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1B Sports Tehama Tracker Monday's results Tuesday August 6, 2013 MLB Milwaukee LATE Giants MLB Athletics Cincinnati CSNC 4:10 p.m. OAK — Straily, 6-5 CIN — Latos, 10-3 Milwaukee Giants CSNB 7:15 p.m. MIL — Peralta, 7-11 SF — Cain, 7-6 On the tube LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL • 2 p.m., ESPN2 — Playoffs, Southwest Regional semifinal, teams TBD, at Waco, Texas • 5 p.m., ESPN2 — Playoffs, Southwest Regional semifinal, teams TBD, at Waco, Texas MLB • 4 p.m., CSNC — Oakland at Cincinnati • 5 p.m., WGN — N.Y. Yankees at Chicago White Sox • 7 p.m., CSNB — Milwaukee at San Francisco WNBA • 7 p.m., ESPN2 — Seattle at Phoenix Dempsey joins Seattle in prime of his career SEATTLE (AP) — For the past few seasons playing in England, even as he participated in a Europa League final with Fulham and was on the cusp of a Champions League berth at Tottenham Hotspur, Clint Dempsey felt the pull to come back to America grow stronger. He didn't want to be an aging player on the back side of his career when he finally made the decision to return to Major League Soccer. ''I was already starting to get the itch to be honest with you, to come back to the States. I just missed being in America. I wanted to help continue the growth of the game here. You can't help the growth of the game if you come back and you don't perform,'' Dempsey said Monday after he was formally introduced as the newest designated player for the Seattle Sounders. ''I understand there is a lot of pressure on me to succeed, a lot of expectations that others have on me, but also the expectations I put on myself and when I decided to come back to this league, I want to make an impact. I want to do a good job. I don't want to come and be passive and not be able to make a difference in games. I want to win things.'' That pull was at the heart of Dempsey's decision to have his representatives reach out to MLS in late July and start the process that was finalized over the weekend when Dempsey signed with the Sounders, bringing back arguably the best American player currently to play for his domestic league. Even though they're not currently in the playoffs, it also makes Seattle an instant contender for the MLS Cup. Less than 48 hours after he was greeted with a huge ovation from the nearly 40,000 fans in attendance Saturday night at Seattle's game against FC Dallas, Dempsey was finally able to fully explain the reasons behind his surprising move. While giving up the chance to stay in the Premier League was difficult, Dempsey felt it was the right time to come back to MLS, where his career began with the New England Revolution. ''I've been in Europe See DEMPSEY, page 2B A-Rod appealing ban through 2014 NEW YORK (AP) — Defiant till the end, Alex Rodriguez is intent on evading baseball's most sweeping punishment since the Black Sox scandal. Rodriguez was suspended through 2014 and All-Stars Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta and Everth Cabrera were banned 50 games apiece Monday when Major League Baseball disciplined 13 players for their relationship to Biogenesis of America, a Florida anti-aging clinic accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs. The harshest penalty was reserved for Rodriguez, the New York Yankees slugger, a three-time Most Valuable Player and baseball's highest-paid star. He said he will appeal his suspension, which covers 211 games, by Thursday's deadline. And since arbitrator Fredric Horowitz isn't expected to rule until November or December at the earliest, Rodriguez was free to make his season debut Monday night and play the rest of this year. Sidelined since hip surgery in January, Rodriguez rejoined the Yankees five hours after the suspension in a series opener at the Chica- go White Sox, playing third base and batting fourth. Booed loudly each time he walked to the plate, Rodriguez went 1 for 4 in New York's 8-1 loss. He blooped a single to left field in the second inning, flied out in the fourth and sixth, then struck out in the eighth. ''The last seven months has been a nightmare, has been probably the worst time of my life for sure,'' Rodriguez said. The other 12 players agreed to their 50-game penalties, giving them a chance to return for the playoffs. Ryan Braun's 65-game suspen- sion last month and previous penalties bring to 18 the total number of players sanctioned for their connection with Biogenesis. At the center of it all was Rodriguez, once the greatest player of his time, reduced Monday night to saying that he was humbled, at 38, just to ''have the opportunity to put on this uniform again'' and adding if he didn't fight for his career, no one else would. A-Rod's drug penalty was for ''his use and possession of numerSee BAN, page 2B Cycling club rolls on Hayden to miss opener Special to the DN NAPA (AP) — Oakland Raiders first-round draft pick D.J. Hayden will not play in Friday's preseason opener against Dallas. Hayden suffered a slight hamstring pull in training camp on Monday but Oakland coach Dennis Allen said the decision to hold the rookie cornerback out was related to Hayden's recovery from offseason abdominal surgery. ''We'll see where he's at when we come back to work Wednesday,'' Allen said. ''It's more of a relation to the surgery that he had this offseason as opposed to the heart condition.'' Hayden was rushed into surgery last November for a tear of the inferior vena cava, the large vein that carries blood from the lower half of the body to the heart, after a collision in practice. Doctors had to cut through Hayden's sternum to save him. The injury is 95 percent fatal. The 23-year-old had his offseason cut short when he underwent surgery in late May to remove scar tissue from his abdominal region. Hayden wasn't available after practice and players were excused from evening meetings. They do not have to check back in until an 11 p.m. curfew on Tuesday. ''We'll kind of re-evaluate (Hayden) after that,'' Allen said. The 12th overall pick in this year's draft, Hayden has practiced every day but has been wearing a red jersey normally reserved for quarterbacks and kickers because he has not been cleared for contact yet. With Mike Jenkins and Tracy Porter sitting out a Three local teachers and members of Red Bluff Cycling took to the mountains Saturday at the Mt. Shasta Hill Climb, an annual event the club has been participating in for more than a decade. Richard Cherveny finished 25th, Thomas Mendosa 28th and Joe Palubeski 29th. The club spends most of its time riding locally and traveling to neighboring events and is growing into a variety of disciplines. The only requirement to join the club is a love for bikes. The club enjoys leisure rides with friends and family around town, on the city trails near the Sacramento Discovery Center, or trips to the Sundial Bridge in Redding. Palubeski, is also an Ultra-runner with several wins under his belt, is a monster on the road bike. Mendosa has enjoyed his own wins, including his last competition in a Sacramento dual athlon. Cherveny enjoys running and cycling, dabbling in just about everything that has two wheels. He has traveled to Mt. Shasta several times to compete in the Tinman Triathlon. If your not into road bikes Tehama County has some of the best mountain bike trails with the best views. This fall Cherveny will start his third season racing cyclocross in the Ride on Race Series which is a local event with weekly races starting from Mt. Shasta, Redding, Red Bluff and Los Molinos. Courtesy photo Joe Palubeski,Thomas Mendosa and Richard Cherveny of Red Bluff Cycling. Cyclocross marries the two disciplines of roadbikes and mountain biking into one event. What is great about these races from the spectator point is the courses short, so you see riders a lot as they travel on the 1-to 2-mile courses for about eight to 10 laps. Cyclocross offers events for all the family even children. RB Cycling has grown from three riders to expand to include a dozen riders and fellow lovers of two wheels. On the recreational side the club has a small group that also enjoys a day at the Red Bluff Skate Park or gathering locally to play Bike Polo. If your interested in participating or just being a proud supporter of a local club "Like" the group on facebook at "Red Bluff Cycling." See HAYDEN, page 2B Reid getting chance at safety alongside Whitner SANTA CLARA (AP) — Almost every time Donte Whitner looks at rookie Eric Reid he's reminded of what it was like to be a safety selected in the first round competing for a starting spot. Whitner, San Francisco's savvy strong safety, had little time to adjust to NFL life. After being taken eighth overall by the Buffalo Bills in 2006, he had quite the Week 1 opponent: Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Reid, the former LSU standout the 49ers drafted at No. 18 after trading up to get him, is hoping to start against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the regular-season opener Sept. 8. And when San Francisco hosts Denver in his first preseason game Thursday night, Reid might even get a few snaps against another former NFL MVP: Peyton Manning. ''I think that would be great,'' Whitner said Monday. ''I think that would be great for him to get experience in all four (preseason) games because you can go out and make mistakes in these games, get your first NFL game action and not cost us anything. The only thing it might cost you is a little confidence if you get beat.'' While Reid is getting his turn with the first-team defense, he has yet to win the starting job. The competition to replace All-Pro free safety Dashon Goldson — who signed a free agent deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers— has been among the closest in camp. C.J. Spillman, Trenton Robinson and Craig Dahl all have spent time starting in practice, giving way in the rotation this week to the rookie. ''Right now it's a battle,'' defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. ''It will sort itself out. The one good thing about training camp, we get a lot of reps. Everybody will get a lot of work and it will sort itself out.'' Reid played three seasons for LSU and is still considered somewhat of a raw talent in pass coverage, though he thrives in stopping the run — one of the staples of San Francisco's stout defense. The 6-foot-1, 213-pound Reid said comprehending the more advanced schemes in the NFL has been one of his toughest tasks. Not to mention learning an entirely AP photo Eric Reid practices during NFL football training camp on Thursday. new defense. The Tigers played a 4-3 scheme, while San Francisco uses a 3-4 alignment. Reid said the concepts are the same, but the responsibilities fall to different people — and can change after the ball is snapped, which never happened at LSU. ''The biggest adjustment is this is a job,'' Reid said. ''The coaches have families to feed. Other players have families to feed. So their job is kind of dependent on you. So you want to make sure you do what you have to do to help those guys out to win games.'' Reid, along with the other safeties, has relied on Whitner to fill in the blanks. He sits just to the right of the eight-year veteran in meetings, asking questions and listening to advice. Whitner has been impressed by the rookie so far — on and off the field. ''He's not a repeat offender. He doesn't make the same mistake two, three, four times,'' Whitner said. Whitner has worked in Fangio's system since both arrived in San Francisco in 2011 and remembers leaning on players such as Troy Vincent, Nate Clements, Takeo Spikes and London Fletcher in Buffalo. Now that he's beginning the final See REID, page 2B