The E-R Sports Show

It starts Thursday, actually, when I'm covering the Gridley-Las Plumas game. One of Gridley's players has a brother, or cousin, or something, who might be 6 or 7. Or maybe 9 or 10. It's hard for me to tell kids' ages these days, but you get the point -- little kid. Now, at the risk of sounding like a jerk, I think this little kid has Down Syndrome, or is in some similar way a bit handicapped. If I'm wrong, I mean no offense.

 Because he also appears to be very well-loved. On Thursday, he momentarily sat about 8 inches away from me as I was keeping my notes (this is in a nearly empty grandstand, mind you) and stared at me intently, then pointed at my iPhone. I would have loved to have let him play with it, but I'm not sure it's cool to be a stranger talking to kids these days and appear to be luring them with toys. Plus I had a mustache at the time, and I've never worn handcuffs against my will in my life and didn't want to start now.

"What's your name?" I asked him. He just smiled and then demanded the phone again, and at that point I wanted to make sure I wasn't dealing with an unsupervised kid. "Where's your mom and dad?"

He looked back at who I assumed were the people in question -- or uncle/aunt, or grandma/grandpa (I'm apparently terrible at guessing people's ages now), and they smiled but also called him back. And that was the end of that for the rest of the night, and then I watched a terrible blowout of a basketball game. 

Fast forward to tonight (Friday), and on the other sideline, again sitting with the Gridley folk, was our buddy. Halftime rolls around, and as kids are wont to do, he makes his way down to the floor to shoot hoops with some other kids. He hoists it up there Rick Barry free-throw style (also read: granny-style), and it's hard to argue with the results. He occasionally makes one. He always demands change, whether it goes in or not, but I won't bust his chops about it.

This is where things start pulling me away from Words With Friends. He's down there with a group of about four other kids, and they keep feeding him the rock. Finally, tired of struggling to get his shot up while other kids shoot another ball, he makes his way down to the other basket, near the Durham student section. And they like the kid.

He puts one up, and a few students clap and cheer for the kid, a really nice gesture. And so he shoots a few more times, just lofting it high and soft, and gravity eventually pulls a couple more through the net. More kids cheer, enough so that people start to wonder what's going on over there. And now the kid sees he has a small audience. So our buddy sprint-totters across the floor with the ball in his arms back to the other end, and it's like he leaves a trail of cheering kids. 

Now, he's got people urging him on, and the other kids stop shooting for a minute. "Shoot it!" some kids yell, and soon it becomes a mini-chant. "Shoot it! Shoot it!" And so he does, from the free-throw line. And of course it goes in, and now both sides of the stands are paying attention. And the kid's just juiced on it all. He goes back to the other end, full-speed again, and fires up a couple more underhanded heaves. When they roll off the rim, the crowd lets out "Aawwww!" By now, both Gridley and Durham are coming back from the locker room, and they have to be wondering what's going on; if you had just entered the gym lobby, you would have thought a game was in session judging by the crowd noise.

Startled by the high school kids trying to prep for warm-ups, our buddy looks around for someone to tell him to leave. Instead, Gridley urges him to shoot again.

Was there a question? High and soft. Bounce, bounce, net. Crowd goes nuts.

The kid runs off to a hero's ovation, arms thrust skyward like a champion. I text my girlfriend about it, even. Really sweet moment.

On top of having the pleasure of seeing that, I also witnessed a really good game between Durham and Gridley. Durham's a feisty squad that has a legit scoring threat in Will Sevdy, who went for 29, and some 3-point shooting capability that will keep them in games even when they're not at their best. And that was the case on Friday.

The Trojans faltered in the second period, really undone by the same zone look Gridley put on in the first quarter that they handled just fine. A little trapping by the Bulldogs got Durham all confused, and you see this all the time with prep squads -- pressure early in the season usually will be really effective. Suddenly Durham settled for really bad shots, or forced awful passes, or tried skipping the ball to the corners to no avail, and Gridley got a lot of transition buckets out of it.

The Bulldogs seem to be a scrappy bunch in their own right, but do need a bit of coaxing to reach that level. I didn't like what I saw in the first period, then was really impressed for the next three. Kevin Mattos had another night just like the one he had on Thursday, where he scored 20 points and had a big crucial bucket, but also tried a ludicrous behind-the-back pass to a guy he was facing and turned it over, and seemed to have a problem with a more diligent officiating crew than the one he saw on Thursday night. Whatever; he had another fine game.

I also think Mat Scott can be a really good player in the BVL, and elevate above the unsung hero status he currently is at, if he stays consistently aggressive. There were times during this game that he was indefensible. He's got a good frame for a 4 -- or even a 3, really -- and long arms that will make his shot all but unblockable. It's all about him getting in good position, and he appeared willing and able to run the floor and do just that on Friday.

However, there are a few gems out there (and by gems, I'm speaking relatively; this is the Northern Section after all and any time a kid looks like he could be capable of dunking in warm-ups, that is actually justification for getting teary-eyed with hope), and Gridley's Kevin Mattos might fit that bill.

The kid puts up numbers (again, Northern Section caveat), so it's not like he'll take anybody by surprise. He's a wideout in football who is probably just one of those kids there is in every class who's really athletic and is good at any sport he plays. Small schools are usually notorious for this dynamic. So naturally, during the Gridley-LP game on Thursday night, I thought I'd pay some extra attention to Mattos -- because the game, an 81-58 yawner by all competitive accounts, afforded it.

He has a good stroke and decent range on his shot, and if he'd actually take a few more mid-range jumpers he'd score more. But, being the aggressive player he is, you see a lot of driving toward defenders for a closer but better-defended shot, and you get the sense he's trying to look really awesome. Like, when he went behind the back and picked up the dribble, soaring for the lay-up attempt, I was secretly glad his shot caromed off the side of the backboard. "Cool your jets, kid," I thought, shaking my head like my 68-year-old grandfather who hates Ken Griffey Jr. simply because he wears his hat backwards. 

I just think there's enough substance to his game that he doesn't need to try for style points. He's long enough to be a rebounding presence, and he sees the floor well enough to be one of those triple-double threats on a nightly basis. Numbers are what impress us. And to be honest, I think he's kind of game-lazy -- which is not to say he doesn't work hard in general, but that during the game he works hard selectively -- he'll defend a ball handler if he's right in front of him on the perimeter, or he'll sneak to a passing lane if he thinks it'll get him a clear shot at the open court. But mostly he kind of cherry-picks. He hangs around the arc and waits for an outlet pass or a long rebound. If he'd crash the boards, he'd have had 64 of them on Thursday, I'm sure of it.

Still, for Gridley's purposes, I know he's going to be their MVP, and he is in truth a very good player. I could definitely do without the attempts at looking cool though (damn kids with your music).

I also had the distinct thought that LP's Nick Crete might be a really useful player on a team with more talent around him, but his at-times fine passing is mostly wasted (I say "at-times" because there were also instances where Crete literally threw the ball out of the gym trying to make a pass). The Thunderbirds just might have trouble scoring points this year, that's all. I don't hate their kids or anything, but I don't see a lot of scorers. Maybe they can try to involve Ronnie Wilson more, which might be a good thing because he kind of has a soft touch near the basket. But he has that awkward high school post player thing where he wants to post up no matter where he is on the floor. He got an entry pass midway between the block and the corner and started backing a kid down almost as if he had no idea where he was, and then he assured us all of it when he airballed a baby hook. Um. 

That's not to pick on anybody; it's more a clear indication of what LP coach Dan Weagant is working with. I think he's a good coach who runs some really nice-looking half-court offense that, with more polished players, would probably work fine. LP isn't many years removed from playoff-caliber teams that were playing in the same system. You just gotta have the horses.

Look, nobody likes reading about the weather when they go to sports stories, but what can I say? It was a huge part of the day's happenings, from the 11:30 a.m. arrival at Buzz Ostrom Stadium (where FOX Sports Radio play-by-play man Mike Wessels and I both found that, even before noon, the smell of burnt rubber from underneath the field was already filling the place), to the teams tiring in the second half and one umpire needing to be taken off the field for fear of him passing out -- he'd already had to take a knee. He called the game from the Sierra sideline; more accurately, he just kinda hung out.

OK, that's over with. Moving on.

The Roadrunners entered the season ranked third in the state in the CCCFCA coaches' poll and to be honest, I wasn't sure how accurate that is. Having seen just one game, I'm still not. But a 50-28 win in Week 1 never hurts, and if you have to experience growing pains, you might as well do them in victory.

Occasionally, we can jump to conclusions based on first impressions while other times, statistical anomalies early in the year prove to be nothing more than just hiccups as real trends emerge. A few things that happened on Saturday, and one reporter's assertions on their importance over the long haul:

OROVILLE -- The Oroville High football team should take some positives away from Friday night's loss to Wheatland at Harrison Stadium.

Sure, the Pirates won 39-9, taking the Tigers' losing streak to 18 games.

But while Wheatland, the runner-up in Division II last season, didn't return much on offense, the Pirates featured a handful of experienced defensive starters, including some standout linebackers.

Despite that veteran presence on the Pirates, Oroville found some running room early.

Burly running back Johnny Graves looks like he's going to be able to consistently shed would-be solo tacklers, forcing defenses to gang-tackle him.

The offensive line, led by seniors Jacob Scholl and Brandon Giles, are capable of clearing a path in the Tigers' Wing-T offense.

Junior running back Jake Thornton has some moves as well as he broke a 71-yard touchdown run. Thornton looked like he could spell Graves for a while, allowing the senior to catch his breath as Oroville seeks to piece together long, clock-eating drives with run after run after run. 

That would help as the thin Oroville roster is forced to play so many players on both sides of the ball.

The three main problems the Tigers have to figure out: 1. Hold on to the ball; 2. What to do when the ball is in the air for either team; 3. Not to get too high on the highs and definitely don't get too low on the lows as adversity will happen, but the key is how one responds to it.

The first quarter was competitive Friday night as both teams moved the ball some. Oroville led 3-0 on Aaron Bundy's 31-yard field goal, and thanks to two Pirate penalties had Wheatland at its own 14-yard line, facing a third-and-24 play.

Wheatland went deep and connected for a deflating 86-yard touchdown pass.

The Tigers' next possession ended with a fumbled snap on the third play. The next offensive series included a shotgun snap that looked like it may have been snapped when quarterback Dane Dugan wasn't expecting it, resulting in a 20-yard loss to the Oroville 4. That drive ended with a punt from the end zone, giving Wheatland the ball at Oroville 25. Oroville's next drive lasted one play because of a fumble.

The Pirates took advantage and outscored Oroville 20-0 in the second quarter, scoring two more touchdowns on passes of 20 and 26 yards.

The Tigers played their season opener without senior John Goble, a receiver on offense and also a defensive back. He was missed as Wheatland exploited his absence. Oroville coach Steve Steinmann said earlier in the week that he expected Goble to be able to play next week against Anderson.

The Cubs lost to Enterprise 54-27 as Hornets quarterback Alex Henderson victimized Anderson both through the air and with his legs.

Oroville will have to find a way to move the ball some with the passing game. Against Wheatland, only one pass was completed, an 11-yard pass to Isaac Morelli right before halftime. Despite the wing-T offense's heavy leanings on the running game, the occasional pass will be needed to keep defenses from stacking the line of scrimmage.

As far as dealing with adversity, that's something the Tigers will need to figure out but that could come with experience. Steinmann, in his fourth year as coach, said his team is young. Young teams can make that mistake of riding the emotional waves of a game. Getting some game-time exposure could help garner the necessary composure to stay even-keel.

That can only help Oroville break though and get the win the Tigers want. 

They host Anderson, which won last year's matchup 6-0 at home, but the Cubs come to Harrison Stadium next Friday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.