R-C Sports Notebook: Thoughts from the scrimmage

Scrimmages are funny things.

Watching the McQueen and Douglas football teams test each other out Saturday, it was tough to tell how much each was holding back.

There are a couple of things that did stick out, though, at first glance:

- McQueen's talent and size (both physically and in numbers) are undeniable. It'll take a huge effort to knock them off this year. The thing is, they seem to know it. It plays out as confidence now, but if they go unchallenged through the regular season, it's not out of the question that it could turn into overconfidence. Time of course, will tell, but at this point, this season has McQueen written all over it.

- McQueen receiver Kyle Van Noy moved to the top of my list of player of the year candidates. He has serious talent and the prototypical body type to compete at the next level.

- When Douglas opened things up offensive on Saturday, they looked unbeatable. Quarterback Tim Rudnick demonstrated a solid feel for the game last year, but he has added a nice zip on the ball this season. Both of Douglas' scoring drives featured three or more big pass plays and both scores were touchdown passes. If Rudnick is allowed to settle into a rhythm during games this year, this will be a very potent offense to contend with.

- Rudnick will certainly have a number of capable targets and 6-4, 205-pound senior James McLaughlin showed the most promise out of all of them on Saturday. He showed guts across the middle and wrestled the ball away from Van Noy in the end zone on a 10-yard touchdown pass. McLaughlin had another potential score on a fade route later in the scrimmage but was pushed out of bounds while he was still in the air.

- Senior Zach McFadden, the team's leading returning receiver, also had a couple of big plays, including a circus catch in the end zone where he bobbled the ball and then scooped it with his fingertips before it hit the ground. He and McLaughlin provided an interesting speed/size combination that will be giving opposing defensive coordinators headcaches all season. Connor Dillon and Danny King each had nice catches in the scrimmage, as did tight end Eric Guzman. The passing game on the whole looks pretty solid.

- Senior linebacker Jeff Kelly looks like monster early on. He faces the task of stepping into some big shoes (left by Luke Wartgow and 2006 defensive player of the year Brent Koontz) but he hits hard and moves to the ball quickly. We'll be hearing his name a lot this season.

The Nevada Wolf Pack's football season-opener this weekend will bring with it a subtle storyline, ironic and awkward. This one won't have any effect on the outcome of the game.

On one side of the stadium you'll have the famed Grambling State Tiger Marching Band, flown in from Louisana and ready to put on an incredible show.

On the other side, you'll have the University of Nevada's Pride of the Sierra Marching Band, unfortunately outclassed and clinging on to its dear life.

The University put the band on the chopping block this summer as part of continuing state-mandated budget cuts. Recent reports have said it will take $250,000 raised from the community for the band to gain another year of life.

Here's the catch: Grambling's band, a 179-member unit that travels only for a fee paid by the host, is coming to town at a price tag rumored to be between $30,000 to $150,000. Judging by the size of the band and coupled with higher air fares and room rates, my guess would be toward the higher end.

In an interview with Reno's KTVN Channel 2 News, Nevada Assistant Athletic Director Rory Hickok said that the money raised to bring Grambling's band here has been coming in through private and corporate donations over the past two years. He said the money can't go to anything else.

I don't know the particulars of things like this, and I don't have any clue as to how valid that is, but the whole thing just kind of stinks.

The Grambling band will be taking the field for halftime of what will be the first of six home games for the Wolf Pack this season. In other words, the first of what could the six final appearances of the Wolf Pack marching band.

The chairman of the Board of Regents has been quoted as saying the university is looking to cut the programs that will have the smallest impact while preserving the value of instruction and research at the school.

If not the band, then it would be something else, with its own set of merits and arguments as to why it should stay.

But cutting the band would be a sad thing indeed. It would leave Nevada as on of the only NCAA Division I schools without a marching band, if it's not the only one.

Band's are something that have become ingrained into the pageantry of college football over the years and for an athletic program always looking to deepen its tradition, cutting the band is a significant step backward.

A couple of disclaimers here. I marched in the Pride of the Sierra Nevada Band for my first two years at Nevada. The following two years, I worked for the Wolf Pack football team.

The band used to, and I'm sure this is why it's such a lucrative cut, offer tuition grants for its participants. It helped me get through school and I'm grateful for that.

Now, obviously times are tough and many businesses and governmental entities are faced with some hard decisions. There's no way around that, not anywhere.

The students in the marching band work very hard through long hours in the sun and in the cold at all horus of the day to do what they do. That's in no way to say they work as hard as the football team, or the other student-athletes on scholarship at the school, because very simply, they don't.

But they do put on a good show and represent the school very well.

The only way to survive is to take on more of a role in the community, making appearances at local events and boosting their presence wherever they can.

It will require a much larger time investment on the band's part (and they already do put in a significant amount of time), but there's no excuse for not marching in the Nevada Day Parade, or from sending groups out to farmer's markets, Hot August Nights, Street Vibrations and the like.

The good thing is Grambling's appearance could serve as an inspiration. That's a band that cuts its own albums, appears in TV commercials and has an incredible marketing program. They established an identity for themselves entirely outside of athletics and that is ultimately what the marching band at Nevada will have to do to live on past this year.

Perhaps Grambling will be able to pass on a couple pieces of advice while they are here.

There is no question that the Tiger Marching Band will put on a fantastic halftime show. The biggest question, though, is whether its impact will esnure there will be any more of the like for the Wolf Pack next season.

- Judging by the prime-time coverage during the second week, the Olympics officially ended when the USA 4x100 relay teams successively dropped their batons on the final leg.

It's unfortunate all the hype ended there, because there was some great competition during the remaining three or four days.

For one, South Korea's rise to claim the gold medal in baseball and the United States' fall in the gold medal game of softball were two of the biggest surprises of the Olympics.

The U.S. men's volleyball team came out of nowhere to win a gold medal, which as best as I can tell, was the upset of the entire games for America.

Just the same, NBC apparently knew what it was doing, raking in the most viewers for an event in American television history (something to the tune of 28.1 million viewers every night).

It was an Olympics filled with dramatic storylines, amazing performances and even that element of controversy (who knew age would be such a big deal?). Unfortunately, only a small section of it made it to prime time.

That's what made the online live feeds so ingenious, because it gave viewers access to many sports they'd never seen before. I certainly appreciated it.

After Douglas High football coach Mike Rippee (entering his 24th season), which two coaches are tied for longest tenures at the school?

- The crowd for the scrimmage on Saturday was fairly impressive. Pulling up the high school at about 15 minutes til the start, I was extremely surprised to find the parking lot full. Cheers to the spectators from both sides for showing up at an otherwise inconsequential event.

- The most important thing that happened for Douglas Saturday was the Tigers escaped the day without any major injuries that I could see. It would appear that one of this season's biggest questions is the team's depth. Losing anyone before the season started would have pushed the answer to that question a negative direction.

- That being said, starting cornerback Tanner Thomas did miss the game with an apparent ankle injury suffered earlier in the week. If that turns out to be serious, that could be an early blow to the pass defense.

"If you want to win the race, you're going to have to clear the first hurdle," NBC commentator during the women's 100 hurdle semifinals.

If I had a vote for overall player of the year in the Northern 4A Regional football honors ballots (and I don't), this is what it would look like, based mostly on their respective performances over the last week:

It's early, I've seen only two teams in person and I'll base the rest of my votes on last year's results

1. Kyle Van Noy, McQueen; 2. Tyler York, McQueen; 3. Quarterback, McQueen (Didn't catch his name, but he looked pretty solid to me); 4. Josh DuPree, Manogue; 5. Ray Daniels, Damonte Ranch

The top athletes, regardless of sport, at Douglas High determined by production during competition, overall value to their team, ability to perform with consistency in routine situations, performance compared to others at the same position throughout the state/region, ability to come up big in clutch situations, versatility, attitude, sportsmanship, overall athletic ability, heart, potential at the next level, and a host of other intangibles (emotional leadership, role-playing value, work ethic, etc.) This is all, of course, just my opinion.

Fall Sports Preseason

1. Amelia Ritger, tennis

2. Bethany Wurster, golf

3. Megan Mitchell, volleyball

4. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball

5. Parker Robertson, football

6. Edgar Arceo, soccer

7. Tim Rudnick, football

8. Taylor Biaggi, cross country

9. Jeff Crozier, soccer

10. Taryn Williams, volleyball

Ah, sports movies. We have no less than 15 in our personal collection. Something about the underdog team finding a way to overcome insurmountable odds to win the championship, get the girl and really show up the bad guys in the process. It seems the basic formula gets a little more stretched out each time a studio producer trots it out. Doesn't keep it from being entertaining anyway, even if for reasons not originally intended.

D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994)

Oh, where to start.

The Ducks, one year removed from winning the Minnesota State Pee Wee Hockey Championships, are chosen to represent the United States of America in the Junior Goodwill Games (which don't exist).

Once there, they dominate other teams from around the world (despite the fact that in The Mighty Ducks, they struggled to beat teams within their own state). They run into the juggernaut team from Iceland but make an improbable comeback after changing uniforms between the second and third periods.

And just for good measure you have current professional cowboy Ty O'Neal playing a puck-roping hockey player and Emilio Estevez discussing a "coaching" shoe with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Greatest gaffe: In the final scene, there is a flock of birds flying in "V" formation across the screen. While you hear quacking, the birds you see are actually geese.

Reason to watch: Two words. Knuckle puck.

Maybe you've seen it, but if you go to the sports page on our Web site, there is a link on the right-hand side of the page to the "Upickem Pro Football Challenge." (If you want a shortcut, go here: http://recordcourier.profootball.upickem.net

I'll be posting my picks here weekly and you are welcome to compete against me and other R-C readers. For now, there is a shot at national prizes, but we'll be working on setting up a local winner every week with a free pizza or burger or something. More details on that to follow in the coming weeks.

Here are my picks for opening week, a week in advance:

Giants over Redskins

Bengals over Ravens

Seahawks over Bills

Jets over Dolphins

Patriots over Chiefs

Lions over Falcons

Saints over Buccaneers

Titans over Jaguars

Steelers over Texans

Eagles over Rams

49ers over Cardinals

Chargers over Panthers

Browns over Cowboys

Colts over Bears

Packers over Vikings

Tiebreaker: Broncos 21, Raiders 14

Season survivor sure thing: Steelers.

Season record: 0-0. Record last week: 0-0. Season survivor: Still alive.

Bill Coverley and Walt Powers, 14 seasons each. Coverley went 78-59-1 between 1970 and 1984 and Powers went 34-63-3 from 1945 to 1952 and 1956 to 1961.