FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • WEdNEsday, aprIL 21, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
PREP SPORTS
New rules pave way
for hoops, wrestling
Indoor full-contact
sports in Oregon will be
allowed starting Friday
under new COVID-19
guidance issued by the
Oregon Health Authority
on Tuesday.
That means high
school basketball and
wrestling will likely be
allowed to have their sea-
sons, which are planned
for May 10 to June 27.
“Any step toward us
actually being able to be
on the floor, with jerseys,
playing another team, is
great for our kids,” said
Summit boys basket-
ball coach Jon Frazier on
Tuesday.
Under the new guid-
ance, indoor full-contact
sports will be allowed un-
der all risk levels.
Deschutes, Crook and
Jefferson counties are
now all in the high risk
category. Under that
category, the new guid-
ance states that “indoor
full-contact sports are
allowed for K-12 with a
submitted plan.”
Additionally, it states
that “indoor full-contact
sports are allowed for
adult/club/youth sports
with guidance require-
ments.”
Before Tuesday’s up-
dates, indoor full-contact
sports, such as basketball
and wrestling, were not al-
lowed under any risk level.
— Bulletin staff report
SNOW SPORTS
Big Wave Challenge
through Sunday
The Big Wave Chal-
lenge runs through Sun-
day at Mt. Bachelor ski
area.
In the event’s 10th
year, snowboarders and
skiers are invited for an
open session on the big
wave course on Midway
Run, off Pine Marten lift
in West Village, according
to mtbachelor.com. The
course will be open daily
through Sunday.
The reimagined event
continues to be inspired
by legendary big-wave
surfer and avid snow-
boarder Gerry Lopez, of
Bend.
The Big Wave Chal-
lenge this year is not a
formal event, as there will
no registration, judging
or awards.
The course features a
series of huge sweeping
banked corners, quar-
ter-pipes and spines, in-
corporating the natural
terrain to create wavelike
features.
The event is a fund-
raiser for Pat Malendoski,
who used his special ter-
rain-park-creation skills to
build waves out of snow
during the first several
years of the Big Wave
Challenge. Malendoski
has been battling brain
cancer for five years.
Those interested in
supporting the Big Wave
Challenge fundraising ef-
fort can purchase Aloha
bags (which include a
variety of items) for $100
at the Patagonia in Bend
on Monday, April 26, or
Tuesday, April 27. They
can also bid on items
via a virtual auction at
www.32auctions.com/
BigWaveChallenge.
All of the proceeds
from the Aloha bags and
the online auction will
be donated to support
Malendoski, according to
mtbachelor.com.
— Bulletin staff report
INSIDE
Looking for refs —
Bend Park & Rec is looking
for refs for youth lacrosse
league. Sports briefing, A6
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Sports figures react to Derek Chauvin’s conviction
BY DAVID WHARTON
Los Angeles Times
Ted S. Warren/AP file
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson walks off the field after a
practice session at training camp in August in Renton, Washington. Wil-
son posted the message “Love wins” after former police officer Derek
Chauvin was convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd.
LOS ANGELES — It was last
summer that pro athletes raised
their voices in unison to pro-
test the death of Black men at
the hands of police, their pro-
test temporarily shutting down
sports across the country.
So it makes sense that Tues-
day, after former Minneapolis
police officer Derek Chauvin
was convicted of murder in the
death of George Floyd, ath-
letes spoke up again in tones
that ranged from joyous to
guarded.
“ACCOUNTABILITY,” LeB-
ron James tweeted.
Magic Johnson was more ef-
fusive: “Thank God … guilty!
Justice has been served!”
A little closer to the situ-
ation, the Minnesota Tim-
berwolves and their WNBA
colleagues, the Lynx, posted
a statement: “We are hopeful
that today’s decision will serve
as a step forward, but it does
not ease the physical and emo-
tional pain that continues in an
environment where systemic
racism exists.”
The intersection of sports
and social justice dates at least
as far back as Jackie Robinson
shattering baseball’s color bar-
rier in 1947. The 1960s were
marked by Muhammad Ali’s
refusal to go to Vietnam and
a protest from sprinters John
Carlos and Tommie Smith,
who raised their fists on an
Olympic podium.
More recently, Colin
Kaepernick added fuel to a na-
tional debate when he took a
knee during the national an-
them.
In the summer of 2020, after
police in Kenosha, Wis., shot a
29-year-old Black man named
Jacob Blake, the Milwaukee
Bucks decided to sit out an
NBA playoff game, triggering
walkouts that spread quickly
to baseball, soccer, hockey and
tennis.
At the time, James said: “I
know people are getting tired
of hearing me say it, but we
are scared as Black people in
America. Black men, Black
women, Black kids, we are ter-
rified.”
See Justice / A6
NBA
On a hot
streak
With 78 3-pointers in his last 11 games,
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry is
shooting his way into history
BY TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
N
ever.
That’s the last time the NBA
saw a shooting stretch like the
one Stephen Curry of the Golden State
Warriors has assembled over the past few
Matt Slocum/AP
weeks.
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry reacts after making a 3-pointer against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday in
Philadelphia.
It’s been 45 years since the last instance of an NBA
MVP being selected from a team that wasn’t at least
10 games over the .500 mark, but Curry has shot his
way into serious consideration.
He’s averaging 31.4 points on 49% shooting this
season; the only other season in which he averaged
more than 30 points was 2015-16, when he averaged
30.1 on 50% shooting — and was the unanimous
MVP.
Those Warriors were 73-9. These Warriors are 29-
29. That’s the big difference, the biggest reason why
Curry isn’t even more prevalent in the MVP talks.
“He’s never played any better, that’s for sure,” War-
riors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s been incredible to
watch.”
Bob Pettit and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only
players to win MVP awards on teams that had win-
ning percentages below .560. The award typically
goes to the best player on a team that finishes high
in the standings, not one that’ll likely have to scratch
and claw just to make the postseason.
That said, these are not typical times.
“Steph Curry left no doubt about who the real
MVP is tonight!” Magic Johnson tweeted on Mon-
day, when Curry had 49 points to lead Golden State
past Philadelphia.
See Curry / A6
SOCCER | SUPER LEAGUE COLLAPSE
English clubs withdraw, dooming competition
BY ROB HARRIS
AP Global Soccer Writer
LONDON — The Super
League collapsed before a ball
was kicked in the European
breakaway competition after
being abandoned by the six En-
glish clubs, leaving the Span-
ish and Italian participants
stranded.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool,
Manchester United, Manchester
City and Tottenham through-
out Tuesday evening deserted
the proposal to launch a large-
ly-closed midweek competi-
tion amid an escalating back-
lash from their supporters and
warnings from the British gov-
ernment that legislation could
be introduced to thwart it.
The Super League project
was overseen by Real Madrid
President Florentino Perez,
who also signed up Barcelona
and Atlético Madrid in Spain,
and Juventus, AC Milan and
Inter Milan from Italy. The ri-
val for the UEFA-run Cham-
pions League became unviable
without the six clubs from the
world’s richest league.
The remaining fledgling Su-
per League organization was
defiant, blaming “pressure” be-
ing applied for forcing out the
English clubs and insisting the
proposal complied with the law
and could yet be revived.
“Given the current circum-
stances,” the Super League said
in a statement, “we shall recon-
sider the most appropriate steps
to reshape the project, always
having in mind our goals of of-
fering fans the best experience
possible while enhancing soli-
darity payments for the entire
football community.”
The English clubs heeded the
appeals from UEFA President
Aleksander Ceferin to remain
part of the Champions League,
which has a qualification cri-
teria based on a team’s perfor-
mance in the domestic league.
“I said yesterday that it is ad-
mirable to admit a mistake and
these clubs made a big mistake,”
he said. “But they are back in
the fold now and I know they
have a lot to offer not just to our
competitions but to the whole
of the European game.
“The important thing now
is that we move on, rebuild the
unity that the game enjoyed
before this and move forward
together.”
As it became clear Chelsea
and City were quitting the Su-
per League on Tuesday eve-
ning, Liverpool captain Jordan
Henderson and his teammates
posted a message advocating
staying within the open Euro-
pean competitions.
Liverpool, which is owned by
the Boston Red Sox investment
group, eventually issued a state-
ment thanking those inside and
outside the club for “valuable
contributions” before making
the decision to stick within ex-
isting structures.
Manchester United defender
Luke Shaw also went against his
club by tweeting his backing of
the existing Champions League
minutes before his club’s about-
turn.
“We have listened carefully
to the reaction from our fans,
the UK government and other
key stakeholders,” said the club
owned by the American Glazer
Frank Augstein/AP
Chelsea fans protest against the team’s decision to be included among
the clubs attempting to form a new European Super League before a
Premier League match between Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion
in London on Tuesday.
family and listed on the New
York Stock Exchange. “We re-
main committed to working
with others across the football
community to come up with
sustainable solutions to the
long-term challenges facing the
game.”
Just as the Glazers also own
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
Stan Kroenke has the NFL’s
Los Angeles Rams in his port-
folio along with Arsenal. It is
the closed models of American
sports that were believed to be
so appealing to the U.S. owners
by offering financial certainty.
But they were resisted by fans
of English clubs.
“It was never our intention
to cause such distress, how-
ever, when the invitation to join
the Super League came, while
knowing there were no guar-
antees, we did not want to be
left behind to ensure we pro-
tected Arsenal and its future,”
the north London club said. “As
a result of listening to you and
the wider football community
over recent days we are with-
drawing from the proposed Su-
per League. We made a mistake,
and we apologize for it.”