues in place and have left behind the taint of scandal from the 2002 games.
Nevada officials said Monday they were waiting for a USOC decision before making a possible bid of their own.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The field is set for the seventh annual Gildan New Mexico Bowl with the Arizona Wildcats accepting the invitation offered by the Gildan New Mexico Bowl today. The game, slated for Saturday, Dec. 15, at 11 a.m. MT/1 p.m. ET, pits the Pac-12 member against the Nevada Wolf Pack. Owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, the bowl game will kick off the FBS postseason from University Stadium on the University of New Mexico campus and airing nationally on ESPN, ESPN 3D and ESPN Radio.

The City of Reno seems to be dropping the ball when it comes to adhering to their side of the agreement with the owners of the Reno Aces.

In a letter dated November 28th 2012 written to the Mayor of Reno Robert Cashell from the President of Triple-A Baseball Branch E. Rickey, President Rickey tells a damning story of what Reno has failed to do to. This letter has given permission to the owners of the Aces to relocate if the City of Reno fails to come to an agreement on a refinancing deal for Aces Ballpark.

After broadcasting live play-by-play Western Nevada College baseball games for six seasons, and recently taking on regular sports blog reporting and analysis for Carson Now, it would be only fitting to give Chris J. Graham the title of Sports Editor. And so as of today we are.

Graham, 26, will step up sports coverage for Carson Now with continued blogs, stories, interviews, analysis and plans in early 2013 for a one-hour weekly broadcast sports show.

Colin Kaepernick or Alex Smith? That is the question that Jim Harbaugh must answer, and answer for good before next week’s game in St. Louis. It does not serve a locker room well when there is a rift or questions left unanswered. Inconsistency can damage a team’s chemistry, and at this point that is the last thing San Francisco needs. Yes, the 49ers appear to have a problem that every team would love to have. They have two quarterbacks that are very capable of winning, but only one should be the everyday starter, and the team deserves to know it.

National power Western Nevada College Baseball continues to make more splashes in the NCAA Division I rank. Evan Parker, Mike Umscheid, and Brandon Show have already signed letters of intent to play at 4 year colleges starting in the fall of 2013. This will put the number of WNC Baseball players to move onto higher levels at 95 in just seven seasons.

Colin Kaepernick has a chance, a shot, to prove to the NFL world that he can indeed start an NFL game and be successful. With Alex Smith unable to pass the vital tests to get back to playing football, the 49ers turn to Kaepernick to make the start against the Chicago Bears. Alex Smith knows firsthand how hard it is to prove yourself to the fans and coaches.

The NIAA has a problem. They forget that they are running high school sports and not professional organizations. This is to tell them that giving exclusive broadcasting rights of all mediums to Gustin Sports Productions is beyond absurd. This is Nevada, where high school sports are not overwhelmingly huge. This is all about fun here not about money like some seem to think.

The Carson City Pop Warner Midget Cheer Squad achieved first place in its division at the Sagebrush Empire District Cheer Competition held at Sparks Highs School on November 3, 2012. In so doing, the team has put themselves in the position to qualify for the national championships for the first time in the program’s history.

Value-added skiing and boarding has been passed down to three Lake Tahoe area resorts. Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort season passholders can now enjoy free skiing or riding at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows from opening day until December 21, 2012, as well as from April 15, 2013 until closing day.

Now that the MLB season has come to an end, the offseason begins. Here are my predictions for the awards:

What are some high schools thinking? Some high schools around the nation are lowering or have already lowered the Grade Point Average (GPA) requirements for their student-athletes, and some go as low as 1.6 (a “D” average). This is absolutely absurd to me. I watched a show on ESPN about this and it left me fuming. I cannot believe that schools are so lazy to teach their pupils. They are indirectly saying: “Students struggle so we are not going to work to get them better.”

A batted ball comebacker to a pitcher is the single most dangerous situation in baseball that results more often than not in serious injury.

Can enough steps be taken to protect the pitcher in baseball from a batted ball comebacker that they cannot react fast enough to? Most pitchers throw a pitch with their follow through momentum turning their body to one side, on one foot, leaving them completely vulnerable and mostly defenseless to a screaming batted ball coming right at them.

Major League Baseball revealed a new playoff format this year by adding an additional team to the wild card mix. It has some potential in my mind after being extremely skeptical about it.

Before this year, only one team won a wild card spot in both the American and National Leagues and they went straight into the Division Series. This year the playoff format allowed one additional team in each league to play for the wild card spot in the division series.

I agree with the message different authorities are trying to send with sports, but some are doing it in the wrong way. You cannot erase accomplishments no matter how they were obtained. You cannot erase what actually happened. I do not agree with erasing the books, in any sport, at any level.

It will never go away. Until the MLB really DOES something about it. A little venting here on the case of steroids/PED's in baseball.

I know this would never pass with the Player's Association in a CBA agreement but if you want to completely get rid of steroids/PED's, the MLB and the MLBPA need to have a 'one and done' approach about it starting in the minor leagues.