SPORTS
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2015
Sports shorts
Woods’ presence
boosts TV ratings
NEW YORK (AP)
— With Tiger Woods in
contention and looking
to extend his season, the
Wyndham Championship
on Sunday produced a solid
rating for CBS.
The ¿ nal
FACES
round had a
3.9 rating —
the best for a
nonmajor on
any network
since NBC
drew 5.7 in
Woods
May 2013 for
Woods’ win at The Players
Championship.
The rating was also the
highest for a nonmajor on
CBS since Woods’ win at the
AT&T National in 2012.
Woods began play
Sunday two strokes off the
lead but struggled in the ¿ nal
round. He needed a victory
to earn a spot in the FedEx
Cup playoffs opener next
week. Davis Love III won
by one stroke.
Ratings represent the
percentage of U.S. homes
with televisions tuned to a
program.
OREGON TRAIL PRO RODEO
Minor ‘milks’ Heppner all-around title
Oregon Trail
comes down to
oddball event
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
Half a point and a drop
of milk.
That was the difference
between a disappointing
night and taking home the
all-around title at the 93rd
Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo
(OTPR) for Jason Minor.
It’s not every rodeo that
can be won on wild cow
milking, which was added
to the OTPR last year, but
by one-upping Yoncalla’s
Randy Thompson in one
of rodeo’s most oddball
events, the Ellensburg,
Washington cowboy was
able to edge past roughstock
ironman Cameron Craig
and take the all-around
saddle on Saturday night
at Morrow County Fair-
grounds in Heppner.
“It’s kind of a fun event,
they don’t have it at all of
them,” said Minor, who
made Thompson’s run atop
the leaderboard short-lived
by following his 18.6 with
an 18 À at.
Minor also competed
in tie-down where he split
fourth with a 10.1, and team
roping where he and heeler
Matt Funk had a no-time.
Unlike his ¿ rst two draws,
Minor’s “wild” cow didn’t
put up much of a ¿ ght.
“I just had a good cow,
she was pretty gentle and
allowed me to move fast,”
said the ¿ ve-time North-
west Pro Rodeo Associ-
ation (NPRA) all-around
champion.
“There’s
de¿ nitely techniques, but
it certainly helps when the
cow doesn’t want to ¿ ght as
much. A lot of cow milking
they rope big beef cows
and here, these cows have
been roped before and they
kind of know the drill.”
That may have been the
case for Minor, but it didn’t
guarantee
cooperation
for the other competitors
in Saturday’s section and
Eugene’s Buck McKay had
the only other complete run
in 29.2 seconds.
Since there is no short
round at the single-go
OTPR, many of Saturday’s
competitors were going
for broke as they looked to
secure the top payouts. As a
results, broken barriers and
illegal catches helped keep
the leaderboard mostly
intact.
Only two other events
saw shake-ups at the top,
and both involved bucking
broncs.
Craig made his ¿ rst
turn out of the chutes in
Heppner his best with an 83
on B-Bar-D’s Slinky that
See RODEO/2B
MLB
M’s blow early lead, fall to A’s
Packers’ Nelson
out for season
GREEN BAY, Wis.
(AP)–The Green Bay
Packers’ worst fears about
the severity of receiver Jordy
Nelson’s knee injury have
come true.
The team said Monday
only that the star receiver
suffered a ³signi¿ cant right
knee injury”
would cost
FACES that
him the season.
Nelson, one of
the top targets
for quarterback
Aaron Rodgers,
was injured
Sunday in
Nelson
a preseason
game at
Pittsburgh.
³It’s dif¿ cult to lose a guy
like that in a meaningless
game,” Rodgers said
after the 24-19 loss to the
Steelers.
The Packers will be
without a playmaker who set
career highs in receptions
(98) and yards receiving
(1,519) in 2014. Nelson had
13 touchdown catches last
year and 43 over the last four
seasons.
“I would never tell
young people to
break the law to
avoid prosecution.
It was bad advice.
I really regret my
words.“
— Cris Carter
ESPN analyst and NFL
Hall of Famer explaining
his part in the video that
surfaced over the week-
end that showed Carter
telling NFL rookies at the
2014 rookie symposium
to have a “fall guy” in
place in case they ever
fi nd themselves in
trouble with the law.
Carter publically
apologized on Sunday
for what he said.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1922 — In one of base-
ball’s wildest games, the
Cubs beat the Phillies 26-23.
The Cubs led 25-6 in the
fourth inning, but held on
as the game ended with the
Phillies leaving the bases
loaded.
1991 — Carl Lewis
reclaims his title of world’s
fastest human by setting a
world record of 9.86 seconds
in the 100-meter ¿ nal in the
world championships in
Tokyo.
2006 — Japan’s Yusaku
Miya]ato becomes the ¿ rst
golfer to make two holes-
in-one in the same round of a
PGA Tour tournament when
he aces a pair of par 3s at the
Reno-Tahoe Open.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
1B
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AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Seattle Mariners’ Franklin Gutierrez, center, is greeted at the plate by teammates Robinson Cano, left,
and Nelson Cruz, right, after Gutierrez hit a three-run home run to score Cano and Cruz in the third in-
ning of the game against the Oakland Athletics Monday in Seattle.
Iwakuma allows a season-high seven runs as M’s fall continues
By Associated Press
SEATTLE — Danny 9alencia homered and Stephen
9ogt doubled twice in Oakland’s seven-run ¿ fth inning,
and the Athletics climbed out of a big
hole against Hisashi Iwakuma for an
11-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners on
Monday night.
Josh Reddick also went deep and
Seattle
drove in three runs for the A’s, who
rallied after starter Felix Doubront exited
early with a bruised foot.
Oakland trailed 5-0 in the ¿ fth after
Iwakuma, who tossed a no-hitter Aug. 12 at Safeco Field
against Baltimore, allowed just one single through four
innings.
5
9ogt got the outburst started with a leadoff double.
Two outs later, Billy Burns and Mark Canha connected
on consecutive two-run doubles to make it 5-4.
Reddick tied it with an in¿ eld single and 9alencia hit
his 12th home run, bouncing it off the top of
the left-center wall.
9ogt doubled again before Brett Lawrie
lined out to left ¿ eld, ¿ nally ending the
inning.
Oakland
It was Oakland’s second seven-run inning
this season, matching the eighth on May 1
at Texas.
Iwakuma (5-3) lasted 4 2-3 innings — the
¿ rst time he failed to pitch at least ¿ ve this season. He
allowed seven runs and seven hits with a walk and four
See MARINERS/2B
11
INDYCAR
Driver
dies after
Sunday’s
accident
By JENNA FRYER
Associated Press
IndyCar driver Justin
Wilson died Monday night
from a head injury suffered
when a piece of debris struck
him at Pocono Raceway. He
was 37.
IndyCar
made
the
announcement at Indianap-
olis Motor Speedway.
Wilson, a British driver
who lived outside Denver in
Longmont, Colorado, was hit
in the head during Sunday’s
race by piece of debris that
had broken off another car.
Wilson’s car veered into an
interior wall at the track,
and he was swiftly taken by
helicopter to a hospital in
Allentown, Pennsylvania.
“Can’t even begin to
describe the loss I feel right
now. He was my Brother, my
best friend, my role model
and mentor. He was a cham-
pion!” his younger brother,
Stefan, also an IndyCar
driver, tweeted. Stefan
Wilson said his brother’s
organs would be donated.
The last IndyCar driver to
die from an on-track incident
was Indianapolis 500 cham-
pion Dan Wheldon, who was
killed in the 2011 season
¿ nale at Las 9egas after his
head hit a post in the fence
when his car went airborne.
After Wheldon’s death,
Wilson became one of three
driver representatives to
serve as a liaison between the
competitors and IndyCar. It
was no surprise: The 6-foot-4
Wilson, easily the tallest in
the series, was well liked.
“Justin’s elite ability
to drive a race car was
matched by his unwavering
kindness, character and
humility — which is what
made him one of the most
respected members of the
paddock,” said Mark Miles,
CEO of Hulman & Co., the
parent company of IndyCar
and Indianapolis Motor
Speedway.
Wilson won seven times
over 12 seasons in open-
wheel racing and ¿ nished
as high as ¿ fth in the India-
napolis 500. An acclaimed
sports car racer, Wilson won
the prestigious 24 Hours of
Daytona with Michael Shank
Racing, and he competed
in 20 Formula One races in
2003 before moving to the
U.S. to join Champ Car.
He ¿ nished third in the
Champ Car standings in
See INDYCAR/2B
NFL
Seahawks moving closer to settling on offensive line starters
Inconsistency
versus Chiefs sign
of concern
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
RENTON, Wash. — The
constant shufÀ ing along the
Seattle Seahawks’ offensive
line could be coming to an
end.
Coach Pete Carroll and
offensive line coach Tom
Cable said Monday that the
starting ¿ ve the Seahawks
used in last week’s preseason
loss at Kansas City could be
the unit that starts Week 1 of
the regular season against
St. Louis.
It’s been an arduous
stretch through the ¿ rst
three weeks of training
camp for the Seahawks
trying to get their offensive
line settled. But Cable and
Carroll are moving forward
with the current con¿ gura-
tion in the hope that a solid
performance in this week’s
preseason game at San
Diego will be validation it’s
the right group.
“We’ll see if they can
hold it together and hold
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3)
passes to a teammate during the fi rst half of a pre-
season game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Ar-
rowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. on Friday.
off the other guys that are
battling with them but we
feel good enough about it,”
Carroll said. “We like the
way that they mix together
and they have a real chance.”
The two spots on the
line that have been settled
from the start have been left
tackle with Russell Okung
and right guard with J.R.
Sweezy. But center, right
tackle and left guard have
been a revolving door of
players working with the
¿ rst unit.
The latest adjustment
last week had starting right
tackle Justin Britt move
to left guard and backup
Garry Gilliam, in his second
season, step in at right
tackle. Seattle also had Drew
Nowak, a former defensive
tackle in college, stepping in
as the starting center.
The results were mixed.
Seattle’s offense failed to
score a touchdown against
the Chiefs and running lanes
were scarce. But the protec-
tion for quarterback Russell
Wilson was solid coming
against the Chiefs’ talented
defensive front.
“A little more consis-
tency. Really good commu-
nication. Probably the
most impressive thing was
making some moves and
then having everybody be
on the same page,” Cable
said.
While it seems set that
Britt and Gilliam will
remain in their positions,
center appears to be the
one remaining competition.
9eteran Lemuel Jeanpierre
started the preseason opener
against Denver, with Nowak
getting the nod against
Kansas City.
Nowak was a defen-
sive tackle in college at
Western Michigan and the
Mid-American Conference
defensive player of the year
as a senior. He started the
transition to offense with
Jacksonville in 2012 and
spent last season on Seattle’s
practice squad.
“He’s stronger than the
guys that we’ve played with
over the years,” Carroll said.
“He’s got hand strength.
He’s a brute in there and a
very physical player. He’s
really smart. He under-
stands it. Of course he’s still
learning. This is still new
to him. But because he’s
applied himself so well and
he’s a good competitor, and
he’s got this nice strength
about him.”
The Seahawks are also
still seeing what’s out there.
9eteran Evan Mathis visited
the Seahawks over the
weekend and Carroll said
there could be others they
bring in for a look.
NOTES: LB Bruce
Irvin suffered a concus-
sion against Kansas City
and is going through the
league-mandated concus-
sion protocol. ... Carroll
said there was nothing new
to report with SS Kam
Chancellor and his holdout.
Chancellor has missed 24
days of camp. ... Backup
QB Tarvaris Jackson is
still recovering from a
high-ankle sprain suffered
in the preseason opener,
but Carroll said the target
is having him available by
Week 1.