Some thoughts on the road

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Some thoughts for a Saturday afternoon on the road.

- Funny what a couple of wins will do for a football program.

Nevada upset Fresno State on the final weekend of its season to claim a share of the Western Athletic Conference championship with Boise State.

And, for good measure, Nevada went out and won the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl on Dec. 24.

After that, it was like a love fest on the recruiting trail for Nevada's coaching staff. Doors were suddenly opened wide; doors that coaches couldn't get through before.

High school and junior college coaches couldn't wait to shake hands and talk to the Nevada coaches about those two wins.

"No question," said Jim Mastro, the Pack's assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator. "The Fresno State win, the Hawai'i Bowl, the pistol offense and a Hall of Fame coach. It all came into play this year."

What's changed about this year is that the Pack is stealing a few blue-chip kids like John Romero away from the big boys in the Pac-10. There aren't a lot of possible Pac-10 players on the Nevada roster, but you have to start somewhere.

One step at a time. That's the key.

- It's still funny when coaches talk about what a great recruiting class they had.

How do they know? Don't you have to wait a couple of years to see how these guys produce? Not every school, major or not, is going to have its entire recruiting class play right away.

- When you talk about recruiting, my mind immediately drifts to first-year coach Reggie Theus, who has the New Mexico State Aggies playing pretty good basketball.

Theus, a former star in the NBA and a former assistant at Louisville, is a good-looking guy with a passion for more than basketball. His interests are varied, but he approaches anything he does with a zeal.

"It's a positive attribute," New Mexico State assistant Gus Hauser said of Theus' good looks. "We like to give him a hard time about it. He has great charisma.

"He goes on the road, and he can talk about the NBA and about being an assistant for Rick Pitino."

And, Theus has already been successful recruiting. Justin Hawkins (Utah), Martin Iti (UNC-Charlotte), Fred Peete (Kansas State) and Trei Steward (Northern Colorado) have all transferred from Division I programs.

- I feel sorry for Gary Kubiak, the new head coach of the Houston franchise. It's his first head-coaching job and his team has the first draft pick with Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Vince Young out there.

What's a new coach to do? The Texans have David Carr, who despite the Texans' poor record, isn't to blame. The Texans' offensive line is brutal. That's where the problem is, not with Carr.

There will be pressure to take Young, who grew up in Houston. Take a pass coach. You have too many holes to fill. Young isn'the answer. Trade the pick and get a slew of draft picks or a couple of No. 1s and a couple of guys who can come in and start.

I love Young's running ability, bt I hate his throwing motion. I think that could hurt him once he gets to the pros. He's not going to out-run the pros all the time like he does the college kids. Michael Vick can't even do that now.

- What's all the fuss about the World Baseball Classic? It's a group of exhibition games, and nothing more. How can it be a real tournament when pitchers are limited by the rules of the tournament?

Who cares what team Alex Rodriguez plays for? I didn't care that Barry Bonds opted not to play.

The idea is good, but I'd rather see it played when starting pitchers go nine innings. Teams get to carry extra pitchers because of the pitching rules, which is the reason why rosters were expanded to 30 players.

What's wrong with a shorter regular season in favor of this tournament? Sounds good to me. Heck, everybody that doesn't wear diapers knows that teams don't need to play a 162-game schedule. Why hasn't baseball figured this all out?

- Nice to see Tiger Woods win his first tournament of the season at Torrey Pines.

Woods' maturity continues to evolve. You can see it more in his course management. He doesn't make stupid moves on the course, and he's ultra-dangerous with his putter.

Over the long haul, nobody is going to beat him. Usually when Woods loses, he's gotten off to slow starts. Rarely will you beat him after the halfway mark.

Having a dominant player like Woods is great for the game, just like the UCLA hoop dynasty was good for the college game. Just like the Pittsburgh Steelers dominating football in the 70's was good for the NFL.

Parity stinks. Really, who wants to watch a bunch of mediocre teams play each other?

Not me.