What to do with Bishop Gorman?

Ever since Gorman's 78-22 decimation of Reed in the state finals on Dec. 3, talk has again heated up about making Gorman become an independent in football. The Gaels have been nationally ranked, and Carson High Principal Ron Beck believes Gorman should be on a national stage and not beating up the Las Vegas schools every week.

I cringe whenever I hear the "R" word. If I had a dollar for every parent who complains that Gorman recruits, I would be a rich man. Maybe they do, maybe they don't. I know that if I'm a talented eighth-grade player, I'd want to go to the program that will give me the most exposure and that has the best facilities in my city. There isn't anything wrong with that.

Certainly it would make things easier if there were more Catholic schools in the city and state. Then you could have a Catholic or private school leagues like in Texas. In the Longhorn state, though, the public schools get far more attention than the private schools, and I think that's all about the big-time football that Texas high schools play.

I don't believe that Gorman should ever be excluded from playing for a Nevada state championship. It's not right.

De La Salle, my alma mater, went semi-independent for a couple of years when Bay Valley Conference schools told the North Coast Section they would rather forfeit than play the Spartans.

The section and schools came up with a compromise for the rest of the realignment cycle. The Bay Valley Conference had to guarantee DLS five games a year, but DLS was guaranteed an automatic spot in the playoffs. If it wasn't your year to play the Spartans you could still schedule them. It forced De La Salle to come up with four or five non-league games a season which isn't easy to do.

De La Salle has since been realigned into the East Bay Athletic League and on Saturday beat San Ramon for the section championship.

Maybe that's the answer for Gorman.

•••

It appears that Wooster High will indeed be relegated to 3A football after the NIAA Board of Control meeting last week.

It's the right decision, and it's good that they will now be eligible for the playoffs as a 3A football team which hasn't been the case for the past two seasons.

Beck, a member of the Board of Control, said he believes Wooster should be 3A in all sports.

Beck is probably right.

Wooster's attendance numbers are boosted by its International Baccalaureate program. Wooster draws students from all over the Washoe School District area for that program. Count those kids and they have 4A enrollment. Count the kids that actually live in the Wooster area and I'm told that the Colts have 3A numbers.

If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that 90 to 95 percent of the IB program students don't play sports either because of a lack of interest or a lack of time.

As I've said before, high school sports should be a positive experience for the participants, and when you have piled up losses like Wooster has in most sports in the last seven or eight years it couldn't have been enjoyable for the student-athletes.

•••

Unless Western Nevada College raises a significant amount of money or somebody finds some money in the budget, athletics at WNC are in danger of being cut at the end of the year.

Because of significant budget cuts, 2011-2012 is a critical year for WNC's self-supported intercollegiate athletics program, and the WNC Foundation needs to raise $215,000 to meet the travel and operating budgets for the Wildcats baseball and softball teams this year.

WNC, according to public information officer Anne Hansen, is debuting a new concept for the annual athletics fundraiser this year - a "non-event."

By hosting a non-event, the foundation is able to allocate 100 percent of donor contributions directly toward the WNC baseball and softball programs instead of covering event costs, and all donations are 100 percent tax deductible.

Hansen said that "non-event" invitations to past supporters will encourage them NOT to attend the Western Nevada College athletics fundraiser, which will NOT take place on Dec. 31. Hansen said the invitation includes a bit of light humor.

All contributions to the non-event will help the college continue the student life initiatives that have helped make WNC more attractive to traditional college age students, and they will support WNC student-athletes - exemplary students with a graduation/transfer rate above 90 percent.

A list of donation benefits is also available so supporters can see just how their gift will benefit the teams. For more information, call the WNC Foundation at 445-3240