INSIDE: COMICS, OPINIONS & CLASSIFIEDS
B
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • SaTUrday, JULy 24, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
GOLF
Lee6 ties majors
record with 61
EVIAN-LES-BAINS,
France — Jeongeun Lee6
tied the golf majors re-
cord for the lowest round
ever when she carded a
10-under-par 61 at the
Evian Championship on
Friday.
Her bogey-free second
round equaled country-
woman Hyo Joo Kim, who
shot the lowest score by a
female or male in a major
in the first round in 2014
also at the picturesque
Evian Resort on the shore
of Lake Geneva.
Lee6’s 36-hole score
of 127 was also the low-
est total in a women’s or
men’s major, beating the
128 by Brooks Koepka at
the 2019 U.S. PGA Cham-
pionship.
After her 10 birdies in
the second round, Lee6
led at 15 under, three
shots clear of Thai players
Pajaree Anannarukarn —
the co-overnight leader
— and Ariya Jutanugarn,
who shot an 8-under 63.
“I had a lot of birdie
chances,” Lee6 said. “I
could play easily. My
putting was really, really
good.”
She made four straight
birdies on holes 6-9, in-
cluding a chip from the
greenside rough on the
par-3 8th.
Pajaree shared the
overnight lead with
American teenager
Yealimi Noh, who posted
a 3-under 68 and was
tied with Lydia Ko (65) of
New Zealand in fourth at
9 under.
New world No. 1 Nelly
Korda recovered from her
3-over 74 on Thursday to
post a 4-under 67 and join
defending champion Jin
Young Ko at 1 under.
— Associated Press
Local football
Parker Lapsley finds home with Storm
Former Crook County
High running back helps
lead High Desert Storm
into the playoffs
BY BRIAN RATHBONE • The Bulletin
R
EDMOND — Parker
Lapsley was headed to
Pasco, Washington, to
play arena football for the Tri-
City Rush of the America West
Football Conference — then a
couple of weeks after signing he
received some welcoming news
regarding his football career that
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
would keep him closer to home.
Oregon High Desert Storm’s Parker Lapsley catches a pass while running plays with his teammates during practice on Thursday.
A new team in the same conference
would be starting up in the same area
where he grew up. In February, the
2016 Crook County High grad tried
out for and made the Oregon High
Desert Storm squad as a running
back.
“It is an amazing experience,” Laps-
ley said. “I was ready to figure out
life in Washington but this is where I
live. I got my friends, family and girl-
friend here. So I came and tried out
for the team and played my heart out
for them.”
As the Storm (6-3 overall) have al-
ready earned a playoff berth with two
games left in the regular season, Laps-
“It is an amazing experience. I was ready to figure out life in Washington
but this is where I live. I got my friends, family and girlfriend here. So I
came and tried out for the team and played my heart out for them.”
— Parker Lapsley, Oregon High Desert Storm football player
ley has emerged as a weapon for the
Storm offense, averaging more than
five yards per carry with 12 touch-
downs.
“He has a unique running style,”
said Storm coach Keith Evans. “He
has good speed. As fast as he runs, it
doesn’t look like he is running very
fast. He is a sprinter so it looks differ-
ent when he runs.”
A talented athlete during his time
competing for the Cowboys, Laps-
ley went on to play football and run
track for the College of the Siskiyous
in Weed, California. But when he en-
tered the professional ranks with a
whole new style of football amid play-
ers with more experience, he had to
wait a couple of games to make an im-
pact on the field.
“This was my first year in the arena
league so I was just hoping to make
the team and support them anyway
that I could, no matter what role that
would be,” Lapsley said. “I’m glad I
have gotten the opportunity to play,
and have been patient with it.”
Lapsley and the rest of the Storm
will play what could be their final
home game of the season 7 p.m. Sat-
urday at First Interstate Bank Center
in Redmond when they host fellow
playoff team and reigning AWFC
champions the Idaho Horsemen.
See Football / B2
NFL
80% of players in
vaccination process
The number of NFL
players in the COVID-19
vaccination process has
reached 80%, with nine
teams having 90% or
more of their players in
that category.
Dr. Allen Sills, the
league’s medical director,
said Friday that nearly
all Tier 1 and Tier 2 team
employees — those who
deal directly with players
— have been vaccinated.
Five teams are at less than
70% of players who have
either received one vacci-
nation shot or both.
“I think we are off to
an excellent start,” Sills
said. “Those numbers are
much higher than what
we’re seeing in society as
a whole. ”
On Thursday, NFL
Commissioner Roger
Goodell sent a memo to
the 32 teams warning
that forfeited regular-sea-
son games could occur
for a COVID-19 outbreak
caused by nonvaccinated
players.
Minnesota has an assis-
tant, Rick Dennison, who is
not vaccinated. After ESPN
reported that Dennison
has been ousted from his
role as offensive line coach
and run game coordina-
tor, the Vikings released a
statement confirming they
were in discussions with
him regarding league pro-
tocols for training camp
and preseason games. As
of Friday afternoon, Den-
nison remained a team
employee.
“At this time, coach
Dennison does not have
an exemption to the vac-
cination requirements of
those protocols. We will
adhere to the require-
ments of the protocols
and of applicable law,” the
Vikings said.
— Associated Press
TOKYO OLYMPICS
MLB
Cleveland goes from Indians to Guardians
BY TOM WITHERS
Associated Press
David J. Phillip/AP
Naomi Osaka lights the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony in
the Olympic Stadium at the Summer Olympics Friday in Tokyo.
‘The greatest honor’:
Osaka lights cauldron
BY ANDREW DAMPF
Associated Press
TOKYO — What a moment
for Naomi Osaka. For the new
Japan. For racial injustice. For
female athletes. For tennis.
The four-time Grand Slam
winner lit the cauldron at the
opening ceremony of the To-
kyo Olympics on Friday.
It was a choice that could
be appreciated worldwide: In
Japan, of course, the country
where Osaka was born and the
nation that she plays for; in
embattled Haiti because that’s
where her father is from; and
surely in the United States, be-
cause that’s where the globe’s
highest-earning female athlete
lives and where she has been
outspoken about racial injus-
tice.
Plus, everywhere in between,
because Osaka is a superstar.
But she has often received
an uncomfortable welcome
in Japan because of her race,
with her family having moved
to the U.S. when she was 3.
Her emergence as a top tennis
player has challenged public
attitudes about identity in a ho-
mogeneous culture that is be-
ing pushed to change.
It’s always a mystery until
the last moment who gets the
honor of lighting the cauldron.
Sadaharu Oh, Shigeo Na-
gashima and Hideki Matsui
were among the baseball greats
who took part in bringing the
flame into the stadium. And
in a country where baseball
is the No. 1 sport, Osaka was
not necessarily expected to be
given the ultimate honor.
See Olympics / B3
CLEVELAND — Known
as the Indians since 1915,
Cleveland’s Major League
Baseball team will be called
Guardians.
The ballclub announced
the name change Friday — ef-
fective at the end of the 2021
season — with a video on
Twitter narrated by actor and
team fan Tom Hanks. The de-
cision ends months of inter-
nal discussions triggered by a
national reckoning by institu-
tions and teams to drop logos
and names considered racist.
The choice of Guardians
will undoubtedly be criticized
by many of the club’s die-hard
fans, some of whom quickly
went on social media to vent.
The organization spent
most of the past year whittling
down a list of potential names
that was at nearly 1,200 just
over a month ago. But the
process, which the club said
included 140 hours of inter-
views with fans, community
leaders, front office personnel
and a survey of 40,000 fans.
Owner Paul Dolan said
last summer’s social unrest,
touched off by the killing of
George Floyd in Minneapo-
lis, spurred his intention to
change the name.
Dolan was expected to
provide more details on the
choice and background on the
change at a news conference
at Progressive Field before the
Indians host the Tampa Bay
Rays.
Dolan said the new name
mirrors the city and its people.
“Cleveland has and always
will be the most important
part of our identity,” he said
in a statement. “Therefore, we
Tony Dejak/AP file
Cleveland Indians’ Triston McKenzie pitches against the Kansas City
Royals on July 9 in Cleveland.
wanted a name that strongly
represents the pride, resiliency
and loyalty of Clevelanders.
‘Guardians’ reflects those at-
tributes that define us.”
“It brings to life the pride
Clevelanders take in our city
and the way we fight together
for all who choose to be part
of the Cleveland baseball
family. While ‘Indians’ will al-
ways be a part of our history,
our new name will help unify
our fans and city as we are all
Cleveland Guardians.”
The change comes as the
Washington Football Team
continues to work toward a
similar makeover. The fran-
chise dropped its Redskins
name before the 2020 season.
Washington recently said it
will reveal a new name and
logo in 2022.
Cleveland’s new name was
inspired by two large land-
mark stone edifices near the
downtown ballpark — re-
ferred to as traffic guardians
— on the Hope Memorial
Bridge over the Cuyahoga
River.
The team’s colors will re-
main the same, and the new
Guardians’ new logos will in-
corporate some of the archi-
tectural features of the bridge.
In 2018, the Indians
stopped wearing the conten-
tious Chief Wahoo logo on
their jerseys and caps.
However, the team contin-
ues to sell merchandise bear-
ing the smiling, red-faced car-
icature that was protested for
decades by Native American
groups.
Numerous Native Amer-
ican groups have protested
Cleveland’s use of the Wahoo
logo and Indians name for
years, so the latest develop-
ment brought some comfort.
“It is a major step towards
righting the wrongs com-
mitted against Native peo-
ples, and is one step towards
justice,” said Crystal Echo
Hawk, executive director and
founder of IllumiNative, a
group dedicated to fighting
misrepresentations of Native
Americans.
See MLB / B2