Wednesday, January 23, 2019 East Oregonian Sounders open preseason camp with notable absences By TIM BOOTH Associated Press TUKWILA, Wash. — For the first time in fran- chise history, Osvaldo Alonso wasn’t on the roster as the Seattle Sounders opened preseason camp. For the first time since 2014, neither was Clint Dempsey. The process of saying farewell to a number of key figures from the first decade of Seattle’s exis- tence has been ongoing for several seasons. But those two notable absences on the first day of camp Tuesday seemed to empha- size the changes that have taken place for a team that’s remained among the MLS elite. While the Sounders are moving on from Alonso and Dempsey — Alonso is now with Minnesota United while Dempsey retired last summer — the club welcomed back a healthy Jordan Morris. SCOREBOARD LOCAL SLATE NFL TUESDAY, JAN. 22 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS Boys Basketball Mac-Hi at Elgin, 6 p.m. Mitchell/Spray at Ione, 7:30 p.m. Irrigon at Riverside, 7:30 p.m. Girls Basketball Mac-Hi at Elgin, 5 p.m. Irrigon at Riverside, 6 p.m. Mitchell/Spray at Ione, 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20 NFC: L.A. Rams 26, New Orleans 23, (OT) AFC: New England 37, Kansas City 31, (OT) WEDNESDAY, JAN. 23 Men’s Basketball Blue Mountain at Walla Walla, 7:30 p.m. Women’s Basketball Blue Mountain at Walla Walla, 5:30 p.m. Boys Wrestling Hood River Valley at Pendleton, 7 p.m. THURSDAY, JAN. 24 Boys Basketball Umatilla at Irrigon, 7:30 p.m. Girls Basketball Umatilla at Irrigon, 6 p.m. Boys Wrestling Walla Walla at Hermiston, 7 p.m. Girls Wrestling Walla Walla at Hermiston, 6 p.m. FRIDAY, JAN. 25 Stanfield at Heppner, 6 p.m. Enterprise at Weston-McEwen, 6 p.m. Echo at Horizon Christian, 6:30 p.m. Pendleton at The Dalles, 6:30 p.m. Hanford at Hermiston, 7 p.m. Ione at Dufur, 7:30 p.m. Helix at Joseph, 7:30 p.m. Grant Union at Pilot Rock, 7:30 p.m. Riverside at Umatilla, 7:30 p.m. Girls Basketball Hanford at Hermiston, 5:30 p.m. Dufur at Ione, 6 p.m. Helix at Joseph, 6 p.m. Grant Union at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m. Riverside at Umatilla, 6 p.m. The Dalles at Pendleton, 6:30 p.m. Stanfield at Heppner, 7:30 p.m. Enterprise at Weston-McEwen, 7:30 p.m. Boys Wrestling Mac-Hi/Weston-McEwen at Ontario, 1 p.m. Girls Wrestling Riverside at Hood River Valley, 12 p.m. SATURDAY, JAN. 26 Boys Basketball Baker at Mac-Hi, 3 p.m. Pilot Rock at Stanfield, 4 p.m. Heppner at Grant Union, 4 p.m. Echo at Sherman, 5:30 p.m. Elgin at Helix, 5:30 p.m. Nixyaawii at Wallowa, 5:30 p.m. Hermiston at Richland, 7:30 p.m. Girls Basketball Echo at Sherman, 4 p.m. Elgin at Helix, 4 p.m. Nixyaawii at Wallowa, 4 p.m. Baker at Mac-Hi, 4:30 p.m. Pilot Rock at Stanfield, 5:30 p.m. Heppner at Grant Union, 5:30 p.m. Hermiston at Richland, 5:45 p.m. Men’s Basketball Blue Mountain at Big Bend, 4 p.m. Women’s Basketball Blue Mountain at Big Bend, 2 p.m. Girls Wrestling Riverside at Hood River Valley, 12 p.m. PRO BOWL Sunday, Jan. 27, at Orlando, Fla. AFC vs. NFC, noon (ABC/ESPN) SUPER BOWL Sunday, Feb. 3, at Atlanta New England vs. L.A. Rams, 3:30 p.m. (CBS) Thursday’s Games Golden State at Washington, 5 p.m. New Orleans at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. Portland at Phoenix, 6 p.m. Minnesota at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. Friday’s Games Washington at Orlando, 4 p.m. Miami at Cleveland, 4:30 p.m. New York at Brooklyn, 4:30 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Chicago, 5 p.m. Sacramento at Memphis, 5 p.m. Toronto at Houston, 5 p.m. Charlotte at Milwaukee, 5:30 p.m. Detroit at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Minnesota at Utah, 6 p.m. Phoenix at Denver, 6 p.m. NBA NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Toronto Philadelphia Boston Brooklyn New York Southeast Miami Charlotte Washington Orlando Atlanta Central Milwaukee Indiana Detroit Chicago Cleveland W 36 31 29 25 10 W 22 22 20 20 14 W 34 31 20 11 9 L 13 17 18 23 35 L 23 24 26 27 32 L 12 15 26 36 39 Pct .735 .646 .617 .521 .222 Pct .489 .478 .435 .426 .304 Pct .739 .674 .435 .234 .188 GB — 4½ 6 10½ 24 GB — ½ 2½ 3 8½ GB — 3 14 23½ 26 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest W L Pct Houston 26 20 .565 San Antonio 27 21 .563 New Orleans 22 25 .468 Dallas 21 26 .447 Memphis 19 28 .404 Northwest W L Pct Denver 31 14 .689 Oklahoma City 29 18 .617 Portland 29 20 .592 Utah 26 22 .542 Minnesota 23 24 .489 Pacific W L Pct Golden State 33 14 .702 L.A. Clippers 25 22 .532 L.A. Lakers 25 23 .521 Sacramento 24 24 .500 Phoenix 11 38 .224 ——— Tuesday’s Games Toronto 120, Sacramento 105 Oklahoma City 123, Portland 114 Dallas 106, L.A. Clippers 98 Minnesota 118, Phoenix 91 Wednesday’s Games Toronto at Indiana, 4 p.m. Cleveland at Boston, 4:30 p.m. Houston at New York, 4:30 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Miami, 4:30 p.m. Orlando at Brooklyn, 4:30 p.m. Atlanta at Chicago, 5 p.m. Charlotte at Memphis, 5 p.m. Detroit at New Orleans, 5 p.m. San Antonio at Philadelphia, 5 p.m. Denver at Utah, 7:30 p.m. GB — — 4½ 5½ 7½ GB — 3 4 6½ 9 GB — 8 8½ 9½ 23 Atlantic GP W L OT Pts GF GA Tampa Bay 49 37 10 2 76 199 140 Toronto 48 29 17 2 60 168 137 Boston 49 27 17 5 59 143 128 Montreal 50 27 18 5 59 152 148 Buffalo 48 24 18 6 54 140 144 Florida 48 20 20 8 48 152 170 Detroit 51 19 25 7 45 145 172 Ottawa 50 19 26 5 43 156 187 Metropolitan GP W L OT Pts GF GA N.Y. Islanders 49 29 15 5 63 147 122 Washington 49 27 16 6 60 168 156 Columbus 48 28 17 3 59 154 146 Pittsburgh 48 26 16 6 58 169 146 Carolina 49 23 20 6 52 135 147 N.Y. Rangers 48 21 20 7 49 139 164 Philadelphia 48 19 23 6 44 139 169 New Jersey 48 18 23 7 43 140 164 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central GP W L OT Pts GF GA Winnipeg 48 31 15 2 64 167 134 Nashville 51 29 18 4 62 159 134 Minnesota 49 25 21 3 53 137 140 Dallas 49 24 21 4 52 126 128 Colorado 49 22 19 8 52 167 157 St. Louis 48 21 22 5 47 134 148 Chicago 51 18 24 9 45 156 190 Pacific GP W L OT Pts GF GA Calgary 51 33 13 5 71 190 145 San Jose 52 29 16 7 65 187 167 Vegas 51 29 18 4 62 156 138 Vancouver 50 23 21 6 52 145 156 Anaheim 50 21 20 9 51 119 148 Arizona 49 23 22 4 50 131 140 Edmonton 50 23 24 3 49 144 163 Los Angeles 50 20 26 4 44 114 150 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per confer- ence advance to playoffs. Tuesday’s Games San Jose 7, Washington 6, OT Arizona 3, Ottawa 2 Chicago 3, N.Y. Islanders 2, SO Detroit 3, Edmonton 2 Calgary 3, Carolina 2, OT Wednesday’s Games Arizona at Montreal, 4:30 p.m. Washington at Toronto, 4:30 p.m. Minnesota at Colorado, 6:30 p.m. Nashville at Vegas, 7 p.m. St. Louis at Anaheim, 7 p.m. Carolina at Vancouver, 7:30 p.m. Well-traveled QB Minshew hoping to find NFL home By JOHN ZENOR Associated Press MOBILE, Ala. — Gardner Minshew carved his own meandering path from walk-on to NFL prospect. He began as a walk-on at Troy, took a sharp left to junior college, bounced over to East Carolina, made a beeline toward Alabama and finally ended with one terrific final season at Washington State. “I kind of took the long way around,” Minshew said Tuesday. Whatever the route, the nomadic Minshew has landed in the Senior Bowl, along with quarterbacks like Duke’s Daniel Jones, West Virginia’s Will Grier and Missouri’s Drew Lock. His goal remains the same: A chance to be a starting quarterback. He got another shot after enrolling as a grad- uate transfer at Wash- ington State in June, some six months after graduating from East Carolina. Minshew made the most of his time in the North- west. He won the 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the nation’s top senior or fourth-year junior quarterback. Minshew led the nation in passing yards per game (367.6) while also finishing in the top 5 with 38 touchdowns and a 70.7 percent completion rate. His 4,779 yards set a Pac-12 Conference record. Minshew managed to fit in well with his new team- mates at Washington State despite that late arrival, left tackle Andre Dillard said. “There’s something special about that guy, for sure,” said Dillard, who’s also playing in the Senior Bowl. “He just has this energy and vibe about him that make others around him want to be better AP Photo/Butch Dill South quarterback Gardner Minshew II of Washington State (16) roll out to pass during practice for Saturday’s Senior Bowl college football game Tuesday in Mobile, Ala. people in general and foot- ball players.” Minshew is sporting a full beard at the Senior Bowl, but previously his facial hair earned him the nickname the Missis- sippi Mustache. Cougars fans started posting selfies sporting fake mustaches. Minshew enrolled at Troy in January 2015 as a walk-on, saying a scholar- ship offer had been with- drawn after a coaching change. He left for North- west Mississippi Commu- nity College after spring practices, with Brandon Silvers holding down the starting job. He then spent two seasons at East Caro- lina, where he started two games as a sophomore and passed for 2,140 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior. Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy puts a positive spin on Minshew’s moves. “This guy is constantly betting on himself,” said Nagy, a former NFL scout. Nagy said Minshew approached him at break- fast Monday morning looking for phone numbers of the South centers and quarterbacks. He rounded up some footballs and got them together for some extra work on snaps. “Obviously the back- ground is incredible because it shows the resil- ience and the mental tough- ness,” Nagy said. Minshew didn’t head directly toward his final college destination, Wash- ington State. He planned to enroll at Alabama, if Jalen Hurts decided to transfer. Hurts stayed put despite ultimately losing the starting job to Tua Tagov- ailoa, who was Heisman Trophy runner-up, a few spots ahead of Minshew in the voting. “At the time it looked like one of those two guys was leaving and I was walking in as No. 2 and splitting reps 50-50,” Minshew said. “I’ll take my shot with anybody when I get into a competi- tion setting. Then it looked like both of them were staying and it was time for me to look elsewhere.” COMING FEBRUARY 13 Rekindle Your Love For Reading Purchase a 1-year subscription to the East Oregonian and receive this highly collectable book, “Pendleton Round-up at 100,” absolutely free! Exclusively in the Wednesday East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald Makes a great Valentine gift or a wonderful addition to your own coff ee table. CHOOSE: 1-year subscription $173.67 Home Delivery + 24/7 Online access Your weekly guide to onscreen listings for movies, sports, entertainment, TV series and much more! 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