Bring Silver Sox to Carson City

BY DARRELL MOODY

All I can say is the Tiger Woods-Rocco Mediate playoff Monday was great theater. It was exciting throughout, and it was good for the game of golf to see somebody stand up to Woods head-to-head and match him shot-for-shot for an entire day. Tiger is the best player in the world, but like any other superstar, he is beatable. That being said, you better bring your best game to knock him off. What was amazing is that he could come back so quickly from knee surgery and play as well as he did. And now we know why Tiger was hobbling so bad. To play with the type of injuries (stress fractures) he had was amazing. It's a testament to his courage.

- Can the New York Mets botch a managerial change any worse? Willie Randolph probably should have been let go when the team failed miserably down the stretch last season. Not more than a few weeks ago, it was rumored that he was going to be let go. He dodged that bullet, but not this one, as the ex-Yankees second baseman was given his walking papers Tuesday morning. It certainly isn't Randolph's fault that Carlos Delgado hasn't lived up to expectations. It certainly isn't Randolph's fault that he didn't have Pedro Martinez until just recently. Ditto for Moises Alou, who has barely played this season. You don't fire a coach this early in the year. I would have given Randolph the rest of the season to see how the team would come around.

- It will be interesting to see where the Reno Silver Sox will end up next season. The new Triple-A stadium may not quite be ready when the season starts in early April, so the new team may be on the road for a while. I can't help but wonder if a town like Carson City could support a Golden Baseball League team. You've got Western Nevada College and Carson High School as possible sites. Each would take a bit of work. At WNC, the school would need to put in lights and add at least 1,500 more seats, and I think they have the room. At Carson, the playing surface would have to be improved as well as the seating areas. The Silver Sox are supported mainly by folks in Reno and Sparks. Would the people in Gardnerville, Minden, Carson and South Reno support the franchise?

- The NBA Draft is this week and it will be interesting to see where former Nevada star JaVale McGee ends up going in the first round. I've seen anywhere from No. 14 to Golden State all the way down to 21. According to reports, his individual workouts were better than his performance in Orlando at the Pre-Draft Camp.

The Pack's Marcelus Kemp is pegged to go in the second round, somewhere around the 50th pick. Kemp didn't shoot the ball as well at this year's Pre-Draft Camp as he did the previous year, but he is still one of the best pure shooters in the draft. He is a guy that can knock down an open 15-footer which is becoming increasingly harder for the average NBA player. It will be interesting to see if Utah State's Jaycee Carroll gets a shot. One NBA scout told me earlier this year that if Carroll showed he could handle the ball well enough to be a back-up point guard then he had a chance.

- Steve Schroeder, the director of communications for the Reno Rodeo, reports that tickets have sold at a brisk pace for this year's event despite rising gas prices. Schroeder said that 92 percent of the crowd is from the region (Reno, Sparks, Gardnerville and Carson City). This is truly a regional event, one that draws people from all over.

- Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com or (775) 881-1281