INSIDE: COMICS, OPINIONS & CLASSIFIEDS
B
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2021
MEN’S COLLEGE
BASKETBALL
UP Pilots dismiss
coach Terry Porter
The University of Port-
land dismissed men’s bas-
ketball coach Terry Porter
Friday afternoon, parting
ways with the one-time
Portland Trail Blazers great
after a disappointing four-
plus seasons.
Hired in 2016 to turn
around a perennial losing
program, Porter brought
a robust resume to the
Pilots that featured two
stints as an NBA head
coach on top of an All-Star
NBA playing career. But
he failed to deliver on the
hype his hiring brought to
the North Portland cam-
pus, compiling a 43-103
record that included zero
winning seasons.
The Pilots are just 6-11
(0-8 West Coast Confer-
ence) this season and
have lost nine in a row.
After enduring a 105-60
drubbing to BYU Thursday
at the Chiles Center, UP
administrators decided
they had seen enough.
Assistant Ben Johnson will
serve as interim coach for
the rest of the season.
“I would like to thank
Coach Porter for his ser-
vice to the University,”
Scott Leykam, the Pilots
Vice President for Athlet-
ics, said in a statement.
UP administrators were
poised to let Porter go last
spring, sources said, after
he guided the Pilots to a
disappointing 9-23 record
that included a forgettable
1-15 mark in the confer-
ence. But the pandemic
prompted administrators
to conclude that it didn’t
make sense to pay the
school’s highest-paid em-
ployee not to work for a
year.
Porter overhauled the
Pilots’ roster from top to
bottom heading into the
2020-21 season, adding
seven junior college or
graduate transfers from
across North America. UP
started the season with
hope, winning six of its
first eight games, includ-
ing a signature 87-86
overtime victory against
Oregon State on the road.
But things went south
from there, as they so
often have over the last
four-plus seasons.
— The Oregonian
MLB
Star pitcher Bauer
picks L.A. Dodgers
LOS ANGELES — Trevor
Bauer is coming home to
pitch for the World Series
champion Los Angeles
Dodgers.
The reigning NL Cy
Young Award winner an-
nounced his decision on
Friday in a two-minute
video posted to his Twitter
account. Bauer narrated
the piece, which ended
with him saying, “This sea-
son is about making sure
history remembers us as
we wish to be remem-
bered. This season is about
adding to our legacy. And
I can’t wait, Dodger fans.”
The Dodgers made it
worth his while: His con-
tract is for $102 million
over three years, accord-
ing to multiple media
reports.
Bauer, who turned 30
last month, was born in
North Hollywood, went to
high school in Santa Clar-
ita and played baseball
at UCLA.
Bauer joins a Dodgers
rotation that had a ma-
jor league-best 3.02 ERA
during the abbreviated
60-game season last year,
when the franchise won
its first championship
since 1988.
He gives the club a
third Cy Young winner,
joining three-time win-
ner Clayton Kershaw and
2012 winner Price.
— Associated Press
bendbulletin.com/sports
PREP SPORTS
Soccer and cross-country get green light
Football and volleyball remain in doubt heading into Monday’s decisive OSAA meeting
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
Leading up to Monday’s
Oregon School Activities Asso-
ciation executive board meeting
to finalize plans for the return
of high school sports, certain
aspects remain unclear.
While soccer and cross-coun-
try have the green light to start
practicing on Feb. 22, football
and volleyball remain the two
sports keeping “fall” sports
from fully returning.
The fate of the two sports will
be clear after the OSAA’s meet-
ing on Monday.
For football it is simple: The
Oregon Health Authority will
have to change its stance on
contact sports before Monday.
As of now and as has been the
case throughout the pandemic,
contact sports — including
tackle football, basketball and
wrestling — are prohibited.
Should nothing change in
regards to contact guidelines,
7-on-7 or flag football become
a more likely option for football
because those activities are al-
lowed. For linemen, who are not
part of 7-on-7 or flag football,
virtual linemen challenges will
be made available if the board
decides to forgo tackle football.
“Our board is committed to
provide some sort of option,”
said OSAA executive director
Peter Weber on Friday.
Friday morning, Gov. Kate
Brown and the OHA did not
provide updates or changes to
the contact sports guidelines
during a 45-minute press con-
ference.
Weber also noted late Friday
afternoon that it is not uncom-
mon for the OSAA to work
with OHA over a weekend.
Volleyball has a bit more flex-
ibility than football to hitting its
start date — even if it is just for
a certain number of schools.
The executive board will dis-
cuss Monday morning the pos-
sibility of letting the schools in
non-extreme risk counties start
practicing volleyball on Feb.
22. The board could also give
schools in extreme risk coun-
ties — 24 of 36 in the state, in-
cluding Deschutes, Crook and
Jefferson counties are extreme
risk — the option of moving to
a different timeframe when per-
haps the COVID-19 case num-
bers are not as high.
The prospect of outdoor vol-
leyball will also be discussed
during Monday’s board meet-
ing, Weber said.
While volleyball will have the
option to move to a different
time of the year, tackle football
might not have the same luxury.
The OSAA and the National
Federation of State High School
Associations are worried about
playing tackle football after
May 1, which would make for
a quick turnaround to start the
following season in August.
ý
Reporter: 541-383-0307, brathbone@
bendbulletin.com
WORLD CUP SKIING
BY ERIC WILLEMSEN
Associated Press
A
personal tragedy. The
global pandemic.
Then a back injury to
top it all off.
Mikaela Shiffrin had to deal
with a surprising number of
‘Mentors
in life’
In tragic year, Mikaela
Shiffrin’s coaches became
more than just coaches
setbacks in 2020. But if there’s a
silver lining, those setbacks also
created a new bond between the
25-year-old skiing great and her
coaching team — a bond that has
her back as one of the favorites at
next week’s world championships
Giovanni Auletta/AP file
in Italy.
Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates after winning a World Cup slalom in Flachau, Austria, on Jan. 12.
“We’ve become almost like family,”
Shiffrin said a few days before the
start of the worlds.
“With the last year that I have ex-
perienced, I have been even more
grateful for their support, not only
as coaches in my professional ca-
reer, but also almost like mentors
in life.”
For a two-time Olympic cham-
pion expected to win virtually every
time she steps into the starting gate,
and an athlete whose nearly every
“We’ve become almost like family. With the last year that I have
experienced, I have been even more grateful for their support, not only as
coaches in my professional career, but also almost like mentors in life.”
move is documented in the public
spotlight, 10 months away from rac-
ing meant a complete reset.
“That’s a really long time in
sports,” Shiffrin’s head coach, Mike
Day, told The Associated Press.
“People have looked at this as a
period of time off. But realistically
it’s like an injury. She went through
something that hurt really badly and
the timeline for return is something
that is extremely personal.”
Shiffrin’s season was upended a
year ago when her father, Jeff Shif-
frin, died following an accident at
the family’s home in Edwards, Col-
orado.
The outbreak of the coronavirus
in Europe canceled the World Cup
season in mid-March just when
Shiffrin was attempting a comeback
at races in Sweden, and the pan-
demic vastly limited her opportuni-
ties for training during the summer.
See Shiffrin / B7
NFL | SUPER BOWL LV
Reid, Arians bring their stellar
offensive systems to Super Bowl
BY JOSH DUBOW
AP Pro Football Writer
Andy Reid came up in the
West Coast offense where the
quarterback performs almost
like an NBA point guard, us-
ing short passes that talented
playmakers can turn into long
gains.
Bruce Arians’ offensive phi-
losophy has relied on the man-
tra “no risk it, no biscuit” as he
wants to quarterbacks to take
chances downfield even if it
sometimes leads to mistakes.
The approaches may be di-
ametrically different but both
have been successful. Reid
and Arians have consistently
run prolific offenses that have
helped the Kansas City Chiefs
and Tampa Bay Buccaneers
reach the Super Bowl.
But Reid and Arians
reached title game because
both coaches have also shown
the ability to adapt. Reid has
gradually used more shotgun
and spread formations over
the years, helping Patrick Ma-
homes develop into the game’s
top QB.
Arians has altered his of-
fense a bit this season in
Tampa Bay to cater to Tom
Brady’s strengths, incorpo-
rating more motion and a
few more shorter passes to go
along with the deep strikes that
remain a staple.
“If you’re not looking for
new things every year, you’re
falling behind,” the 68-year-
old Arians said. “You can look
at what some other people do.
But if it really doesn’t match
your personnel, it’s not a fit for
you.”
There are plenty of differ-
ences in the two offensive
philosophies, but they can be
boiled down to two key sta-
tistics from SportRadar that
sum up how the passing games
thrive.
The Bucs led the NFL this
season with 42 completions
that traveled at least 20 yards
downfield, while the Chiefs
ranked 14th with 26 deep com-
INSIDE
• Chargers’ Herbert excited for fresh
start with new coach, B2
pletions this season.
“You can’t hit a home run
unless you’re going to swing for
one,” Arians said. “You can’t do
anything special in life sitting
on a fence.”
Kansas City led the league
by gaining 2,447 yards after
the catch as Mahomes took
advantage of playmaking abil-
ity of players like Tyreek Hill
and Travis Kelce. Tampa Bay
ranked 17th with 1,874 yards
after the catch.
Reid’s offense creates space
— the receivers have the sec-
ond best average separation
for receivers, according to NFL
NextGen stats, at 3.8 yards per
throw.
“Coach Reid does a great job
of giving you multiple looks
out of certain formations, cer-
tain motions, certain move-
ments,” Kelce said. “What that
does is it helps kind of keep the
Charlie Riedel/AP file
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid, right, watches quarterback Patrick
Mahomes warm up before a divisional-round playoff game against the
Cleveland Browns in Kansas City on Jan. 17. Reid is considered one of
the most innovative offensive minds in the NFL, and he has one of the
most talented quarterbacks ever to execute his schemes.
defense in a reactionary posi-
tion if you perform them the
correct way.”
When Brady arrived in
Tampa Bay this season after
two decades in New England,
there were questions about
whether the 43-year-old quar-
terback had the arm strength
to thrive in Arians’ offense.
After a midseason lull when
he missed on 23 straight deep
balls, Brady has completed 25
of 52 deep passes over the past
eight games, nearly doubling
his completion percentage on
deep throws from the first 11
weeks.
Including the playoffs,
Brady’s average throw has trav-
eled a career-high 9.4 yards
downfield and his 43 deep
completions are the most since
SportRadar began tracking air
yards in 2016.
See Super Bowl / B2