EIGHT-PAGE PULLOUT
S PORTS
INSIDE » CELEBRATING
BASEBALL GREAT WILLIE MAYS’
FIRST HOME RUN 70 YEARS AGO, B6
THE BULLETIN • FrIday, May 28, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
PAC-12
FOOTBALL
Early TV schedule
announced
The Pac-12 released
the times and televi-
sion partners for the first
three weeks of its football
schedule on Thursday.
Oregon will open the 2021
season at home in the
morning, while Oregon
State starts on the road at
night under the lights.
The Ducks will kick
off their season on Sept.
4 against Fresno State
at 11 a.m. PT on Pac-12
Network, the league an-
nounced Thursday.
It’s the first of four
games to be played on
the conference network
on the first Saturday of
Week 1.
As announced last
week, Oregon plays at
Ohio State at 9 a.m. PT on
FOX on Sept. 11.
UO concludes noncon-
ference play against FCS
Stony Brook at 4:30 p.m.
on Sept. 18 also on Pac-12
Network.
Oregon’s Oct. 15 Fri-
day night game against
Cal will be at 7:30 p.m. on
ESPN.
Oregon State’s first two
2021 football games will
be played at night.
The Beavers kick off
the season Sept. 4 at Pur-
due at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m.
Pacific). FS1 will televise
the Purdue-OSU game in
West Lafayette, Indiana.
Oregon State’s Sept.
11 home opener at Reser
Stadium against Hawaii
has an 8 p.m. starting
time, and is also televised
by FS1.
The Beavers’ final
nonconference game,
Sept. 18 against Idaho at
Reser Stadium, kicks off
at 12:30 p.m. and will be
aired b the Pac-12 Net-
work.
B3
MOTOR SPORTS
Who’s
the
boss?
Simona de Silvestro is
among the women
leading the charge for
change at Indianapolis
Motor Speedway
Darron Cummings/AP
BY DAN GELSTON • Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS —
S
imona de Silvestro
was still in her helmet
when her race team
owner threw her arms around
the driver who had just qualified
for the Indianapolis 500 by the
narrowest of margins.
Simona de Silvestro, left, of Switzerland, talks with Beth Paretta after qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor
Speedway on Sunday in Indianapolis.
De Silvestro’s pony-tailed crew
members stopped by to congratulate
her, as did 2018 Indy 500 winner Will
Power. Surviving the make-or-break
seconds and breakneck speeds needed
to make the 33-car field is cause
enough for a celebration at Indy, espe-
cially after sweating out a 75-minute,
five-car shootout for one of the final
three spots in Sunday’s race.
For the Swiss driver, her predomi-
nantly female team and owner Beth Pa-
retta, leading an almost all-girls club to
the starting grid for “The Greatest Spec-
tacle in Racing,” is exactly that — a start.
The start of an idea that every po-
sition on an IndyCar race team can
be held by a woman. The start of a
true, conscientious push to form an
unbreakable pipeline that will lead
women to an Indy 500 championship
as a driver, owner or engineer. That
women can climb the IndyCar ladder
and reach the highest level of racing
— and take that traditional swig of
milk after a win in the biggest race of
the year.
“I feel like we climbed a mountain
together,” Paretta said.
Those peaks rise far beyond the
track. In the NBC truck, producer
Rene Hatlelid will set the scene for the
telecast and former IndyCar driver
Danica Patrick will reprise her role in
the studio. On race day, women help
run the show everywhere from public
relations to critical jobs on pit road.
Jimmie McMillian, the series’ chief
diversity officer, said IndyCar, India-
napolis Motor Speedway and IMS Pro-
ductions is comprised of about 35% to
40% women, with many in leadership
roles, such as the head of IndyCar’s le-
gal team, Gretchen Snelling.
See Motor Sports / B4
NBA PLAYOFFS
76ers, Knicks, Jazz issue bans after incidents
— The Oregonian
GOLF
Tiger Woods
discusses recovery
Recovering from the
February car crash that
left Tiger Woods hospital-
ized with a badly broken
leg has been “an entirely
different animal” com-
pared to his previous inju-
ries, the golf great said.
Woods takes part in
daily physical therapy
after suffering multiple
breaks to his right leg in
the high-speed, single-car
wreck in Rolling Hills Es-
tates, Calif., he told Golf
Digest in an interview out
Thursday, his first since
the crash.
“I understand more of
the rehab processes be-
cause of my past injuries,
but this was more painful
than anything I have ever
experienced,” Woods said.
Woods’ Genesis SUV
was going 84 to 87 miles
per hour in a 45 mph zone
on Feb. 23 when it struck
a raised median California
officials said last month
following an investiga-
tion.
Woods, 45, underwent
surgery on his right lower
leg and ankle after offi-
cials removed him from
the significantly damaged
vehicle.
“My physical therapy
has been keeping me
busy,” Woods told Golf
Digest in the report pub-
lished Thursday. “I do my
routines every day and
am focused on my No. 1
goal right now: walking
on my own. Taking it one
step at a time.”
He did not comment
when Golf Digest inquired
about his aspirations for
playing golf again.
Woods has won the
second-most major
championships in PGA
Tour history with 15,
which trails only the 18
won by Jack Nicklaus.
— New York Daily News
BY TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
The New York Knicks, Phil-
adelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz
banned a total of five fans from
their respective arenas and is-
sued apologies Thursday for
incidents during playoff games,
and the NBA said that rules
surrounding fan behavior will
be “vigorously enforced” going
forward.
All three incidents took
place during playoff games
Wednesday. The Knicks said
they banned a fan from Madi-
son Square Garden for spitting
on Atlanta guard Trae Young,
the 76ers banned a fan who
threw popcorn on Washington
guard Russell Westbrook, and
the Jazz said three of their fans
were banned indefinitely fol-
lowing a verbal altercation.
“We’re just living in a society
where people don’t have re-
spect anymore,” Hawks coach
Nate McMillan said Thursday.
“In no way should that be al-
lowed, or should that happen,
at a sporting event or really any
event. … I think New York did
what it should have done in
that situation. It’s uncalled for.”
The 76ers went even fur-
ther than the Knicks could,
because the fan involved in the
Westbrook incident was a sea-
son-ticket holder. Those tickets
have been revoked, and he was
banned from all events at their
arena.
None of the three teams re-
leased the names of the fans
who were involved. The Knicks
said they forwarded informa-
tion to authorities.
See NBA / B5
Matt Slocum/AP
Washington Wizards’ Russell Westbrook (4) is helped to the locker
room after an injury during Game 2 of a first-round playoff series
against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night in Philadelphia. As
he was passing through the tunnel toward the locker room, a fan in the
stands poured popcorn onto Westbrook.
NHL
Pandemic playoffs outside bubble off to thrilling start
BY STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Hockey Writer
Paul Maurice learned through al-
most 2,000 games behind an NHL
bench that scoring or giving up a goal
gives a team about five minutes to
maintain the momentum or stem the
tide — especially in the playoffs.
“The crowd is just buzzing,” Winni-
peg’s coach said. “It’s more true at this
time of year. Obviously the crowd’s full
and loud and they’ve lost their minds.”
On Wednesday night, 9,000 Island-
ers fans lost their minds when three
goals in three minutes turned the game
around and New York was on its way
to eliminating Pittsburgh and into the
second round. Coach Barry Trotz said
of the fans, “Without them, I don’t
know if we would’ve pulled this off.”
A pandemic postseason outside of
a bubble has created some thrilling
hockey after an exhausting, condensed
56-game grind. The familiarity of the
all divisional playoffs has meant 18 of
the first 40 playoff games have been de-
cided by a single goal, with 13 going to
overtime — sixth-most of any round
in NHL history through Wednesday’s
games.
Crowd sizes have varied, from empty
arenas in Canada to more than 10,000
fans across the U.S.
It has tilted the ice in the eight first-
round series and only added to the in-
tensity on the march to the Stanley Cup
Final.
Gerry Broome/AP
Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal (11) and Jesper Fast (71) struggle for the puck against
Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) while Predators’ Erik Haula (56), Tanner
Jeannot, center, and Ben Harpur (17) defend during the second period in Game 5 of a first-
round playoff series in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday night.
“You look at every single night and
whether it’s going into overtime or
they’re one-goal games, they’re all
pretty tight and good matchups,” Bos-
ton defenseman Mike Reilly said. “Su-
per fun to watch, and obviously the
pace of the game is as high as can be.”
While players in the North Divi-
sion gaze with envy from across the
border at arenas anywhere from 25%
to almost 75% full, the 12 U.S. playoff
teams certainly are making the most of
this postseason after the silent, empty
bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton last
summer.
“Maybe the level was a little off com-
pared to normal circumstances, and
now we’re getting closer to normalcy,”
said retired goaltender Brian Boucher,
who is working during the playoffs for
NBC Sports. “In some buildings there’s
significant crowds. I think players get
jacked up to play in front of fans. I
think maybe that’s why we’re seeing the
game taken to another level.”
Colorado coach Jared Bednar, whose
team swept St. Louis in the first round,
also noted that momentum carried
over from the regular season, a far cry
form the four-plus months off in 2020.
The fans add another layer of energy.
“It’s a little bit of a powder keg be-
cause we haven’t had it for a long time
and once you get it, man, you can get to
another level,” said Maurice, whose Jets
advanced by sweeping Edmonton. “It’s
really about the quality of the player
that you have and the emotional level
that you can get to, and having fans in
the building really makes a big differ-
ence.”
Morgan Rielly said he and his To-
ronto teammates have gotten so accus-
tomed to playing in empty arenas that
they don’t talk about it anymore. It’s
just “reality” to them.
Boucher believes the fans have
played a role in momentum shifts all
playoffs.
“When you’re on the road and you
haven’t faced the crowd in a year and
all of a sudden the game starts slipping
out of your hands and you’re trying to
get it back, things can happen at 1,000
mph,” Boucher said. “For a player, if
you haven’t been in that environment
for a while, it takes some getting used
to again.”
See NHL / B5