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Tuesday American Legion — Chico at Red Bluff, DH, 5 p.m. NBAFinals — Celtics at Lakers, 6 p.m., ABC MLB— Athletics at Cubs, 5 p.m., CSNC MLB— Orioles at Giants, 7 p.m., CSNB World Cup — Ivory Coast vs. Portugal, 6:30 a.m., ESPN World Cup — Brazil vs. North Korea, 11 a.m., ESPN Sports 1B Tuesday June 15, 2010 Realignment Ramos wins 1st Womathlon As a Big 10 guy, let me for- mally apologize for causing all of this conference realignment mess. All we wanted to do was pres- sure Notre Dame to join. We thought the rest of the country knew what we were up to when we threatened to go to 16 teams. As long as we got the Fighting Irish to join, we would have been fine to stop at 12. But the rest of the country kind of flipped out and thus you forced us to grab Nebraska. We were almost looking at a scenario where California schools will have to a couple time zones east to play their “Pacif- ic” conference rivals. Like I said, we’re sorry. Colleges aren’t the only institutions going in for a realignment. Here in the North State the high school leagues took part in a bit of a tune-up as well. Coaches won’t be the only new features Spartans Rich Greene Courtesy photo Thirteen women competed, June 5, in the Tehama Family Fitness Center’s first ever Womathlon. sports fans test drive this upcoming season. The Eastern Athletic League added a couple of teams and will split into two divisions come fall. Like college sports, one conference’s addition forced changes for everyone and so Corning, Los Molinos and Mercy will also be looking at new league landscapes. When judging whether a league realignment is good for a high school there’s pretty much only two questions you need to ask as a parent, athlete or fan: Does this help us win more? — and — how does this affect travel? In the Spartans case I think the answer to the first question is a positive, but I’m worried about the latter. Basically the EAL added Las Plumas and Lassen. Then put all the Redding-based and Chico schools in one division and the remaining five in the poorly named EAL South. That leaves the Spartans paired with Las Plumas, Lassen, Oroville and Paradise. Based on the past couple of years that kind of sticks the Spartans in the middle when it comes to football. Lassen joins as the defending Division II champion and Las Plumas brings with it an 0-10 team. We know how good Paradise is and Oroville was the Spartans only league win last season. As for volleyball, rival Pleasant Valley is at least gone when it comes to regular season titles. Las Plumas was 2-17 last season and Lassen was 7-19-1. Not that the Lady Spartans have to worry too much about who they play. As for the second question, the realignment doesn’t help the Spartans as much. Red Bluff’s average league contest round-trip was 81 miles in the previous setup. That inflates to a 147-mile average with the new configuration. That’s a lot more hours of student-athletes on busses that we all should agree could be time better spent. It’s also a lot more missed opportunities for loved ones to catch a game. I also can’t help but remembering the words budget, problem and schools associated in some capacity lately. If memory serves me correct those words were lead- ing to school districts to alter their bus routes to save on fuel. I love sports, but they shouldn’t get a free pass when it comes to the same decisions. Here’s a fun game for you — name as many schools roughly the same size as Red Bluff, that are closer than Lassen High School. The thing is the football team is still playing Pleasant Valley, Shasta, Chico and Foothill next season. Their schedule hasn’t changed all that much. They’ll only have to go Lassen every other year. But it often seems like football is the only sport even considered when these decisions are made. Everyone else can just deal with the repercussions. Did anyone ask Corning what that trip to Susanville is like come basketball season? Actually the Cardinals made out well in this whole realignment. The only change for the Northern Athletic League is the subtraction of Lassen. There’s one less road block to a league champi- onship. Los Molinos also made out fairly well. In football only, they’ll switch from the seven-team Shasta Cascade to a four-team league, being called the Mountain Valley League with Biggs, Chester and Maxwell. Maxwell was the Division-V runner-up last season, but Biggs and Chester were both three-win teams. No more Fall River and Modoc, hopefully no more sub .500 seasons. In volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball the Bulldogs will stay in the Mid-Valley League. Just like the EAL, the MVL will add two teams and split into two divisions. Quincy comes in and joins the Bulldogs, Biggs and Hamilton to form the MVL North. All of these teams will do the normal home-and-home schedule. Portola joins East Nicolaus, Esparto and Williams in the MVL South. The South and North schools will play each other once. Mercy will see it’s fair share of shake-ups as well. The football team is going 8-man and in the other team sports the Tri-Cities league will add Hayfork, Chester and Maxwell. The boys basketball team sure has some great memories with Maxwell to build upon. Come see Daily News Sports Editor Rich Greene participate in the only sport he’s good at anymore — competitive eating — 7 p.m. Friday at the Tehama District Fairgrounds. He will be competing in the R-Wild Horse Ranch Crawdad Festival’s Celebrity Crawdad Eating Contest. Those wishing to speak with Greene when he’s not writhing in pain can do so by calling 527- 2151, ext. 109 or by e-mailing sports@redbluffdailynews.com. In a day of blood, sweat and tears of pain, June 5, Leticia Ramos captured Tehama Family Fitness Center’s first ever Womathlon event. Women from all ages competed in 10 grueling events designed to test their strength, agility, speed, endurance and above all else — they’re heart. Some of the 10 events included 50 16 percent box jumps, two min- utes of push ups, over 200 reps of dead lift, Tire pulling, a 400-pound sled drag, 11-minute planking, an agility course and a 1.5-mile race. “Every spectator that observed the event was touched by the effort of the competitors,” Tehama Fami- ly Fitness Center owner Ed Stro- man said. “They epitomized what we are about here at TFFC — train hard, train smart, compete against yourself and have fun. They were an inspiration to all and and are all winners.” Courtesy photo Womathlon champion Leticia Ramos competes in the arm- over-arm pull event, by pulling a fire hose. Ramos beat out a field that included runner-up Karen Brose as well as Aurora Barriga, Cori Batholomie, Jennifer Borchard, Daise Brose, Lily Brose, Kayla Diehl, Rea Dubay, Kristy Hoskins, Brianna Johnson, Betsy Palubeski and Aubrie Stroman. The fitness center will return its popular Pump & Run event on Sat- urday, June 19. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and everyone, including non-members are welcome for the competition that combines weight lifting and running. For more information call 528- 8656. Brandt sisters post stellar times in Yuba Courtesy photo Jayne Brandt,8,swims at the Feather River Aquatic Club Invitational in Yuba City.Jayne finished third overall in the 8-and-under girls division. She took second place finishes in the 25-yard butterfly and 25--yard breast-stroke. Meanwhile 10-year-old sister Julia Brandt took second place overall in the 9- 10 girls division. She also qualified to compete in the Far Western Swim Meet in Concord during the first week of August in the 50-yard butterfly and breast-stroke. She turned in a 33.21 AAA time in the fly and a 40.14 AA time in the breaststroke.Julia won the 200-meter individual medley and 50 and 100- yard breast-strokes. Big 12 isn’t go away, Texas says it will stay AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Staring at extinction, the Big 12 is once again in play. The beleaguered conference made a rousing comeback Monday, when Texas declined an invitation to join the Pac-10 and decided to stay in the Big 12. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M quickly followed the Longhorns by recommitting to the conference after commissioner Dan Beebe convinced his members they would make more money in television and media deals in a 10-team Big 12 then in a 16-team Pac-10. A person with direct knowledge of discussions among the Big 12’s remaining members said Texas is clear to set up its own TV network and keep all proceeds in exchange for remaining in the Big 12. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because final details had not been worked out. ‘‘Everybody is feeling much more confident the Big 12 is going to sur- vive,’’ the person said. ‘‘Everybody’s going to be making more money.’’ All that talk about the Pac-16, the first super conference that would span from Seattle to the Lone Star state? See Big 12, page 2B