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Sports 1B Tuesday April 20, 2010 Building memories, Red Bluff residents prove their strength a game ball at a time I've must have moved about a dozen times since taking that first leap out of my parents’ nest. With all the relocating, most of my non-essen- tial belongings have found themselves tucked away in one box or another. The other day I was rifling through one of those boxes when an old baseball plopped out. It was faded to some sort of yellow-brownish hue resembling a set of bed sheets some roach-filled motel might have. Still, the ball brought back a rush of memories. It was a game ball I had earned a couple of decades ago back in my pre-Little League days. Back in 1987, my dad had taken the time to scribble in green maker the date and score of the game along with some of my stats. My team, the Kit-Kats, had lost that game 27-17 to the Pay Days — I don’t know what I love more, teams named after candy bars or baseball games with football scores. As the ball noted, the coach of the Pay Days had given me the game ball for demonstrating out- standing hustle in a losing effort. I don’t share this story to brag about my base- ball prowess as a 7-year-old, but rather just a reminder to coaches and parents of Little Leaguers that these are special times in a kid’s life. Times when memories are being created. I never became a great baseball player, but my love for the sport has certainly not died. It proba- bly has a lot to do with coaches who taught me sports can be about more than winning and losing. Who knows if at the time the Pay Days coach knew what he was doing when he pulled me aside all those years ago, handed me the ball and patted me on the back. But every time that ball reappears in my life I’m glad he did. Volunteer coaches, regardless of the sport, deserve a lot of praise. I have a feeling there’s a lot of times when a vol- unteer coach is about ready to leave straight from work to go lead a practice that the coach wonders if it’s really worth it. It is. It might not be a ball someone keeps for 23 years through a dozen moves across the country, but there will be something, physical or mental, players hold on to. The downside is, chances are the coach won’t be around to witness it, but it doesn't mean it won’t happen. If you’re coaching Little League, basketball, swimming or some other sport, chances are you have your own version of an aged game ball buried in your head as well. That's why you're coaching now. So while you may never have the chance to thank the coach who gave your game ball to you in person, you can do the next best thing and give one out yourself. Don't forget, either, while the players on the other team might not be your direct responsibility — they're still creating memories. When Daily News Sports Editor Rich Greene isn't digging through boxes of junk, he can reached at 527-2151, ext. 109 or by e-mail at sports@redbluffdailynews.com. Rich Greene By SAM CROW Special to the DN Two locals residents, Jeff Crow and Cori Bartolomei, competed in a American Pow- erlifting Association North- west Competition that was held in Sacramento, Saturday, hosted at Body Tribe facility in mid-town. Crow is an employee at the Physical Therapy & Wellness Center in Red Bluff and was awarded first place in the 242- pound weight class for his combined totals of 475-pound squat, 350-pound bench press and a 560-pound dead lift. Bartolomei is a nursing stu- dent at California State Uni- versity, Chico, and was award- ed first place in the 148-pound weight class for her combined totals of; 150-pound squat, 110-pound bench press and a 210-pound dead lift. This competition adhered to the less popular Raw philoso- phy — lifting with no more aid than a belt and maybe some wraps — without the fancy lifting suits in vogue amongst many professional lifters. The claustrophobic lifting suits can take up to three peo- ple to get on, so this event brought back the golden days of one person and one bar and not much else — lifting in its Raw form. If you are interested in learning more about training or competing in powerlifting, strongmen events or other weight lifting contests, call Crow at 529-3636. Raiders look to reverse first-round struggles ALAMEDA (AP) — For three straight years, the Oakland Raiders used a top 10 pick to try to upgrade their offense with a skill position player. Despite the additions of quar- terback JaMarcus Russell, running back Darren McFadden and receiv- er Darrius Heyward-Bey — or perhaps because of them — the Raiders were still the second lowest- scoring team in the NFL last season. Because of those first- round mistakes and offen- sive struggles, the Raiders once again find them- selves in the top 10 of the draft. If Oakland is going to reverse a record slide of seven straight seasons with at least 11 losses, hit- ting on this year’s top pick will be a vital part of that. ‘‘It’s definitely impor- tant,’’ coach Tom Cable said. ‘‘That’s why they call them No. 1s.’’ Since 1999, the only first-rounder the Raiders have taken who went on to make a Pro Bowl is corner- back Nnamdi Asomugha. Out of the 13 first-rounders taken in that span, six are no longer with the team and three were out of the league last year. That’s the biggest rea- son the Raiders have struggled so mightily since going to the Super Bowl following the 2002 season. And much of the blame falls on the last three first-round picks. The trio combined for five touchdowns last sea- son. Russell lost his start- ing job midway through the year and posted the worst passer rating in the NFL in 11 years, throw- ing three touchdown pass- es and 11 interceptions. He is competing with Bruce Gradkowski for the starting job this season. McFadden has strug- gled with injuries his first two years and hasn’t been the game-breaker Oak- land expected even when he has been healthy. He averaged just 3.4 yards per carry last season and scored one touchdown. Heyward-Bey had just nine catches and one touchdown in 11 games after being one of the most criticized picks a year ago. While Cable has said he has seen huge strides from Heyward- Bey this offseason, the proof won’t come until he Courtesy photos Jeff Crow and Cori Bartolomei show off their trophies for first place finishes in their weight classes at the American Powerlifting Association’s Northwest Competition Saturday in Sacramento. Below, Jeff Crow lifts during the competition. performs in games. Cable said the priority this year is finding play- ers who were productive in college. That statement appears at odds with last year’s selection of Hey- ward-Bey, who didn’t come close to putting up numbers like those of Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin but was significantly faster in the 40-yard dash. While Crabtree and Maclin easily outplayed Heyward-Bey as rookies, don’t expect the Raiders to completely abandon their infatuation with measurables like height, weight and speed. ‘‘We want to be the fastest team in football,’’ Cable said. ‘‘I think that’s kind of always been the mantra, to be that elite speed team in football.’’ See RAIDERS, page 2B Hamlin wins again on Monday, this one in Texas FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Monday, Monday for hob- bling Denny Hamlin. Three weeks after winning another rain-postponed race, and since having surgery to repair the torn ACL in his left knee, Hamlin gingerly climbed out of his car in Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway on Monday. ‘‘I’m still not 100 percent by any means right now,’’ Hamlin said. ‘‘I feel like I’m 60 at best.’’ That was still good enough to win at Texas. Hamlin led the final 12 laps, the only time he was up front after starting the 334-lap race 29th. The final shootout came after a spectacular nine-car wreck took out polesitter Tony Stewart and dominating Jeff Gordon, and Hamlin held off points leader Jimmie Johnson at the end for his 10th career NASCAR Sprint Cup victory. Two days after his Monday victory at Martinsville, Hamlin had the surgery on the knee he injured playing basketball in January. The Easter weekend break provided some recovery time, but he was back in the car to run the entire race last week- end at Phoenix International make a run for the champi- onship at that time,’’ Hamlin said. ‘‘A win like today obvi- ously makes you feel a little bit better. Gives you a little bit of confidence from here on out. ‘‘ Hamlin, 11th in points after two wins in three races, said he is ‘‘still a good month away from getting back where I was.’’ MCT photo Denny Hamlin (11) beats Jimmie Johnson (48) to the finish line to win the NASCAR Samsung Mobile 500 race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth,Texas, Monday. Raceway. He completed 376 laps at the mile track, finishing two laps back and bypassing a chance to get out of the cockpit during an extended stop for repairs on the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Hamlin was still hurting in Texas, the soreness irritated by the cool and wet weather that persisted during throughout the weekend. ‘‘I did this for September. I knew that if I did it now, come Chase time, if I’m lucky enough to be in one of those top 12 positions, it was going to make me more prepared to On the first lap after a restart with 18 laps left — fol- lowing yellow-flag stops when Stewart was among the drivers who took only two tires and Gordon took four — they ended up three-wide with Gor- don in the middle and Johnson on the inside coming out of Turn 4. Stewart got loose in the pack and there was contact with Gordon, who had three- time Texas winner Carl Edwards coming up behind and trying to follow him. Then things spun out of control along the frontstretch, though Johnson escaped that wreck unscathed. ‘‘Definitely my fault,’’ Stewart said, taking the blame for the accident. When Gordon got out of his mangled No. 24 Chevrolet, he See TEXAS, page 2B