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)