S PORTS
In Omaha, Nebraska
Third Round
1 2 3 4 T
No. 10 Oregon 17 16 25 24 1
No 7 Purdue 25 25 22 26 3
THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
Non-fungible tokens
PGA TOUR
NBA
DIGITAL
MEMORABILIA
Stephen B. Morton via AP
Stewart Cink kisses the championship trophy
after winning the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head
Island, South Carolina, on Sunday.
Cink-cess!
47-year-old
wins with
family near
BY PETE IACOBELLI
Associated Press
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — The
golf was exceptional for Stewart Cink. What
made his third RBC Heritage title truly spe-
cial was that his family was there to experi-
ence his age-defying success.
Cink hugged son Reagan, his caddie, af-
ter he closed out his four-shot victory at
Harbour Town with a stress-free par on the
lighthouse-framed 18th hole. Wife Lisa,
their other son, Connor, and his fiancee, Jess
Baker, were in the gallery cheering Cink’s
second win this season.
“To have a posse like that waiting at the
end to celebrate with,” Cink said, “it’s just an
experience you don’t get to have in your life
that often.”
Maybe the Cink family has more such
joyous moments ahead with Stewart’s resur-
gence on the PGA Tour.
He shot a steady, stress-free 70 to cap off
a dominant, record-breaking week at an
age — 47 — when many players are looking
ahead to the PGA Tour Champions.
Instead, it was Cink finishing four better
than Emiliano Grillo and Harold Varner III.
Grillo shot a 68 while Varner, who had the
highest finish of his career, fired a 66.
The 30-year-old Varner took found plenty
of encouragement in the man who beat him.
“He’s old and he’s kicking everyone’s
(butt),” Varner said. “Yeah, it inspires me. It
inspires me to know that I can play golf for a
long time.”
BY HANK KURZ JR.
Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. — Another week, an-
other agonizing loss for Denny Hamlin.
And this time it was to Alex Bowman,
who came from nowhere with 10 laps to
go at Richmond Raceway to put the No. 48
Chevrolet in victory lane for the first time in
nearly four years.
Bowman won for the third time in his ca-
reer Sunday and denied Hamlin a win in a
race he had dominated to become the eighth
winner in nine Cup races this season. He
dedicated the victory to crew member Wil-
liam “Rowdy” Harrell and his wife, Blakley
Harrell, who were killed in a November car
crash in Florida while on their honeymoon.
“This one is for Rowdy and his family.
Miss him and Blakley every day,” Bowman
said.
Bowman’s victory in the No. 48 Chevro-
let for Hendrick Motorsports came on the
same day the former driver of the car, sev-
en-time champion Jimmie Johnson, made
his debut in the IndyCar Series in Alabama.
It was the first victory for the No. 48 since
June 4, 2017.
Johnson was the only driver of the No. 48
when it was formed in 2001 and Bowman
was hand-picked by sponsor Ally to replace
him.
Bowman overcame a penalty on lap 247
for a loose tire on pit road to rally for the
win.
For Hamlin, it was the third defeat in
three races.
See NASCAR / A6
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
— Terry Rozier had 34
points, 10 assists and
eight rebounds, and the
Charlotte Hornets rode
a strong first quarter to
a 109-101 win over the
Portland Trail Blazers on
Sunday night, snapping a
four-game losing streak.
P.J. Washington had
23 points and eight re-
bounds after missing
three games with an
ankle injury, and Miles
Bridges added 19 points,
including two high-
light-reel dunks for the
Hornets (28-28).
Rozier, Washing-
ton and Bridges were
a combined 15 of 31
from 3-point range as
Charlotte snapped a sev-
en-game losing streak
against Portland.
Carmelo Anthony had
six 3-pointers and 24
points for the Trail Blazers
(32-24), who played with-
out star Damian Lillard for
the second straight game
due to a hamstring injury.
CJ McCollum scored 22
points.
The Hornets charged
to an early lead, building
a 43-18 lead in the first
quarter behind 17 points
on 7-of-8 shooting from
Rozier. Charlotte shot
77.3% in the opening
quarter with Rozier and
Bridges combining to go
6 of 6 from 3-point range.
Rozier, who was 7 of 13
from 3-point range in the
game, helped Charlotte
push its lead to 27 points
in the third quarter.
But the Blazers battled
back and cut the lead to
nine with 3½ minutes
remaining behind four
forth-quarter 3-pointers
from Anthony. But after
back-to-back Anthony
misses, the Hornets got
an open dunk from P.J.
Washington to push the
lead to 12 that all but
sealed the win.
MLB
Haniger, France
lead Mariners
Leighton Communications, Inc.
This image created by Brazilian illustrator Andre Maciel, known as Black Madre, shows one of the nine non-fun-
gible token cards of baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams to go on auction April 19-24. Non-fungible tokens can
be works of art, video clips or even tweets or news articles tied to a digital record — or blockchain — that allows
the collector to prove ownership.
Bowman wins
with late move
at Richmond
Rozier, Hornets
snap 4-game skid
— Associated Press
See PGA / A6
NASCAR CUP SERIES
A5
NCAA VOLLEYBALL
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Auction brings Hall of Famer Ted Williams to NFT market
BY JIMMY GOLEN • Associated Press
OSTON — Teddy Ballgame is about to
become Teddy Blockchain.
Hall of Famer Ted Williams is com-
ing to the digital memorabilia market
with a release of nine different cards that follow
the No. 9’s career from skinny rookie to Cooper-
stown inductee. The collectors’ items offered by
Williams’ daughter are hand drawn by Brazilian
illustrator Andre Maciel, known as Black Madre,
who created the non-fungible tokens for football
star Rob Gronkowski that sold out last month for
$1.6 million.
“I wrote to him. I told him who I was. I said,
‘My dad is Ted Williams.’ I said, ‘Here’s what I
want to do,’” Claudia Williams said, adding that
she didn’t know whether Maciel would be familiar
with the baseball star.
“For all he knows, I’m just some person reach-
ing out saying, ‘Hey, could you make me some
NFTs?’” she said. “Just the respect that he showed
the art, I know that he knows who Ted Williams
is.”
Eight cards come in limited editions numbered
1-9, with the ninth — titled “The Splendid Splin-
ter” — a one-of-a-kind release that comes with an
autographed bat, three autographed pictures and
an Airbnb stay at a Vermont house Williams lived
in. Each of the 73 cards include the digital auto-
graph of the Red Sox slugger, who remains the
last major leaguer to bat .400, hitting .406 in 1941.
The collection also recognizes Williams’
achievements as a fishing hall of famer and a
fighter pilot who missed parts of five seasons to
serve in WWII and the Korean War. Claudia Wil-
liams wrote the text on the back of each card.
The auction begins Monday and runs through
Saturday.
“My life’s goal is to keep my dad as relevant and
inspirational as ever,” Claudia Williams said last
week in a telephone interview from her Florida
home. “I want to leave his legacy behind when his
B
last surviving child is gone.”
Non-fungible tokens can be works of art, video
clips or even tweets or news articles tied to a digi-
tal record — or blockchain — that allows the col-
lector to prove ownership. The NBA has gotten
into NFTs by creating a market called Top Shot,
which has more than 800,000 users and at least
$500 million in sales.
Williams said if the auction is successful, she
will donate some of the proceeds to the Jimmy
Fund, a children’s cancer charity that has been a
favorite of the Red Sox since her father’s playing
days.
“It’s all about inspiration and honoring my
dad,” she said. “I am very much my father’s
daughter: I do not do squat if I don’t feel passion-
ate about it.”
Williams played 19 years — all for the Red
Sox — missing time for the two wars before re-
tiring at the age of 41 in 1960 with a .344 average,
521 home runs and 1,839 RBIs. He was a 19-time
All-Star, two-time AL MVP and two-time triple
crown winner.
Williams was also a notorious curmudgeon
who derided reporters as “Knights of the Key-
board” and refused to tip his cap to the fans. But
he was one of the few white players to argue for
Negro Leagues players to be included in the Base-
ball Hall of Fame.
Claudia Williams said her father might not
have been an early adopter on NFTs, but he en-
couraged his children to keep up on the latest
technology. His book “The Science of Hitting”
was ahead of its time. (Williams, who died in
2002, has been frozen in liquid nitrogen at an Ar-
izona cryonics facility in the hopes that medical
advances will someday allow him to be brought
back to life.)
“Daddy was so about cutting edge,” she said.
“When he learned about something new, he em-
braced it. He might say, “... I don’t know the first
thing about this NFT, but I think it’s great.’ But he
would learn about it, and he would love it.”
SEATTLE — Ty France
hit a two-run home run,
six Seattle pitchers com-
bined on a one-hitter and
the Mariners beat the
depleted Houston Astros
7-2 on Sunday.
France followed Mitch
Haniger’s two-run triple
with a two-run home run
to left field in the deci-
sive four-run fifth inning
to give the Mariners the
series. Seattle has won
four of five and has come
from behind in six of 10
victories.
Haniger and France,
who bat first and second
in the lineup, also had
back-to-back RBI doubles
in the seventh inning.
France has reached base
safely in 14 of 16 games
and said having Haniger
batting before him has
made his life easier.
“Guys don’t want to
pitch to Mitch, so hope-
fully they’ll pitch to me,”
France said. “We’re feed-
ing off each other well
right now.”
The loss was Houston’s
seventh in its last eight
games and comes with
five players — includ-
ing four starters — still
on the injured list due to
COVID-19 concerns.
“We made some mis-
takes in the heart of the
plate and they didn’t miss
them,” Houston manager
Dusty Baker said.
Seattle starter Nick
Margevicius left in the
top of the fifth with a 3-1
count to Chas McCormick
due to fatigue.
The Mariners bullpen is
6-1 with five saves in the
last 11 games, giving up
just six earned runs in 35
2/3 innings.
— Associated Press