I was very disappointed to read that two of Nevada's latest basketball recruits - 6-7 guard Jerry Evans and 6-9 power forward Devonte Elliott - won't be on campus until the second semester.
It's another blow for first-year head coach David Carter, who has gotten off to a rocky start through no fault of his own.
First there was the Mark McLaughlin ordeal where the former prep star from Washington, who went to prep school for a year because he wasn't academically eligible, decided not come to Nevada after Mark Fox left to take the Georgia job.
Then there was the gun incident involving Ahyaro Phillips, who was booted off the team. That incident led another recruit to ask for his release.
And now this.
Evans and Elliott COULD be eligible by mid-December. That's when Carter has a tough decision to make. Do you activate them and deal with possible chemistry issues that could arise, or do you let them watch and learn while redshirting.
I bring up the chemistry situation because neither of these guys will be on campus in the first semester, thus not working out with the team. Obviously, the conference season is the most important and if Carter decides to play them they would have only a couple of weeks to get instructed in the offensive and defensive sets.
It's certainly a tough situation. The good thing is that this year's schedule isn't overly difficult other than the final game of the three-year agreement with North Carolina.
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I'm a devout Giants fan, but I scratch my head when people talk about how great the pitching staff is.
Besides Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain as starters and Brian Wilson and Jeremy Affeldt in the bullpen, I see a lot of inconsistency. Barry Zito has yet to pitch anywhere close to what he did in Oakland, and Joe Martinez is up and down. Ditto for Jonathan Sanchez and Randy Johnson, who has been on the disabled list since June.
I'd love to see the Giants get a spot in the playoffs as a wildcard, but that will take a better effort down the stretch by the pitching staff to make that happen. I think they could give teams some problems in a short series.
The talk about picking up Brad Penny puzzles me. If he can't get by in Boston where you get tons of offensive support, how is he going to make it with the Giants, who don't swing it as well as Boston?
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The opening weekend of the NFL is closing in, and I couldn't be happier. My only wish is that the 49ers would have signed a proven quarterback or drafted a QB with a lot of potential in the off-season. I just can't see the 49ers being a playoff team with Shaun Hill at quarterback. I know the 49ers will be running the ball a lot more, but you still have to have a quarterback that can make plays with his arm and feet. Hill isn't the answer. Neither is Alex Smith. Heck, I would have traded the No. 10 pick for a quarterback.
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The Aces were officially eliminated from the playoffs Thursday. Only the four division winners advance to post-season play in the Pacific Coast League. All in all, a pretty good first season for the Aces.
Aces Ballpark was the cool place to be this year. A lot of non-baseball fans came out for a look-see, and I heard very few unfavorable reports. I watched the attendance reports closely, and the team always seemed to draw around 4,500. At the start of the season, managing partner Stuart Katzoff said that 4,000 was probably a break even mark.
One of the few comments I heard is the start times of the game. Early in the year the Aces played a lot of 6 p.m. games, which is an ideal time for weeknight games. People come straight from work and still get home at a reasonable time. With 7 p.m. starts, I'd see people heading for home around 9:45 whether the game was over or not because they had work the next day or the kids had school. Also, I'd like to see earlier starts on the weekends when there aren't fireworks involved.
• Darrell Moody can be reached at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling 775 881-1281