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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2016
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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New Oregon coach tips his helmet to Harbaugh
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
W
illie Taggart credits Mich-
igan coach Jim Harbaugh
for putting him on the path
that brought him to Oregon. Tag-
gart was introduced as the Ducks’
coach Thursday following a 4-8 sea-
son and the dismissal of coach Mark
Helfrich.
In 1994, Taggart was recruited to
play at Western Kentucky by Har-
baugh, who was then an unpaid
assistant under his father, longtime
Hilltoppers coach Jack Harbaugh.
Jim Harbaugh remained a con-
stant in his life. He hired Taggart as
his running backs coach at Stanford
and was the best man at Taggart’s
wedding.
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
“Ever since I met Jim Harbaugh,
my life has gone nowhere but up,”
he said.
Taggart’s last two head coaching
jobs have been rebuilding projects.
He has been coach at USF for the
past four seasons, guiding the team
from a 2-10 record his first year to a
10-2 mark this year and a spot in the
Birmingham Bowl.
Before he arrived in Tampa he
spent three seasons at his alma mater,
Western Kentucky, inheriting a win-
less program that he turned around
with back-to-back winning seasons.
Taggart, 40, is the first coach
Oregon has hired from outside the
school since 1976. The Ducks’ previ-
ous three coaches — Mike Bellotti,
Chip Kelly and Helfrich — were
assistants who were promoted.
“Good coaches fit just about any-
where and Willie has proven that
the past couple of years,” Stanford
coach David Shaw said.
Harbaugh said on Twitter: “From
the newest Duck fan, Congrats to@
CoachTaggart & The U of Oregon!
From Manatee to Eugene, I’ve always
been your fan! Happy for you!”
Taggart was 16-20 at Western
Kentucky, becoming coach when it
was first transitioning to FBS. He
went 7-5 in his last two seasons with
the Hilltoppers and then moved to
USF, not far from where he grew up
in Bradenton, Florida.
It took two seasons and a change
in offensive philosophy from more
pro-style, West Coast schemes
to a spread, but he now has the
25th-ranked Bulls rolling.
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard
New Oregon football coach Willie Taggart jokes with the audience
during an introductory press conference in Eugene on Thursday.
‘It’s a tough call. I think at that point of the game, there are some
calls you make, and there are some you just play basketball.’
DAMIAN LILLARD | Blazers point guard, on foul call against him
New report has
more details on
Russian doping
Associated Press
LONDON — A new report into
systematic Russian doping details
a wide-ranging “institutional con-
spiracy” that involved more than
1,000 athletes across more than 30
sports, including evidence corrob-
orating large-scale sample swap-
ping at the 2014 Sochi Winter
Olympics.
World Anti-Doping Agency
investigator Richard McLaren said
Friday the conspiracy involved the
Russian Sports Ministry, national
anti-doping agency and the FSB
intelligence service, providing fur-
ther details of state involvement in
a massive program of cheating and
cover-ups that ran on an “unprece-
dented scale” from 2011-15.
“It is impossible to know just
how deep and how far back this
conspiracy goes,” McLaren said at
a news conference in London. “For
years, international sports com-
petitions have unknowingly been
hijacked by Russians. Coaches and
athletes have been playing on an
uneven field. Sports fans and spec-
tators have been deceived. It’s time
that this stops.”
McLaren said his conclusions
were based on irrefutable foren-
sic evidence, including DNA anal-
ysis proving that samples were
swapped and other tests showing
that doping bottles were opened.
The Canadian law professor’s
investigation found that 15 Russian
medalists in Sochi had their dop-
ing bottles tampered with, includ-
ing two athletes who won four gold
medals. No names were given.
NFL to play 4
more in London
Associated Press
LONDON — The NFL will
stage four regular-season games
in London next year.
Teams and venues for the
four games will be announced on
Tuesday.
The NFL started playing reg-
ular-season games in London in
2007, and has recently played
three games per season in the Brit-
ish capital. The league has never
before played four games in one
season in London.
Most of the games have been
played at Wembley Stadium, but
one was played at Twickenham
this season.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls Basketball — Astoria at R.A.
Long, 7 p.m.; Warrenton at Neah-Kah-
Nie, 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball — R.A. Long at As-
toria, 7 p.m.; Seaside at Corbett, 7 p.m.;
Warrenton at Neah-Kah-Nie, 8 p.m.
SATURDAY
Girls Basketball — Astoria at Ilwaco,
5:45 p.m.; Knappa at Delphian, TBA;
Warrenton JV2 at Jewell, 11 a.m.
Boys Basketball — Sandy at Astoria,
7 p.m.; Knappa at Delphian, 4 p.m.; Mel-
bourne Magic at Jewell, 1 p.m.; Willapa
Valley at Ilwaco, 7:30 p.m.
Swimming — Andrew Nygaard Invi-
tational, Astoria Aquatic Center, 10:15
a.m.
Wrestling — Warrenton Tournament,
10 a.m.
Associated Press
Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard shoots against the Grizzlies in the first half Thursday in Memphis, Tenn. Lillard had 19 points.
Last-second call, game
goes against Trail Blazers
By CLAY BAILEY
Associated Press
M
UP NEXT: BLAZERS
EMPHIS, Tenn. — Longtime
Memphis Grizzly Marc Gasol car-
ried the team throughout the game.
The team’s newest member closed out an
unexpected win.
Gasol scored 36 points, but it was a pair of
free throws by reserve guard Toney Douglas
with less a second left that closed out Mem-
phis’ 88-86 comeback victory over the Port-
land Trail Blazers on Thursday night.
“We gave them everything we could. We
just threw the kitchen sink at them,” said
Memphis coach David Fizdale, who watched
his team overcome an 11-point deficit in the
final 5 minutes. “I don’t know if we got lucky
or what.”
Douglas’ last-second free throws gave him
11 points, including the game’s final six to
• Portlan dTrail Blazers (12-12)
at Indiana Pacers (11-11)
• Saturday, 4 p.m. TV: CSNW
seal Memphis’ fifth consecutive victory. The
Grizzlies have won 12 straight that either
went to overtime or were decided by five
points or less.
“I wish I could tell you,” Gasol said when
asked about Memphis’ ability to pull out close
games. “We just keep fighting. You’ve seen it
in many games now where we just don’t let
go of the rope.”
Gasol was 13 of 24 from the field, includ-
ing 4 of 6 from outside the arc. But Doug-
las, signed by Memphis this week because
of injuries, took over down the stretch. The
guard scored on a 19-footer with 34 seconds
left, then converted two pairs of free throws in
the last 20 seconds.
CJ McCollum led the Trail Blazers with
24 points, and Damian Lillard had 19. Evan
Turner had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Portland held a 79-68 lead after Al-Farouq
Aminu scored inside with 5:28 left. But Mem-
phis clicked off a 14-2 rally, Gasol collecting
nine points in the stretch capped by a 30-footer
from Troy Daniels with 1:35 remaining.
The game settled into a one-possession
contest at that point, including four ties. Port-
land center Mason Plumlee split a pair of free
throws with 7 seconds left, and the Grizzlies
pushed the ball down court. Douglas’ pump
fake drew a foul from Lillard with a half-sec-
ond remaining.
“It’s a tough call,” Lillard said. “I think at
that point of the game, there are some calls
you make, and there are some you just play
basketball. You can’t be as technical about it.”
Down the stretch they come in NFL season
By BARRY WILNER
Associated Press
And down the stretch they come.
The Cowboys already are in the
playoffs. The Patriots and Seahawks
almost certainly will qualify soon,
too. Believe it or not, Raiders fans,
your team is about to end its 13-sea-
son drought.
As for the rest, well, the scram-
ble is on. Here’s what’s ahead in the
frantic final four weeks of an already
unpredictable season:
AFC
It would seem that the wild cards
will come out of the West, by far the
best division in football. Whether
it’s Denver, Kansas City or Oakland,
those teams will provide quite a test
for the North or South winner in the
first round of the postseason.
Whoever wins the West almost
certainly will have a first-round bye,
too. After the Chiefs’ win Thursday
night and their sweep of Oakland —
plus a win over Denver in their pocket
— they hold most of the cards in the
division.
Defending Super Bowl champ
Denver (8-4) has the toughest road
with games against Tennessee, New
England, Kansas City and Oakland.
The other bye figures to go to the
Patriots — no surprise there. It would
be the seventh straight year New
England was off for the first weekend
of the playoffs.
The other two divisions are murky,
with the South a tossup.
Houston has led the division all
season, but is in the midst of a major
swoon, its offense unreliable, its
defense banged-up. Indianapolis has
Andrew Luck back, and he could be
a difference maker, but losing its best
defender, linebacker D’Qwell Jack-
son to a four-game suspension, is
damaging to a mediocre unit.
Tennessee, a team to watch out for
in 2017, must play Denver and Kan-
sas City before finishing with the Jag-
uars and Texans.
NFC
Dallas has so separated itself from
the rest of the conference that not
only can it secure the East title with a
win at the Giants on Sunday night, it
also can nail down home-field advan-
tage throughout the playoffs if Detroit
and Seattle lose.
Let’s pencil in the Cowboys as
the top seed, then sit back and watch
an intriguing race for the other bye
between the Seahawks and Lions.
Detroit (8-4) almost is as much a
surprise as Dallas, but it hasn’t yet
convinced folks it will win the North.
Its final three games are at the Giants
and Cowboys, then hosting the Pack-
ers (6-6) on New Year’s Day. Green
Bay won the first meeting, and Aaron
Rodgers has been playing lights-out.
But give Detroit its due: No team
has been more impressive in close
games, Matthew Stafford is hav-
ing his best season, and its plus-6
turnover margin is among the NFL
leaders.
The Packers, who must navigate
through three divisional games to fin-
ish the schedule after hosting Seattle
on Sunday, look more like a wild-card
chaser.
Seattle (8-3-1) might have the
league’s most talented roster when
everyone is healthy. That’s hardly the
case now, and losing perennial All-
Pro safety Earl Thomas for the rest of
the season is damaging.
The good news for the Seahawks
is their offense, while streaky, has
playmakers such as Russell Wilson
— also in the midst of an MVP-cali-
ber year — Jimmy Graham and Doug
Baldwin, plus, at last, a threat at run-
ning back with Thomas Rawls’ return
to the lineup.