Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/6708
Sports 1B Tuesday February 9, 2010 Tuesday Boys Basketball — Lassen at Corning, 7:30 p.m. Basketball — Redding Christian at Mercy, boys and girls Girls Basketball — Corning at Lassen, 7:30 p.m. Girls Basketball — Hamilton at Los Molinos, 5:30 p.m. Girls Basketball — Red Bluff at Oroville, 7:30 p.m. Soccer — Central Valley at Corning, boys and girls, 3:15 p.m. Setting priorities On Friday, I was handed a petition regarding the Red Bluff Union High School football coaching vacancy. I have to say, this area's pas- sion for sports never ceases to amaze me. Back when I was in high school, my mighty Livonia Franklin Patriots, weren't so mighty. We struggled to make the playoffs, toiling around at the 3-7 or 4-6 mark each season. However, I never once saw a petition calling for new hiring procedures for head coaches. Come to think about it — maybe it's this area's passion for petitions that never ceases to amaze me. Whatever the reason, as a sports writer it's great to live in a town that cares so much for high school football. But after reading what was handed to me, those passions appear to be steering in the wrong direction. This particular petition calls for the athletic director and coaching staff positions to be hired out of house — or basically that school staff members shouldn't be teaching sports along with math and social studies. I'll take the other point of view on that issue, but it's not what led me to believe the petition's focus is off. The petition's second point calls for visits by athletic recruiters from at least five institutions and then lists the following schools and these five only: Oregon, Southern Cal, Boise State, Nevada-Reno and Cal-Berkeley. I think there needs to be a reality check here. The reason Red Bluff athletes are not being offered athletic scholarships to these schools is not because recruiters are not visiting or even because of the coach- ing they receive. There's a much simpler reason that seems to be a lit- tle too hard to swallow for some. From time to time, there will be a Spartan who excels in a particular sport and when there is, rest assured, a Division I school will have no trouble finding the stu- dent. There was a story last week about Southern Cal beginning the recruiting process of a 13-year-old quar- terback across the country. D-I athletics are a big-money business. They'll find the talent or the talent will find them. Red Bluff's Jaklyn Wheeler is headed to the Univer- sity of Oregon. You know why that's a big deal – because it doesn't happen often. With Wheeler, I can tell you the Red Bluff High Class of 2010 now has one more D-I athlete than my Patriots did the year I graduated. I also can tell you Wheeler made this happen for her- self. She woke up hours before every other student ever since middle school to work out every morning. It doesn't matter what coach is hired, that type of determination can never be taught. Coaches can't throw blocks, make free throws or catch a ball. The fact those five highly competitive schools were the only schools listed bothers me. If those were the only five schools listed on a wish list for academic recruiters, I could understand. But what are some saying they want out of a high school sports pro- gram? If there had to be a list, what about Shasta and Butte colleges and how about trading in Berkeley for Chico. One of the best Spartan football players in recent memory ended up at Southern Oregon — that seems a bit more realistic than the University of Oregon. If you want your kid to go to Reno or Boise State, tell your child to hit the books, not the tackling dummies. There's a far greater chance of success. In the meantime, let's leave our sports programs as a blowoff from all the other hard work kids are doing that actually determines what kind of future they will have. If sports can also teach a couple of life lessons along the way, that's a bonus. Seems as if some are already overlooking a great les- son to teach the next generation — you're not always going to win, but that doesn't make you loser. You don't think every high school in the Northern Section has the same goal? Sure some reach that goal more frequently than oth- ers and some schools are drawing from larger popula- tions than Red Bluff. Once in awhile, you'll stumble into a 10-0 season or a D-I athlete will grace the school for four years and those will be some memorable times. But they won't be the only great times. Given the realities, it's somewhat foolish to even use the football program as Red Bluff's barometer of suc- cess. Because football requires the most players, it's more often than not going to be dominated by the larger schools. Even in basketball, where only a dozen or so players are needed, Red Bluff simply can't put out a team with three lines of front court players. But in a way we have it better. I wouldn't trade Trevor Miller's heart for a 7-footer. I wouldn't trade Devin Shoop's intelligence or Cody Gappa's determination. And one of these games, Grant Blaser's going to knock down that last-second shot. You see, when Red Bluff does beat Enterprise it means a lot more to the Spartans than what Enterprise beating Red Bluff means to the Hornets. When that moment comes and he makes that shot, Blaser and his buddies are going to take with them far- more than any player waiting for a D-I athlete to pass the ball will experience, even in an undefeated season. Let's hire coaches who can find the positives in a loss and who see the kids as winners even when the game's still 0-0 and maybe inspire the community to do the same. Daily News Sports Editor Rich Greene can be reached at 527-2151, ext. 109 or by e-mail at sports@redbluffdailynews.com. Rich Greene Lady Spartans The Lady Spartans had trouble dealing with the Enterprise press, Friday night, in a 69-43 loss. Roxy Luppino got into foul trou- ble midway through the first quarter, which pushed Brandi Anthony into the point guard position for the Spartans. The Spartans kept it to a five point game mid- way through the second quarter, but Enterprise went on a run to go into halftime 33-21. Luppino, filling in for injured star Lily Brose at the point, then recorded her fourth foul 30 sec- onds into the second half, leaving a worn down Anthony to deal with the full court press by her- self. Red Bluff did shoot a season high 42 on the game and 15-for-25 from the free throw line. A l a n a Hinkston led the Spartans with a career high 16 points. Corning bas- ketball Behind a double- double from Luis Piseno the Cardi- nals boys basket- ball team improved to 6-0 in the Northern Athletic League, Friday night, with a 59-43 win over Anderson. Piseno had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Corning. Cameron Nye added 14 points and Kyle Skousen pulled down 11 rebounds. Los Molinos The boys basketball team defeated Williams 70-57 Friday night, for their first three-game win streak of the sea- son. Los Molinos improved to 11-11 with the win and 3- 3 in the Mid-Valley League. The Lady Bulldogs also defeated Williams, Friday night, in a wild 86-82 overtime win. Los Molinos had outscored Williams 29-13 in the third quarter only to see Williams come back to win the fourth quarter 27- 12. But the Lady Bulldogs had enough left in the tank to hold on in a 14-10 overtime. Kiersten Seaman scored 20 points and pulled down 19 rebounds. K i r s t e n Wagenfuhr also scored 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds and seven assists. C a r o l y n a Salazar had 16 points and 14 rebounds and Jessey Quirke also had a dou- ble-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Samantha Andrews chipped in 11 for the Lady Bulldogs who are 4-2 in the MVL. Mercy It was a tough road trip, Friday night, for the Mercy basketball teams as Liberty Christian beat the boys 70-33 and the Lady Patriots knocked of the Lady Warriors 67-48. Tehama Tracker Danica Patrick to make her NASCAR debut at Daytona DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Danica Patrick will make her NASCAR debut this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The IndyCar star will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in Saturday's second-tier Nation- wide Series race. The decision announced Monday to race at Daytona was made after team officials dissected her stock- car racing debut in the ARCA race at Daytona on Saturday. The team had left the option to race up to Patrick, who wanted to assess her first race before deciding whether to enter one of the most prestigious Nationwide races of the season. Patrick overcame a midrace spin to finish sixth. ''Racing in the Nationwide Series race was my goal during this entire two-month preparation process, but we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do,'' Patrick said in a statement. ''The ARCA race was a blast, and I'm not ready for my first Daytona Speedweeks to end just yet. I want more racing.'' Patrick had been hesitant to make her debut at Daytona because of the top talent that race attracts. Sprint Cup drivers have won nine of the last 10 Nationwide races here, and the lone exception was Martin Truex Jr., who won in 2005 in JR Motorsports car. Patrick will be joined in the field by Dale Earnhardt Jr., her car owner. He has five wins and 10 top-10 fin- ishes in 17 Nationwide races at Daytona. Earnhardt will be driving JRM's flagship No. 88, while Patrick will be in the car she will drive in 13 pre- viously announced races. Her schedule after Daytona includes the Feb. 20 race at California and the Feb. 27 race at Las Vegas. ''I think Danica proved to every- one that she can compete in stock cars at a high level, and right now seat time is extremely important,'' said Kelley Earnhardt, Earnhardt's sister and the general manager and a part owner of JRM. ''She has worked extremely hard during the past two months for this opportunity. Her dedication and work ethic is infectious.'' JR Motorsports acquired the points from CJM Racing to ensure Patrick a spot in the field. CJM Rac- ing finished 15th in the owner stand- ings last season, but has suspended operations. There's been slight backlash against Patrick for taking the Day- tona ride because many believed her decision to race cost Kelly Bires a seat. ''As everyone can see I will not be running Daytona. Very bummed out about it!'' he posted on his Twit- ter account. But Kelley Earnhardt said Patrick's decision had no bearing on Bires, who is scheduled to drive the No. 88 this season. A sponsorship agreement had Earnhardt Jr. contractually obligated to race in Daytona's Nationwide event, so he actually replaced Bires for this one event. The second JR Motorsports car, the No. 7, is Patrick's and Earnhardt said Bires would have only gotten that seat had Patrick elected not to race. There was brief discussion of taking three cars to Daytona so that Bires could race, but Earnhardt said the sponsorship woes JR Motor- sports is facing made the extra car unaffordable. ''I think it would have been dif- ferent if we had sponsorship for the 88 for whole season, but at this moment we only have 12 races out of 35 with (sponsorship) contracts in hand,'' Earnhardt said. ''We are looking to run the balance of the season on our own dime for Kelly, and we just couldn't make that expense to bring a third car. ''If Danica had decided not to race, then Kelly would have been the first choice to go in that car.'' Santa Clara to discuss wording of stadium measure SANTA CLARA (AP) — Santa Clara city leaders are set to discuss the final wording of the ballot mea- sure for a proposed stadium for the San Francisco 49ers. On Tuesday night, the Santa Clara City Council is scheduled to discuss language that city staffers describe as a multilayered question asking voters if city leaders should approve the stadium deal. But backers of the proposed $947 million stadium have expressed concerns the language regarding fund- ing is confusing. They hope to get the wording altered before the ballot is made available to city residents. City officials have said the stadium would generate hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue, but critics worry about cost overruns and traffic problems. MCT photo Danica Patrick during driver introductions for the Lucas Oil SLick Mist 200 ARCA race at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Saturday.