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Tuesday Volleyball Playoffs — Etna at Los Molinos, 7 p.m. NCAAF — Ohio at Temple, 5 p.m., ESPN2 NCAAB — Virginia Tech at Kansas St., 1 p.m., ESPN NCAAB— Ohio St. at Florida, 3 p.m., ESPN NCAAB— South Carolina at Michigan St., 7 p.m., ESPN NCAAB —San Diego St. at Gonzaga, 8 p.m., ESPN2 Don’t blame the cheerleader Some of the more memorable experiences I've had covering sports are after games turned out the complete opposite of how I would have wanted them to. That was the case Friday night when the Corning Cardinals played a fantastic football game, but ended up on the wrong side of a 14-6 scoreboard. What followed was an out- pouring of emotions as the senior class came to the realization that this was it — the dam had just broken on the river of childhood. No more innocent dreaming Sports 1B Posey wins Rookie of the Year Tuesday November 16, 2010 San Francisco Giants NEW YORK (AP) — San Francis- co Giants catcher Buster Posey and Texas Rangers closer Neftali Feliz wound up together on the winning side Monday when they were voted the Rookies of the Year. Earlier this month, Posey singled Rich Greene now. Playtime with friends is over. At least in part that's how the kids felt as that bitter wind swept across the fields, chilling the tears they tried to mask through their helmets. Coach John Studer gave me a quote for my game story that couldn't be any more dead on. He said it may take some time, but eventually a year from now his men would look back at the playoff game and be proud of what they had accomplished. It just didn't matter to them Friday. They had lost. One-by-one the seniors took their turns hugging Studer — saying goodbye. The hugs got longer and tighter, the pain of losing was squeezed away. That made the seniors sadder. They realized what they actually were losing. A caring coaching staff. Going to gridiron battle with friends. Their childhood. I would never ask to see a bunch of young men be humbled like this, but it's such a unique moment to wit- ness. You see kids realize it’s time to grow up. I would have rather seen the Cardinals win. Of course that didn't happen, because the marching band and cheerleaders had lousy games. Whoa, what... If that doesn’t make much sense then a couple of Let- ters to the Editor this past week probably didn’t either. A rightfully proud Red Bluff Spartans parent sent in a heart-warming letter (Nov. 10) about the team and especially his son finding things to be happy about despite what was a rough season. The parent also took the Spartans cheerleaders to task for taking pictures during the final game of the season instead of sticking to their cheers. That’s the part that led to one high school girl having an awfully lousy week at school. I’m sure the parent didn’t mean for it to happen, but there was some confusion about what was going on. As was explained to me by a family member, the cheerleader taking pictures was doing so because she is also on the yearbook staff and needed some photos for that aspect of her high school career. Evidently as another parent told her to put away her camera and get back to cheering the Spartans on toward the playoffs, the cheerleader ended up blurting some- thing about not wanting to go the playoffs. Ouch. The cheerleader wrote her own letter (Nov. 13) and explained the situation. She also apologized for her com- ment. Besides being booed at the game, she received the unfortunate high school shenanigans on campus. Obviously, what she said was pretty stupid given the where and whom and I’m fairly certain was against everything you learn in the first day of cheerleading. Still, the fumble out of the young lady’s mouth did not deserve a chorus of adults booing. Throughout the course of a 1-9 season I never heard a Red Bluff crowd boo a player — a few shouts at coach- es, but never a player. Now, I’m not saying the players deserve boos more than the cheerleaders, but a mistake is a mistake. No student deserves boos — whether a Spartan, an opposing player, cheerleader, marching band member, or even a snack bar kid who goofs up your change. I bet deep down even those who let the cheerleader have it know that’s as well. I think what happened was a wave of frustration crept over all involved. The Spartans didn’t get to have that crushing loss like the Cardinals did. Instead they had a season’s worth. There was no brutal end to trigger emotional release, it slowly slipped out as the losses wore on and the rest seemed to be unleashed on a cheerleader, who said the wrong thing at the wrong time. I don’t know who to blame for a 1-9 season. Actually Iwouldn’t blame anyone and I especially wouldn’t blame a cheerleader. The cheerleader isn’t a bad cheerleader. The booing parents aren’t bad fans. They had something good in their hearts initially dri- ving them — supporting the players. Sounds like everyone involved just made a mistake. I would hope we remember that although football is the centerpiece of fall Friday nights it’s not the only rea- son people attend games. Cheerleaders, band members and other students have plenty of reasons besides pigskins to be there, as do their own parents. What makes for a great experience is when every- body supports each other — not just the players. High school football is special because it’s about community. The football’s just icing on the cake for us sports nuts. Fittingly the one local team left in the playoffs — the Mercy Warriors — have no football cheerleaders. Actually come to think of it they do. They have a host of friends and families who stick to cheering the players. They leave the boos for the officials. If you need someone to boo, Daily News Sports Editor Rich Greene will take it so the kids don’t have to. You can reach him at 527-2151, ext.109 or by e-mail at sports@redbluffdailynews.com. off Feliz as the Giants beat Texas in the clinching Game 5 of the World Series. ‘‘It’s hard to believe it’s been two weeks,’’ Posey said. Posey hit several key home runs in the stretch, then helped the Giants win the crown for the first time since 1954. He easily outdistanced Atlanta out- fielder Jason Heyward for the National League award. Feliz, the rocket-armed righty who set a rookie record with 40 saves as Texas reached its first World Series, finished far ahead of Detroit center fielder Austin Jackson for the AL See POSEY, page 2B Buster Posey was named the N.L. Rookie of the Year. Myers wins heavyweight title Scot "The Firefighter" Myers won the Bras Knuck- les promotion open heavy- weight title, Saturday, beat- ing Rich McDonald during a Mixed Martial Arts card in Medford, Ore. Scot, from Red Bluff, started the fight by connect- ing with a right hand, which his opponent never recov- ered from. The referee final stepped in to stop the fight early in the first round. Scot who has been with Team Intense for about a year has greatly improved and is now ready to take big steps in his pro career. Corning’s Ashton Peirce did not have a contest as scheduled when his oppo- nent pulled out during the rules meeting Jesse "The Kid" Davis, a 2010 Red Bluff Union High School graduate won his MMA debut by defeating Jesse George of Medford. It was a hard fought fight with Davis facing a much more experienced fighter. Davis gradually took control of the fight and won via choke early in the third round. After the fight he thanked all the people who made the trip to show their support. Courtesy photo (Left) Jesse “The Kid” Davis. (Right) Scot “The Firefighter” Myers. Eagles crush McNabb, Redskins Philadelphia 59 Washington 28 LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Michael Vick, not Dono- van McNabb, played like a $78 million quarterback, accounting for six touch- downs all by himself. And his Philadelphia Eagles marched down the field in one big chunk after another, doing enough times to put new entries in the var- ious record books. On a day the Washington Redskins hoped to celebrate McNabb’s new contract and set aside the swirl of distrac- tions from his benching two weeks earlier, Vick and the Eagles stormed the party and thoroughly embarrassed their NFC East rivals 59-28 Monday night. MCT photo Michael Vick celebrates a touchdown during Monday night’s game. The Eagles scored on an 88-yard pass from Vick to DeSean Jackson on the first play from scrimmage, led 35-0 after the first play of the second quarter and barely let up. Vick completed his first 10 passes and finished 20 for 28 for 333 yards with four touchdowns. He also ran eight times for 80 yards and two scores, moving past Steve Young and into sec- ond place in NFL history for yards rushing by a quarter- back. The Eagles set team records for total yards in a game (592), points in a half (45) and had the biggest lead after the first quarter for any NFL road team (28-0) since at least 1950. MCT file photo