INSIDE: COMICS, OPINIONS & CLASSIFIEDS
B
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
WNBA
Former player part
of Dream sale
ATLANTA — Former
Atlanta Dream guard Re-
nee Montgomery made
history on Friday as part
of a three-member in-
vestor group that was
approved to purchase the
team.
The ownership change
follows pressure on for-
mer Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a
Republican who angered
WNBA players with her
opposition to the league’s
racial justice initiatives,
to sell her share of the
Dream.
Real estate investor
Larry Gottesdiener was
approved as majority
owner of the team. The
investor group also in-
cludes Montgomery and
Suzanne Abair, president
of Northland Investment
Corp. in Massachusetts,
the firm Gottesdiener
founded.
Montgomery becomes
the first former player to
become both an owner
and executive of a WNBA
franchise. She said she
would play an active role
with Abair in the leader-
ship of the team.
Montgomery said she
first began considering
her role in an ownership
group after Los Angeles
Lakers star LeBron James
tweeted about the pos-
sibility of being part of
such a group.
“That tweet prompted
my mind,” Montgomery
said, adding she “started
to figure out if that could
become a real possibility.”
James applauded
Montgomery’s ownership
role by posting on Twitter:
“So proud of this Queen.
This is everything we are
about!”
Montgomery recently
announced her retire-
ment from the league
after 11 seasons and two
WNBA championships.
— Associated Press
FOOTBALL
Redmond’s new pro team looking for local talent
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
Football players chasing pro-
fessional dreams will be mak-
ing their way to the First Inter-
state Bank Center in Redmond
in hopes of landing on the Ore-
gon High Desert Storm’s train-
ing camp roster.
Central Oregon’s new pro-
fessional indoor football team
will hold a combine-style try-
out Saturday to help round out
the 40-person roster when the
team begins training camp in
mid-April in preparation for its
inaugural season in the Ameri-
can West Football Conference.
The High Desert Storm
have already signed 11 players
to their roster, most of whom
have played college football,
and some who have profes-
sional experience. The team’s
first signee, wide receiver L.J.
Castile, played college football
at the University of Houston,
and played in four presea-
son games for the Cleveland
Browns after competing in var-
ious arena football leagues.
When the team kicks off
its season against the Idaho
(Nampa) Horsemen on May 8,
Niners GM expects
Garoppolo as QB
The San Francisco 49ers
are reportedly interested
in Houston Texans’ quar-
terback Deshaun Watson.
They may have even had a
chance to sign Tom Brady
before he signed with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
in 2020.
The 49ers’ reported
interest in a quarterback
would seem to indicate
their dissatisfaction with
Jimmy Garoppolo after
the team posted a 6-10
record in 2020, raising the
possibility of replacing
him in 2021. However,
San Francisco general
manager John Lynch ex-
pressed confidence that
Garoppolo will be the
team’s starting quarter-
back in 2021.
Lynch was asked if Ga-
roppolo is healthy, is there
any doubt in his mind that
he will be the team’s start-
ing quarterback in Week 1.
“No, not at all,” Lynch
said Wednesday on the
Eye Test For Two podcast.
“I really believe that.”
The 49ers have been
very good when Garop-
polo starts. They are 22-8
when he has started in
regular season games and
they reached Super Bowl
54 following their 13-3
season in 2019.
The problem for the
49ers and Garoppolo is
keeping him on the field.
Garoppolo has missed
23 games due to injury
since the start of the 2018
season and he missed 10
games due to high ankle
sprains in 2020.
“When he’s healthy,
he’s played at a high level,”
Lynch said Wednesday
on the Eye Test For Two
podcast.
— The Oregonian
— Keith Evans, High Desert
Storm coach
21 players will suit up. But even
the players who have already
been signed must earn their
spot on the active roster.
“I am bringing about 40
people into training camp,
some are signed, but none are
guaranteed a spot on the team,”
said High Desert Storm coach
Keith Evans. “These kids who
are signed are trying to get to
the next level. This is not semi-
pro, not even close.”
Athletes will be clocked with
a 40-yard dash time and will
perform an assortment of agil-
ity drills, similar to an NFL
combine. There will also be
a conditioning test and a va-
riety of one-on-one drills for
coaches to assess the prospects.
Evans is hoping someone
flashes some speed and passes
the eye test.
There are at least 40 partic-
ipants expected at Saturday’s
tryout, which will include ath-
letes from Central Oregon, the
Portland area and out of state.
While there are advantages to
bringing in athletes from Cen-
tral Oregon, finding the best
players to field a winning team
is the priority.
“It is always about getting
local talent because that gets
butts in the seats,” Evans said.
See Football / B2
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Revenge
game
Oregon State’s maturing,
retooled team eager to show
December performance
against Oregon was a one-off
BY NICK DASCHEL
The Oregonian
S
eventy-seven days separate the
games, but it doesn’t seem possible
it was just over two months ago
when Oregon routed Oregon State 79-59.
NFL
“It is always about getting
local talent because
that gets butts in the
seats. But this is also
about us competing for a
championship.”
The Ducks could have named the score on Dec.
13 in Gill Coliseum. It was that one-sided. Oregon
was up 21 points at halftime, and led by as many as
29 points in the second half.
For Oregon State to make up that much ground
and catch the Ducks, it seems the page would have
to turn to next season. Yet here we are, in late Feb-
ruary, and most following the programs have to say
Sunday’s 3 p.m. game in Eugene is a toss-up.
Some might even look at the events in Pauley Pa-
vilion last weekend and claim, advantage Beavers.
On Feb. 19, then-No. 8 UCLA manhandled Oregon
83-56. Two days later, Oregon State led for more
than 28 minutes and handed the Bruins a 71-64 loss.
“It’s going to be a battle. It’s not going to be a
20-point game like last time,” Oregon coach Kelly
Graves said.
What happened?
Bryan Byerly/Utah Athletics file
Oregon State’s Talia von Oelhoffen (22) looks for space around Utah’s Niyah Becker on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021, in Salt
Lake City. Von Oelhoffen has been a difference maker for the Beavers since arriving on campus mid-season.
“It’s going to be a battle. It’s not going to be a
20-point game like last time.”
— Kelly Graves, Oregon women’s basketball coach
Oregon State grew up. And added a big piece
since the first Oregon game that completely changed
the Beavers’ backcourt.
Both teams had inexperienced rosters heading
into that Dec. 13 game, but the Ducks had a team
full of 5-star freshmen and key transfers eager to
show what they could do. Oregon outscored OSU
36-9 from 3-point range, and had 25 assists on 31
overall baskets.
It got worse before it got better for Oregon State.
The Beavers lost to Washington State in Pullman on
Dec. 19, then the following day put the program on
pause for nearly four weeks because of a COVID-19
outbreak.
When OSU returned to action, it immediately
lost to Arizona and Washington State, running the
Beavers’ losing streak to a rare five games.
But along the way, the roster began to mature.
Transfer forward Ellie Mack found her place. Fresh-
man Sasha Goforth began to blossom on defense.
Jelena Mitrovic, a 6-foot-9 center, became a key sub-
stitute. Senior guard Aleah Goodman emerged as
one of the Pac-12’s top talents.
After sinking to 3-5 at one point, the Beavers have
won five of six games heading into Sunday’s show-
down in Eugene.
“It will be kind of a cool comparison because
we were so fresh and new the first time,” Good-
man said. “We’re finally getting into a little bit of a
rhythm.”
See Revenge / B3
MLB
Brewers’ Yelich eager for fresh start
BY STEVE MEGARGEE
Associated Press
Milwaukee Brewers out-
fielder Christian Yelich has
never believed the results of
one season have any carryover
effect into the next year.
He didn’t think that when
he was coming off an MVP
season in 2018 or a second
straight batting title in 2019.
Nor does he feel that way that
now as he tries bouncing back
from the most disappointing
season of his career.
“Good or bad, the previous
year really doesn’t mean any-
thing,” the 29-year-old Yelich
said Friday from the Brewers’
spring training site in Phoe-
nix. “You can’t do anything
about it. Whether you were
the MVP the previous year or
you sucked, everybody starts
at zero in spring training and
the new year. We live in a busi-
ness where it’s, ‘What have you
done for me lately?’ What I’ve
done lately is play terribly, so
I’m looking forward to a fresh
start and starting a new year.”
During a pandemic-short-
ened 2020 season in which
many stars struggled, Yelich
arguably was the most notable
example. He hit .205 after win-
ning NL batting titles in 2018
and 2019.
He still produced a .356 on-
base percentage thanks to 76
walks and had 12 homers and
22 RBIs in 58 games. But his
.786 OPS was his lowest since
2015 and significantly off his
NL-leading totals in of 1.000 in
2018 followed by 1.100.
“I thought I was pretty much
all-around terrible,” Yelich said.
“It just wasn’t good. But it is
what it is. This is baseball. That
stuff happens. You can’t change
it now and you can’t do any-
thing about it.”
The Brewers hope for Yelich
to bounce back after signing
him to a $215 million, nine-
year contract prior to last sea-
son. Their hopes for a fourth
straight playoff berth depend
largely on him returning to
form.
But they aren’t showing any
signs of concern regarding
their franchise player. Brewers
manager Craig Counsell said
at the start of spring training
camp that Yelich “wants to be
better, and he’s going to be bet-
ter.”
“I just don’t worry much
about Christian,” hitting coach
Andy Haines said.
A look inside the numbers
offers cause for optimism.
Yelich ranked sixth in the
majors in hard-hit percentage,
behind only Fernando Tatis Jr.
Miguel Sano, Ronald Acuña
Jr., Corey Seager and Eloy
Jiménez. The problem was that
he struck out over 30% of the
time. Before last season, Yelich
had struck out in only 19.6% of
his career plate appearances.
He said Friday he has a few
ideas over what went wrong
and feels he now has a handle
Jae C. Hong/AP
Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich gets ready for batting practice
during the team’s spring training workout in Phoenix, Arizona, on Tues-
day. Yelich is looking for a bounce-back season after slumping in 2020.
on the situation, though he
declined to go into specifics.
Yelich also says he spent time
this offseason working with
Haines in Nashville, Tennessee.
While Yelich hasn’t used
the unusual circumstances of
2020’s pandemic-delayed sea-
son as an excuse, he acknowl-
edged that “whatever routine
you had last year pretty much
got thrown out the window.”
Even before the pandemic
started, Yelich already was hav-
ing a different type of year.
See Yelich / B3