With all apologies to any log rollers out there, I'm much more excited about the 2003 Subaru Primal Quest adventure race coming to Tahoe next year than the ESPN Outdoor Games.
Bass fishing and dogs weaving around posts displays as much athleticism as a slug in the 100 meter dash. But before Don Quilici and his Manhattan drinking hooligans yank me by the ear and toss me in a pond, understand that I only say that because I can't do any of those things. It's much more easier--and fun--to mock something you can't do.
That theory, though, doesn't work with NASCAR because you don't have to be athletic to drive a car. I drive a lot but I don't take pain killers and massage my glutes after driving to Yerington. Hopefully, I never massage my glutes.
The announcement in Wednesday's Nevada Appeal about the adventure race coming to the south shore of Lake Tahoe next September was overshadowed, of course, by the announcement of the Outdoor Games coming to Northern Nevada. The Outdoor Games are much bigger than the Subaru Primal Quest but that could change.
The Eco-Challenge has been the world's top outdoor adventure race since in started in the 90s but lately has become a made for TV spectacle. The last race in Fiji had a team of ex-Playboy playmates competing. At least drowning in the kayaking section would never have to be an issue.
The inaugural Subaru Primal Quest was held this past summer near Telluride, Colo., and attracted some of the world's top adventuring racing teams. Those same teams will be in Tahoe next September. The event is televised on the Outdoor Life Network and the winning team took home $100,00 of the $250,000 purse. Outside Magazine reported that ESPN is already trying to buy the rights to the race.
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After today, Miami's Ken Dorsey and Tennessee's Peyton Manning will have something in common. They both will have entered their senior years as the Heisman Trophy favorite and did everything possible to win it but won't. In 1997, Manning, despite owning almost every SEC single season and career passing records, lost the award to Charles Woodson, an upstart and trendy pick from Michigan.
The same thing will happen to Dorsey. He hasn't lost since his sophomore year, won a national championship as a junior, but wasn't even the best player on his team as a senior. He could've been but winning is more important to him, so that honor goes to sophomore running back Willis McGahee, who might win the award in his first season as a starter. But hat won't happen, either.
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Carson Palmer, one of the biggest busts in his first four years at USC, will become the first left coaster win the Heisman since the Trojans' Marcus Allen did in 1981. His senior year stats are off the chart and are so much better than Dorsey's that it's an amazing both quarterbacks were both finalists for the award.
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How many of you watched high schooler LeBron James Thursday night on ESPN? I jogged out of Morse Burley Gymnasium after the Carson girls game so I could. Yeah, he's a baller. But if you're going to the projected No. 1 pick in June's NBA draft, you better be. I knew that, though, before even watching the game.
But what I want to know is what school does he play for? Dick Vitale and the other idiot calling the game against Oak Hill Academy said LeBron's name so many times that I thought he goes to James High, his classes are LeBron 101, James Ed, Advanced LeBron, Remedial James and his girlfriend's name is Jamesette. Was it a requirement to say his name every 1.4 seconds?
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Reno graduate Alex Gamboa was named the MVP of the Phoenix Classic on Thursday in Hartford, Conn. The 6-foot-2 guard hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start a 35-9 second half that lifted the Bulldogs over Central Connecticut 71-59. Gamboa, a sophomore, finished with 12 points for Yale, which improved to 5-2 on the season.
Jeremy Evans is a Nevada Appeal sports writer.