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2B Daily News – Thursday, January 10, 2013 49ERS (Continued from page 1B) 2001. While the 49ers have praised Ricky Jean Francois for his fine play filling in for Smith, No. 94 is needed on the field now as San Francisco looks to get past last season's disappointing finish and finally return to the Super Bowl. This team lost in overtime of the NFC title game to the eventual champion Giants, failing in its bid to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1994 season. ''It's a big lift, for the simple fact Justin's a Pro Bowler and to try to fill his shoes, they're big shoes to fill,'' linebacker Ahmad Brooks said. ''He creates a lot of havoc for the backfield and draws a lot of double-teams.'' Smith dominates the right side of the line with his sheer physical strength and spot-on instincts. He is probably KINGS (Continued from page 1B) from the arena, and if that money falls short, Hansen would be responsible for making up the rest. Other investors in the proposed arena include Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and two members of the Nordstrom department store family. Hansen's goal has been to return the SuperSonics to the Puget Sound after they were moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008. Asked in September if he could envision a team being in Seattle for the 2013 season, Hansen was cautious about finding an option that quickly. The NBA had no comment. Representatives for Hansen did not return messages seeking comment. Any franchise looking to relocate must submit its plans to the NBA by March 1 and the move must be approved by the league. ''As we have said for nearly a year, we will HALL (Continued from page 1B) makes it difficult.'' It was the eighth time the BBWAA failed to elect any players. There were four fewer votes than last year and five members submitted blank ballots. ''It's a tough period for evaluation, that's what this chalks up to,'' Hall President Jeff Idelson said. ''Honestly, I think that any group you put this to would have the same issues. ... There's always going to be discussion and concern about players who didn't get in, but at the end of the day it's a process and again, a snapshot in time isn't one year, it's 15 with this exercise.'' Bonds, baseball's only seven-time Most Valuable Player, hit 762 home runs, including a record 73 in 2001. ''It is unimaginable that the best player to ever play the game would not be a unanimous first-ballot selection,'' said Jeff Borris of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, Bonds' longtime agent. Clemens, the only seventime Cy Young Award winner, is third in career strikeouts and ninth in wins. ''To those who did take the time to look at the facts,'' Clemens said, ''we very much appreciate it.'' Since 1961, the only years the writers didn't elect a candidate were when Yogi Berra topped the 1971 vote by appearing on 67 percent of the ballots cast and when the biggest reason linebacker Aldon Smith finished with a franchiserecord 19 1/2 sacks this season — falling three shy of Michael Strahan's single-season mark set in 2001 for the Giants. Yet Aldon Smith didn't have a single one over the final three games, most of that stretch with Smith sidelined. While the team doctors will have the final say, Smith will offer his input regarding his health — ''the player knows his body best,'' Harbaugh said. And Smith has already said he will be on the field to face the Packers. ''Well, he's told me he's ready, and he's ready to go, and that's enough for me,'' Fangio said. ''He's a leader both by example and verbally, and more so by example. He plays with a tenacity and an effort level that's second to none. And it's just contagious to everybody.'' Not that opposing coaches need to be told what they have in store seeing Smith. And certainly not Packers coach Mike McCarthy, whose Packers lost 30-22 in the season opener against San Francisco in September at Lambeau Field. ''Justin Smith's a very good football player,'' McCarthy said. ''And we're preparing for him to play. We've gone back far enough, they've got plenty of film on him, and make sure we're ready.'' The Cardinals regularly pounded the ball toward Smith's spot when he was out for the regular-season finale Dec. 30. ''He's a great leader not only for our defense but for our whole team,'' left tackle Joe Staley said. ''It's going to be big having him back out there.'' No matter that Smith doesn't own the flashy numbers or statistics of the NFL's more wellknown defensive stars, some on his team. Smith, who spent his first seven NFL seasons with Cincinnati before joining the 49ers as a free agent in 2008, was picked as a starter for this year's Pro Bowl. And he is the league's top tackler among defensive linemen since 2001 with 792. ''We need Justin,'' Brooks said. ''It changes the whole attitude of the defense.'' Notes: Harbaugh has yet to announce his starting kicker — newly signed Billy Cundiff or struggling veteran David Akers. ''No, not one that we're ready to announce yet,'' Harbaugh said. When asked if it might come down to 90 minutes before kickoff when inactives are named, the coach said, ''that's possible.''... Harbaugh said Candlestick Park received new turf several weeks ago. ''I thought it was OK,'' he said. ''It's not like it is in September. Most grass fields tend not to be as lush in the winter months.'' not comment on rumors or speculation about the Sacramento Kings franchise,'' Maloof family spokesman Eric Rose said when contacted Wednesday by the AP. The Kings' asking price would top the NBA-record $450 million the Golden State Warriors sold for in July 2010. Johnson said he's had past discussions with more than one group about possibly stepping forward as owners if the Kings were up for sale. ''All indications that I have seen and read and heard is they are exploring opportunities to sell the team, and that is public and that is the first I have ever heard,'' Johnson said. ''We need to put ourselves in a position to find an ownership group and buyers to keep the team here in Sacramento.'' Johnson said he had not spoken with any members of the Maloof family or NBA Commissioner David Stern on Wednesday. News of the discussions came a day after officials in Virginia Beach, Va., announced they were dropping their efforts to build a new arena. Virginia Beach had been reported as a relocation option for the Kings. The Maloofs backed out of a tentative $391 million deal for a new downtown arena with Sacramento last year, reigniting fears the franchise could relocate. Johnson and the Kings broke off all negotiations in the summer with the Kings, saying the deal didn't make financial sense for the franchise. In 2011, the Kings appeared determined to move to Anaheim before Johnson convinced the NBA to give the city one last chance to help finance an arena. At one point, Johnson seemed so certain the team was gone he called the process a ''slow death'' and compared the city's efforts to keep the Kings a ''Hail Mary.'' Johnson made a desperate pitch to the NBA Board of Governors in April 2011, promising league owners the city would find a way to help finance a new arena to replace the team's current outdated suburban facility. That pitch bought the Kings time, before the brokered deal between the city and the Maloofs fell apart last year. Johnson said the Maloof family still must repay a $77 million loan to the city and other lenders. While some players around the league took to Twitter on Wednesday to express their excitement about the possibility of the NBA returning to Seattle — especially those players from the Puget Sound area — others were more reserved. ''There's a part of me that's disappointed because Sacramento, I've enjoyed my times. I think Sacramento is a great town,'' said current Denver coach and former Seattle coach George Karl. ''I'm not going to lie — I'm happy that Seattle is going to have a team more than Sacramento. But I am disappointed that Sacramento can't keep their team.'' Phil Niekro headed the 1996 ballot at 68 percent. Both were chosen the following years when they achieved the 75 percent necessary for election. The other BBWAA elections without a winner were in 1945, 1946, 1950, 1958 and 1960. ''Next year, I think you'll have a rather large class and this year, for whatever reasons, you had a couple of guys come really close,'' Commissioner Bud Selig said at the owners' meetings in Paradise Valley, Ariz. ''This is not to be voted to make sure that somebody gets in every year. It's to be voted on to make sure that they're deserving. I respect the writers as well as the Hall itself. This idea that this somehow diminishes the Hall of baseball is just ridiculous in my opinion.'' Players' union head Michael Weiner called the vote ''unfortunate, if not sad.'' ''To ignore the historic accomplishments of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, for example, is hard to justify. Moreover, to penalize players exonerated in legal proceedings — and others never even implicated — is simply unfair. The Hall of Fame is supposed to be for the best players to have ever played the game. Several such players were denied access to the Hall today. Hopefully this will be rectified by future voting.'' Three inductees were chosen last month by the 16member panel considering individuals from the era before integration in 1947: Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, umpire Hank O'Day and barehanded catcher Deacon White. They will be enshrined during a ceremony in Cooperstown on July 28, when the Hall also will honor Lou Gehrig and Rogers Hornsby among a dozen players who never received formal inductions because of restrictions during World War II. Bonds has denied knowingly using performanceenhancing drugs and was convicted of one count of obstruction of justice for giving an evasive answer in 2003 to a grand jury investigating PEDs. Clemens was acquitted of perjury charges stemming from congressional testimony during which he denied using PEDs. Sosa, who finished with 609 home runs, was among those who tested positive in MLB's 2003 anonymous survey, The New York Times reported in 2009. He told a congressional committee in 2005 that he never took illegal performance-enhancing drugs. The BBWAA election rules say ''voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.'' An Associated Press survey of 112 eligible voters conducted in late November after the ballot was announced indicated Bonds, Clemens and Sosa would fall well short of 50 percent. The big three drew even less sup- port than that as the debate raged over who was Hall worthy. Voters are writers who have been members of the BBWAA for 10 consecutive years at any point. BBWAA president Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle said she didn't vote for Bonds, Clemens or Sosa. ''The evidence for steroid use is too strong,'' she said. As for Biggio, ''I'm surprised he didn't get in.'' MLB.com's Hal Bodley, the former baseball columnist for USA Today, said Biggio and others paid the price for other players using PEDs. ''They got caught in the undertow of the steroids thing,'' he said. Bodley said this BBWAA vote was a ''loud and clear'' message on the steroids issue. He said he couldn't envision himself voting for stars linked to drugs. ''We've a forgiving society, I know that,'' he said. ''But I have too great a passion for the sport.'' Mark McGwire, 10th on the career home run list, received 16.9 percent on his seventh try, down from 19.5 last year. He received 23.7 percent in 2010 — a vote before he admitted using steroids and human growth hormone. Rafael Palmeiro, among just four players with 500 homers and 3,000 hits along with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray, received 8.8 percent in his third try, down from 12.6 percent last year. Palmeiro NFL Doctor optimistic after RGIII knee surgery WASHINGTON (AP) — If Adrian Peterson can do it, maybe Robert Griffin III can, too. Peterson set an incredible standard this season for NFL players returning from major knee surgery, nearly breaking the NFL single-season rushing record. Griffin need look nowhere else for an inspiration as the Washington Redskins quarterback begins the road back from an operation Wednesday on two ligaments in his right knee. ''I think it gives motivation to everyone,'' said Russ Paine, a physical therapist in Houston who worked with the Peterson as the Minnesota Vikings running back went through rehab. Griffin had his lateral collateral ligament repaired and his ACL reconstructed for a second time. The surgery was performed in Florida by orthopedist James Andrews, who was optimistic that Griffin would be back on the field this fall. ''We expect a full recovery, and it is everybody's hope and belief that due to Robert's high motivation, he will be ready for the 2013 season,'' Andrews said in a statement released by the Redskins. ''The goal of his treatment is to give him the best opportunity for a long professional career.'' But no two athletes — or knee surgeries, for that matter — are exactly alike, so pinning down a date for Griffin's return is an inexact science. Complicating matters is that Griffin tore the ACL in the same knee in 2009 while playing for Baylor. University of Maryland head team physician Craig Bennett said football players typically need seven to 11 months to return from a second ACL reconstruction, but that it often takes up to a year for the ligament to be fully healed. ''Typically your first season back from an ACL reconstruction, there's a tendency to have some struggles from time to time,'' Bennett said. That's what made Peterson so remarkable. He tore an ACL in late December 2011 and was the league's best back in 2012. Paine said Peterson's focus and intensity in rehab and natural athletic gifts made the quick recovery possible. Many say Griffin has those same qualities, and he was sounding an upbeat tone on Twitter even before the surgery began early Wednesday morning. ''Thank you for your prayers and support. I love God, my family, my team, the fans, & I love this game. See you guys next season,'' Griffin tweeted. While Griffin heals, the debate will continue as to whether he should have been on the field when he hurt the knee for a final time in the fourth quarter Sunday's playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Griffin reinjured his knee in the first quarter and was obviously hobbled, but he stayed in the game after convincing coach Mike Shanahan that all was OK. ''People can limp around; people can be hurting,'' Hall of Fame quarterback and ESPN analyst Steve Young said Wednesday. ''Some of the great John Wayne hero things that have ever happened in football happened because people play hurt.'' The first major injury to Griffin's knee was the torn ACL in the third game of the 2009 season with Baylor, when he was hurt on the opening drive against Northwestern State but kept playing until halftime. Griffin missed the rest of the year but returned in 2010 and won the Heisman Trophy in 2011. received a 10-day suspension in 2005 for a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs, claiming it was due to a vitamin vial given to him by teammate Miguel Tejada. While there are exhibits about the Steroids Era at the Hall, the plaque room will remain without Bonds and Clemens, who join career hits leader Pete Rose on the outside looking in. There were four write-in votes for Rose, who never appeared on the ballot because of his lifetime ban that followed an investigation of his gambling while manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Morris increased slightly from his 66.7 percent last year, when Barry Larkin was elected. Morris could become the player with the highest-percentage of the vote who is not in the Hall, a mark currently held by Gil Hodges at 63 percent in 1983. Several players who fell just short in the BBWAA balloting later were elected by either the Veterans Committee or Old-Timers' Committee: Nellie Fox (74.7 percent on the 1985 BBWAA ballot), Jim Bunning (74.2 percent in 1988), Orlando Cepeda (73.6 percent in 1994) and Frank Chance (72.5 percent in 1945). The ace of three World Series winners, Morris had 254 victories and was the winningest pitcher of the 1980s. His 3.90 ERA, however, is higher than that of any Hall of Famer. NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division W L L.A. Clippers 27 8 Golden State 22 11 L.A. Lakers 15 20 Sacramento 13 22 Phoenix 12 25 Southwest Division W L San Antonio 28 10 Memphis 22 10 Houston 21 15 Dallas 13 22 New Orleans 10 25 Northwest Division W L Oklahoma City 27 8 Portland 19 15 Denver 20 16 Utah 19 18 Minnesota 16 16 Pct .771 .667 .429 .371 .324 GB — 4 12 14 16 Pct GB .737 — .688 3 .583 6 .371 13.5 .286 16.5 Pct .771 .559 .556 .514 .500 GB — 7 .5 7.5 9 9.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pct GB New York 23 11 .676 — Brooklyn 20 15 .571 3.5 Boston 18 17 .514 5.5 Philadelphia 15 22 .405 9.5 Toronto 13 22 .371 10.5 Southeast Division W L Pct GB Miami 23 10 .697 — Atlanta 20 14 .588 3.5 Orlando 12 22 .353 11.5 Charlotte 9 25 .265 14.5 Washington 5 28 .152 18 Central Division W L Pct GB Indiana 21 14 .600 — Chicago 19 14 .576 1 Milwaukee 18 16 .529 2.5 Detroit 13 23 .361 8.5 Cleveland 9 28 .243 13 —————————————————— Wednesday's results Cleveland 99, Atlanta 83 Utah 112, Charlotte 102 Toronto 90, Philadelphia 72 Boston 87, Phoenix 79 Milwaukee 104, Chicago 96 New Orleans 88, Houston 79 Oklahoma City 106, Minnesota 84 San Antonio 108, L.A. Lakers 105 Orlando at Denver, late Memphis at Golden State, late Dallas at L.A. Clippers, late Today's games Dallas at Sacramento, 7 p.m. New York at Indiana, 5 p.m. Miami at Portland, 7:30 p.m.