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ByCarlosRodriguez TheAssociatedPress MEXICO CITY The Mexican me- dia executive suspected of steal- ing Tom Brady's jersey went to the Super Bowl as a working jour- nalist but spent the week collect- ing selfies and autographs from football greats and boasting to colleagues that he was there as a fan. Mexican journalists who were in Houston for the game and in- teracted with Martin Mauricio Ortega, former director of the tabloid La Prensa, told The Asso- ciated Press that he brought mul- tiple NFL memorabilia items, in- cluding a Kurt Warner jersey he hoped to sell to the former quar- terback for thousands of dollars. "When I met him he was carry- ing a football helmet and he was bragging about having the signa- tures of former Super Bowl MVPs, and he was a little disappointed that Marshall Faulk refused to sign it," said Ariel Velazquez, who covered the game for the Mexican daily El Universal. "He also said that he was not there to work: 'There are people here to do that."' Brady's jersey went missing from the Patriots' locker room af- ter the game, and set off an inves- tigation that stretched from Bos- ton to the border. Working with U.S. investigators, Mexican au- thorities obtained a search war- rant and recovered the jersey March 12. BRADY JERSEY CASE MANTRIEDTOGET SB MEMORABILIA Accused Mexican media executive pretends to be a fan, seeking selfies and autographed THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Tom Brady's Super Bowl LI jersey a er it was recovered by authorities in Mexico City. Brady's jersey went missing from the locker room a er the game. KATHY WILLENS – THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Brady's missing jersey from the Super Bowl has been found in the possession of a member of the international media. By Michael Marot The Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS Rick Pitino watched in amazement as the Michigan Wolverines made 11 sec- ond-half 3-pointers, many from well beyond the arc. The first comparison that came to mind was the Golden State Warriors. "The amazing thing to me is you look at the size of the players that Michigan has, and they shoot it like backcourt players. That's what's really coming on," Pitino said last weekend in Indianapolis, where the Cardinals were elimi- nated by Michigan. "I made a con- centrated effort this past year in our recruiting to recruit bigs who could shoot because we don't have bigs who can shoot now." Pitino can find the NBA's in- fluence on just about any college game. The shot clock has been short- ened, the 3-pointer has been embraced and everyone from 5-foot-6 Keon Johnson of Win- throp to 6-foot-10 Moe Wagner of Michigan seems comfortable shooting from long range. Scoring is up, defenses are being stretched thin and coaches are trying to adapt to change by recruiting bigger, better shooters and fewer true centers. College basketball has its own version of small ball going these days. The Wolverines are not small by any means, but all five start- ers and each of their top six scor- ers are capable 3-point shooters. Disbelievers can rewind Fri- day's 92-91, first-round victory over Oklahoma State, the game that caught Pitino's attention. The Cardinals did a solid job in Sunday's second-round game giv- ing up only six 3s, though Wag- ner's deep shot helped send Michi- gan to the Sweet 16 for Thursday's Midwest Regional showdown against Oregon. Style is only part of the ongo- ing change. Two years ago, the NCAA ap- proved a 30-second shot clock and followed the NBA's lead by using timeouts called within close prox- imity of a media timeout as the scheduled stop. It also stripped a second-half timeout from teams. NCAA TOURNAMENT College basketball evolving into distinctively NBA game Staff Report PLYMOUTH Red Bluff's Cole Bunting finished second in team roping over the weekend at the Challenge of Champions high school rodeo competition in Plymouth. The event, sponsored by the California High School Rodeo Association, leads up to the state finals, to be held at Tehama Dis- trict Fairgrounds May 12-14. The Challenge of Champions was for the top three from each of the state's nine districts. Bunting and Bailey Small of Burney recorded a time of 18.87 seconds to finish second among the 27 duos entered in team rop- ing. They were a little more than three seconds behind the win- ners. They also tied for the best fin- ish among the north state's Dis- trict 1 competitors. Cauy Pool of Long Creek, Or- egon, also finished second. He participated in bareback riding. The next District 1 rodeo is scheduled for April 8-9 in Cot- tonwood. RODEO Red Bluff team roper places second Staff reports REDDING Red Bluff High School's Nathen Fregoso finished fifth in the Wolfpack Invitational hosted by Shasta High School on Monday at Gold Hills Golf Club. Fregoso shot a 6-over-par 78 for the strong finish among more than 100 individuals. Pleasant Valley High School se- nior Noah Norton won medalist honors with a 2-under 70. Vacav- ille won the team title, beating Pleasant Valley by four strokes. Red Bluff finished ninth among 16 teams with 464, 71 behind Va- caville. Corning only had two golfers entered but both finished near the top of the field. Jared Burre- son shot an 81 and Marc Lengtat carded an 82. GOLF Fregoso's 78 good for fi h in tourney CARLOS OSORIO —THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Bonds has joined the San Francisco Giants front office as a special adviser, the team announced on Tuesday. Bonds, who hit 762career home runs, was fired last fall as the hitting coach for the Marlins a er one season. By Janie McCauley The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Barry Bonds is back with the San Francisco Gi- ants, just as the club had hoped. Bonds, who spent a one-season stint as Miami's hitting coach last year before being fired, will serve as a special adviser to CEO Larry Baer. The home run king was sched- uled to help coach at spring train- ing beginning Wednesday in Scottsdale, Arizona. He will work with the minor league teams, something that had been in the works for a couple of months. General manager Bobby Evans mentioned it last month at Fan- Fest. "We are delighted to welcome Barry back home to the Giants," Baer said. "As one of the greatest players of all-time, Barry's contri- butions to our organization are legendary. He joins Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda and other distinguished alumni who help advise the club and we look forward to working with him again. " Now an avid cyclist at age 52, Bonds also will represent the or- ganization in the community and at various Giants events. "I am excited to be back home with the Giants and join the team in an official capacity," Bonds said. "San Francisco has always been my home and the Giants will al- ways be my family. I look forward to spending time with the team, young players in the system as well as the Bay Area community." Giants manager Bruce Bochy was glad to have Bonds. "He's been here before, so it's not something new to us. He'll be helping out just like all the other guest instructors that we have here. Right now, we have Will Clark, Rich Aurilia. We could put together a pretty good team here if we wanted, with an old Giant club here of all the guys that we have," Bochy said. GIANTS Bondsrejoinsasspecialadviser Home run champ was fired by Miami Marlins last fall a er one season SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, March 22, 2017 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1