Chris Murray|Reno Gazette-Journal
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It's been a busy day, so no long and fancy introduction this week. Let's just get to the Monday Twitter Mailbag questions. Thanks, as always, for your inquiries.
Tough question, and it's split in half because you asked which is more likely and which is more important, which could have two different answers. We'll address the second one first.
More important?It's more important Nevada keeps basketball coach Eric Musselman than it is to build an indoor football practice facility. The Wolf Pack needs to do whatever is necessary to keep Musselman. The fans have stepped up by buying season tickets in mass despite rising prices and the university needs to follow suit by stepping to the plate to meet whatever demands are required to make Nevada Musselman's final job. While the indoor football practice facility is important, it does not guarantee winning. It only levels the playing field with Nevada's Mountain West competition. Keeping Musselman guarantees winning. He's not going to field a non-competitive team. Musselman is priority No. 1.
More likely?I think it's more likely Nevada keeps Musselman long term. That should only require another $1 million-$2 million per year, which of course is a ton of money, but a practice facility is at least a $10 million project (that's the low end; the high end is $25 million). While students fees can soak up maybe 40 percent of that cost, Nevada will need a $5 million or so lead gift that is backed up by several more $500,000 or more pledges (the university/state won't pay for this facility). That's not going to be easy to accomplish unless some Wolf Pack alum is feeling mighty generous. Plus there's more momentum in basketball than football and the university/athletic departmentshould be feeling pressure to keep Musselman given how beloved he is by the community.
Nevada would of course love an indoor facility but the Wolf Pack hasn't gone all-in on that facility alone. For example, Nevada AD Doug Knuth said this about a year ago:
“If that was the only project we had, we could probably rally the resources together and get it done. But we have so many other things we have to do for all of our sports. My thing from day one, and President (Marc) Johnson’s thing from day one was, ‘This is not just a one-sport athletic department.’We have to build all of the sports. We have to build and support all of our teams. That’s why we’ve built tennis courts and done the track and all of these other things. The indoor practice facility is still sitting there on the list saying, ‘What about me? You don’t care about me?’ The answer is we really want that and it’s a high priority for us, but we have to fundraise.”
So while it might be atop the list, it is not the sole focus, although perhaps it should be.
I'm actually working on a column on this topic, but it is not normal. I'll break down the numbers in that column, but the attribution has been much higher from Brian Polian to Jay Norvell than it was from Chris Ault to Polian. Norvell has flipped this roster in historic fashion.
I'm going to assume we're talking local high school football coaches. If that's the case, my rankings are:
1.Ernie Howren, Bishop Manogue
2. Dan Avansino, Reno
3.Shawn Dupris, Damonte Ranch
I have no additional information on this beyond the Seattle Times' report that states Kaho is in Reno and didn't report to Washington for training camp because his parents are getting divorced, his aunt and uncle recently died and his family is worried about his health after he recently lost 20 pounds.
“He had so much stuff going on right now,” a family member told the Seattle Times. “Football is not even our concern right now. He does not look right. He does not act right. He’s not the same bubbly kid we know.”
By the sounds of it, football should be among the least of the concerns forKaho, the highest-rated football player in Reno's history. If this is all true, he should take the year off football, so I'd rather not speculate where he'll play football as that should be a secondary issue at this stage.
Four-way tie between Frederick Douglass, Jack Johnson (the boxer), Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig. Basically every class paper I wrote from middle school on had to do with one of these four.Stefan Urquelle would be No. 5 on my list.
1) Most of the TV schedule has been released. You can see it here.
2) Five games are on ESPN: Oregon State, Air Force, Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State. All but Oregon State have TBD channels (the Beavers game on ESPN3).
3) If you like watching sports yes.
I have never seen an episode of WWE or WWF, so this is like asking a colorblind person what his favorite color is. I will say I don't wantDwayne "The Rock" Johnson as my mayor because wherever he goes calamity follows (Rampage; Skyscraper; San Andreas; G.I. Joe: Retaliation;Jumanji; and a host of other bad movies). I'll go with Stone ColdSteve Austin on the condition he holds a parade down Virginia Street once a year in which he gives a stunner to every citizen of Reno followed by a beer smash.
Caleb Martin, Cody Martin, Jordan Caroline, Trey Porter and Jordan Brown. I would put the over/under on Nevada players drafted next year at 0.5. It's really hard to be one of the 60 players selected, especially since roughly 10 of those are overseas guys. Both Martins could be drafted if they have big senior seasons, but they'll be old for their draft class as will Caroline and Porter. Brown will be young but I don't see him leaving Nevada after his freshman season.
I have not spoken to Porter about this but from what I've seen in practice it has not been an issue. Infact, Porter finished second in Nevada's annual Tahoe Run, which was done at more than 8,000 feetof elevation, so I think he's good in this department even if he has to manage things more than the normal player because of his type 1 diabetes.
Given the option, I think Nevada would take Brown for a second season. While it would be nice to be able to promote to the 2020 recruits that you got a player to the lottery after one season on campus, Nevada's talent level is going to dip from 2018-19 to 2019-20 and it will need Brown's skill level to stay an NCAA Tournament/Top 25-caliber team heading into 2019-20 when Nevada will sign that 2020 class. It will be more important to show recruits the program isn't falling backwards heading into their signing season.
Nevada basketball has passed 8,000 in season tickets but I don't have a more precise number than that. I'd guess it is in the 8,300 range. And Musselman gets 25 percent of every dollar onseason and single-game tickets, including exhibition, regular season and postseason, that exceeds $1.431 million. So he's going to make a few hundred thousand dollars off that bonus. He should end around $1.5 million in salary next season.
Here is the schedule from last week's Mailbag. I'll post WIN or LOSS after each game
Nov. 6:vs. Saint Mary's–WIN
Nov. 10:vs. Kentucky–WIN
Nov. 14:at UCLA–WIN
Nov. 19:vs. Duke (Maui Invitational)–LOSS
Nov. 20:vs. Michigan State (Maui Invitational)–WIN
Nov. 21:vs. Arizona (Maui Invitational)–WIN
Nov. 25:vs. Loyola Chicago (Sweet 16 rematch)–WIN
Dec. 1:vs. Villanova (love to play the defending champs)–LOSS
Dec. 6:at Kansas (can’t pass up a game at Allen Fieldhouse)–LOSS
Dec. 11:vs. BYU (an “easy” one heading into finals)–WIN
Dec. 18:vs. Stanford (a Jerod Haase homecoming)–WIN
Dec. 22:at St. John’s–WIN
Dec. 29:vs. Gonzaga–LOSS
That'd be a 9-4 record, which Nevada would take against that slate. It would give the Wolf Pack the nation's No. 1 strength of schedule and likely the No. 1 RPI.
CBS is working on a piece on Nevada basketball but my understanding is it won't run until March. CBS also came out last season for a piece on the Martin twins, although I never saw that run, so I'm not privy to their schedule.
Eat pizza and ice cream. Now you might say, "You can eat pizza and ice cream even if you're not invisible." That's true. But if I'm invisible I can eat as much pizza and ice cream as I want without having to look at my belly in the mirror and feeling bad about it.
The Brooklyn Bridge, completed 1883, the first steel-wire suspension bridge. ANational Historic Landmarkin 1964. ANational Historic Civil Engineering Landmarkin 1972. Twenty-one elephants marched across it to prove its sturdiness in 1884. That's my No. 1.
I have zero insight into this since I'm in the press box all game and haven't walked around Mackay during a game since I was in college (2000-07). I can't image the Mackay Stadium candy apple concession stand is as nice as the Reno Aces' candy apple concession stand. That one is legit. We need to have a candy apple-off. And this year I'll be less "bougie" and will walk around the stands during agame.
My battle with Fresno is mostly an ongoing tongue-in-cheek joke.
(Fresno is a dump, though.)
San Diego, and that's not particularity close. Honolulu is second; then Boise; Las Vegas; Fort Collins; San Jose; Albuquerque; Logan; Colorado Springs; Laramie; and a long gap before we reach Fresno.
Bueller?Bueller?Walker Buehler.
He'll start against teams with a legit center but not against teams that play smallball. The competition at center for the Lakers is quite light. It's McGee andIvica Zubac. As for Staburst and Skittles my favorite flavor is red. All candies are best when red.
Nah, Kobe's done.
I didn't cover the Barracuda Championship this year, although it was great to see former Wolf Pack golfer Grant Booth not only make the cut but also win the Barracuda Bonus, which means $50,000 will be donated in his name to a charity with half going to local charities and the other half going to a charity of his choosing. Can he pick Nevada golf as a charity and donate it back to his alma mater?
I already run the @MurrayRGJand the @RGJSports accounts, so I don't have time to run the @RGJduke account but I will tell Duke to start tweeting more about the Dodgers and Pearl Jam and such.
I taught at UNR for a couple of years (and got both of my degrees from the journalism school there), but never took or taught a "Twitter for Reporters" class. They should have such a class now. My advice is to be conversational and not just post links at people all the time and also to ignore he trolls. I do better at the first part than the second.
Social media is vital for reporters. It's where you build a brand and cultivate an audience. Many of my page views come via Twitter or Facebook. I am active on Twitter as a way to interact with fans and in return they travel to RGJ.com to read my stories. They also give me the ability to do this weekly feature, which is the most popular thing I write every week. So without Twitter there would be no Monday Mailbag. Thanks you Twitter for bringing us this Mailbag.