10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Trail Blazers
game postponed
by slick court
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — The game
between the Portland Trail Blaz-
ers and Minnesota Timberwolves
scheduled for Monday night was
done in by something no one could
have seen coming: warm weather
in the Twin Cities in early March.
The NBA postponed the game
due to a slippery court caused by
condensation from an ice sheet
underneath it and outside humid-
ity on a day in which temperatures
reached the mid-60s.
“I’d like to apologize to our fans
and certainly to the Trail Blazers,”
Timberwolves president and coach
Tom Thibodeau said shortly after
the game was postponed. “Obvi-
ously the safety of the players has
to come first. It’s unfortunate, but
it’s the right thing to do.”
It was the second time this sea-
son that a game had to be post-
poned because of a slippery court.
The game between the Kings and
76ers in Philadelphia was post-
poned on Nov. 30. A makeup date
will be announced in the coming
days.
Raiders find
new financing
for stadium
Associated Press
ALAMEDA, Calif. — The
Oakland Raiders told the NFL on
Monday they have found a new
partner to finance their proposed
stadium in Las Vegas: Bank of
America.
A person familiar with the Raid-
ers’ plans said the team presented
the new proposal with financing
backed by Bank of America to the
NFL’s stadium and finance com-
mittees. The person spoke on con-
dition of anonymity because the
plan was not made public.
The Raiders had been seeking a
new partner for the proposed $1.9
billion, 65,000-seat domed sta-
dium after casino magnate Sheldon
Adelson withdrew a $650 million
pledge last month.
The state of Nevada has com-
mitted $750 million to the project,
while the Raiders and NFL would
pay the remaining $500 million if
three-quarters of the league’s own-
ers approve a move. A vote could
come at the owners meetings later
this month.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf
also made a presentation to the
committees on Monday in hopes
of persuading owners to prevent
the Raiders from moving. Schaaf
offered no new plans to satisfy con-
cerns from the league about a pro-
posed new stadium near the site of
the Coliseum, the person said.
Mariners Martin
serenaded by
mariachi band
Associated Press
PEORIA, Ariz. — A mariachi
band was there to serenade Leo-
nys Martin after he arrived in the
Seattle Mariners’ clubhouse on his
29th birthday.
The four-member band then
remained the outfielder’s constant
companion throughout morning
workouts Monday, filling the air
on the back fields at the spring
training complex with lively
music.
And if the accompanying band
wasn’t enough to draw attention to
Martin, there was the huge som-
brero he wore while taking some
swings in the batting cage, catch-
ing flyballs and doing some run-
ning drills.
Martin said it was an amazing
feeling to have teammates set up
the surprise for him.
Asked who was primarily
responsible, Martin smiled when
he mentioned Felix Hernandez,
the standout pitcher who then
came up from behind strumming
on one of the instruments.
Martin said it was a birthday he
will never forget.
Eric Engman/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Race rookie Ryan Anderson of Minnesota drives his team onto the Chena River during the restart of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
in front of Pike’s Waterfront Lodge, Monday in Fairbanks, Alaska. It’s the third time the starting location of the 1,000-mile trek to Nome,
Alaska has been moved from Anchorage to Fairbanks due to low snow and poor trail conditions south of and through the Alaska Range.
Howls, high-fives mark
start of Iditarod race
Ceremonial start
By MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Mushers
pumped their fists and high-fived fans Monday
as they set out one-by-one on the world’s most
famous sled dog race, a nearly 1,000-mile trek
through the grueling Alaska wilderness.
The grandson of a co-founder of the Idi-
tarod Trail Sled Dog Race was the first com-
petitor on the trail in Fairbanks, in the heart
of the state.
Ryan Redington, 33, of Wasilla led the
other 70 mushers out of the chute nearly a
half-century after his grandfather, Joe Red-
ington Sr., helped stage the first race in 1973.
The contest has a staggered start so fans,
including 2,600 schoolchildren, can cheer on
the competitors, who leave every two minutes.
One race rookie, 53-year-old Roger Lee,
threw his fist in the air as he took off from
the chute.
Lee was born in California to British par-
ents and grew up near Liverpool, England, lis-
tening to the Beatles and harder rock groups.
He has seen AC/DC in concert 157 times in
16 countries, according to his race biography.
Lee spent 10 years with the British Army
Air Corps before moving to America, where
he serves with the Air Force. He took a one-
year sabbatical to train for the Iditarod.
The fan-friendly ceremonial start of the
race was held Saturday in Anchorage.
The competitive start is normally held a
day later in Willow, about 50 miles north of
Anchorage. But that start would have taken
mushers over the Dalzell Gorge, where a lack
of snow has left alders exposed on the trail
and open water in places that normally would
be frozen this time of year.
Winter conditions were not a concern in
Fairbanks, where the temperature was minus
35 degrees Monday morning. The start was
delayed a day to give mushers time to drive
their dogs 360 miles north to the city of about
100,000.
Eighty-four mushers signed up for the
race, and 13 scratched. The latest was Otto
Balogh, a 40-year-old rookie from Budapest,
Hungary, who cited health concerns when
dropping out of the race two hours before it
began.
Winning streak
Dallas Seavey, 30, has won four out of the
last five races. He feels no pressure to get a
record-tying fifth win, and is fully cognizant
that winning streaks can only go for so long.
“And I’m truly OK with that, as long as I
can look back on the race and know I ran my
team to the best of their ability, and we all
had a good run,” Seavey said.
He received $75,000 and a new pickup for
winning last year’s race.
Jeff King, a four-time champion wearing
dark sunglasses, hugged friends before tak-
ing off. He then slapped hands with fans as
his dog team went through the chute.
Last year, King and musher Aliy Zirkle
were attacked by a drunken man on a snow-
mobile in separate assaults near the village of
Nulato. One dog on King’s team was killed,
and other dogs were injured.
The attacks prompted a rule change
to allow mushers to carry satellite or cell
phones.
Zirkle has told The Associated Press she
sewed a satellite phone into her parka as a
safety precaution after last year’s attack,
which left her shaken. She finished third last
year and has five straight top-five finishes.
The Iditarod hasn’t had a female winner
since the late Susan Butcher won her fourth
race in 1990. Asked at the ceremonial start
if it’s time for another, 58-year-old Cindy
Abbott said: “It is. That would be awesome.”
But she readily admits it won’t be her. The
Beatrice, Nebraska, native and former Cali-
fornia college professor suffers from a rare
blood disorder. She said she can’t run at the
level of sleep deprivation that is required to
win the race.
UConn still No. 1, Creighton Kansas, Villanova,
UCLA, Gonzaga
enters women’s hoops poll
stay 1-4 in AP poll
Oregon State is at No. 8
Oregon moves up to fifth place
Associated Press
NEW YORK — None of Creighton’s players
was even born the last time the Bluejays were
ranked.
The team has its first ranking since 1992,
entering The Associated Press women’s basket-
ball poll on Monday at No. 23.
“We had a lot of good teams over the years,
we’ve been in some NCAA Tournaments, just
haven’t been ranked,” said Jim Flanery, who has
been head coach at the school since 2002. “In
some ways it’s harder on the women’s side to
be there because you don’t have the attrition of
the NBA that you have on the men’s side. Wom-
en’s teams can be good and it’s hard to be elite
I think because you look on the men’s side —
Kentucky, Duke, UNC — they lose kids after
one year, makes for more parity.”
While Flanery has the Bluejays in the poll
for the first time in 25 years, UConn remained
the unanimous top choice from the 33-member
national media panel. The Huskies (31-0), who
have been No. 1 for 14 straight weeks, have 106
consecutive victories. They play in the Ameri-
can Athletic Conference Tournament final Mon-
day night.
Creighton also plays Monday in the Big East
semifinals against Marquette.
“I’d rather be ranked later in the year as it’s
a better reflection of how good you are and how
Associated Press
AP Photo/Jessica Hill
Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma,
center, talks to his team during a timeout
during the first half of an NCAA college
basketball game against Central Florid in
the American Athletic Conference tourna-
ment semifinals at Mohegan Sun Arena,
Sunday in Uncasville, Conn.
well you played,” Flanery said. “We had votes in
preseason and started 1-3 and didn’t get a lot of
votes after that.”
Stanford made one of the biggest moves in
the rankings, climbing four spots to No. 6 after
winning the Pac-12 Tournament. The Cardi-
nal were followed by Mississippi State, Oregon
State, Duke and Florida State to round out the
Top 10. The Blue Devils also rose four places by
reaching the ACC Tournament final.
Kansas, Villanova, UCLA and Gonzaga held onto
the top four spots in The Associated Press college bas-
ketball poll.
The Jayhawks (28-3) are No. 1 for the second week
in a row. They received 59 first-place votes Monday
from the 65-member national media panel.
Villanova (28-3) was No. 1 on two ballots while
UCLA (28-3) got three first-place votes. Gonzaga (30-
1) received the other first-place vote.
Oregon and North Carolina exchanged places at
fifth and sixth while Arizona stayed seventh.
Kentucky moved up one place to eighth and was
followed by Baylor and Louisville.
West Virginia was 11th followed by SMU, Purdue,
Duke, Cincinnati, Florida State, Florida, Butler, Saint
Mary’s and Wichita State.
The last five ranked teams were Virginia, Notre
Dame, Iowa State, Wisconsin and Maryland.
Maryland (24-7) returns after being out of the poll
for one week. The Terrapins replace Miami (20-10),
which lost to Virginia Tech and Florida State in the
Hurricanes’ first appearance in the poll this season.
The season’s final poll will be released March 13.
Even with the loss of Miami, the Atlantic Coast
Conference still leads with six ranked teams. The Big
12 is next with four, followed by the Pac-12 and Big
Ten with three each.