Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 26, 2017)
Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Wednesday, July 26, 2017 Soccer Arena proving to be good fit for US US coach Bruce Arena calls out to his team as Graham Zusi (19) steps off the field during a CONCACAF Gold Cup semi- final match in Arlington, Texas, on July 22. By JANIE MCCAULEY AP Sports Writer SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Bruce Arena bites his fingernails religiously, a habit he has had since age 10. Among some other unmen- tionables. “Are you kidding me? I’m sure there’s plenty of those,” the U.S. coach acknowledged with a chuckle, “I don’t make that public information, though.” Arena walks across midfield soaking in the California sun and surveying the scene as his players take a lap and begin stretches ahead of training on a practice field adjacent to Avaya Stadium, home of the San Jose Earthquakes. He crosses his arms and paces — side to side, forward and backward — eyes up always. He shifts his hands to his hips and steals a glance downfield to where the goalkeepers are doing individual work. “I’m thinking about my investments and retirement and things like that,” Arena cracked, then added: “I’m observing the players and looking at their habits, trying to learn as much as I can about players on a daily basis. It’s not only game day. When you have a team and there’s 23 players, every player is important. So sometimes your contributions aren’t only on game or on the field and it’s other things. You look at the qualities of players both on and off the field.” With his quick wit off the field and demanding nature on it, Arena has instilled a calm and a swagger the U.S. squad needed, and that has bred success again after fans reached panic mode. Now, Arena can become the first to coach three CONCACAF Gold Cup titles if the Americans can beat surprising Jamaica on Wednesday night. The U.S. won under Arena in 2002 and ‘05. “I came in with Bruce in January and I think initially you saw someone who’s trying to get points across and be pretty serious about it, but as we realized his demands and his intentions he’s been able to kind of dial it back a little bit,” midfielder Graham Zusi said. AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter Gold Cup Final United States Jamaica • Today, 6:30 p.m. (TV: FS1) • at Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco, California “Very dry, good sense of humor. It’s important, especially in these long camps, to have some kind of comic relief as well.” On Monday, Arena reminded his players it was here in the Bay Area where the Americans regained momentum in March by beating Honduras 6-0 in a World Cup qualifer. Arena, a member of the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame who turns 66 in September, has led the team to an 8-0-5 record since he returned in November for a second stint as coach, replacing Jurgen Klinsmann after the Americans’ first 0-2 start in the final round of qualifying in the North and Central American and Caribbean region. “Four months ago we were rebuilding our program, a program that was in desperate shape of being in a position to qualify for a World Cup and all other things,” Arena said. “We’ve made great strides over the last four months. This is a great opportunity for us to continue to make progress. We’d love to win the Cup.” The U.S. is seeking its sixth Gold Cup title and first since 2013. Nine different players have scored so far this tournament, most notably Clint Dempsey’s record-tying 57th goal in a 2-0 semifinal win against Costa Rica on Saturday that matched Landon Donovan’s mark. Under Arena, the Americans have momentum again regard- less how Wednesday turns out. Qualifying resumes with matches against Costa Rica on Sept. 1 at Harrison, New Jersey, and four days later at Honduras. The hex concludes against Panama on Oct. 6 in Orlando, Florida, and at Trinidad and Tobago four days after. “It’s a good group of guys, let’s start there,” veteran goal- keeper Tim Howard said. “But Bruce has kind of come in and kind of took the edge off a little bit. That’s who he is as a person, that’s how he manages us, and he’s kind of allowed us to be ourselves and have that swagger. The one thing I would say about Bruce, which has kind of always been the case but more so now, I think he is more relaxed off the field and much more demanding on the field. He’s always kind of had that balance but it’s more extreme now, and it’s a very good thing. He asks the world of us on the field, whether it be training or games he asks us for 110 percent every day, and then when you’re off the field he’s joking, he’s very jovial and he kind of lets us be who we are.” Arena took over with little room for error. A decade ago, he never would have envisioned himself in this spot now. “I’m enjoying it, and I’ve always thought about what I was going to do in my mid-60s,” Arena said. “I thought I was going to retire at 55, so I’m a little bit behind schedule right now. Probably going to keep going for a while, doing something. I’m thinking from what I can tell I probably could be a sportswriter and do pretty well.” Then added with one of those sly grins, “Nah, I’m only kidding.” Football Ex-Cowboys WR misidentified in heist Associated Press Whitehead OXNARD, Calif. — Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Lucky Whitehead’s identity was falsely used in a shoplifting arrest, police in his home state of Virginia said Tuesday. Prince William County police said they were confident the man charged in a case involving $40 worth of stolen food and drink from a convenience store in June wasn’t Whitehead. The Cowboys released him Monday after reports that he was arrested and subsequently cited for missing a court hearing. Whitehead’s agent, Dave Rich, contended that his client wasn’t in Virginia at the time of the reported arrest. Police said they are seeking the person who used the identity of Whitehead, whose given name is Rodney Darnell Whitehead Jr. SOFTBALL: Play in semis on Thursday Continued from 1B to make it a 2-1 game, sparking the Oregon offense again. Jaden Samp singled to centerfield to tie the game at 2-2 and then Ellie Samford and Muriel Hoisington both hit RBI singles to give Oregon a 4-2 lead. Later in the inning, another Hawaii error and a bases-loaded walk by Youncs brought in a pair for a 6-2 Oregon lead. Sauren Garton pitched six solid innings for Oregon, allowing seven hits, two runs (both unearned) and three walks with two strikeouts. Hawaii tagged her for four hits in the third inning to get its two runs, but outside of that Garton allowed just six total baserunners over the other five innings. Oregon will next play in the semifinals against the winner of #7 Arizona and #2 Utah on Thursday at 5 p.m. in San Bernardino for a chance to play for the egional championship and a trip to the World Series. Contributed photo courtesy of Kris and Stacey Lerten Colby Lerten, 11, of Hermiston qualified for the subregional round of the Drive, Chip and Putt competition by placing third at the local competition held Wednseday, July 19, in Pasco, Washington. Lerten scored 76 points for third place in the Boys 10-11 age group. First place had 87 and second had 85. The subregional competition will be held in Dupont, Washington on Aug. 15. BEAVERS: Nall joined by Oregon Ducks transfer Thomas Tyner Continued from 1B season with 951 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns on the ground and also caught a pair of TD passes. The 6-2, 237-pound back who fans have dubbed “Wrecking Nall” had four 100-yard rushing games. He’s clearly the leader of the team’s running back corps heading into this season — and it’s a position where the Beavers appear to have made a significant improvement. One reason? The surprise signing of Thomas Tyner, who left rival Oregon on a medical retirement after missing all the 2015 season because of a shoulder injury. In two seasons with the Ducks’ speedy “blur” offense, Tyner rushed for 1,284 yards and 14 touchdowns. The last live game he played was the national championship in January 2015 against Ohio State. He’s also something of a legend in Oregon. His senior year in high school, Tyner smashed Oregon prep records with 643 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns in a single game. At the time, it was the third-most rushing yards nationally for a prep player. NCAA rules prevented the 5-foot- 11, 205-pound Tyner from returning to the Ducks this season because of his medical retirement. “At first I thought it was a joke. I saw it pop up on ESPN on my phone and I was like, ‘Is this for real?’ I texted coach and said, ‘Is this for real?’ Nall said. “Because I know how good of a player he is: He was incredible in high school and he did great things at Oregon. So seeing him coming in — and now working with him a little bit — I’m excited to see what he’s going to be able to help us out with.” Nall and Tyner are joined by TCU graduate transfer Trevorris Johnson , a 6-foot, 237-pound back who rushed for 789 yards and eight touchdowns in 36 games over his career at TCU. And there’s Artavis Pierce, who rushed for 523 yards last season as a freshman. The group has tried to get together at least once a week over the summer. “I’m excited. It’s nice to know we have depth. Last year, obviously, we were a little thin, especially toward the end of the season when AP started to get dinged up. So it was difficult at times, but now that we have depth we can use some of these guys, experi- enced guys, too,” Nall said. Coach Gary Andersen is excited, too. “I’m a firm believer that you’ve got to have at least three quality running backs to have a solid running game the way we want to run the ball and play with toughness,’ Andersen said. “We should have that, and possibly then some.” ———— More AP college football: / CollegeFootball.ap.org. SCOREBOARD Baseball AMERICAN LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Boston 55 46 .545 — New York 52 46 .531 1½ Tampa Bay 52 49 .515 3 Baltimore 48 52 .480 6½ Toronto 46 54 .460 8½ Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 53 45 .541 — Kansas City 52 47 .525 1½ Minnesota 49 50 .495 4½ Detroit 45 54 .455 8½ Chicago 39 58 .402 13½ West Division W L Pct GB Houston 67 33 .670 — Seattle 50 51 .495 17½ Texas 49 51 .490 18 Los Angeles 49 52 .485 18½ Oakland 44 56 .440 23 ——— Tuesday’s Games Chicago Cubs 7, Chicago White Sox 2 Houston 5, Philadelphia 0 N.Y. Yankees 4, Cincinnati 2 Toronto 4, Oakland 1 Kansas City 3, Detroit 1 Cleveland 11, L.A. Angels 7, 11 innings Tampa Bay 5, Baltimore 4 Texas 10, Miami 4 Boston at Seattle, late finish L.A. Dodgers 6, Minnesota 2 Wednesday’s Games Baltimore (Jimenez 4-6) at Tampa Bay (Cobb 8-6), 9:10 a.m. Cincinnati (Bailey 2-4) at N.Y. Yankees (Severino 6-4), 10:05 a.m. Boston (Sale 12-4) at Seattle (Moore 1-2), 12:40 p.m. Houston (Fiers 7-4) at Philadelphia (Nola 7-6), 4:05 p.m. Oakland (Blackburn 1-1) at Toronto (Estrada 4-7), 4:07 p.m. Kansas City (Kennedy 3-6) at Detroit (Sanchez 2-0), 4:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Nolasco 4-11) at Cleveland (Carrasco 10-4), 4:10 p.m. Miami (Urena 8-4) at Texas (Darvish 6-8), 5:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 9-7) at Chicago White Sox (Shields 2-2), 5:10 p.m. Minnesota (Santana 11-7) at L.A. Dodgers (Stewart 0-0), 7:10 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division Washington Atlanta New York Miami Philadelphia Central Division Milwaukee Chicago Pittsburgh St. Louis Cincinnati West Division W 59 48 47 45 34 L 39 51 51 53 64 Pct GB .602 — .485 11½ .479 12 .459 14 .347 25 W 54 52 50 49 41 L 48 47 51 51 59 Pct GB .529 — .525 ½ .495 3½ .490 4 .410 12 W 70 57 58 43 39 L 31 43 44 57 63 Pct .693 .570 .569 .430 .382 GB — 12½ 12½ 26½ 31½ Los Angeles Arizona Colorado San Diego San Francisco ——— Tuesday’s Games Chicago Cubs 7, Chicago White Sox 2 Houston 5, Philadelphia 0 Milwaukee 8, Washington 0 N.Y. Yankees 4, Cincinnati 2 Texas 10, Miami 4 St. Louis 3, Colorado 2 Atlanta 8, Arizona 3 L.A. Dodgers 6, Minnesota 2 N.Y. Mets 6, San Diego 5 San Francisco 11, Pittsburgh 3 Wednesday’s Games Cincinnati (Bailey 2-4) at N.Y. Yankees (Severino 6-4), 10:05 a.m. Atlanta (Blair 0-0) at Arizona (Corbin 7-9), 12:40 p.m. Pittsburgh (Williams 4-4) at San Francisco (Samardzija 4-11), 12:45 p.m. Houston (Fiers 7-4) at Philadelphia (Nola 7-6), 4:05 p.m. Milwaukee (Nelson 8-5) at Washington (Gonzalez 8-5), 4:05 p.m. Miami (Urena 8-4) at Texas (Darvish 6-8), 5:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 9-7) at Chicago White Sox (Shields 2-2), 5:10 p.m. Colorado (Hoffman 6-2) at St. Louis (Marti- nez 6-8), 5:15 p.m. Minnesota (Santana 11-7) at L.A. Dodgers (Stewart 0-0), 7:10 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Matz 2-3) at San Diego (TBD), 7:10 p.m. MiLB Northwest League North Division W L Pct Everett 2 0 1.000 Spokane 1 1 .500 GB — 1 Tri-City d-Vancouver South Division 1 1 1 1 .500 .500 1 1 W L Pct Eugene 1 1 .500 d-Hillsboro 1 1 .500 Salem-Keizer 1 1 .500 Boise 0 2 .000 d-First half champions ———— Tuesday’s Games Hillsboro 8, Boise 6 Everett 10, Spokane 9 Eugene 7, Salem-Keizer 6 Vancouver 2, Tri-City 0 Wednesday’s Games Hillsboro at Boise, 6:15 p.m. Everett at Spokane, 6:30 p.m. Salem-Keizer at Eugene, 7:05 p.m. Vancouver at Tri-City, 7:15 p.m. GB — — — 1½ Soccer MLS EASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GA Toronto FC 11 3 7 40 37 22 Chicago 11 4 5 38 38 21 New York City FC 11 6 4 37 40 27 Atlanta United FC 10 7 3 33 40 27 New York 10 8 2 32 28 26 Columbus 10 10 1 31 31 32 Orlando City 8 8 5 29 22 30 Montreal 6 7 6 24 30 32 Philadelphia 6 9 5 23 26 24 New England 6 9 5 23 33 34 D.C. United 5 13 3 18 18 38 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GA FC Dallas 9 3 7 34 32 19 Sporting K.C. 8 4 9 33 25 15 Houston 9 7 5 32 37 30 Seattle 8 7 6 30 32 31 Portland 8 8 6 30 37 36 Vancouver 8 8 3 27 26 29 San Jose 7 9 5 26 23 34 Real Salt Lake 7 12 3 24 28 42 Los Angeles 6 10 4 22 31 37 Colorado 6 11 2 20 20 28 Minnesota United 5 12 4 19 25 45 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. ——— Wednesday’s Game Columbus at Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m. Saturday’s Games Orlando City at Atlanta United FC, 1:30 p.m. Montreal at New York, 4:30 p.m. Philadelphia at New England, 4:30 p.m. Chicago at Sporting Kansas City, 5 p.m. Colorado at San Jose, 5 p.m. Columbus at Real Salt Lake, 5 p.m. D.C. United at Minnesota United, 5 p.m. Portland at Houston, 5 p.m. Vancouver at FC Dallas, 5 p.m. Seattle at Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Sunday’s Game New York City FC at Toronto FC, 2 p.m. Basketball WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB Washington 13 9 .591 — Connecticut 13 9 .591 — New York 10 10 .500 2 Atlanta 10 11 .476 2½ Chicago 8 14 .364 5 Indiana 8 14 .364 5 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB Minnesota 17 2 .895 — Los Angeles 15 6 .714 3 Phoenix 11 10 .524 7 Dallas 11 12 .478 8 Seattle 9 12 .428 9 San Antonio 3 19 .136 15½ ——— Tuesday’s Games Washington 85, San Antonio 76 Atlanta 99, Phoenix 91, OT Connecticut 93, Chicago 72 Minnesota 76, New York 75 Dallas 84, Indiana 82 Los Angeles 68, Seattle 60 Golf PGA Tour FedEx Cup Standings Through July 23 Points Money 1. Jordan Spieth 2,579 $6,793,145 2. Dustin Johnson 2,276 $6,381,568 3. Hideki Matsuyama 2,204 $6,074,907 4. Justin Thomas 2,060 $5,131,179 5. Jon Rahm 1,718 $4,522,885 6. Rickie Fowler 1,634 $4,334,972 7. Brooks Koepka 1,629 $4,745,771 8. Daniel Berger 1,573 $3,883,474 9. Brian Harman 1,492 $3,979,858 10. Kevin Kisner 1,474 $3,787,354 LPGA Tour Money leaders Through July 23 Tournaments Money 1. So Yeon Ryu 13 $1,702,905 2. Sung Hyun Park 15 3. Lexi Thompson 14 4. Brooke M. Henderson 19 5. Ariya Jutanugarn 17 6. Sei Young Kim 15 7. Mi Jung Hur 15 8. Amy Yang 15 9. Danielle Kang 16 10. Cristie Kerr 14 $1,501,172 $1,279,576 $1,027,689 $972,731 $914,336 $874,727 $856,158 $806,828 $797,000 Auto Racing NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series Points Standings Through July 23 1. Martin Truex, Jr. 780 2. Kyle Larson 732 3. Kevin Harvick 683 4. Kyle Busch 673 5. Denny Hamlin 612 6. Brad Keselowski 601 7. Jamie McMurray 599 8. Chase Elliott 588 9. Matt Kenseth 566 10. Jimmie Johnson 564 11. Clint Bowyer 533 12. Ryan Blaney 516 13. Joey Logano 515 14. Kurt Busch 463 15. Ryan Newman 462 16. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 443 17. Erik Jones 440 18. Daniel Suarez 434 19. Trevor Bayne 386 20. Kasey Kahne 383 Upcoming Schedule Sunday — Overton’s 400 at Pocono Race- way, Pocono, Pa., Noon (TV: NBCSN). Aug. 6 — I LOVE NEW YORK 355 at the Glen, Watkins Glen Int’l Raceway, Noon (TV: NBCSN). Football NFL Training Camp Report Dates AFC BALTIMORE RAVENS — Under Armour Performance Center, Owings Mills, Md. (rookies: July 19; veterans: July 26) BUFFALO BILLS — St. John Fisher Col- lege, Pittsford, N.Y. (both July 26) CINCINNATI BENGALS — Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati (July 25; July 27) CLEVELAND BROWNS — Browns Training Complex, Berea, Ohio (July 23; July 26) DENVER BRONCOS — UCHealth Training Center, Englewood, Colo. (July 23; July 26) HOUSTON TEXANS — The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (both July 25) INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center (July 24; July 29) JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Florida Blue Health & Wellness Practice Fields, Jackson- ville, Fla. (July 19; July 26) KANSAS CITY CHIEFS — Missouri West- ern State, St. Joseph, Mo. (July 24, July 27) LOS ANGELES CHARGERS — Jack Ham- mett Sports Complex, Costa Mesa, Calif. (both July 29) MIAMI DOLPHINS — Baptist Health Train- ing Facility, Davie, Fla. (July 20; July 26) NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Gillette Sta- dium, Foxborough, Mass. (July 24, July 26) NEW YORK JETS — Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, Florham Park, N.J. (both July 28) OAKLAND RAIDERS — Napa Valley Marri- ott, Napa, Calif. (July 24; July 28) PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, Pa. (both July 27) TENNESSEE TITANS — St. Thomas Sports Park, Nashville, Tenn. (both July 28) NFC ARIZONA CARDINALS — University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz. (both 21) ATLANTA FALCONS — Falcons Training Facility, Flowery Branch, Ga. (both July 26) CAROLINA PANTHERS — Wofford Col- lege, Spartanburg, S.C. (both July 25) CHICAGO BEARS — Olivet Nazarene, Bourbonnais, Ill. (July 19; July 26) DALLAS COWBOYS — Marriott Residence Inn, Oxnard, Calif. (July 19; July 22) DETROIT LIONS — Lions Training Facility, Allen Park, Mich. (July 24, July 29) GREEN BAY PACKERS — St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wis. (both July 26) LOS ANGELES RAMS — UC Irvine, Irvine, Calif. (July 26, July 28) MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minn. (July 23; July 26) NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — New Orleans Saints Training Facility, Metairie, La. (July 19, July 26) NEW YORK GIANTS — Quest Diagnostics Training Center, East Rutherford, N.J. (both July 27) PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — NovaCare Complex, Philadelphia (July 23, July 26) SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — SAP Per- formance Facility, Santa Clara, Calif. (both July 27) SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Virginia Mason Athletic Center, Renton, Wash. (both July 29) TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — One Bucca- neer Place, Tampa, Fla. (July 25, July 27) WASHINGTON — Bon Secours Training Center, Richmond, Va. (both July 26)