R-C Sports Notebook: True girls' soccer state championship delayed

Just consider it a step back for girls' soccer for at least the next two years.

By now the news is a week old, but in case you hadn't heard, the NIAA settled with Eric Johnson last week and will recognize the Clark County School District winter girls' soccer season.

The plan, originally, was for the Northern and Southern 4A regions to unite for a single state title this fall, as there is for evey other classification, including the boys' 4A, in the state.

But Johnson brought a Title IX lawsuit against the NIAA claiming that the shift would take away his daughters' chance to play volleyball in the fall and soccer in the winter. He requested that either the classifications remained as they were previously or that the NIAA would add another field sport in the south for the winter.

In dropping their defense of the lawsuit, the NIAA made the responsible decision, even if it was unfortunate.

In these difficult economic times, the NIAA couldn't justify the legal expenses of pursuing the suit and rightfully so.

The non-profit organization receives no state funding and exists solely on ticket sales, member school's dues and corporate partnerships. To continue to fight this battle in the courts would have eventually come at the cost of the student-athletes in the state.

It was no surprise really, that NIAA kept that idea in sight and cut loose before they got into trouble.

The unfortunate side effect of all this, though, is the precedent it sets.

Johnson's suit was the only formal complaint about the shift in soccer. In the process he has demonstrated that with enough money and connections, one person can turn the direction of state high school athletics on a dime.

His request for an additional sport, such as lacrosse, is ill-timed at best.

School districts around the state are looking for ways to cut costs in order to balance their ever-shrinking budgets.

Sports are at the top of the list in almost every case. Most schools want to keep the athletic program around, of course, but they are looking at ways to trim the athletic budgets.

This includes paying to play, eliminating non-conference games and tournaments and any number of other options, but the simple fact of it is, now is not the time to be trying to add another sport.

The budget problems run statewide. While in theory, adding another sport creates more opportunities, the reality of the situation is that it would spread already stretched athletic programs to the thinnest extent.

What happens when a parent gets upset that their child can't compete in the new sport because the school can't afford to field it? Another law suit?

As Mr. Johnson has now proven, one man's will can indeed direct the collective.

I said it last year and I believe it more every time I watch a soccer game there, the artificial turf at Keith "Duke" Roman Field is the great equalizer when it comes to team speed.

With the narrow dimensions of the field, teams are forced to play a straight-forward game. Because of the fast surface, however, passes sent from the back to the forwards often roll straight ahead to the keeper.

The advantage generally goes to more physical teams on defense and teams with superior fundamentals on offense.

It makes for a very cramped game, which in the past has stymied teams like Carson and South Tahoe, who base their programs on speed.

This year, however, the turf appears to be a bit of an obstacle for the Tiger girls' soccer team. They looked strong in a 2-1 win over Galena last week on the turf, but they weren't able to run the offense that has gotten them 31 goals in eight games this season.

They move the ball so well from wing to wing (as they showed in a 7-1 win over Damonte Ranch Saturday on natural grass) and so much of what they do depends on two-touch possession that the transition to turf had a visible effect.

My guess is as they get more opportunities to practice out there, they'll figure out a way around those obstacles. This is, after all, a very young team.

- I'm not saying anything or anything, but the last time the Douglas High girls' soccer team had four freshmen on the team, that group went on to win two league titles and a regional/state championship during their careers at Douglas. Just some food for thought.

- The Douglas boys' soccer team certainly has its work cut out for itself this week with matchups on the road against highly-ranked Wooster and Bishop Manogue. They follow that up by hosting rival South Tahoe next week and traveling to league-favorite Carson.

- It took me a while to figure it out on Saturday, but the assistant girls' soccer coach at Damonte Ranch is former University of Nevada head coach Dang Pibulvech. That should eventually pay some dividends for that program.

- The Tiger girls' soccer team has scored 31 goals in the first three weeks of the season. That's 19 less than they scored during all of last year.

- This was a new one: The Damonte Ranch boys' soccer time walked over to the Dollar Tree while waiting for their game to start and came back with pink and purple hats and pom-poms that they used while cheering the girls' team on.

- With all due respect to the Tiger football team's receiving corps and the girls' soccer team's defense, the outside hitters for the Douglas volleyball team are the deepest single-position group at the school, if not in the region, this year.

You have all-leaguers Jourdan Burke and Taryn Williams, which would be enough to set most teams at the top of the standings, but they are joined by sophomore Shannon Dugan and juniors Christine DuPuis and Rebecca Antti that could all fit in a starting rotation for just about any other school in the Northern 4A.

The unit is so deep that Dugan, who has gotten off to an incredible start this season and was the team's top hitter against Reno, sat for the majority of Thursday's match vs. Truckee while the coaching staff rode a hotter hand.

That kind of depth, especially come playoff time, will be priceless as the season progresses.

- Something to keep an eye on: Douglas boys' soccer goalkeeper Corbin Zumpft has posted five shutouts in nine games.

I mentioned that last quartet of freshman girls for Douglas girls' soccer. Any ideas who they were?

It was subtle enough that if I'd blinked, I would have missed it, but Douglas forward Ally Freitas chased down a pass in the air and flicked it forward on a perfect angle to set freshman Tia Lyons loose on a breakaway. It culminated in Lyons chipping a shot over the Damonte Ranch keeper for the first goal of the day Saturday, but the highlight here was Freitas' pass.

- Wooster boys' soccer 4, South Tahoe 0. I knew there would be a lot of parity in the Sierra League this year, but seriously, what the heck? South Tahoe to boys' soccer is like McQueen to football. Either they are really down this year or Wooster is going to be the darkhorse surprise of the season.

- Manogue volleyball sweeps Reno. This one was supposed to be a lot closer. We all knew Reno was good. We all knew Manogue was good. But to run away with the match like that was really something else. My thinking is Reno just had an off night.

- Northern 4A football. There are four undefeated teams remaining in the Northern 4A. McQueen and Hug aren't surprises. Spanish Springs and North Valleys, however, are. All four hail from the High Desert and no one has started league play yet. So I can safely say that, at the most, only one of those will still be undefeated when the playoffs begin in November.

- Hug football 34, Manogue 31. That this game was close, or even that Hug won isn't that surprising (although I did pick Manogue to win it). The surprise here was that it was such a high-scoring affair. These are two strong defensive programs. They should continue to be strong through the rest of the season. But if the two offenses combined for 65 points and such defenses, what does that say about their potency?

- Not so much: Douglas volleyball tops Truckee in five. On the surface, the top-ranked team in the region getting pushed to five games by a 3A school should be surprising. Truckee is very, very good though. I suspect the Wolverines brought in the toughest defense Douglas will see this season. For a good portion of those first two games, Truckee deflected just about everything Douglas' vicious attack could bring. What prevailed, though, was the superior depth and versatility of Douglas' frontline.

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:

1. Kyle Van Noy, McQueen; 3. Tim Rudnick, Douglas; 3. Duke Williams, Hug 4. Anthony Stolo, McQueen; 5. Patrick Riggs, Manogue

"That mascot is depressing me ... Look at him, he's running in place. What is that? Is that supposed to be funny?" - Neil, Freaks and Geeks.

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

1. Amelia Ritger, tennis

2. Megan Mitchell, volleyball

3. Bethany Wurster, golf

4. Ross Gardner, soccer

5. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball

6. Ally Freitas, soccer

7. Taylor Biaggi, cross country

8. Tia Lyons, soccer

9. Tim Rudnick, football

10. James McLaughlin, football

If there were more spots on the list: Alex Laing, soccer; Jourdan Burke, volleyball; Johnny Pollack, football; Corbin Zumpft, soccer; Jordan Cruz, football; James TenBroeck, tennis; Parker Robertson, football; Cesarina Ceglia, girls' tennis.

Shaolin Soccer (2001)

This is, well, perhaps the craziest movie you will ever see.

The plot line: A group of brothers with Kung Fu superpowers enter the China Super Cup with the hopes of winning $1 million.

I can't tell if this is China's attempt to replicate the American sports movie formula, or if they are outright ridiculing it. Either way, you have to see it to believe it. The bad guys are called Team Evil. Do I need to say anything more?

Reason to watch: Words can't even begin to describe it. You should be able to find it on Netflix, and please, please, go to the "Set Up" menu before you start the movie and set the spoken language to English because the dubbing makes it even more entertaining.

A Kung Fu Karaoke duet, players that spontaneously break out into gymnastics pommel horse routines and a shot that is kicked so hard it turns into a flaming panther just barely scratch the surface of the absurdity that lies within.

One parental warning: Toward the end of the movie, a goalkeeper's clothes are literally blown off by an exceptionally powerful shot. Sadly, I am not joking.

Like it or hate it, I can guarantee it will leave you speechless at least once.

I've now got my first year of being a dad in the books and it's just beginning to dawn on me that I still don't know a thing.

There are, however, a couple things I've written down. Here's a starter list and I'll add one every week until I'm out of stuff to say(something tells me I could keep this up for the next 30 years):

- Don't be the guy that shows up 20 minutes after his wife to birth classes and raises his hand five minutes later to ask if there are going to be any "really boring videos" coming up during which he can step out of the room and stretch his legs.

- Don't be the guy from the videos they show you in birth class that sings "She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain" during his wife's contractions. His name is Carl. I'm not sure he lived through the experience.

- Don't be the guy in the doctor's office waiting room who wears the shirt that says "If it weren't for all this, I'd be out fishing RIGHT NOW. When people comment on the shirt, don't be the guy who says, "Oh, it's so true."

- I can recite no less that five Disney movies in my sleep and found myself humming the opener from Beauty and the Beast at work the other day.

- There was a time when I believed the worst smell in the world existed soley within a football team's locker room during August two-a-days. Then I learned how to change a diaper.

- I thought I knew what it was to be tired. Then she started crawling.

- I've always known I had a knack for making a fool out of myself. I never knew how capable I was of it, though, until we started spoon-feeding her.

- I knocked a jar of baby food off of the pantry shelf and behind the clothes dryer. My first thought was, "If it's peas, I'm not going after it."

- Kermit the Frog and Ernie have the same voice.

There's still time to sign up for R-C Pick 'Em. 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

If nothing else, you can watch as my lack of professional sports expertise continues to be exposed.

Apparently, your worst four weeks are dropped (good news for me, but let's face it, I honestly don't see it getting much better) so jump on board before that can't help you.

I'll be posting my picks here weekly and you are welcome to compete against me, R-C publisher Charlie Pankey and other R-C readers.

The top scorer locally every week will win a large pizza and a soda from either Pizza Barn or Wildhorse. You'll also have a shot at national prizes. Come on, free pizza. Your odds aren't that bad (unless your name rhymes with Joey Crandall).

Contgratulations to the week 2 winner, Joe McLaughlin.

I'm floating around .500. My guess is I'll finish with a better win percentage than the Bengals, but then again, so would the Western Truck School club team. Here are my picks for week 3:

Bills over Raiders

Bears over Bucs

Panthers over Vikings

Falcons over Chiefs

Partiots over Dolphins

Redskins over Cardinals

Titans over Texans

Giants over Bengals

Broncos over Saints

49ers over Lions

Seahawks over Rams

Colts over Jaguars

Browns over Ravens

Steelers over Eagles

Jets over Chargers

Tiebreaker: Packers 21, Cowboys 14

Season survivor sure thing: Bills.

Season record: 16-15. Record last week: 7-8. Season survivor: Still alive.

Christina Bradshaw, Allison Chapman, Krysten Bartshe and Jessica Maule. They were called up to the Douglas varsity squad in 2001.