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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2020)
Sports 7A Tuesday, June 23, 2020 Th e Observer Frontier Conference reshuffl es football schedule Eastern Oregon to open, close season against in-state rival Southern Oregon The Observer LA GRANDE — The Eastern Oregon Univer- sity football team now will open and close the season with the Small School Civil War. The Frontier Conference Monday announced its new modifi ed schedule for the 2020 football season, which was forced to be altered by the COVID-19 outbreak. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in early June reported foot- ball schedules would be cut from a maximum of 11 games to nine. The altered schedule for the Frontier has each team now playing eight games. Eastern Oregon, which was originally going to open the season with an Aug. 29 home game against Mon- tana Tech, now will face Southern Oregon in a night game Sept. 12 in the latest installment of the in-state rivalry. The last time Eastern opened the season with a home matchup against SOU was in 2016, when the Mountaineers won a 45-40 thriller against the then-No. 2 Raiders. That also was the last time EOU topped SOU at Community Sta- dium. Their last three wins against Southern have come in Ashland. It will be the fi rst of two home games for EOU to start the season, as it will follow with a meeting against Montana Tech on Sept. 19. Road games at Montana Western and Rocky Mountain College follow on Sept. 26 and Oct. 3 with a conference-wide bye week on the 10th. EOU will open the back half of the season Oct. 17 with a home contest against MSU-Northern, then a road game at Carroll College. On Halloween, the Mountain- eers will host Interstate-84 rival College of Idaho in the only matchup between the schools this season, then fi nish with a road game at Southern Oregon Nov. 7. Typically, EOU would face three opponents twice in a season — SOU, C of I and one of the confer- ence’s Montana schools. This will be the fi rst time since the Yotes reinstated their program that EOU and C of I won’t meet twice in a season. FBI investigating noose left in NASCAR stall of black driver By Jenna Fryer Associated Press TALLEDEGA, Ala. — Federal authorities on Monday confi rmed they are investigating the discovery of a noose found in the Tal- ladega Superspeedway garage stall of Bubba Wal- lace, NASCAR’s only black full-time driver who suc- cessfully pushed the stock car series to ban the Con- federate fl ag at its venues earlier this month. U.S. Attorney Jay Town said his offi ce, the FBI and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division were reviewing the situation. “Regardless of whether federal charges can be brought, this type of action has no place in our society,” Town said. The stock car series, founded in the South more than 70 years ago, has tried to distance itself from the fl ag for years at the risk of alienating a core group of its fan base. At Wallace’s urging, it went ahead with the ban as the nation grap- ples with social unrest largely tied to George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in the cus- tody of Minneapolis police. NASCAR has not out- lined how it will enforce the restriction and this week’s race at Talla- dega, in the heart of the South, presented the series with its biggest test in the early going. Disgrun- tled fans with Confederate fl ags drove past the main entrance to the Alabama race track prior to Sunday’s race, while a plane fl ew above the track pulling a banner of the fl ag that read “Defund NASCAR.” Hours after the race was postponed by rain, NASCAR said the noose had been found. The sanc- tioning body vowed to do everything possible to fi nd who was responsible and “eliminate them from the sport.” “We are angry and out- raged, and cannot state strongly enough how seri- ously we take this hei- nous act,” the series said in a statement. “As we have stated unequivocally, there is no place for racism in NASCAR, and this act only strengthens our resolve to make the sport open and welcoming to all.” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said she was “shocked and appalled” by the “vile act” against Wallace, an Ala- bama native. “There is no place for this disgusting display of hatred in our state,” Ivey said. “Bubba Wallace is one of us; he is a native of Photo by Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press Bubba Wallace stands for the national anthem before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, June 14, in Home- stead, Florida. Mobile and on behalf of all Alabamians, I apologize to Bubba Wallace as well as to his family and friends for the hurt this has caused and regret the mark this leaves on our state.” Richard Petty, sev- en-time NASCAR cham- pion and owner of Wal- lace’s famed No. 43, was headed to Talladega to sup- port his driver. Petty has not attended a race during the coronavirus pandemic and said in a statement he was “enraged by the act of someone placing a noose in the garage stall of my race team.” “There’s absolutely no place in our sport or society for racism,” Petty wrote. “This fi lthy act serves as a reminder of how far we still have to go to eradicate racial prejudice and it gal- vanizes my resolve to use the resources of Richard Petty Motorsports to create change. This sick person who perpetrated this act must be found, exposed and swiftly and immediately expelled from NASCAR. “I believe in my heart this despicable act is not representative of the com- petitors I see each day in the NASCAR garage area. I stand shoulder to shoulder with Bubba, yesterday, today, tomorrow and every day forward.” Reaction from Wal- lace’s fellow drivers was immediate as they prepared for the rescheduled race Monday afternoon. Retired four-time champion Jeff Gordon called it a “cow- ardly” act and Ryan Blaney, one of Wallace’s closest friends, tweeted: “You’re my brother and always will be. Don’t let the people who are lower than life to try and bring you down.” Observer fi le photo Eastern Oregon University’s defense celebrates following a stop in a 2019 game against MSU-Northern. The Frontier Conference announced its updated 2020 schedule, which has been altered due to COVID-19. The Mountaineers will open and close the 2020 cam- paign against in-state rival Southern Oregon. MLB players’ board rejects 60-game season by Ronald Blum Associated Press NEW YORK — The executive board of the Major League Base- ball Players Associa- tion rejected a proposed 60-game schedule by a 33-5 vote, daring Com- missioner Rob Manfred to give a unilateral order for the regular season’s start and provoke what fi gures to be lengthy and costly litigation over the impact of the coronavirus. The union’s vote was confi rmed by a person familiar with the meeting who spoke to The Asso- ciated Press on condition of anonymity because no announcement was made. With the collapse of a negotiated deal, play- offs are set to remain at 10 teams rather than expand to 16, and the proposed expansion of the designated hitter to games involving NL teams would be off. Also falling through for now is a planned experiment that would have had a runner start each extra inning on second base. Spring training was suspended March 12, two weeks ahead of scheduled openers, and the sides have reverted to the familiar fi nancial infi ghting that fractured the sport in the past. An initial deal March 26 called for players to receive prorated salaries, but that agreement did not require MLB to play in empty ballparks. Players refused to alter from their insistence on prorated salaries, and MLB fi nally agreed last week during a meeting between Manfred and union head Tony Clark. But the sides remained about $275 million apart after weeks of talks. TREASURE VALLEY STEEL, INC. Manufacturing Zee & Cee Purlins In-HouseCustom Cut Exact Lengths • 24 Colors • Custom Trim • 2 1/2” Corrugated • Delivery Available • Full Soffitt Line • 3 ft. Gulf Coast Panel • 3 ft. PBR Panel • 3 ft. Mesa Panel • 3 ft. Tuff Rib Panel • Standing Seam DELIVERY • 2 ft. Delta Rib AVAILABLE • 3 ft. Pro Panel 40 Year Full Paint Warranty • WeatherX Paint System ONTARIO 541-889-4214 BOISE 208-336-7505 1460 N. 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