Football playoffs will never take a backseat to soccer

It irritates the heck out of me when uninformed people write letters to the editor.

This past Tuesday, a letter essentially ripped CHS Principal Ron Beck regarding his comments that Carson may not be able to host the opening round of the state soccer playoffs because of a possible conflict with football. The writer of the letter goes on to say “For the pride of the community, especially the Hispanic community, and for everything else that represents champions, give the boys and girls a chance to shine.”

When you start bringing race into anything, I get steamed. Sports is for everybody — white, Hispanic, black, Indian or Asian. The kids have a chance to shine no matter where the games are played whether it’s at CHS or Douglas.

What the writer doesn’t understand is that Beck wants to host the entire tournament. You won’t find a bigger sports fan than Beck. Carson will for sure host the championship round on Saturday, which the writer failed to acknowledge. Friday’s games would be held at Douglas if CHS can’t host, and that’s almost a home game in terms of distance traveled.

What the writer also doesn’t understand that Beck has to look at the big picture, and even more importantly, doesn’t control the starting times for postseason games. That is done by the NIAA, the governing body of athletics in Nevada. Games on that Friday are scheduled for 12, 2, 4, and 6 p.m. All playoff football games start at 7 p.m. It’s not doable. Even playing at 9, 11, 1 and 3 would be tough if CHS has a home playoff game that night. Beck even asked the NIAA about playing soccer Thursday and Saturday instead of Friday and Saturday, but he was told no because of the extra cost factor that teams would have to pony up if they won on Thursday.

I certainly hope the writer wasn’t suggesting that football take a backseat to soccer. That will never happen — anywhere in the country. Soccer revenue pales when you compare it to football, and I should know because I’ve seen nine years worth of home games at CHS. The crowds for the Douglas-Carson soccer matches this past week were brutal, and this was during homecoming week. The girls game was for first place and I bet there weren’t any more than 200 people there. What’s up with that? Football routinely draws 2,000 fans. It’s an event where young and old congregate.

The writer shouldn’t get ahead of things, either. Both Carson teams have a long way to go to qualify for state. Carson’s boys and girls will qualify for regionals, that I am sure, but to get to state you have to win two straight playoff games, and much depends on who you draw in the opening round. On the girls side, everything points to a Douglas-Carson final. On the boys side, Wooster, Hug and North Valleys all look very strong, and the Carson boys have already lost to Wooster and Hug.

It would be great to see both CHS teams make state again, and while my writing may not reflect it, I will be rooting hard to cover state soccer for the second straight year.

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One thing I’ve often wondered about is why the football field at CHS hasn’t been named like the baseball field and gymnasium. I’ve only been in the area for 10 years, but what’s wrong with Bateman-Roman Field? I don’t know of two guys who have done more to put Carson football on the map than that duo. No offense to other football coaches in CHS history, but the hiring of Roman was a great move. While I don’t always agree with his play calling or even the type of offense he runs, he has energized the program. He and his coaching staff, and of course the players, have made Carson football relevant again. Sometimes you can have the best talent in the world, but if the kids don’t buy into what you’re doing, then the program won’t achieve success. Former players always come back to visit with Roman and his staff on a yearly basis.