FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
B3
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • FrIday, May 7, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
NFL
Sherman could
return to Seattle
Richard Sherman re-
mains a free agent after
most NFL teams have
completed filling out their
rosters. The cornerback is
unsure where he’ll land in
the 2021 season.
Sherman hasn’t elim-
inated the possibility of
returning to the Seattle
Seahawks as he mulls his
options.
“I spend my entire off-
season in Seattle, that’s
where I live, that’s where
my family is. So, it’s never
out of the cards,” Sherman
said Wednesday on ESPN’s
“First Take” show.
Sherman, a fifth-round
pick (No. 154) by the Se-
ahawks in the 2011 NFL
draft, spent the first seven
years of his career with the
Seahawks. Sherman flour-
ished with the Seahawks,
earning First Team All-Pro
honors three times and
Pro Bowl nods four times.
He finished his time with
the Seahawks with 368
total tackles and 32 inter-
ceptions, the most picks
by any player during that
span.
The relationship ended
with a seemingly acri-
monious split in 2018,
following Sherman’s sea-
son-ending ruptured
Achilles tendon during
the 2017 season and the
team’s decision not to offer
a contract extension. Se-
ahawks’ general manager
John Schneider said last
week that, despite reports
to the contrary, the team
has maintained a positive
relationship with Sherman.
Sherman said he’s on
good terms with the team.
“There’s no bad blood
between them and I,” Sher-
man said Wednesday on
ESPN’s “First Take.” “It would
be a cool opportunity.”
Seahawks’ coach Pete
Carroll wouldn’t commit to
signing Sherman. Carroll
said last week he wants to
get a look at the new addi-
tions in the secondary be-
fore moving forward with
a possible Sherman return.
PREP BOYS TENNIS | REDMOND PANTHERS
Continuing dominance
Redmond’s Yoshi Saito returns a serve while playing a singles match against Ridgeview’s Walter Gates at Sam Johnson Park in Redmond on Wednesday.
With no state tournament to look toward,
Redmond still enjoying an undefeated season
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
R
—The Oregonian
OLYMPICS
Companies donate
vaccines for Games
Vaccine developers
Pfizer and BioNTech will
donate doses to inocu-
late athletes and officials
preparing for the Tokyo
Olympics, the IOC said
Thursday.
Delivery of doses is set
to begin this month to
give Olympic delegations
time to be fully vaccinated
with a second shot before
arriving in Tokyo for the
games, which open on
July 23.
It’s the second major
vaccination deal for the In-
ternational Olympic Com-
mittee. An agreement was
announced in March be-
tween the IOC and Olym-
pic officials in China to buy
and distribute Chinese
vaccines ahead of the To-
kyo Games and next year’s
Beijing Winter Games.
The new Pfizer offer
gives the IOC greater cov-
erage worldwide ahead of
Tokyo with most countries
yet to authorize emer-
gency use of Chinese vac-
cines.
“We are inviting the
athletes and participat-
ing delegations of the
upcoming Olympic and
Paralympic Games to lead
by example and accept
the vaccine where and
when possible,” IOC Presi-
dent Thomas Bach said in
a statement.
The Pfizer donation fol-
lowed talks between the
firm’s chairman and CEO,
Albert Bourla, and Japa-
nese Prime Minister Yoshi-
hide Suga.
—Associated Press
Photos by Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Redmond’s Skyler Jones returns a shot against Ridgeview’s Austin Allen
at Sam Johnson Park in Redmond on Wednesday.
EDMOND — Not long
ago, the Redmond boys
tennis team was eyeing
a run that could have re-
sulted in multiple state titles.
After capturing the Class 5A
state team title in 2019, coach
Nathan Saito saw 2020 as a year
the squad could have repeated as
champions, and 2021 as a year his
team would be seeking a three-
peat.
The COVID-19 pandemic put
an end to that possible string of
state titles. However, winning the
state championship, let alone re-
peating, is not what the program
has been about.
“We don’t really have goals like
that. One of our mottos is to go out
and play every match to win,” Saito
said. “Just go out and play hard.
That takes a little pressure off. It is
a good group of kids. I say this be-
fore every match: the goal is to play
good tennis and have good sports-
manship, and that is what they do.”
That formula has continued to
work after the 2020 season was
canceled and no state tournament
is scheduled this spring after a
short six-week season. With two
matches remaining in the season
and a district tournament on the
horizon, the Panthers have yet to
lose a match as a team. Their most
recent win came Wednesday in a
7-1 victory over Ridgeview at Sam
Johnson Park in Redmond.
See Tennis / B4
TOKYO GAMES
MLB | COMMENTARY
Anti-Olympic petition gains
tens of thousands of signatures
No-hitter was
painful, but M’s
must keep focus
BY YURI KAGEYAMA
AND STEPHEN WADE
Associated Press
TOKYO — An online petition
calling for the Tokyo Olympics
to be canceled has gained tens of
thousands of signatures since being
launched in Japan only days ago.
The rollout of the petition comes
with Tokyo, Osaka and several
other areas under a state of emer-
gency with coronavirus infections
rising — particularly new variants.
The state of emergency is to expire
on May 11, but some reports in Ja-
pan say it is likely to be extended.
The postponed Olympics are to
open in just under three months on
July 23.
The petition is addressed to In-
ternational Olympic Committee
President Thomas Bach, who has
tentative plans to visit Japan later
this month. He is expected to meet
the Olympic torch relay on May
17 in Hiroshima, and perhaps
also travel to Tokyo where small
anti-Olympic are protests being
planned.
Although 70-80% of Japanese
citizens in polls say they want the
Olympics canceled or postponed,
there is no indication this will
BY MATT CALKINS
The Seattle Times
S
held in the middle of a pandemic.
Several test events have been con-
ducted in the last few days, and orga-
nizers have reported few problems.
The Olympic torch relay has been
crisscrossing Japan for a month.
Organizers say that eight people
working on the relay have tested
positive for the virus.
o what comes with the bigger asterisk?
Throwing a no-hitter in a seven-in-
ning game, as Giants pitcher Madison
Bumgarner did last month? Or doing it over
nine innings vs. the 2021 Mariners, as the
Orioles’ John Means did Wednesday after-
noon?
No doubt each was a marvelous achieve-
ment, and the mobbing Means received af-
ter the 27th out was well-deserved. But for
the average M’s fan who’s been watching this
team flail at the plate through 32 games, this
almost seemed, dare I say ... inevitable?
OK, maybe that’s a little strong. But the
zero hits in Wednesday’s 6-0 loss to Bal-
timore couldn’t have been shocking. The
Mariners are hitting .201 this season, which
was the second-worst batting average in
MLB by game’s end (the Tigers, who played
the Red Sox on Wednesday night, began the
day hitting .199).
This isn’t a byproduct of bad health like
it may have been in recent seasons. Mitch
Haniger, the team’s OPS leader (.834) has
played all but two games. Kyle Seager, who’s
second on the team in OPS (.764), has
played in every game. Ty France, who’s third
in OPS (.746) has also played in every con-
test.
See Olympics / B4
See Calkins / B4
Hiro Komae/AP file
A “No Olympics” banner is placed by protesters in Tokyo on March 25 during a
demonstration against the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
happen. Japanese Prime Minis-
ter Yoshihide Suga, Tokyo orga-
nizing committee president Seiko
Hashimoto, and Bach have repeat-
edly said the games will go on as
scheduled.
Organizers and the IOC unveiled
so-called Playbooks last week, ex-
plaining rules for athletes and others
to show how the Olympics can be