INSIDE: CLASSIFIEDS, MARKET RECAP & WEATHER
B
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, JANUARY 24, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
WOMEN’S
COLLEGE HOOPS
COLLEGE
BASKETBALL
LOCAL SPORTS | NORDIC SKIING
Beavs set to face
Cougs on Sunday
The subject came up
last week about Oregon
State and its path to the
NCAA women’s basket-
ball tournament, a place
the Beavers have ended
their season six of the
past seven years.
It’s an uphill climb for
OSU this season, and
some of it is out of the
Beavers’ control because
of COVID-19. When Ore-
gon State plays Washing-
ton State at 1 p.m. Sun-
day in Corvallis, it will be
just the Beavers’ second
game in 35 days.
Oregon State (3-4, 1-3
Pac-12) has played only
seven games this sea-
son. As a comparison, by
Jan. 23 of last season, the
Beavers had played 18
games.
Of teams from Power 5
conferences that are still
playing, only Virginia has
played fewer games than
OSU. Every Pac-12 team
except for Washington
and OSU have played at
least 11 games through
Friday.
OSU has had seven
conference games post-
poned, with only one
game (Washington, on
Tuesday) rescheduled to
date.
“We’re getting a game
per month right now,
from July until now. I
think that’s what it’s aver-
aged out,” Oregon State
coach Scott Rueck said.
Odds are Oregon State
will begin playing games
on a regular schedule.
Beginning Sunday, the
Beavers have 11 regular
season games remaining
and the Pac-12 tourna-
ment.
In addition, the Pac-12
is making plans to allow
for makeup games the
week after the conference
tournament.
If COVID-19 cooper-
ates, Oregon State should
easily reach 13 games.
Surpassing 20 is even
possible.
When it comes to
qualifying for the NCAA
tournament, it’s probably
not a lack of games that
will hamstring Oregon
State.
“We need to win
games first, to be consid-
ered for such a thing, and
so we need to play better
when we get the oppor-
tunity,” Rueck said.
Help could be on the
way. This week, Oregon
State added Talia von Oel-
hoffen, a five-star guard
from Pasco, Wash., who
signed in November.
Due to the uncertainty
of high school basketball
this year, von Oelhoffen
graduated early and was
able to enroll for winter
classes at Oregon State.
She began practicing this
week after clearing all of
OSU’s medical protocols.
When von Oelhoffen
can contribute is yet to
be determined. She’s
currently limited in prac-
tice. Von Oelhoffen is
not only a high school
senior in age, she’s en-
tering the roster midway
through the season at a
time when most of the
players are acclimated to
the program. Rueck says
von Oelhoffen is a quick
learner, and has a point
guard’s mind.
As for getting into a
game, von Oelhoffen has
to get in condition and
gain the necessary inten-
sity to play at the Pac-12
level. And, of course, fit in
at the defensive end.
“Playing time decisions
for a coach actually aren’t
as hard as people think
they are,” Rueck said. “If a
person earns it, if they’re
the best one, they get the
minutes if she’s a player in
our program.”
— The Oregonian
Oregon’s
lower-division
teams still not
playing due
to pandemic
Race returns
to Meissner
BY JOE FREEMAN
The Oregonian
Courtesy Steve Roti
Cross-country skiers compete in the Tour of Meissner 30-kilometer classic ski race last January at Virginia Meissner Sno-park west of Bend.
BY MARK MORICAL
The Bulletin
D
avid Smullin was
determined to not
let the COVID-19
pandemic derail the Tour of
Meissner nordic ski race this
winter.
The race was an annual tradition
for many years in Central Oregon,
but it disappeared from the
calendar for several winters until
last season, when David Smullin
brought it back to Virginia
Meissner Sno-park west of Bend.
“I figured we could have something with an individual start and meet all the
requirements. Everybody is required to wear a mask until the start, and then
put them on after they cross the finish line. That’s what we’ve been doing in
the high school races. It’s pretty obvious that people want to do it. It’s just a
good opportunity to get out and do something like that.”
— David Smullin, a nordic skier from Bend who coaches Redmond-area high school skiers
Smullin, an avid nordic skier from
Bend who coaches Redmond-area high
school skiers, staged the race with more
than 100 skiers last January. This winter,
the Tour of Meissner is scheduled for
Saturday, Jan. 30, but is limited to 50 ski-
ers with the start and finish at Swampy
Lakes Sno-park.
“I’m giving out bibs the Friday before
the race in my garage,” Smullin said.
“We’re limited to 50 people because
that’s the guidelines for right now. I have
a wait list. It will be an individual start
race, not a mass start. I figured we could
have something with an individual start
and meet all the requirements. Every-
body is required to wear a mask until the
start, and then put them on after they
cross the finish line. That’s what we’ve
been doing in the high school races.
“It’s pretty obvious that people want to
do it. It’s just a good opportunity to get
out and do something like that.”
But for those skiers who are not one of
the 50 who have a spot in the 30-kilome-
ter classic race, Smullin is inviting them
to come ski the course after 9 a.m. on
Saturday and time themselves.
They can email Smullin their time
(dhsmullin@gmail.com) and he will add
it to the results.
He is encouraging those skiers to
make a donation to the nonprofit Meis-
sner Nordic, which pays to groom the
trails.
See Meissner / B2
See College hoops / B3
TRACK AND FIELD
Competing,
not cash, lures
stars to meet
BY PAT GRAHAM
Associated Press
NFL PLAYOFFS | NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
game appearance in the past
seven seasons, but Rodgers
hasn’t reached a Super Bowl
since leading the Packers to a
title in the 2010 season. War-
ner said the postseason weighs
heavily on where players stack
up in history.
“That’s why Tom is the
GOAT (greatest of all time),”
Warner said. “It’s why Joe
Montana is up there and guys
who’ve been there numerous
times — the John Elways —
and everyone else kind of gets
knocked down a notch. Even
though they’re been great in
the regular season, there’s a
combination of the two that I
think weighs heavily.”
Simply put, Rodgers needs
this victory more than Brady.
“He plays in one Super Bowl,
I think there will be something
about that that just doesn’t sit
right with anybody,” Warner
said. “It doesn’t sit right with
any of us who love this game
and know how great he’s been.
It just doesn’t seem to fit.”
This may be the best re-
maining chance for the
37-year-old Rodgers at that
elusive second Super Bowl
berth.
“It’s been a while since he
was last a world champion,”
CBS Sports analyst and 2002
NFL MVP Rich Gannon said.
The prospect of win-
ning prize money isn’t what
brings high jumper Vashti
Cunningham, sprinter An-
dre De Grasse and other
top names in track to an in-
door meet in Arkansas this
weekend.
Because there is none.
Instead, the athletes are
going for something that
feels every bit as valuable
these days, and could even
lead to an Olympic gold
medal. It’s actual competi-
tion — much in demand
with the coronavirus pan-
demic shutting down large
swaths of their sport, and
with the Tokyo Games rap-
idly approaching in July.
The American Track
League begins a four-week
indoor series Sunday at the
University of Arkansas. It’s
a chance for athletes to see
how they stack up in a time
when COVID-19 has made
training sometimes difficult
and traveling overseas for
meets almost unthinkable.
The league — founded
in 2013 to provide a con-
densed, fast-paced meet
format — doesn’t have a
major sponsor at the mo-
ment and will operate on a
shoestring budget, meaning
no prize money for the win-
ners as of now.
And still, there’s a waiting
list to enter.
“Everyone is so hungry to
compete,” meet organizer/
agent Paul Doyle said by
phone.
See NFL / B3
See Meet / B3
All eyes on QBs as Packers host Bucs
BY STEVE MEGARGEE
Associated Press
For as much as Tom Brady
and Aaron Rodgers have ac-
complished in their Hall of
Fame-caliber careers, they’ve
rarely faced off on the field.
Never have they met with so
much at stake.
When Rodgers’ Green Bay
Packers (14-3) host Brady’s
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13-
5) in the NFC championship
game Sunday, it will be just the
fourth time they’ve squared off
as starting quarterbacks, and
first in the playoffs.
“I remember when I heard
the news about him coming to
the NFC, I thought this was a
real possibility,” Rodgers said.
“I’m excited about the oppor-
tunity to play against him one
more time.”
The Bucs trounced the Pack-
ers 38-10 in Tampa on Oct.
18. They met two other times
during Brady’s tenure in New
England, with the Packers
winning 26-21 at Green Bay
in 2014 and the Patriots win-
ning 31-17 in Foxborough four
years later.
Both understand all eyes will
be on them Sunday. Kurt War-
ner, the Hall of Fame quarter-
back and NFL Network analyst,
said that’s just human nature.
“When I played, I always
knew who was on the other
The last time the Bush-
nell University women’s
basketball players gathered
for a game, it was March 12,
and they were in Sioux City,
Iowa.
The Beacons had just
wrapped up a morning
shootaround in preparation
for the most anticipated
matchup of a special sea-
son — an evening date with
the University of Antelope
Valley in the first round of
the NAIA Division II Wom-
en’s Basketball National
Championship tournament
— when devastating news
arrived.
The game was off. The
tournament was canceled.
The coronavirus pandemic,
in the early stages of its first
surge through the United
States, was about to change
life forever.
“It’s not the way you want
to end a season,” said Chad
Meadors, coach of Bushnell,
a Eugene school formerly
called Northwest Christian.
“In the back of our minds,
we still can’t help but think
about what could have
been.”
Ten months later, Bush-
nell, along with every other
lower-division college bas-
ketball program in Oregon,
is still waiting to play.
Jason Behnken/AP file
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) gets sacked by
Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David (54) on Oct. 18 in
Tampa, Florida.
“This is one of the coolest
sideline,” Warner said. “I al-
stadiums in the league to play
ways said when I went into
in,” Brady said. “I know they’re
these matchups, at the end of
excited, we’ll be excited,
the day, I know if we’re
and it will make for
going to win this
a great football
game, I’ve got to
Inside
game.”
outperform that
Mahomes, Chiefs
Brady is trying
guy. I’ve got to be
host Allen, Bills in
to join Warner,
better than the
AFC championship
Peyton Manning
quarterback on
game, B3
and Craig Morton
the other side.”
as the only quar-
Brady, 43, has
terbacks to lead two
helped the Bucs
separate franchises to a
earn a franchise-record
Super Bowl. He already won
seven straight road wins. A
win at Lambeau Field clinches six Super Bowls and played in
nine total with the Patriots.
their first Super Bowl berth
Green Bay is making its
since their 2002 championship
fourth NFC championship
season.