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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 2021)
INSIDE: CLASSIFIEDS, MARKET RECAP & WEATHER B S PORTS THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 2021 WORLD CUP ALPINE SKIING Crash sends Bend’s Ford to hospital ADELBODEN, Switzer- land — American skier Tommy Ford was airlifted to a hospital after crashing in a World Cup giant sla- lom on Saturday. Ford crashed three gates from the finish after going wide into rough snow beside the course. His skis touched and he fell forward, sliding down the hill first on his neck and left shoulder. The United States Ski Team later said Ford’s “head and neck injuries are minor and resolving nicely. He has a knee in- jury that is undergoing further evaluation.” Ford knocked over a course-side worker before coming to a stop close to safety nets beside the finish. He initially lay still with his face against the snow though was soon conscious and talking with medical staff. A helicopter landed by the course 20 minutes later to airlift the 31-year- old racer, who is from Bend. Ford has one giant sla- lom win and two more podium finishes in 12 seasons on the World Cup circuit. He wore bib No. 4 on Saturday as one of the top-ranked racers after top-10 finishes in his past four starts. Ford’s next scheduled giant slalom is in six weeks — on Feb. 19 at the wold championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. bendbulletin.com/sports NFL PLAYOFFS Seahawks can’t overcome mistakes in loss to Rams, 30-20 INSIDE BY TIM BOOTH Associated Press Ted S. Warren/AP Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, right, eyes a receiver wile trying to avoid being sacked by Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson during Saturday’s wild-card game in Seattle. SEATTLE — Quietly, Aaron Donald, Jared Goff and the rest of the Los Angeles Rams seethed. They watched less than two weeks ago as the Seattle Sea- hawks loudly celebrated a di- vision title the Rams felt they gave away. Los Angeles desper- ately wanted another shot. Behind a lot of Cam Akers churning yards on the ground and mostly a great defense, the Rams are moving on in the NFC playoffs at the expense of the Seahawks. “We come up here, and all week we were told how good they are and how we snuck into the playoffs,” Goff said. “Two weeks ago you saw them smoking cigars and getting all • Bills hang on against Colts for first playoff win in 25 years, B3 excited about beating us, and winning the division, and we were able to come up here and beat them.” Akers rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown, Darious Williams returned Russell Wil- son’s interception 42 yards for a score, and the Rams beat the Seahawks 30-20 in the NFC wild-card playoff game Satur- day. “A lot of guys stepped up and answered the bell in a big way,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “Darious Williams showing up, I thought that was a huge mo- mentum shift for us.” The best defense in the league during the regular sea- Sports for every kid ADELBODEN, Switzer- land — Alexis Pinturault won a World Cup giant sla- lom for a second straight day on the storied Adel- boden hill on Saturday, topping his superb perfor- mance from Friday. Pinturault defied fast-fading light in the sec- ond run to post a huge win- ning margin of 1.26 sec- onds over Filip Zubcic, the runner-up on back-to-back days. WILD-CARD ROUND Bills Colts 27 24 Buccaneers Washington 31 23 See Skiing / B3 SPORTS BETTING Table tennis rules Oregon betting app “The Big Four” of pro- fessional sports leagues in the United States are the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and NHL. Not true of the big four sports that attracted the most betting money on the Oregon Lottery Score- board app in 2020 out of more than $218 million wagered: First is basketball at $70,622,322. Second is football at $53,869,591. Third is soccer at $24,843,983. And fourth? Table tennis at $21,105,652. Baseball came in fifth at $16,956,942, while ice hockey was eighth at $6,610,076. The Scoreboard app has seen tremendous growth since it launched in October 2019. From October to De- cember of that year it brought in $45,272,477 in bets, with a gross profit of $2,924,428. During the same period in 2020, it took $81,482,414 in bets with a gross profit of $9,918,246. And its profit margin jumped from 6.46% to 12.17%. And this is still with- out college sports on the table. Matt Holt, president of U.S. Integrity, a Las Vegas company that monitors betting behavior, de- scribed Russian table ten- nis to ESPN as “a controlled Wild West in the U.S.” Though table tennis ranks No. 4 in Oregon in bets handled, it ranked No. 1 in average bet amount at $51.54 in 2020. — The Oregonian Pinturault takes giant slalom, ties Miller for wins Associated Press NFL 30 20 See Seahawks / B3 WORLD CUP SKIING ROUNDUP Community Sports — Associated Press Rams Seahawks son carried its dominance into the playoffs — even while missing unanimous All-Pro tackle Aaron Donald for much of the second half. No team was better at limiting yards or points than the Rams (11-6) and they continued to torment Wilson and the Seahawks (12- 5). Seattle’s quarterback was under siege from the defen- sive front and a secondary that minus one play never let DK Metcalf or Tyler Lockett break loose. Donald, before leaving with a rib injury, and Jalen Ramsey were superb. But so were other role players such as Troy Reeder, Jordan Fuller and Leonard Floyd. Floyd had two of the Rams’ five sacks. NHL PREVIEW Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin Natalie Hummel, executive director of Every Kid Sports, stands in the office of the nonprofit in Bend on Thursday. A Central Oregon-based nonprofit that helps underprivileged kids pay for sports programs looks to go national Players prep for 56-game season sprint BY STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer Every Kid Sports mostly aids youth in Central Oregon, but has recently ex- panded to help youngsters throughout the Pacific Northwest and nationally. The Every Kid Sports Pass program approved more than 1,700 grants for kids in 2020 throughout the Pacific Northwest, according to Hummel. The goal, Hummel says, is to have it be avail- able nationwide by September. Families can register discreetly online at every- kidsports.org. The NHL has started sea- sons of fewer than 82 games in January and played into the summer to award the Stanley Cup. Just not like this. When the puck drops on the regular season in five rinks Jan. 13, it will be the start of a 56-game sprint to the playoffs with all divi- sional play until the semi- finals. That will ramp up the ri- valries, reduce travel during the pandemic and make this a once-in-a-lifetime chase for a title. “We’re going to see a 56- game season, but it’ll be 56 playoff games,” veteran New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said. “It’s exciting. I think the divisions the way they’re in front of us, it’ll be great for the fans and I think the players will enjoy it, also, so I think the rivalries will just raise to a level we haven’t seen in a long, long time.” If hockey can navigate the perils of the virus like other sports. Already three teams have been affected, with Dallas unable to start the season on time. See Kid / B3 See NHL / B4 BY MARK MORICAL The Bulletin A s many families struggle financially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, signing kids up for sports might not be a priority — especially when fees for youth programs can run $100 or more. Every Kid Sports, a Central Oregon-based nonprofit, helps kids from low-income families pay the fees required to participate in youth sports. Though most sports are still on pause, they are scheduled to resume in the coming weeks and months and many kids will likely need financial help in order to take part. Courtesy Amanda Conde All four kids in the Valdez family, of Bend, have utilized the Every Kid Sports Pass to support their jiujitsu practice at Clarks Martial Arts studio in Bend. “There’s so much more need now,” says Natalie Hummel, executive director of Every Kid Sports. “And even families that used to be able to cover their kids playing sports are in trouble now. It’s been wide-ranging, the amount of im- pact COVID has had on families. If you can’t get food on the table, you’re not go- ing to be registering your child to play sports.” The nonprofit was founded 11 years ago in Bend, and was formerly called Kids in the Game.