INSIDE: COMICS, OPINIONS & CLASSIFIEDS
B
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
WORLD CUP
ALPINE SKIING
Bend’s Ford 10th
in Swiss Alps
ADELBODEN, Switzer-
land — Bend’s Tommy
Ford finished 10th and
was the top American on
Friday in a World Cup gi-
ant slalom ski race in the
Swiss Alps.
It marked the fourth
top-10 finish of the season
for the two-time Olym-
pian, who is having one
of the best seasons of
his World Cup career at
age 31.
Ford’s two-run com-
bined time was 2.85
seconds behind winner
Alexis Pinturault. The
French skier stretched his
lead at the top of the over-
all World Cup standings,
posting the fastest time in
both runs.
Pinturault finished 1.04
seconds ahead of Filip
Zubcic on the icy Chuenis-
bärgli course. Marco
Odermatt was third, 1.11
back, to retain a small
lead over Pinturault in the
season-long giant slalom
standings.
Odermatt was aiming
to end Switzerland’s 13-
year wait for a win in the
country’s classic giant sla-
lom race.
Defending overall
champion Aleksander Aa-
modt Kilde was more than
a second further back in
fourth in what is shaping
up as another duel with
Pinturault for the title.
Kilde completed his
run and immediately
went to check on injured
Norwegian teammate
Lucas Braathen, who was
being treated on the snow
after crashing across the
finish line while setting a
leading time.
Braathen lost his bal-
ance when his skis ap-
peared to touch as he
shifted his feet to ensure
his right ski did not hook
around the last gate.
A second giant slalom
is scheduled for Saturday,
a race that would nor-
mally draw more than
25,000 noisy Swiss fans in
a normal season. No spec-
tators can attend this year
because of limits on mass
gatherings amid the coro-
navirus pandemic.
— Bulletin wire reports
COLLEGE
FOOTBALL
Boise State to hire
Ducks DC Avalos
EUGENE — Less than
two years after becom-
ing Oregon’s defensive
coordinator, Andy Avalos
is returning to his alma
mater to take over as
head coach at Boise State,
according to the Idaho
Press.
Avalos’ hiring comes
almost three weeks after
Bryan Harsin left BSU for
Auburn and less than a
week after Boise State
hired Jeramiah Dickey as
its new athletic director.
In between, Avalos,
who played linebacker for
the Broncos from 2001-
05, and former Boise State
QB and Dallas Cowboys
offensive coordinator Kel-
len Moore were linked
as leading candidates for
the job. Moore agreed to
a contract extension with
the Cowboys on Saturday.
In 2019, his first season
with the Ducks, Avalos led
a defense that surged into
the top 25 in many major
statistical categories, in-
cluding ninth in scoring
(16.3 points) . Oregon’s de-
fensive stats dropped in
2020 — three defensive
starters in the secondary
opted out in the offsea-
son, which likely contrib-
uted to the decline .
Ducks coach Mario
Cristobal will search for his
third defensive coordina-
tor in four years and Ore-
gon’s fifth in seven years.
— The Oregonian
NFL
Prep Sports
Fans in the stands?
Seahawks
open playoffs
against rival
L.A. Rams
BY TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin file
Fans gather last September to watch the Redmond and Crook County high school baseball teams play each other at Redmond High. A lack
of masks among people on and off the field prompted school district officials to ban spectators from games. High school athletic directors
have been discussing plans for handling fans once competition potentially resumes for fall sports on March 1.
Central Oregon high school athletic directors discussing plans for spectators
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
O
n what would be the final day of Oregon high school sports in 2020, at basketball tournaments this
past March — including the Crook County boys basketball team playing in an empty Gill Coliseum
in Corvallis at the 5A state tournament — fans were excluded from watching in person before the
Oregon School Activities Association suspended play.
An interesting wrinkle in bringing back high school sports, which have been shelved since the COVID-19
pandemic began 10 months ago, is how to handle spectators if and when sports return.
While local athletic directors have
been discussing plans for handling fans
once competition potentially resumes
for fall sports on March 1, Sisters athletic
director Gary Thorson aptly points out
that it is tricky to have a concrete plan in
place nearly two months out.
“Rules can change five times between
now and then,” Thorson said.
Much of the sports world has seen the
number of fans in the stands evaporate
to close to zero. In the Oregon-Oregon
State rivalry football game in November,
the stands at Reser Stadium in Corvallis
were empty in a game that is typically
standing-room only. Fans were not in-
cluded in the NBA bubble for its play-
offs.
But after a season that saw very few,
if any fans, teams are starting to allow
fans back into their stadiums. The Buf-
falo Bills are allowing 6,772 fans per
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for their
playoff game against the Indianapolis
Colts on Saturday, which is more than
65,000 fewer than the 71,870 capacity at
Bills Stadium.
States such as Texas, which played
high school sports during the fall, had
“We imagine there will still be
limitations of some sort on numbers
like there was in the fall. We did
get our Pixellot camera systems
installed and plan on using those to
stream competitions.”
— Doug Taylor, Redmond athletic director
guidelines of limited capacity, six feet of
social distancing and masks required in
the stands.
Dave Williams, the athletic director of
Bend-La Pine Schools, said that ideas are
being bounced around with school ADs
for plans with or without fans once com-
petition resumes.
While no concrete plans have been in
place for the past several months, there
have been inklings of what spectators
could expect once competition resumes.
When unofficial high school compe-
tition started during the fall in Season 1
in Central Oregon, fans were originally
able to sit in the stands as long as they
socially distanced themselves and wore
masks. Signing in for contact tracing at
the entrance gates was also required. But
after those efforts were unsuccessful,
spectators were excluded from being in
the stands.
During 7-on-7 non-tackle football
competitions, with fans unable to at-
tend at certain schools, teams resorted to
streaming the games on Facebook Live
as a way to give fans a chance to watch,
but the quality of the broadcasts was less
than ideal.
When Crook County played its state
tournament basketball game with no
spectators last March, fans were able to
watch that game from the National Fed-
eration of State High School Associa-
tion’s Network livestream.
Redmond High is already preparing
for the possibility of having to broadcast
games if fans are unable to attend.
“We imagine there will still be limita-
tions of some sort on numbers like there
was in the fall,” said Redmond athletic
director Doug Taylor. “We did get our
Pixellot camera systems installed and
plan on using those to stream competi-
tions.”
ý
Reporter: 541-383-0307, brathbone@bendbulletin.com
SEATTLE — In the
immediate aftermath of
clinching a return to the
playoffs, Aaron Donald
made perfectly clear he was
thrilled to be getting his
wish.
The Los Angeles Rams
defensive star wanted an-
other shot at Russell Wilson
and the Seattle Seahawks.
“They got the division,
and they were happy about
that. And now they have to
see us again, a third time,”
Donald said. “When you’re
playing a team that you see
twice a year, you’ve kind
of got a feel for each other.
They know what you’re go-
ing to do, we know what
they are going to do. It’s
pretty much man on man,
and the best team should
win. So there’s no better way
than that to start it off.”
For the second time in
three weeks, the Rams and
Seahawks will clash on
Saturday, this time in the
opening round of the NFC
playoffs. It’s a matchup
overflowing with familiarity
and a history of close games
not decided until the fourth
quarter.
But there is uncertainty
this time around. The
Rams (10-6) have not said
whether starting quarter-
back Jared Goff or backup
John Wolford will be under
center to face the Seahawks.
Goff injured his thumb in
the second half of Seattle’s
20-9 win over the Rams in
Week 16. Surgery to repair
the injury left Goff a specta-
tor last Sunday while Wol-
ford directed an 18-7 win
over Arizona to clinch the
Rams’ postseason berth.
And now? It’s been a
smoke screen of games-
manship by Rams coach
Sean McVay about which of
his quarterbacks — or both,
potentially — will be trying
to solve a Seahawks defense
that held Los Angeles to less
than 10 points for only the
sixth time in McVay’s ten-
ure less than 14 days ago.
“You talk to Jared and
then you’d kind of just take
it a day at a time,” McVay
said. “I know that he’s in the
mindset and the mentality
of trying to prepare himself
to get ready to play a game.”
See Seahawks / B2
Next up
L.A. Rams (10-6)
at Seattle (12-4)
When: 1:40 p.m.
Saturday
TV: FOX
MLB | IN MEMORIAM
Baseball is a better game
because Lasorda was in it
BY TIM DAHLBERG
AP Sports Columnist
Tommy Lasorda loved the
game of baseball more than
anything.
If it was somehow possi-
ble, he loved the Dodgers even
more.
Lasorda lived his life
wrapped in Dodger Blue, and
when he took his last breath
Thursday night at the age of 93
my guess is he was still certain
of one thing.
“If you don’t love the Dodg-
ers,’’ Lasorda liked to say,
“there’s a good chance you may
not get into Heaven.’’
Under that set of qualifica-
tions, Lasorda is already there.
No need to present his cre-
dentials at the Pearly Gates,
even if he didn’t show up in his
gleaming white uniform with
Dodgers scrawled in blue on
the front and a big No. 2 on the
back.
He lived long enough to
see the Dodgers break the
drought of his lifetime and
win the team’s first World Se-
ries since he, Kirk Gibson and
Orel Hershiser gave them the
most improbable one 32 years
earlier. His last wish was to see
the Dodgers finally win again
and, though frail, he traveled
to Texas in October to see it
happen.
Still, even in death, there’s
one wish remaining.
“I want my wife to put the
Dodgers’ schedule on my
tombstone,’’ Lasorda often said.
See Lasorda / B2
Vince Compagnone/Los Angeles Times file
Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda in 1994. Lasorda died on Thursday
night at the age of 93.