SPORTS
FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2016
1B
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PENDLETON
Motorcycle hillclimbing returns to Oregon
City to host the
state’s fi rst event
in 30 years
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
For the fi rst time in 30 years,
motorcycle hillclimbing is back in
Oregon.
The Nitro into the Blues hill-
climb, part of the North American
Hillclimbers Association circuit, is
set to take place this weekend in
Pendleton as part of the Pendleton
Bike Week festivities, marking the
fi rst sanctioned hillclimb event in
the state since Grants Pass held an
event in 1986. Event promoter Ron
Dillon, who has put on more than
200 various events since 1979, said
that the sport used to be popular in
Oregon, with Portland and Salem
being a hotspot in the 1950s and
1960s.
“It’s a fun sport to watch,” Dillon
said.
So what made it come back to
the state, and why pick the city of
Pendleton?
“It all started with the Pendleton
Bike Week,” Dillon said. “The
Nitro into the Blues
• When: Friday (Noon-5
p.m.), Saturday (9 a.m.-5
p.m.), Sunday (10 a.m.-2
p.m.)
• Where: 41095 Taylor Lane
in Pendleton.
organizers contacted me a year ago
and said they were interested in
doing a hillclimb event, so I came
over and met with them. Me and
(Travel Pendleton recruiter) Pat
Beard looked at various locations
and when we found one, we went
for it.”
So Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
more than 150 professional riders
will take their turn at the hill that sits
one mile south of Rieth on a ranch at
41095 Taylor Lane. It measures out
to be a 275-foot-high vertical climb,
as well as a roughly 400-foot-high
climb in length, which is average
in size compared to the rest of the
circuit, however Dillon says that
does not mean it will be easy.
“We’re not sure what to expect,”
Dillon said of the hill. “Nobody’s
ever tried it, which is exciting.
There may be no riders go over it,
or everyone might, we just don’t
know.”
Friday’s action will take place
from Noon to 5 p.m. with semi-
NFL
pros, kids, women, and men aged
40+ taking their shot at the hill,
while Saturday’s 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
schedule is fi lled with continued
qualifying from those classifi -
cations, as well as the top-level
professionals.
Then on Sunday to complete
the event, the Open Pro Finals will
take place from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.,
featuring many riders running bikes
with engine horsepower touching
the 200 mark.
There has been plenty of prepa-
ration for the event taking place
over the last week, such as getting
the dry hill in shape to handle three
See HILLCLIMB/2B
PENDLETON
Seattle ready as camp nears
In this
Dec. 13,
2015, fi le
photo,
Seattle
Seahawks
quarter-
back Rus-
sell Wilson
looks
to pass
during an
NFL foot-
ball game
against
the Bal-
timore
Ravens in
Baltimore.
Ellis leaves
BMCC
Men’s basketball coach
departs after four
seasons for NCAA job
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
AP Photo/Patrick
Semansky
Most of Seahawks’ questions answered as camp opens July 30th
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
RENTON, Wash. — When the Seattle
Seahawks won the Super Bowl after the 2013
season, they created a roster with depth no
one else in the NFL could match.
Ask around, and the Seahawks believe
they’ve constructed a roster entering this
camp with the talent and depth to rival that
championship squad.
“I think it’s going to be one of our most
competitive camps,” Seattle coach Pete
Carroll said. “This is a chance for us to have a
roster that reminds us of a couple years back
and hopefully it’ll play out that way.”
The Seahawks begin training camp on
July 30 with relatively few questions. There
is no Super Bowl hangover like last season
lingering over the franchise. There aren’t
contract disputes or huge injury concerns.
Yes, there are questions about the offen-
sive line and when a couple of key offensive
players will be ready. But for the most part,
it’s been a mostly quiet offseason from one of
the presumptive favorites in the NFC.
See SEAHAWKS/2B
After four years as the head coach
of Blue Mountain’s men’s basketball
program, Adam Ellis felt it was time to
move on.
He recently accepted an assistant’s
position at the NCAA Division II school
Saint Martin’s University in Lacey,
Washington under
second-year coach
Adam Pribble. Ellis
says the decision
was a tough one to
make, but in the end
felt like it was the
right move for his
career.
“It’s never easy
in
this business so
Ellis
it never feels right
when you leave,” Ellis said on Thursday.
“For me it was a family decision ... I was
offered a position with a program that is
on the rise with a great university and an
unbelievable coach who really saw value
in me.
“Just like when we recruit our guys to
a program we tell them you have to go
where you are wanted.”
Ellis came to Blue Mountain following
a tenure as an assistant coach at Marina
High School in Huntington Beach,
California and as head coach at his alma
mater of Tekoa-Oakesdale High School
in Washington. He got his fi rst taste of the
NWAC after playing two years at Spokane
See ELLIS/2B
Basketball
In this June
23, 2015
fi le photo
NBA Com-
missioner
Adam Sil-
ver speaks
during a
news con-
ference to
announce
Charlotte,
N.C., as the
site of the
2017 NBA
All-Star
basketball
game.
NBA moving All-Star Game
League cites North
Carolina’s anti-LGBT law
as reason for change
By BRIAN MAHONEY
Associated Press
The NBA is moving the 2017 All-Star Game
out of Charlotte because of its objections to a
North Carolina law that limits anti-discrimination
protections for lesbian, gay and transgender
people.
The league had expressed its opposition to the
law known as HB2 since it was enacted in March,
and its decision Thursday came less than a month
after state legislators revisited the law and chose to
leave it largely unchanged.
“While we recognize that the NBA cannot
choose the law in every city, state, and country in
which we do business, we do not believe we can
successfully host our All-Star festivities in Char-
lotte in the climate created by HB2,” the league
said in a statement.
The league added that it hoped to announce a
new location for next February’s events shortly. It
hopes to reschedule the 2019 game for Charlotte
See ALL-STAR/2B
AP Photo/Chuck
Burton
Sports shorts
Dodgers give Strasburg fi rst loss
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justin Turner
homered twice and drove in fi ve runs and
the Los Angeles Dodgers ended Stephen
Strasburg’s undefeated streak by beating the
Washington Nationals 6-3 on
FACES Thursday.
Turner hit his 16th and 17th
home runs, a two-run shot off
Strasburg in the fi rst and a
three-run shot off the right-hander
in the third, to set a career high.
Strasburg (13-1) lost for the
fi rst time since Sept. 9, ending a
Strasburg
run of 16 consecutive winning
decisions. Making it through the sixth, he
allowed a season-high six earned runs and
seven hits — all in the fi rst three innings —
and struck out 10.
At one point Strasburg struck out seven of
nine Los Angeles batters and allowed just one
base runner after the third.
“It is never-ending.
Especially when
people are getting new
contracts every day. You
sit there and you’re like,
‘(Dang), really?’ I’m just
to the point where it’s
kind of like, if you don’t
think I’m valuable, then
just get rid of me.“
— Michael Bennett
Seattle Seahawks defensive
lineman speaking to the
Huffi ngton Post about his contract
situation. Bennett has been very
outspoken about his hopes of
getting a more fair contract.
ACC becomes latest to have
own conference network
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Atlantic Coast
Conference commissioner John Swofford said
Thursday the ACC Network will
launch in August 2019 as part
of an extended media deal with
ESPN that now runs through the
2035-36 season.
Speaking at his annual forum
during the ACC Kickoff media days, Swofford
said there will also be the creation of a digital
channel that will be online next month. The
league will move to a 20-game league schedule
in men’s basketball by 2019, part of an effort to
boost the available content toward the goal of
airing more than 1,300 events annually through
those outlets.
The deal also includes a grant-of-rights
provision allowing the ACC to retain control
of media rights for any school that leaves the
conference through the length of the TV deal.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1962 — Gary Player
of South Africa becomes
the fi rst non-resident of the
United States to win the PGA
championship.
1984 — Kathy Whit-
worth becomes the all-time
winner in professional golf
tournaments by winning the
Rochester Open. Whitworth,
with 85 career wins, passes
Sam Snead’s total of 84 PGA
tournament victories.
2012 — Bradley Wiggins
becomes the fi rst British
cyclist to win the Tour de
France by protecting the
yellow jersey during the fi nal
processional ride into Paris.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com