FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
S PORTS
A5
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THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2021
SNOW SPORTS
Ski swap set for
Oct. 8-9 in Bend
The annual Mt. Bache-
lor Sports Education Foun-
dation Skyliners Ski Swap
is scheduled for Oct. 8-9 at
The Pavilion in Bend, 1001
S.W. Bradbury Way.
For those with items to
sell, online gear registra-
tion is open now through
Oct. 4 at mbsefskiswap.
com. They can check their
gear in on Oct. 7 from
8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at The Pa-
vilion.
The public sale will be
held Oct. 8 from 1:30 to
7 p.m. and Oct. 9 from
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Face cov-
erings are required for
everyone. Unsold gear
pick-up will be Oct. 10
from 9 a.m. to noon.
If consignors do not
pick up gear by noon on
Oct. 10, it will be donated
to nonprofits.
Only people that reg-
ister their items online
by Oct. 4 will be able to
check gear in.
The Skyliners Ski Swap
is billed as the premier
swap of the Northwest.
Retailers outfit the swap
with below wholesale
pricing on new skis, snow-
boards, boots, bindings,
poles, goggles, hats, jack-
ets, etc.
MBSEF will take a 25%
commission on all sales.
All proceeds benefit MB-
SEF’s junior skiing and
snowboarding programs.
MBSEF is a nonprofit
organization that “creates
opportunities though
competitive snow sports
programs to support
athletes in achieving
their individual athletic,
academic and personal
goals.”
For more information,
email molly@mbsef.org or
call 541-388-0002.
bendbulletin.com/sports
PREP HIGHLIGHTS
Sisters, Bend volleyball on a tear
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
Sisters volleyball continues
to make statements in the first
month of the season. Most re-
cently the Outlaws won the
Sisters Tournament over the
weekend, with the notable win
coming in the championship
round against Valley Catholic.
In what could very well be a
preview of the 4A state volley-
ball championship match —
Valley Catholic and Sisters were
No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in
the most recent coaches polls
— the Outlaws swept the Val-
iants in two sets, 25-19, 25-14.
During the tournament Sisters
beat Burns, which will likely be
in contention for the 3A state
title, in the semifinals.
Bend High also won a volley-
ball tournament over the week-
end, taking home the Rogue
Valley Classic title. The Lava
Bears took down Crook County
and South Medford, then beat
Mountain Valley Conference
foe McNary in the champion-
ship match. It marked the second
time in four days that Bend beat
McNary. In 26 sets this year, the
Lava Bears have won 25 of them.
See Preps / A7
RYDER CUP | COMMENTARY
No Tiger, no Phil;
but a U.S. win?
—Bulletin staff report
MOUNTAIN
BIKING
100K and 40-mile
races on Saturday
The Ring of Fire 100-ki-
lometer and 40-mile
mountain bike races are
scheduled for trails west
of Bend on Saturday.
As of Monday, spots
remained for both races,
which start and finish at
Wanoga Sno-park. Start
time is 9 a.m. for the 100K
(60 miles) and 9:10 a.m.
for the 40-miler.
Registration is available
at mudslingerevents.com.
Entry fees range from
$100 to $175, depending
on race and category.
Space is limited to 250
participants overall be-
tween the two races.
According to the race
website, the event’s name
refers to the volcanoes of
the Cascade Range, part
of a 25,000-mile volcanic
area around the Pacific
Ocean Basin called the
Ring of Fire.
The courses feature
two loops of singletrack
trails. The East Loop is in
the Wanoga trail system
south of Century Drive
and includes the Dinah-
Moe-Humm, Tyler’s Tra-
verse and Tiddlywinks
trails. The West Loop
circles Tumalo Moun-
tain and includes the
Swampy-Dutchman and
Flagline trails.
The courses will have
two aid stations. Moun-
tain bikers in the 100K
race who do not reach
the second aid station by
3 p.m. will be moved to
the 40-mile race.
Categories include
open men and women,
masters men and women,
singlespeed, juniors and
clydesdale.
For more information
or to register, visit www.
mudslingerevents.com/
ring-of-fire.
—Bulletin staff report
Tiger Woods, left, and Phil Mickelson share a laugh while playing a practice round for the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta,
Georgia, in 2018. Curtis Compton/AP file
BY TIM DAHLBERG
AP Sports Columnist
T
iger Woods won’t be at Whistling Straits
this week, for obvious reasons. Phil
Mickelson will, but for the first time
since 1995, he won’t hit a shot in the Ryder Cup.
The storyline in the Ryder Cup hasn’t
changed, but the marquee players have — at
least when it comes to the beleaguered U.S.
team. Woods is still mending from a car ac-
cident, while Mickelson will end a streak of
12 straight Ryder Cups as a player to be a
non-playing assistant captain for a team tasked
with wrestling the cup back from Europe.
That may prove a bit of a disappointment
for the tens of thousands who will swarm the
rugged course on the edge of Lake Michigan to
scream for the home team. The mere sight of
Woods or Mickelson near a tee box is usually
cause for wild celebration, especially as the day
grows long and the alcohol flows.
Look a little closer, though, and it may not
be such a bad thing for a U.S. team trying des-
perately to regain the cup on home soil. Be-
cause as talented as Woods and Mickelson are,
they’ve been — for the most part — flops when
it comes to the Ryder Cup.
No, they’re not entirely responsible for the
Americans losing nine of the last 12 Ryder
Cups and four of the last five. But as the leaders
of many of those teams, they didn’t contribute
much to them, either.
See Ryder Cup / A7
PAC-12 FOOTBALL
With Pac-12 play ahead, are No. 3 Ducks good or great?
BY JAMES CREPEA
The Oregonian
Serena Morones/ for The Oregonian
Oregon Ducks’ Travis Dye runs against the Stony Brook Seawolves in a
nonconference game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene on Saturday.
EUGENE — Oregon pulled
away from Stony Brook for
what anyone who didn’t watch
Saturday’s game will believe
was a lopsided showcase.
Except, of course, it wasn’t in
the first half. The Ducks scored
on their first three possessions.
They also had two intercep-
tions and forced two punts on
Stony Brook’s five drives before
halftime.
But Oregon held only a 17-7
halftime lead, and the lowly
Seawolves were able to gain
4.3 yards per carry and sustain
a 75-yard touchdown drive
thanks to a fourth-down con-
version before Verone McKin-
ley III’s second interception.
Stony Brook also dropped
Anthony Brown Jr. on back-
to-back sacks to end the half
that left the announced crowd
of 42,782 anxious. At least two
bus loads of fans headed for
the exits of Autzen Stadium af-
ter the lackluster display of the
first 30 minutes.
“Below average,” Oregon
coach Mario Cristobal said of
the play on the line of scrim-
mage. “I thought there were
moments we were playing well
and then in the second half I
thought we really picked it up.
But not up to the standard, I
think we know that. Oppo-
nents change but the standards
don’t, that’s the bottom line.
“I thought the effort was
good. I didn’t see a lapse in ef-
fort. I didn’t see anything but
guys being dialed in and being
intense in terms of their ap-
proach, in the huddle during
timeouts. They were locked in.
We all got a little bit frustrated
but just kept going. We didn’t
talk about we should’ve done
this, or we should’ve scored
there or should’ve had a bet-
ter play. Just kept talking about
this play right now, the next
play, do it as best we can. And
we’re learning. It was good us
being able to turn that mental-
ity into one that goes forward
when things weren’t going so
well.”
See Ducks / A7