INSIDE: COMICS, OPINIONS & CLASSIFIEDS
B
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • SaTUrday, MarcH 27, 2021
COLLEGE
VOLLEYBALL
Oregon State sues
to block disclosure
Oregon State Univer-
sity leaders are suing to
block disclosure of details
about an investigation of
abuse allegations in their
volleyball program, even
as they tout a refreshed
mission for transparency
following their president’s
resignation over the han-
dling of sexual-miscon-
duct cases at another
school.
The school’s trustees
accepted F. King Alexan-
der’s resignation this week
after details came to light
about the way his former
school, LSU, mishandled
sexual-misconduct cases
during his tenure.
The Associated Press
sought records after its
own reporting uncovered
complaints from more
than a dozen people close
to or formerly part of cur-
rent Oregon State volley-
ball coach Mark Barnard’s
program. Three players
have considered suicide
during his time there.
During open meetings
to discuss Alexander’s fu-
ture, Oregon State’s trust-
ees apologized to their
community and promised
a new push for transpar-
ency and accountability
when it came to protect-
ing students on campus.
Meanwhile, in the vol-
leyball case, the school
is pressing forward with
a lawsuit against The AP
to prevent disclosing de-
tails about an internal
investigation of the team
and Barnard, who critics
say has been running an
emotionally exploitative
program. At least a dozen
players have quit or trans-
ferred over the span of the
last five years.
The coach was accused
of threatening not to re-
new scholarships as a way
of motivating players.
The university, through
spokesman Steve Clark,
has disputed that a harsh
environment led team
members to contemplate
suicide. He said Oregon
State clearly communi-
cates its scholarship offers
and honors its commit-
ments to athletes.
— Associated Press
NFL DRAFT
49ers acquire 3rd
pick from Dolphins
SANTA CLARA, Calif. —
The San Francisco 49ers
have made a big move to
grab their quarterback of
the future by trading up
with Miami to acquire the
No. 3 pick in next month’s
draft.
The Niners announced
Friday they are trading
their No. 12 pick along
with first-round picks in
2022 and 2023 and their
compensatory third-
rounder in 2022 to get the
third overall pick.
ESPN first reported the
deal.
The Dolphins then
immediately traded the
12th pick, the 123rd pick
and their own 2022 first-
rounder to Philadelphia
for the No. 6 and No. 156
picks in the draft, the Ea-
gles announced.
The trade by the Niners
puts them in position to
draft a quarterback with
Zach Wilson, Justin Fields
and Trey Lance all possi-
bilities.
Drafting a quarterback
would likely lead to the
end of Jimmy Garoppolo’s
tenure in San Francisco ei-
ther in a trade this season
or after a year if the Niners
opt to keep a veteran to
help ease the transition
for a rookie QB.
San Francisco acquired
Garoppolo midway
through the 2017 season
from New England.
— Associated Press
bendbulletin.com/sports
PREP SPORTS
The victories are piling up for Sisters volleyball
Postseason run possible for the Outlaws
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
The wins keep on rolling in
for Sisters volleyball. And not
just on the court.
Sandwiched between last
week’s upset over Summit High
School and Thursday’s three-
set sweep over Philomath,
Class 4A athletic programs
were notified by the classifica-
tion’s representatives on how
the final week of the season
will pan out. In short, there will
be a postseason to determine a
state champion.
“When they made the an-
nouncement we were super
excited,” said Sisters coach
Rory Rush of the eight-team
state volleyball bracket. “Before
the whole COVID thing, two
years ago we were setting our
goals for this group of seniors.
And making it back to the
state tournament was our goal.
Knowing that we have the op-
portunity to have a good show-
ing this postseason, it is a huge
motivating factor.”
Volleyball is not the only
4A sport to have an organized
postseason during the state’s
“culminating week.” Soccer
will have a similar format to
volleyball where six confer-
ence champions will make the
bracket along with six other
second-place teams — the top
two will be determined by a
committee to make the bracket
with the other four as backups.
There will be a four-team
tournament for football where
a committee will determine
the final four teams, similar
to the BCS rankings in college
football. And there will also be
a 4A only cross-country state
meet, currently set to be held
in Tillamook on April 10.
Entering the final week of
the shortened regular season,
Sisters finds itself in an advan-
tageous position to make the
eight-team postseason field.
A win over Sweet Home in
“Even though we are the
small school, we aren’t
seen as a small school
here. Some of the bigger
schools (around the state)
don’t want to play smaller
schools, but not here.”
— Rory Rush,
Sisters volleyball coach
the regular season finale on the
final day of March will secure
a spot in the postseason while
a loss would earn a share of the
Oregon West Conference title
and then would have been se-
lected by a committee for one
of the two at-large postseason
bids.
Still, few, if any, 4A teams
can boast the resume that Sis-
ters has built the past month.
Of Sisters 10 matches
played this spring, five have
come against Central Ore-
gon schools; with wins over
6A programs Mountain View
and Summit, and 5A Crook
County and Ridgeview. All
four teams were playoff teams
last season with Summit
and Crook County reach-
ing the state tournament and
Ridgeview bringing home the
5A state title.
See Sisters / B2
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NCAA TOURNAMENT
Family
matters
Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle
looks to daughter for Sweet 16 advice
BY DAVE SKRETTA
AP Basketball Writer
INDIANAPOLIS —
O
regon State coach Wayne Tinkle
has never been to this point in the
NCAA Tournament before, not
as a player for Montana in the 1980s, as an
assistant and head coach of the Grizzlies in
Jack Dempsey/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle cheers for a 3-point basket against Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA
Tournament on March 19 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
the 2000s.
He hasn’t had to look far for some Sweet 16 ad-
vice, though: His daughter, Joslyn, went to three of
them with Stanford.
The two of them talk regularly, and dad was re-
cently on Joslyn’s podcast called “Talkin’ Beavers”
discuss the remarkable run by his No. 12 seed team.
The Beavers are set to face eighth-seeded Loyola
Chicago on Saturday.
“She just said, ‘Your guys looked so relaxed and
confident. Keep them that way,’” Wayne Tinkle said.
“Obviously that’s a big reason they’re playing the
way they are. Their minds are freed up and they’re
just out there hooping.”
Tinkle’s family knows a thing or two about hoop-
ing.
Dad spent a dozen years playing professionally all
around the world. His son, Tres, played for him at
Oregon State and is now in the G League. Joslyn was
a McDonald’s All-American who led Stanford to
137 wins over four seasons, then played for the Se-
attle Storm in the WNBA and several clubs abroad.
Their sister, Elle, played her college ball at Gonzaga.
Polo match
The coronavirus pandemic has led to a change in
wardrobe for college basketball coaches. All those
suits and ties? Gone, replaced by polo shirts. Yet
count Arkansas coach Eric Musselman ahead of the
game in that regard.
The former NBA coach wore a suit his first year
at Nevada, but he’s gone with the polo look the past
five years.
“If I never have to put a tie on the rest of my life, I
will be extremely happy,” Musselman said. “Where I
grew up in San Diego, suits, hard shoes and ties are
not cool. I’m all for the polo game. If we advance, if
we were ever fortunate enough to continue to play,
you will not see me in a suit.”
Musselman’s first polo foray in the NCAA Tour-
nament came with a bit of trepidation. He wore a
polo shirt all through the 2016-17 season with Ne-
vada, but wasn’t sure if it was allowed when the Wolf
Pack reached the NCAA Tournament.
“The first time I wore a polo in an NCAA game, I
actually asked the NCAA representative prior to the
game if it was OK if I did that in this tournament,”
he said “I got the thumbs up, so I never looked back.”
See Oregon State / B2
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Trans athletes a non-issue but discrimination real
BY PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Columnist
All around the country, states
are rushing to approve laws to
address a supposed problem
that, in reality, doesn’t actually
exist.
Has there even been a case
where a transgender athlete ac-
tually stole a college scholarship
or gained an unfair competitive
advantage?
That sound you hear is
crickets.
Seriously, if folks are so
concerned about the state of
women’s athletics, there are
no shortage of inequities they
could turn their attention to.
For starters, the NCAA bas-
ketball tournaments.
Instead, states like Missis-
sippi, Arkansas and Tennessee
prefer to focus on transgender
athletes, demonizing them as
some sort of spurious group
plotting the downfall of wom-
en’s sports.
What a bunch of nonsense.
And dangerous nonsense, at
that.
Transgender people already
face a barrage of discrimina-
tion, incessant bullying and rid-
icule, and even occasional acts
of violence for simply trying to
be true to themselves.
A few years ago, it was those
ridiculous, demeaning bath-
room laws — another case of a
solution in search of a problem
that was merely floating around
in the minds of bigots. Now,
they’ve taken up a new cause —
stopping those glory-seeking
transgender athletes.
Other than an oft-cited pair
of transgender runners in Con-
necticut, who combined to win
15 championships and sparked
a lawsuit, we couldn’t find even
the hint of a threat to the integ-
rity of women’s sports.
But, judging from what’s
happening in at least 20 states
around the country, transgen-
der athletes are roughly akin to
a giant meteor hurtling toward
Earth, threatening to destroy
our very way of life.
First, let’s check in on Arkan-
sas, which you might remem-
ber from its attempts in the
1950s to keep black kids from
attending white schools.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed
a law Thursday banning trans
women and girls from compet-
ing on school sports teams that
match their gender identity.
“This will help promote and
maintain fairness in women’s
sporting events,” Hutchinson
said in an eye-rolling statement.
Next, let’s move to Missis-
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP file
A referee raises the arm of Mack Beggs, a transgender athlete, of Euless
Trinity after he defeated Chelsea Sanchez of Morton Ranch to defend
the Class 6A girls 110-pound title during the UIL State Wrestling Cham-
pionships at the Berry Center in Cypress, Texas, in 2018.
sippi, another state that’s never
been known as a citadel of so-
cial justice.
It took the Magnolia State
more than a century to purge
the racist Confederate bat-
tle emblem from its official
flag, but it moved much more
quickly to keep transgender
athletes from taking part in fe-
male sports.
Gov. Tate Reeves said the state
was merely reacting to — this
might sound familiar to those
who lived through the civil
rights movement — the over-
reach of the federal government.
See Transgender / B2