10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Miami
jumps to
No. 2 in
playoff
rankings
Seahawks
unexpectedly
waive Freeney
RENTON, Wash. — The Seat-
tle Seahawks have made an unex-
pected roster move, waiving vet-
eran defensive end Dwight Freeney
just four games after signing him to
help boost their pass rush.
Seattle made the roster move
Tuesday but no corresponding
move was announced.
Freeney was signed in late
October to boost Seattle’s pass
rush after Cliff Avril was lost to a
neck injury earlier in the season.
Freeney had three sacks in his first
two games, moving into 17th on
the all-time sack list. But he did not
record a tackle in each of his last
two games.
Lewis, Urlacher,
Moss, Seymour
among hall
semifinalists
CANTON, Ohio — First-year
eligibles Ray Lewis and Randy
Moss are among 27 semifinalists
for induction into the Pro Football
Hall of Fame.
The hall said Tuesday that all
ties for the 25th spot in the semifi-
nals also advance.
Others in their initial year of eli-
gibility who made this cut are Brian
Urlacher, Richard Seymour, Steve
Hutchinson and Ronde Barber.
Four previously eligible play-
ers made the semifinals for the first
time: LeRoy Butler, Leslie O’Neal,
Simeon Rice and Everson Walls.
All others on the 2018 list have
reached the semifinals in previous
years.
Braves stripped
of 13 prospects,
Coppolella
banned for life
ATLANTA — The Braves lost
13 prospects and former general
manager John Coppolella was
banned for life by Major League
Baseball on Tuesday for circum-
venting international signing rules
from 2015-17.
Former Atlanta special assis-
tant Gordon Blakeley, who was
the team’s international scouting
chief, was suspended from base-
ball for one year by Commissioner
Rob Manfred.
Sanctions imposed by Manfred
leave the Braves unable to bar-
gain at full strength for a top Latin
American prospect until 2021.
Manfred said MLB’s investi-
gation determined the Braves fun-
neled extra signing bonus money
to five players in 2015-16 by giv-
ing the funds first to another player
considered a foreign professional
under baseball’s rules and having
the money redistributed to the other
five. If the money had been counted
for the other five, the Braves would
have exceeded their pool by more
than 5 percent and been restricted
to signing bonuses of $300,000 or
under for international amateurs
through June 15, 2019.
Sochi gold
medalist among 4
Russians banned
for doping
MOSCOW — Two more Rus-
sian athletes were stripped of their
Olympic medals from the 2014
Sochi Games on Wednesday, leav-
ing the United States as the country
with the most medals.
Four Russians, all skeleton rac-
ers, were banned by the Interna-
tional Olympic Committee for dop-
ing, including men’s gold medalist
Alexander Tretyakov and women’s
bronze medalist Elena Nikitina.
Russia, which finished the
games at the top of the medals table
with 13 gold and 33 overall, has
now been stripped of six medals
based on evidence of a state-spon-
sored doping program in Sochi,
including samples being swapped
in the laboratory. Two of the six
medals were gold.
— Associated Press
By RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Washington quarterback Jake Browning drops back to pass against Utah during Saturday’s game.
Pac-12 North comes down to the
Apple Cup during Rivalry Week
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
t’s the final week of the regu-
lar season for the Pac-12, which
usually means a bit of bedlam.
The league hasn’t disappointed
this season, with two coach-
ing vacancies already, along with
some uncertainty atop the North.
First, the one absolute: USC
(10-2, 8-1) has already clinched
the Pac-12 South and has Thanks-
giving week off after 12 unbroken
weeks of play. That gives the Tro-
jans a week to rest and heal before
the league championship game on
Dec. 1.
Up North, Washington State
will clinch the division with a vic-
tory over Washington in the Apple
Cup. The Cougars (9-2, 6-2) are
coming off a bye for Saturday’s
game at Husky Stadium.
The Huskies (9-2, 6-2), ranked
as high as No. 5 this season and at
one point considered the league’s
best chance for a spot in the Col-
lege Football Playoff, were elimi-
nated from the race for the Pac-12
title when Stanford beat California
17-14 last weekend.
The Cardinal (8-3, 7-2) can
earn the North’s spot if Wash-
ington State loses. Stanford has
already completed its conference
season and hosts Notre Dame on
Saturday — at the same time as the
Apple Cup.
Coach David Shaw said the
Cardinal are working on how much
I
UP NEXT: APPLE CUP
• Washington State Cougars (6-2)
at Washington Huskies (6-2)
• Saturday, 5 p.m. TV: FOX
the Apple Cup looms over their
own game at Stanford Stadium.
“It’s not going to be scroll-
ing every two minutes during the
game, that’s for sure,” he said,
adding that he’s still sure it will be
announced from time to time for
fans in the stadium.
Washington’s chances at the
league title diminished two weeks
ago after a 30-22 loss at Stan-
ford, but the Huskies rebounded
last weekend with a late rally for
a 33-30 victory over Utah at home.
“I hope this gives them some
swag back,” coach Chris Petersen
said after the victory. “They don’t
have to play so tight. They don’t
have to play perfect to come back
and win. Just keep playing.”
The Pac-12 will not have a rep-
resentative in the playoffs for the
second time since the CFP system
was introduced in 2014.
Other issues around the league
for the last week of the regular
season:
VACANCIES: As of right
now, there are two head coach-
ing vacancies in the Pac-12. Gary
Andersen parted ways with the
Beavers on Oct. 9, and Jim Mora
was dismissed by UCLA follow-
ing last weekend’s 28-23 loss to
the Trojans.
Arizona State’s Todd Graham
has been on the hot seat but the Sun
Devils (6-5, 5-3) became bowl eli-
gible with a 40-24 victory at Ore-
gon State. A victory over Arizona
in the Territorial Cup on Saturday,
and then a bowl win, could mean
he’ll stay in Tempe for at least one
more year.
As a Power 5 conference, the
Pac-12 can expect to lure some big
names, but this season there are a
number of high-profile vacancies,
including Florida and Tennessee
— not to mention the teams that
are waiting out the season before
dismissing their coach.
The Bruins job is probably the
most attractive out West, with a
rich tradition and a big market in
sunny Los Angeles. But UCLA
has not been to a Rose Bowl —
on their home field — since 1998.
Former Oregon coach Chip Kelly
is often mentioned in connection
with the job.
Oregon State is a tougher sell.
The players have petitioned the
school to give interim coach Cory
Hall the job permanently, but it’s
more likely the Beavers will bring
in a fresh perspective. Virginia
coach Bronco Mendenhall said
Monday that he is not interested
in the job after rumors swirled this
weekend.
Ideally, schools with vacancies
hope to fill them by Dec. 20, which
is the early period letter of intent
day.
Miami made a small but
potentially significant move up to
No. 2 behind Alabama in the Col-
lege Football Playoff rankings
on Tuesday night, with Clem-
son slipping one spot to three and
Oklahoma holding at four.
Wisconsin
and
Auburn
remained next up behind the
top four in a week when the top
half of the selection committee’s
rankings were mostly unchanged.
Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio
State, Penn State and Southern
California followed in the same
order as they did last week. Over
the next two weeks, every team
in the top nine will play another
team ranked in the committee’s
top 25, including four games
matching top playoff contenders.
The Crimson Tide will play
at Auburn on Saturday to decide
a spot in the Southeastern Con-
ference championship on Dec. 2.
The winner plays Georgia.
The Atlantic Coast Confer-
ence championship will match
Clemson and Miami on Dec. 2,
and Wisconsin and Ohio State
play in the Big Ten championship.
Miami’s move comes after ral-
lying to beat Virginia last Satur-
day. Committee chairman Kirby
Hocutt said Miami is showing
characteristics of a championship
team.
“When you get down the
way Miami did to Virginia two
times, once in each half, and you
have the poise and the ability to
come back and win in a convinc-
ing manner, that is special,” said
Hocutt, the Texas Tech athletic
director.
The Hurricanes (10-0) play at
Pitt Friday and now seem better
positioned to get into the play-
off even with a loss to Clemson,
depending on how things play
out in other conferences.
Central Florida came in at
No. 15 and Memphis is 20th, the
highest ranked teams from out-
side the Power Five. The Amer-
ican Athletic Conference rivals
could meet in the league title
game in two weeks if UCF beats
USF on Black Friday, setting up
a game that would likely send
the winner into a New Year’s Six
bowl.
Olympic champion Gabby Douglas says team doctor abused her
Associated Press
Olympic champion gymnast
Gabby Douglas says she is among
the group of athletes sexually abused
by a former team doctor.
Douglas, the 2012 Olympic all-
around champion and a three-time
gold medalist, wrote in an Instagram
post Tuesday that she waited so long
to reveal the abuse by Larry Nas-
sar because she was part of a group
“conditioned to stay silent.”
Douglas included the revelation
in an apology for comments made
on social media last week that sug-
gested women dress modestly to
help prevent abuse. Douglas said her
comments, which she later deleted,
were taken out of context.
“I didn’t view my comments as
victim shaming because I know no
matter what you wear, it NEVER
gives anyone the right to harass or
abuse you,” Douglas wrote.
The 21-year-old Douglas is the
latest high-profile gymnast to come
forward against Nassar, who spent
nearly two decades as the national
team doctor for USA Gymnastics
before being fired in 2015. Two-time
Olympic teammate Aly Raisman
wrote about alleged abuse by Nas-
sar in her autobiography “Fierce,”
released earlier this month. Two-
time Olympic medalist McKayla
Maroney disclosed abuse by Nassar
in October.
Jamie Dantzscher, a bronze med-
alist on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team,
Michigan gymnastics doctor
pleads guilty to sex charges
room. Some were crying.
Nassar admitted to digital pen-
LANSING, Mich. — A sports etrating the victims and agreed
doctor accused of molesting girls that his conduct had no legitimate
while working for USA Gymnas- medical purpose and that he did
tics and Michigan State Univer- not have the girls’ consent.
sity pleaded guilty Wednesday to
The plea deal in Ingham
multiple charges of sexual assault County calls for a minimum
and will face at least 25
prison sentence of 25
years in prison.
years, but a judge could
Dr. Larry Nassar, 54,
set the minimum sentence
was charged with molest-
as high as 40 years. In
ing seven girls, mostly
Michigan, inmates are eli-
gible for parole after serv-
under the guise of treat-
ing a minimum sentence.
ment at his Lansing-area
Sentencing was set for
home and a campus
Dr. Larry
Jan. 12.
clinic. All but one of his
Nassar
The girls have testi-
accusers was a gymnast.
fied that Nassar molested
He faces similar charges
in a neighboring county and law- them with his hands, sometimes
suits filed by more than 125 when a parent was present in the
women and girls.
room, while they sought help for
Olympic gymnasts Aly Rais- gymnastics injuries.
man, McKayla Maroney and
“He convinced these girls
Gabby Douglas are among that this was some type of legiti-
the women who have publicly mate treatment,” Assistant Attor-
said they were among Nassar’s ney General Angela Poviliatis
told a judge last summer. “Why
victims.
Some of his accusers attended would they question him? Why
the hearing Wednesday in a would they question this gymnas-
packed Ingham County court- tics god?”
Associated Press
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
U.S. gymnastics team member
Gabby Douglas, pictured here at
the Empire State Building in New
York in 2016, says she is among
the group of athletes sexually
abused by a former team doctor.
was part of the initial wave of law-
suits filed against Nassar in 2016 fol-
lowing reporting by the Indianapolis
Star that highlighted chronic mis-
handling of abuse allegations against
coaches and staff at some of USA
Gymnastics’ more than 3,500 clubs
across the country.
Nassar, 54, is accused of molest-
ing several girls while working for
USA Gymnastics and Michigan
State University. He’s facing similar
charges in a neighboring Michigan
county and lawsuits filed by more
than 125 women and girls.