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Sports 1B Tuesday March 16, 2010 Tuesday Baseball — Gridley at Corning, 3:30 p.m. Baseball — Los Molinos at Durham, 3:30 p.m. Baseball — Hayfork at Mercy, 1 p.m. Softball — Hayfork at Mercy, 2 p.m. Softball — Gridley at Corning, 3:30 p.m. Tennis — Chico at Red Bluff, 3 p.m. Tennis — Corning at Yreka, 3:30 p.m. Track — Corning at Orland, 3:30 p.m. Golf — Los Molinos at Table Mountain About time In my efforts to push prep ath- letics back to the forefront of your daily sports section some- things got left behind in a cloud of dust. Mainly, because the sports desk is a one-seat operation. Over the past few months I've received plenty of feedback from backseat drivers and almost all of it is positive and appreciate of the focus on preps. Still, there is correspondence suggesting I focus more time on a particular sport or event. Most of those requests I have been able to handle, however a few e-mails have stuck with me, because I simply didn't have the time to give their request proper attention. If the driving cliches didn't give it away yet, I'm ref- erencing the Red Bluff Outlaws. Because of my schedule, I simply don't have the time to cover Saturday events. Unfortunately that's the day when the Outlaw karts do their stuff. Still I made a promise to a couple of readers that I would work something out so I could attend their biggest event of the year — the West Coast Nationals. I met Jack Waterman down at the Pauline Davis Pavilion, Saturday, and couldn't have asked for a better ambassador to the sport. I admitted to Waterman I had never been to the races before and he was nice enough to answer every ignorant question I shouted over the engines' roars at him. When he introduced me to people around the track he explained to them it was my first time. "About time," was the reply I got more than any other and those words were always coupled with a smile. Here's the thing — if you've a regular attendee of the Outlaw races — what I have to say today the rest of this column is nothing you don't already know and I'm bound to make some mistakes as I couldn't remember everything Waterman taught me. I learned a valuable lesson Saturday and I'm glad readers let me know I was missing something special. In the future coverage will improve. I have a feeling however, there's still a fair amount of people in this community who have lived here a lot longer than the two years I have and have also never been to the races. The rest of this column is for them. Now I'm nothing of a gear-head. I watch the Daytona 500 every year, but that's usually it for motorsports on my television. And let's just say even my wife knows more about cars than I do. (This admission of guilt it not to be used by mechanics who may have to do work on my car in the near future.) Still, Saturday night at the races — I had a blast. I'd say the best word to describe what I experienced was, well — shock. I had no idea what a huge deal the Outlaw Karts have become, were, is or any other verb tense you want to use. One of the first things Waterman told me was that Red Bluff is the Daytona of go karts. That put things in perspective as I walked around. I took his plug with a grain of salt, but nothing I saw the rest of the night disproved that comparison. If you don't know, drivers travel across the country to try their hand at taming the Pauline Davis Pavilion track. The track itself is prepared by Bob Carrel, who I was informed is a "master of dirt." Get this – it takes a week for Carrel and his crew to get the dirt right before a race. Yeah that's right, they spend a week just on the dirt. These guys are good. The rest of the operation is just as jaw-dropping for someone who had no idea something of this magnitude was going on every weekend. Over 180 drivers and pretty much their entire families came over the weekend. Drivers as young as five all the way up to even some grandparents compete in five different race classes. Some families are on their third generation of racers. They use the same technology as NASCAR to score races and the behind-the-scenes crew are simply amaz- ing. As for the racing, if you dress appropriately, the only complaint you may have is a lot of dirt. But I'm told that depends a lot on the weather. As each race class moves on throughout the night, the carts get faster and faster and the racing even better. That's not to say the beginner racers are not as excit- ing as their grown-up counterparts in the open division. You would have no idea you were watching grade schoolers unless you were told. Once aware at how young some of the drivers are, you'll start to see why the Outlaws keeps growing in popularity — it's all about the family. Find another sport where dad, mom and even a sister or brother can play a vital role in whether their loved one succeeds. Being a part of the pit crew sure beats being in the grandstands yelling at referees. It's not just family versus family, however. Every- where I went Saturday night I could tell the Outlaw com- munity is one giant extended family. The season is over for now, but come late October I urge anyone who hasn't been yet to check out the fun. Chances are you'll know just as many people as I did. So stop telling yourself, one of these times I'm going to go. It is about time. Daily News Sports Editor Rich Greene will be working on ways to improve our Red Bluff Outlaws coverage going forward. For comments or suggestions on what you'd like to see, you can contact him at 527- 2151, ext. 109 or by e-mail at sports@redbluffdailynews.com. Rich Greene 49ers sign Carr, trade Hill SANTA CLARA (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers signed free agent quar- terback David Carr to a two-year deal Monday and agreed to terms with Detroit on a trade that would send backup quarterback Shaun Hill to the Lions for a 2011 draft pick. Carr said he found San Francisco attractive since he is from California and there was a possibility of playing time after serving as Eli Manning's backup for the New York Giants the past two seasons. 49ers coach Mike Singletary has repeatedly said 2005 No. 1 pick Alex Smith is the starter, but didn't rule out signing an experienced quarterback who could push Smith and challenge for playing time. ''They have said that competition is what they love around here,'' Carr said. ''It makes you feel better. One of Sin- gletary's things is, 'Iron sharpens iron.' The thing that I wanted to hear, from all those guys, was I'll have a chance to be on the field if I play the way I know I can play and they said yes. Once I get on the field, I feel confident that we are going to play well.'' Carr, an eight-year NFL veteran, was drafted No. 1 overall by the Hous- ton Texans in 2002. He played right away for the expansion team and was sacked 76 times as a rookie. In five seasons with the Texans, he completed 60 percent of his passes with 59 touchdowns and 65 intercep- tions for a quarterback rating of 75.5. He was also sacked 249 times in 76 games. Carr then spent the 2007 season in Carolina where he made four starts and appeared in six games before backing up Manning the past two years. ''When I went to New York, I got around some awesome guys, awesome coaches that believed in me,'' Carr said. ''They never showed a lack of confi- dence in me. That's why, when we went on the field, we had success. That stuff is important, but those last two years were great. I recharged my bat- tery for my career and now I feel like my talent level, my experience level are right next to each other. Hopefully, that can transcend into helping the team win.'' Smith took over for Hill at halftime Oct. 25 at Houston and started the rest of the way for San Francisco, which finished 8-8 and ended a franchise- worst stretch of six straight losing sea- sons. Carr joined the team in time for the start of the voluntary offseason work- out program and enjoyed spending time with Smith. ''It was fun to try to push each other, but he seems like a good guy,'' he said. The 49ers would receive an undis- closed 2011 draft pick in return for Hill. MCT file photo Quarterback David Carr has agreed to a two-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers. Sheets: 10 runs, 0 outs G O O D Y E A R , Ariz. (AP) — Ben Sheets was battered for 10 runs without retiring a batter in his latest poor showing, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Oakland Athletics 13-5 Monday. Sheets signed a one-year, $10 million contract with Oakland after missing last season with elbow problems that required surgery. He gave up eight hits and a walk, and another batter reached on an error. Chris Dickerson ended Sheets' day with a two-run homer in his second at-bat of the first inning. Sheets has allowed 18 runs in 4 1-3 innings over his first three spring outings. One of the hits came off a comeback grounder that bounced off Sheets' glove, keeping the rally going. ''It was a bad one,'' Sheets said. ''I could at least got an out if I could catch the ball. I don't care whether they called it a hit or an error. It was hit right to me. ''I felt great,'' he said. ''The problem is my good pitches were just a strike and my bad ones were hits. You need your good pitches to be put in play. That's how you get outs. When you can't even get out of the first inning, it's ridiculous.'' Sheets gave up six runs against the White Sox on March 10, a game he still considers his low point of spring training. ''The second start (against Chicago), I felt worse,'' Sheets said. ''I felt terrible. This start was prob- ably the best. I threw 91 mph, which is reasonable. I want to be successful. The lights are going to come on as long as I'm feeling OK.'' Manager Bob Geren saw progress in Sheets' outing. ''He definitely threw the ball better this time,'' Geren said. ''The results weren't there. It's the best he's thrown since he's been here. I'll stay encouraged that way. This guy's an All-Star. He didn't like his perfor- mance. I'm not worried about his ego.'' Mike Lincoln, who is competing for the fifth spot in Cincinnati's rotation, retired the first six batters before giving up four runs in the third. ''I felt good today,'' said Lincoln, who had neck surgery last year. ''I stayed nice and loose even after that long inning. That last inning I still felt good.'' Dickerson, who is com- peting for the starting job in left with Jonny Gomes, also had a double off Sheets and went 4 for 4, raising his bat- ting average to .429. ''Hey, man, that's how you do it,'' manager Dusty Baker said. ''The thing about it is you go play your way into it. You don't talk your way into it.'' NOTES: Oakland RHP Jason Jennings changed his number from 77 to 29 for the rest of spring training. ... Oakland pitching prospect Travis Wood threw three innings, allowing one run. It's the only run he has given up in seven innings. Wood had a 1.21 ERA in the Southern League last sea- son. ... Gomes also had a pair of hits, raising his aver- age to .333. Tehama Tracker Spartan baseball Red Bluff routed Chico 9-0, Monday in a makeup game. E.J. Stanton threw six strikeouts over five innings and Zane Medieros and Sephen Jensen each threw a scoreless inning. Derek Jones once again set the table for the Spartans, with a 3-for-5 day and scor- ing three times. Scott Avery drove in four runs. Stanton, Cody Gappa, and Gerald Baker each had two hits. Jordan Fox execut- ed a noteworthy squeeze play. Spartan golf Red Bluff's golf team finished 14th amongst 21 teams and stiff competition at the Father Joe Barry 2010 Invitational at the Ancil Hoffman golf course in Carmichael. The Spartans Daniel Frantz finished in second place with a two-day score of 149. Blake Gardner fin- ished in a tie for 60th place with a score of 170. Drew Wagner shot a 174 to for 77th place and Bryan Ben- ton shot 175 to end up in a tie for 80th place. Cardinal baseball The Corning Cardinals tied Sutter 9-9 on Saturday at the Las Plumas-Oroville tournament. Tyler Price had three hits as did Casey Cleland, two of which were doubles. Tyler McIntyre drove in a pair of runs. Gradkowski, Condo sign tenders with Raiders ALAMEDA (AP) — Quarterback Bruce Grad- kowski and Pro Bowl long snapper Jon Condo signed their restricted free agent tenders and reported to the Oakland Raiders for the start of voluntary offseason workouts Monday. Backup quarterback Charlie Frye also signed his tender as the Raiders started getting their restricted free agents under contract for next season. Gradkowski's deal for 2010 is worth $1.759 mil- lion. Coach Tom Cable has said that Gradkowski would compete for the starting quarterback job next season with former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell. Gradkowski replaced Russell as Oakland's start- ing quarterback midway through last season.