MOODY: Prep hoop tournaments in trouble?

It's getting harder and harder to put on a high school basketball tournament these days.

The annual Carson event turned into sort of a round-robin event because Carson coach Carlos Mendeguia was unable to get eight full teams.

What's wrong with a four-team tournament where you play each team once? What would be wrong with a combined boys and girls tournament with the same four schools sending both their boys and girls teams? It worked well in Northern California.

Part of the problem is that there are too many tournaments going on these days. Another reason is that the NIAA schedules league games in late November and early December which is ludicrous. A reason for that, according to an administrator, is that basketball coaches don't want a lot of Saturday games which would happen if league play started after Jan. 1.

Currently, Division I teams play on Tuesday and Friday, and then on Saturday as the situation warrants. My solution would be to go Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday when you are faced with a three-game week. It gives you a full practice to prep for your Saturday opponent.

If you are only playing two games in a week, why not go Friday and Saturday? It should put more people in the seats and kids aren't missing as much class.

My biggest problem with high school basketball in Nevada is the limitation on games. Eighteen games and two tournaments is a joke. Is there a reason why the season needs to end in late February?

Heck, if varsity teams want to play 30 games and they can afford the fees for officials and game staff, what's the big deal? Varsity teams rarely miss class time for games.

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One of our columnists criticized the Giants for their offers to Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro, saying the team spent too much on what he considers journeymen players. Look around, MLB is full of journeyman players. The average salary is $3.2 million.

Chemistry is critical in baseball, and I think anybody connected to baseball knows that. Both Pagan and Scutaro brought a lot of chemistry to the Giants' clubhouse, and I had no problem with the deal.

Yes Scutaro is 37, but if the Giants didn't sign him somebody else would have. Besides, the Giants didn't have anybody to come in and play second base next year. If Scutaro can hit .270 and drive in 60 runs it was a good move.

I figure Pagan will hit for a better average next year. He runs well as his 15 triples attest. He just needs to be more consistent putting the ball into play.

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I say good riddance to both the NHL owners and players for what looks to be another lost season. I think the 50-50 proposal was a good one, and at that point the lockout should have ended.

Stay off the ice boys the entire year and work toward a long-term solution.

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In parting until next week, I'm disappointed that Georgia Tech would even apply for a waiver to go to a bowl game with a 6-7 record. If you can't go 7-6 in a 13-game schedule - and I don't care if the seventh loss is in a conference championship game or not - you shouldn't go to a bowl UNLESS there are no other bowl-eligible teams. In this case, there were several teams with better records who are sitting home. What was wrong with taking Louisiana Tech? The Bulldogs went 9-3.