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2B Daily News ��� Thursday, January 3, 2013 Fiesta Bowl gets what could have GOLF been national championship matchup Pettersson: Golf SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) ��� Kansas State and Oregon were in perfect position at the start of Nov. 17, Nos. 1 and 2 in the BCS standings, seemingly on a crash course toward the national championship game. By day���s end, the Wildcats had been run over by Baylor, the Ducks lost a heartbreaker to Stanford and both of their national title hopes were all but gone. Disappointing? Certainly. Every team goes into the season hoping to play for a national championship and to have it snatched away so late in the season is unquestionably a letdown. Unlike many teams in college football, Kansas State and Oregon ended up with a nice consolation prize: A trip to the Valley of the Sun to face each in the Fiesta Bowl. ������This game could have been for the national championship,������ Oregon line- KINGS (Continued from page 1B) Kyrie Irving���s two free throws gave Cleveland a 9089 lead with 1:12 remaining. As the Kings worked for a shot the Cavaliers doubleteamed Cousins, who found Salmons open in the right corner. ������John couldn���t really find his game tonight, but he made a big shot when we needed it at the end,������ Smart said. ������DeMarcus did a nice job of finding him when the Cavs came at him.������ ������I feel like when this team shares the basketball, we���re hard to beat,������ Cousins said. ������That���s my reason for doing it. I want to win games.������ Irving scored 22 points to lead Cleveland, which has backer Boseko Lokombo said. ������A couple weeks ago, that���s where we were both headed.������ They���re headed to the desert instead, setting up one of the most anticipated games this bowl season. A year ago, the Fiesta Bowl hit it big with Oklahoma State and Stanford, two high-profile programs that didn���t disappoint, putting on an offensive show won by the Cowboys 41-38 in overtime. This year���s game, tonight at University of Phoenix Stadium, has the potential to be even better. Oregon (11-1) is in its fourth straight BCS bowl game under coach Chip Kelly, following a trip to the 2011 BCS championship game and two Rose Bowls, including the program���s first win in the Granddaddy of Them All in 95 years last season. The Ducks fly fast, overwhelming lost nine of 11 and is 3-11 at Quicken Loans Arena, where it has dropped five straight. After Salmons��� crucial basket, Irving committed a turnover that led to Aaron Brooks��� layup for a 94-90 lead. ������It���s just a learning process,������ Irving said. ������We did a great job of competing in the fourth quarter and getting stops when we needed to, but one mistake by myself when I slip in the middle of the lane, it���s a turnover. ... That���s the game.������ Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao, the league���s leading rebounder, missed his seventh straight game with a bruised right knee. Cousins, who had 16 rebounds, sparked a dominant frontcourt performance by Sacramento, which outscored Cleveland 52-36 in the paint. opponents with where-did-they-allcome-from speed, their touchdown drives measured not in minutes but seconds. Oregon has one of the nation���s most explosive running back tandems in Kenjon Barner and DeAnthony Thomas, threats to score on every touch, and redshirt freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota played well beyond his years while proving to be a dynamic force in his own right. The Ducks were second nationally with 50.83 points and 323.25 yards rushing per game and fourth in total offense at 550.08. ������Basically, only one team stopped them the entire year and that was Stanford,������ Kansas State defensive coordinator Tom Hayes said. ������It���s a challenge. We need to meet the challenge if we have any wishes for a victory.������ Cleveland coach Byron Scott was displeased with his team���s effort in the third quarter, which saw the Cavaliers go from a one-point halftime lead to a 10-point deficit. ������We can���t take a play off,������ Scott said. ������We can���t take a quarter off. We just can���t do that right now and our guys have to understand that.������ Irving hit a shot in the lane with 12.3 seconds left, cutting the lead to 94-92. Jimmer Fredette���s two free throws with 8.9 seconds remaining made it a fourpoint game. Dion Waiters��� basket cut the lead to two. Brooks split two free throws with two seconds remaining. Irving fired a desperation shot from beyond halfcourt that hit off the rim at the buzzer, but the officials ruled the shot would not have counted. Francisco Garcia scored 14 points and Brooks added 13 for Sacramento. Waiters scored 20 points for Cleveland while Alonzo Gee added 16. C.J. Miles scored all 12 of his points in the first quarter. Evans, who has missed 13 games because of a sore left knee, will rejoin the team Friday in Toronto. The Kings said Wednesday that a second opinion Evans got on his bothersome knee from Dr. Steve Lombardo in Los Angeles supported the team���s treatment and rehabilitation plan. Miles, starting at shooting guard in place of Waiters, cooled off after his hot start. Waiters, taken with the No. 4 pick in the draft, had started in all 24 of his previous appearances. NBA Son of Clippers owner found dead LOS ANGELES (AP) ��� The son of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was found dead of an apparent drug overdose at his Malibu home, authorities said Wednesday. The body of Scott Ashley Sterling, 32, was found shortly after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Los Angeles County coroner���s Lt. Larry Dietz said. The death cast a pall on what has been a joyous season for the Clippers, normally an NBA doormat but now among the league���s best teams. The team is in first place in its division and had a franchise-record 17-game winning streak that was snapped Tuesday. Sterling, 77, a billionaire real estate mogul who purchased the team in 1981, and wife Shelley released a statement thanking friends for sympathy, asking for privacy and saying their son was diabetic, but did not indicate what role, if any, that may have played in his death. ������Our son Scott has fought a long and valiant battle against Type 1 Diabetes,������ the statement said. ������His death is a terrible tragedy, the effects of which will be felt forever by our family and all those who knew and loved him.������ The death at a beachfront apartment building on Pacific Coast Highway was discovered after a friend of Scott Sterling called police after not hearing from him for several days, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff ���s Department. Deputies found the body and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. ������Sheriff���s homicide and Los Angeles County coroner���s personnel at this time believe that Sterling died of an apparent drug overdose,������ the statement said. Dietz said the death appeared to be accidental, but an autopsy was planned to determine the exact cause of death. In 1999, the then-19-year-old Sterling was arrested for shooting his friend with a shotgun. Beverly Hills police said Philip Scheid was shot in the legs during an argument at Donald Sterling���s mansion. Scheid said he was shot from behind while running away. Sterling said he fired in self-defense after Scheid approached him with a knife. The county district attorney���s office declined to file criminal charges, citing credibility problems with the victim. NFL Ravens��� Lewis to retire after playoffs OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) ��� Ray Lewis spent 17 seasons deftly patrolling the middle of the football field and serving as an inspirational leader for the Baltimore Ravens. Now he���s poised and eager to become a full-time dad. Lewis announced Wednesday that he will end his brilliant NFL career after the Ravens complete their 2013 playoff run. Lewis has been sidelined since Oct. 14 with a torn right triceps. The 13time Pro Bowl middle linebacker intends to return Sunday to face the Indianapolis Colts in what will almost certainly be his final home game. ������Everything that starts has an end,������ Lewis said. ������For me, today, I told my team that this will be my last ride.������ Lewis will walk away from the game because he wants to spend more time with his sons. While working to return from his injury, Lewis watched two of his boys play on the same high school football team. He intends to see Ray Lewis III perform as a freshman next year for the University of Miami, where the elder Lewis starred before the Ravens selected him in the first round of the 1996 NFL draft. ������God is calling,������ the 37-year-old Lewis said. ������My children have made the ultimate sacrifice for their father for 17 years. I don���t want to see them do that no more. I���ve done what I wanted to do in this business, and now it���s my turn to give them something back.������ That���s why Lewis will pull off his No. 52 uniform for the last time after the Ravens lose or claim their second Super Bowl title. ������It���s either (that or) hold onto the game and keep playing and let my kids miss out on times we can be spending together,������ Lewis said. ������Because I always promised my son if he got a full ride on scholarship Daddy is going to be there. I can���t miss that.������ Lewis was the AP Defensive Player of the Year in 2000, when Baltimore won the Super Bowl title, and in 2003. ������I never played the game for individual stats. I only played the game to make my team a better team,������ he said. The news of his decision quickly resounded around the rest of the NFL. Colts coach Chuck Pagano, who served as Lewis��� defensive coordinator last year, said, ������I thought, shoot, the guy could play forever and would play forever. Great person, great man, great player, just an unbelievable human being ��� what he���s done for that organization, that city and for that matter, so many people. He���s obviously a firstballot Hall of Famer and will be sorely missed.������ Lewis is the key figure in a Baltimore defense that has long carried a reputation for being fierce, unyielding and downright nasty. He led the Ravens in tackles in 14 of his 17 seasons, the exceptions being those years in which he missed significant time with injuries (2002, 2005, 2012). ������It was definitely an honor just to be in his presence, but to play with him and to be in front of him is amazing,������ Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata said. ������I know we���ll definitely miss him.������ When Lewis tore his triceps in a game against the Dallas Cowboys, it was feared he was done for the season. But he would have none of that. ������From the time I got hurt, everything I���ve done up to this point has been to get back with my team to make another run at the Lombardi (Trophy),������ he said. Well, not everything. Lewis spent time watching his boys play football, which caused him to call his experience on the sideline ������bittersweet.������ ������I got to be there every Friday,������ Lewis said. ������Me being who I am, not having a father myself, that damaged me a lot. I didn���t want my kids to relive that.������ Next year, Lewis will dedicate himself to his family instead of the Ravens. ������One of the hardest things in the world is to walk away from my teammates,������ he said. ������The only thing I ever played for is to be right there. Does that part hurt? Absolutely. But the now I���m going to step into other chapters of my life. ������I knew I couldn���t split my time anymore. When God calls, he calls. And he���s calling. More importantly, he calls me to be a father. It���s OK to be Daddy. Yes, this chapter is closing, but the chapter that���s opening is overwhelming. That���s what excites me the most.������ on ���witch hunt��� of long putters KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) ��� Carl Pettersson says the proposed rule to ban the anchored stroke for long putters feels like a ������witch hunt,������ and that golf���s governing bodies were only reacting to three of the last five major champions using a belly putter. ������It seems silly to ban something that���s been around for 40 years,������ Pettersson said in his first comments since the U.S. Golf Association and Royal & Ancient Golf Club announced plans Nov. 28 to outlaw anchored strokes. ������It���s unfortunate. I feel like I���m 16 years behind because I haven���t putted with anything else for 16 years.������ Pettersson, who qualified for the Tournament of Champions by winning at Hilton Head, began using a broom-handle putter that he anchors to his chest between his sophomore and junior year at North Carolina State. Keegan Bradley (PGA Championship), Webb Simpson (U.S. Open) and Ernie Els (British Open) used a belly putter to win their majors. Two more months of comment period remain before the rule becomes official, and then it does not take effect until the next Rules of Golf is published Jan. 1, 2016. Even as the long putters were getting more attention, Pettersson made one of the most compelling cases to keep them. It is the only putting stroke he has used during his 10 years on the PGA Tour. Pettersson long has argued that he has spent thousands of hours practicing the stroke, which did not come naturally to him, and that to start over would put him at an unfair disadvantage. He was said to be among those who might consider a lawsuit if the rule is adopted, though the easygoing Swede said he would see how this year unfolded. ������I don���t know,������ he said when asked if he would challenge the rule. ������I haven���t made up my mind yet. I���m just going to sit back and see what happens.������ In the meantime, he has no plans to change putters. Simpson said he had been practicing on occasion with a short putter in case of a ban, and Bradley had some fun at the World Challenge last month when he grabbed a short putter on the practice green at Sherwood and made a 20-foot putt. Both showed up at Kapalua with their belly putters. ������I���m not going to change,������ Bradley said. ������I���m not even thinking about it, to be honest. I���m going to wait NFL PLAYOFFS WILD CARDS Saturday���s games Cincinnati at Houston, 1:30 p.m. (NBC) Minnesota at Green Bay, 5 p.m. (NBC) Sunday���s games Indianapolis at Baltimore, 10 a.m. (CBS) Seattle at Washington, 1:30 p.m. (FOX) DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS Saturday, Jan. 12 Baltimore, Indianapolis or Cincinnati at Denver, 1:30 p.m. (CBS) Washington, Seattle or Green Bay at San Francisco, 5 p.m. (FOX) Sunday, Jan. 13 Washington, Seattle or Minnesota at Atlanta, 10 a.m. (FOX) Baltimore, Indianapolis or Houston at New England, 1:30 p.m. (CBS) CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS Sunday, Jan. 20 AFC, TBA (CBS) NFC, TBA (FOX) PRO BOWL Sunday, Jan. 27 At Honolulu AFC vs. NFC, 7 p.m. (NBC) SUPER BOWL Sunday, Feb. 3 At New Orleans AFC champion vs. NFC champion, 3 p.m. (CBS) for the rule to pass first, and then I���ll think about what to do.������ Pettersson said he tinkered with a few grips during his month at home in North Carolina, though not to the point that he practiced on a real green. He also said he was not surprised by the decision, saying it became clear in the last few months that the USGA and R&A were leaning toward a ban. ������It feels a bit like a witch hunt to me,������ Pettersson said. ������It was a pure reaction to Keegan and Ernie and Webb. They keep harping on the younger generation using them, but I think they���re going to ban it because it looks bad. But you have strong arguments from other players, too.������ Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker and Graeme McDowell are on a long list of players who use conventional putters and believe an anchored stroke should go away, saying it takes the skill out of putting because the top part of the club is anchored to the body. What concerned golf���s top officials is that players no longer were using an anchored stroke out of desperation to improve their putting, but as a way to putt better. ������There���s no argument that it���s a better way to putt because then everybody would be using it,������ Pettersson said. ������If it was easy, everybody on the PGA Tour would be using it. So I don���t know where they got that from. It���s just a different way of putting.������ The PGA Tour can set its own rules, and there has been speculation that when the rule passes, the tour would adopt it before 2016 to avoid the long putters getting too much attention over the next few years. Bradley said a fan called him a cheater at the World Challenge, which prompted a statement from the USGA that reminded fans the putting stroke remains legal. A spokesman said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem would not comment until a players��� meeting in two weeks at Torrey Pines. Pettersson won���t be at the meeting because he does not plan to play the Farmers Insurance Open. NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific L.A. Clippers WARRIORS L.A. Lakers KINGS Phoenix Southwest San Antonio Memphis Houston Dallas New Orleans Northwest Oklahoma City Denver Portland Minnesota Utah W 25 21 15 12 12 L 7 10 16 20 21 Pct GB .781 ��� .677 3.5 .484 9.5 .375 13 .364 13.5 W 26 20 18 13 7 L 8 9 14 20 25 Pct GB .765 ��� .690 3.5 .563 7 .394 12.5 .219 18 W 24 18 16 14 16 L 7 15 15 14 17 Pct .774 .545 .516 .500 .485 GB ��� 7 8 8.5 9 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic New York Brooklyn Philadelphia Boston Toronto Central Indiana Chicago Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland Southeast W 21 17 15 14 12 L 10 15 18 17 20 Pct .677 .531 .455 .452 .375 GB ��� 4.5 7 7 9.5 W 19 17 16 12 7 L 13 13 14 22 26 Pct GB .594 ��� .567 1 .533 2 .353 8 .212 12.5 W L Pct GB Miami 22 8 .733 ��� Atlanta 20 10 .667 2 Orlando 12 20 .375 11 Charlotte 8 23 .258 14.5 Washington 4 26 .133 18 ������������������������������������������������������ Wednesday���s results Sacramento 97, Cleveland 94 Toronto 102, Portland 79 Indiana 89, Washington 81 Chicago 96, Orlando 94 Memphis 93, Boston 83 Miami 119, Dallas 109, OT Houston 104, New Orleans 92 Brooklyn 110, Oklahoma City 93 San Antonio 117, Milwaukee 110 Phoenix 95, Philadelphia 89 Utah 106, Minnesota 84 L.A. Clippers at Golden State, late Today���s games San Antonio at New York, 4:30 p.m. Minnesota at Denver, 6 p.m.