No player is more important than another, but some score touchdowns

If I’m one thing, it’s a proud cat owner.

I love my cat. His name is Phoenix. Seriously, he’s the coolest little guy in the world. Think your pet is cuter or fluffier? I doubt it.

The love I have for Phoenix is blind and resolute. I have absolutely no doubt he’s the best pet in the world. No, make that the universe.

Am I making myself clear? MY PET IS CUTER, FUNNIER AND BETTER THAN YOURS.

I realize when it comes to my cat, I’m biased. It isn’t manly, tough or Idaho-conventional for a guy in his 20s to love his cat, but I don’t care.

Have you made it this far with me yet? I know this is the sports section. If you made it past the first 125 words, you’re thinking 1) Wow, this guy loves his cat and 2) Shouldn’t this column be run anywhere but in sports?

Well, I bring Phoenix up because, even though I don’t have kids, I think I can appreciate what parents go through rooting for their own.

At the Journal, we cover high school sports nearly every day. Inherent in that process means we write about high school kids with dads, moms and grandparents — folks who love their children more than anything.

And those parents — rightfully so — are absolutely, 100 percent biased towards their child. Thank goodness, too.

But some parents and their slanted attitudes tend to have some friction with sportswriters, because we don’t give enough credit to their kid.

In football, for example, there are 22 players on the field every single play. Five of those guys are grunts. They’re offensive linemen no one ever notices until a touchdown is called back because of a holding penalty.

With the exception of Highland’s Tristen Hoge — the junior phenom with football scholarship offers from Stanford to LSU — we don’t write about many linemen, particularly in game recaps.

We are, however, going to mention the Rams’ Tommy Jewell, Century’s Shane Rominger and Pocatello’s Dexter Gunter. Those are the guys who score. Those are the guys that steal headlines.

That’s life. Should the defensive tackle who finished with two quarterback hurries get more credit for stuffing the opponent’s run game all night? Maybe, but when’s the last time Peyton Manning had less words devoted to his touchdown passes because the middle linebacker ended up with six tackles?

Should a soccer team’s sweeper get more love from the local paper because he or she helped their club throw a complete-game shutout? Perhaps, but when that team wins 6-0 and one of the forwards finished with a hat trick, sportswriters are going to focus on who scored.

Fair? Maybe not.

Another example. The Century and Highland girls soccer battled to a 2-2 tie Thursday.

It was an emotional back and forth affair where both squads played well. I’d guess, between the two of them, anywhere from 25 to 30 girls played at least some.

Yet, if you read my game recap, I mention Makenzie Van Sickle from Highland and Kennedy Yost from Century. Those two combined to score four goals.

Each is so dang talented that they’re just a true joy to watch.

Believe me, Van Sickle and Yost are legit soccer studs.

But, you see, some parents read that article and think, "Gosh, my kid isn’t in here. All I see is Van Sickle that and Yost this. My kid played the entire game, too.”

But you know what, I’m going to write about players who score goals, guys who catch touchdown passes and players who pour in double-digit points in basketball games.

I see where you’re coming from. I bet that middle linebacker had a great game, and maybe next week we’ll write about him because he dove for a key interception. But, chances are, you’ll see a lot of quarterbacks and goal-scorers in the paper.

Does that stink? Is that equitable? Be honest. If your kid was scoring goals like crazy and I focused 600 words on the left back, you’d be left a little miffed.

I don’t expect any upset parent to agree with this. All of us on the sports desk at the Journal have ways we can improve (no, a more obvious statement has never been written), but don’t expect the name drops for all players to come out dead even unless you can tell me who Zane Beadles, Louis Vasquez and Manny Ramirez are.

Because, no, that Manny Ramirez is the Denver Broncos starting center. Beadles is the left guard and Vasquez starts at right guard.

And even though those guys are all 300-pound lumbering tanks, I bet their parents still think the media under appreciates their contributions.