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2B – Daily News – Thursday, September 9, 2010 49ers ready to see former GM McCloughan San Francisco 49ers SANTA CLARA (AP) — Players and club officials switch teams so regularly these days it's not uncommon to line up against a familiar face any given week during the course of a 16-game NFL season. Or see an old friend on the sidelines before kickoff and say hello. When the favored San Francisco 49ers open the season at NFC West rival Seattle on Sunday, it will be a little dif- ferent. The Seahawks recently signed departed San Fran- cisco defensive lineman Kentwan Balmer and, shortly after, wide receiver Brandon Jones before waiving him on cutdown day. Then on Monday, they added running back Michael Robinson. A big reason they have all headed to the Pacific North- west: Scot McCloughan. He is another Niners castoff. McCloughan, who abruptly left the 49ers in March in what team president Jed York called a "mutual parting," is finding ways to boost the Seahawks with players he already knows so well. "It's one of those situations you have someone like Scot McCloughan there, maybe it eases some of the fact of not knowing some of our guys," San Francisco coach Mike Singletary said Wednesday. "I'm sure Scot has really talked about the personality of our guys. That's really what a team wants to know more than anything else. He may be a great player but is he a player that we can rattle? Is he a player that we can get to? And Scot knows those things. But I just think that once again, in the final analysis, the most important thing for us is to go up there — we're not going to change anything." How McCloughan's expertise on the 49ers might help come Sunday is anybody's guess. Perhaps not at all, yet it sure could appear to be advantageous. Then, there's also longtime Niners linebacker Jeff Ulbrich helping coach Seattle's special teams unit as an assistant. "I put in a call to Jeff threatening him to keep his mouth shut," 49ers quarterback Alex Smith joked Wednesday. Singletary knows San Francisco must take care of its business, something the 49ers didn't do often while strug- gling away from Candlestick Park last year. They lost six straight road games, five in a row by a combined 19 points, before winning their season finale at St. Louis. That stretch included a 20-17 loss at Seattle in early December in which San Francisco gave the game away late. "They have several of our players, some of our players that are really bright guys," Singletary said. "You know Jeff Ulbrich, Mike Robinson. Robinson knows our offense as well as anybody, and Jeff knows our defense as well as anybody. But at the same time, it's just a matter of us going up there and being prepared to play and to focus on the details of what we have to do." McCloughan caught on with the Seahawks as a senior personnel executive in June, now working as the right- hand man to general manager John Schneider. McCloughan is someone Schneider considers a top talent evaluator, and McCloughan worked as Seattle's director of college scouting from 2000-04. "It makes sense when you look at it. To have Scot go up there in the personnel department, they're the same guys he evaluated and brought here," Smith said. "It makes sense he would give them a shot up there." When Balmer refused to show up at training camp for a week last month, the Niners traded their 2008 first-round draft pick out of North Carolina to Seattle. After San Fran- cisco cut Jones, he briefly earned another shot with the Seahawks. Robinson, the former Penn State quarterback who had been the 49ers' special teams captain, got a fresh start with a division opponent. "It's kind of what you expect because most of the guys he drafted them, so of course he likes them," receiver Josh Morgan said of McCloughan's influence. "He drafted them for a reason." Since McCloughan and the 49ers parted ways, San Francisco's football operations have been run by Trent Baalke. He was responsible for selecting two offensive linemen with the team's first-round draft picks in April, and both Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati will make their NFL debuts at Qwest Field on Sunday as starters on the Niners' revamped offensive line. Until recently, McCloughan's name marking his park- ing place was still visible despite efforts to cover it up — though now it is completely blacked out. It's Baalke's spot these days. McCloughan did not return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment. He has been traveling regularly in recent weeks, according to first-year Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. Carroll has found McCloughan helpful. "Scot has answered the questions we've asked of him and given us information whenever needed," Carroll said. "We have picked up a couple guys from San Francisco and we feel like we did have some good background info. That happens often, guys who have been in other programs have information on guys or relationships that help you. That is something Scot did offer us a little bit uniquely." The 49ers hired McCloughan in February 2005 to supervise their personnel department for Mike Nolan, a career assistant coach who was improbably given total control of the club's football operations by owner John York, Jed's father and the brother-in-law of former owner Eddie DeBartolo. McCloughan became San Francisco's GM in January 2008. Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck doesn't think too much of all the current Seattle connections to the 49ers. "Scot, I think I've seen him one time in the cafeteria," Hasselbeck said Wednesday. "Quite honestly, we're just trying so hard to get on our stuff in terms of getting to know each other. We've got a new offense, all that stuff." Notes: Nate Davis, the third-string QB before being released Monday, was signed to the practice squad. San Francisco cut QB Jarrett Brown to make roster room. ... Smith was named a captain. ... The Niners spent the morning workout with crowd noise in an effort to prepare the young players for what they'll face Sunday. "We need to get them all the noise that we can feed them, and that's not even enough," Singletary said. Federer tops Soderling, reaches US Open semifinals NEW YORK (AP) — For one match at least, Roger Federer was back to his old self. Back to beating Robin Soderling, and back to being a Grand Slam semifinalist — two things he used to do with such regular- ity. Treating the whipping wind and his familiar foe as only slight nuisances, 16- time Grand Slam champion Federer served his way to a convincing 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victo- ry over the fifth-seeded Soderling in the U.S. Open quarterfinals Wednesday night. Federer had an 18-2 edge in aces against the big-hitting Soderling, mixing speed with pinpoint placement that kept the Swede guessing. ‘‘I’ve been practicing my serve a whole lot, for my whole career. If I can’t serve in the wind, I’ve got a problem, you know?’’ Federer said. ‘‘You could probably wake me up at 2 in the morning, or 4 in the morn- ing, and I could hit a few serves.’’ The victory improved his career mark against Soderling to 13-1. The lone loss was in their previous match, in this year’s French Open quarterfinals. Soderling’s vic- tory there ended Federer’s streak of reach- ing the semifinals at a record 23 consecu- tive major tournaments. Federer then lost in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, too, prompting some to ques- tion whether his best days were behind him. But now, a month after his 29th birth- day, he is back in the semifinals at a Grand Slam tournament — one that he has won five times. RAPIDS (Continued from page 1B) Etzler doubled. Fletcher finished the game 2-3 with a double, a triple and RBI. McColpin allowed only three hits for the win. Sarah Seely pitched one inning for the save. The Rapids shut out the Arizona Hotshots (Chan- dler, Ari.) 4-0 in their sec- ond game. The Rapids scored two runs in the first inning after lead-off batter Jaime Weatherbee was hit by a pitch. McColpin dou- bled to drive in the first run and Andoe singled McColpin home for the second run. The Rapids scored their final two runs in the sixth inning when leadoff batter Krista Rodriguez walked and advanced to second on Danisha Slay’s bunt. Seely singled and Rodriguez scored on an error. A single by Weath- erbee scored Seely. Weatherbee finished the game 2-for-3 with an RBI, Seely was 2--was-3. Andoe allowed only four hits to pick up the win on the mound. After losing their first game, the Ari- zona Hotshots fought their way back through the loser’s bracket of the tour- nament to finish second in the tournament. In their third game, the Rapids exploded for three runs in the first inning to defeat the Cal Storm Federer has won 45 of his last 46 match- es in Flushing Meadows, the one exception the 2009 final against Juan Martin del Potro. Federer will meet third-seeded Novak Djokovic in the semifinals for the third U.S. Open in a row. It’s also the fourth con- secutive year they’ll play each other in New York, dating to the 2007 final, and Federer is 4-0 in those matches. ‘‘You never know what’s going to hap- pen,’’ 2008 Australian Open champion Djokovic said after beating 17th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (2), 6-1, 6-2 earlier Wednesday. ‘‘I don’t want to think about those losses in the last three years, which were really, really close.’’ All of the day’s matches were filled with wind that gusted at up to 30 mph, sending all sorts of debris — brown napkins; plas- tic bags; players’ towels — rolling on the court like tumbleweed, forcing points to be stopped and repeatedly making players catch their ball tosses. About a half-dozen lets were called dur- ing top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki’s 6-2, 7-5 victory over 45th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova in the last women’s quarterfinal. ‘‘This felt like playing in a hurricane or something,’’ said Wozniacki, who is 19-1 since Wimbledon and has won her past 13 matches. In Friday’s semifinals, the 2009 U.S. Open runner-up will face 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva, who defeated 31st-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-3, 7- 5 in Wednesday’s first singles match. (Buena Park) 5-3. With bases loaded after a walk and back-to-back singles by McColpin and Fletch- er, Etzler drove a single to centerfield to score two runs. Rodriguez followed with a single to drive in the third run. The Rapids scored one run in the third inning with a lead-off sin- gle by Etzler followed by an RBI double from Emily Arnold. Etzler fin- ished the game 2-for-3 with two RBIs. The Rapids’ scored their final run in the game on a lead- off single by Weatherbee in the fourth who ulti- mately scored on an error. McColpin went the dis- tance for the win. The Rapids defeated Easton Cal Impact (Pen- ngrove) 13-5 in their fourth game. McColpin finished the game 4-for-4 with a triple, double and three RBIs. Fletcher was 3-for-5 with a double and four RBIs. Andoe was 2- for-2 with a double and RBI. Andoe picked up the win allowing just two hits and only two earned runs. In their fifth game, the Rapids battled against the Arizona Lil Saints (Phoenix) to win 5-2. The Rapids scored one run in the first inning when Fletcher walked and scored on a single by Etzler. The Lil Saints responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. The Rapids scored two more runs in the fourth inning on a hit down the left field line by Rodriguez and a pass ball. Then again, in the fifth inning, with bases loaded and two outs, Rodriguez smacked a double to drive in two more runs. Rodriguez fin- ished the game 2-for-3 with three RBIs. McColpin threw an out- standing game allowing just five hits. With just four unde- feated teams left, the Rapids suffered their first loss of the tournament against the Nemisis Elite (Downey) 11-3. A combi- nation of Rapid errors and timely hits allowed Nemi- sis to gain an early lead MLB West Division Texas A’s American League WL Pct GB 76 63 .547 — 68 70 .493 7.5 Angels 67 73 .479 9.5 Seattle 55 84 .396 21 East Division WL Pct GB New York 87 53 .621 — Tampa Bay 84 55 .604 2.5 Boston 78 62 .557 9 Toronto 72 67 .518 14.5 Baltimore 53 87 .379 34 Central Division WL Pct GB Minnesota 83 57 .593 — Chicago 77 62 .554 5.5 Detroit 70 70 .500 13 Kansas City 57 82 .410 25.5 Cleveland 57 83 .407 26 ————————————————— Wednesday’s results Seattle at Oakland, late Boston 11, Tampa Bay 5 Detroit 5, Chicago 1 Los Angeles 4, Cleveland 3, 16 innings Minnesota 4, Kansas City 3 New York 3, Baltimore 2 Texas 8, Toronto 1 Today’s games Chicago (Floyd 10-11) at Detroit (Porcello 8-11), 10:05 a.m. Texas (C.Lewis 9-12) at Toronto (S.Hill 0-0), 4:07 p.m. A year ago in New York, during a fourth-round loss, Zvonareva wasted six match points and threw a tantrum right there on court. She bawled. She slammed her racket against her leg. She begged the chair umpire to get her a pair of scissors so she could cut tape off her knees. And Wednesday? No. 7 Zvonareva was calm and composed, letting Kanepi make mistake after mistake, 60 unforced errors in all. Zvonareva finished with only 28. ‘‘Yeah, it was blowing in every way,’’ Kanepi said after falling to 0-3 in major quarterfinals. Neither afternoon match featured much drama — nor doubt about who would win. In sum, they felt akin to opening acts before Wednesday’s featured performers took the stage under the lights. First came Wozniacki-Cibulkova, with Donald Trump in attendance, his hair get- ting mussed by the wind. ‘‘He called my agent and asked if there was going to be a space in my box,’’ said Wozniacki, who made only 18 unforced errors, 25 fewer than Cibulkova. ‘‘I said, ’Of course, there’s always a place for Mr. Trump.’’’ Trump stuck around for the main event: Federer vs. Soderling, a matchup made so much more intriguing by what happened the last time they squared off. That was on a dreary, rainy day in Paris, and the 6-foot- 4 Soderling — he’s 3 inches taller than Federer — used his strong forehand and serve to great effect, driving winners through the thick weather and pounding 14 and the Rapids never recovered. The Rapids were held to only four hits in the game: Fletcher (two RBI), Etzler (double), Rodriguez and Seely. The Nemisis maintained their undefeated status and went on to win the tourna- ment championship. The Rapids’ allowed six unearned runs to the Foothill Gold (Cameron Park) to lose their final game of the tournament 6- 4. McColpin finished the game 3-for-4 with a dou- MLB West Division National League WL Pct GB Padres 78 59 .569 — GIANTS 78 62 .557 1.5 Colorado 75 64 .540 4 Dodgers 69 70 .496 10 Arizona 57 83.407 22.5 East Division WL Pct GB Philadelphia 81 60 .574 — Atlanta 80 60 .571 .5 Florida 70 69 .504 10 New York 69 71 .493 11.5 Washington 60 80 .429 20.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 79 60 .568 — St. Louis 72 65 .526 6 Houston 66 73 .475 13 Milwaukee 65 74 .468 14 Chicago 60 80 .429 19.5 Pittsburgh 47 92 .338 32 ————————————————— Wednesday’s results Arizona 3, San Francisco 1 Atlanta 9, Pittsburgh 3 Colorado 9, Cincinnati 2 Houston 4, Chicago 0 Milwaukee 8, St. Louis 1 New York 3, Washington 2 Philadelphia 10, Florida 6 Los Angeles at San Diego, late Today’s games San Francisco (M.Cain 10-10) at S.D.(Garland 13-10),7:05 p.m.,CSNB Cincinnati (Tr.Wood 5-2) at Colorado (Hammel 10-7), 12:10 p.m., MLBN St. Louis (Wainwright 17-10) at Atlanta (Jurrjens 7-4), 4:10 p.m., MLBN Los Angeles (Lilly 8-9) at Houston (Norris 6-8), 5:05 p.m. aces. On Wednesday, in contrast, Soderling didn’t hit his first ace of the evening until the 143rd point of the match, nearly 1 1/2 hours in, earning a smattering of sarcastic cheers from some fans in the sellout crowd of 23,718. By that time, Federer already had 15 aces, including three in a row in one game. The fast-moving air affected shots, pushing behind a player’s back at one end of the court, and blowing into his face at the other. How big a deal was it? Instead of opting to serve when he won the prematch coin toss, Federer selected which side of the court he wanted to start on, choosing to have the wind behind him for the first game. U.S. OPEN Wednesday At The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center New York Purse: $22.7 million (Grand Slam) Surface: Hard-Outdoor Men Singles Quarterfinals Novak Djokovic (3), Serbia, def. Gael Monfils (17), France, 7- 6 (2), 6-1, 6-2. Roger Federer (2), Switzerland, vs. Robin Soderling (5), Sweden, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. Women Singles Quarterfinals Vera Zvonareva (7), Russia, def. Kaia Kanepi (31), Estonia, 6-3, 7-5. Caroline Wozniacki (1), Denmark, def. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia, 6-2, 7-5. ble, Andoe 3-for-4 with a double, Arnold 2-for-3 with an RBI, and doubles by Rodriguez (RBI) and Weatherbee (RBI). The North Valley Rapids finished their sum- mer season with 28 wins (.718), 11 losses and 2 ties overall. NFL Today’s game Minnesota at New Orleans, 5:30 p.m., NBC Sunday’s games Oakland at Tennessee, 10 a.m. San Francisco at Seattle, 1:15 p.m. Detroit at Chicago, 10 a.m. Miami at Buffalo, 10 a.m. Atlanta at Pittsburgh, 10 a.m. Denver at Jacksonville, 10 a.m. Indianapolis at Houston, 10 a.m. Carolina at N.Y. Giants, 10 a.m. Cincinnati at New England, 10 a.m. Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 10 a.m. Arizona at St. Louis, 1:15 p.m. Green Bay at Philadelphia, 1:15 p.m. Dallas at Washington, 5:20 p.m. Monday’s Games Baltimore at N.Y. Jets, 4 p.m. San Diego at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m. MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Galaxy 13 5 5 44 33 17 Salt Lake 12 4 7 43 37 16 FC Dallas 10 2 10 40 29 17 Colorado 9 6 7 34 28 21 QUAKES 97 5 32 24 23 Seattle EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA NCAA Today’s Top 25 game No.21 Auburn at Miss.St., 4:30 p.m., ESPN Friday’s Top 25 game No. 23 West Virginia at Marshall, 4 p.m. Saturday’s Top 25 games No.1 Alabama vs.No.18 Penn State, 4 p.m. No.2 Ohio St.vs.No.12 Miami, 12:40 p.m. No. 4 TCU vs.Tennessee Tech, 4 p.m. No. 5 Texas vs.Wyoming, 4 p.m. No. 6 Nebraska vs. Idaho, 9:30 a.m. No. 7 Oregon at Tennessee, 4 p.m. No. 8 Florida vs.South Florida, 9:20 a.m. No. 9 Iowa vs. Iowa State, 12:30 p.m. No.10 Okla.vs.No.17 Florida St., 12:30 p.m. No.11 Wisconsin vs.San Jose State, 9 a.m. No.13 Va.Tech vs.James Madison, 10:30 a.m. No.14 Arkansas vs. Louisiana-Monroe at Little Rock, Ark., 4 p.m. No. 15 Georgia Tech at Kansas, 9 a.m. No.16 Southern Cal vs.Virginia, 7:30 p.m. No.19 LSU at Vanderbilt, 4 p.m. No.20 Utah vs.UNLV, 2 p.m. No.22 Georgia at No.24 S.Carolina, 9 a.m. No. 25 Stanford at UCLA, 7:30 p.m. Columbus 13 5 5 44 32 20 New York 11 8 4 37 27 24 Toronto FC 7 9 7 28 22 26 Kansas City 7 9 6 27 22 24 Chicago 6 7 8 26 28 29 New England 7 12 3 24 24 36 Philadelphia 5 11 6 21 26 38 D.C. 4 16 3 15 15 37 NOTE:Three points for victory, one point for tie. ————————————————— Wednesday’s result Chicago 0, Toronto FC 0, tie Today’s game Real Salt Lake at Seattle FC, 8 p.m., ESPN2 GOLDEN Golden League Playoffs First Round (Best-of-5) Chico 1, Calgary 0 Game 1:Chico 5, Calgary 1 Wednesday: at Chico, ppd., Rain Friday: at Chico, 7:05 p.m. Saturday: at Calgary, 4:05 p.m. Sunday: at Calgary, 12:35 p.m. Monday: at Calgary, 6:05 p.m. Maui 1, Orange County 0 Wednesday: Maui 4, Orange County 1 Thursday: at Maui, 9:35 p.m. Friday: at Orange County, 7:05 p.m. Saturday: at Orange County, 7:05 p.m. Sunday: at Orange County, 5:05 p.m. 9 9 5 32 26 29 Houston 6 12 5 23 28 38 Chivas USA 6 12 4 22 23 29 WNBA FINALS Seattle vs. Atlanta Sunday: at Seattle, Noon Tuesday: at Seattle, 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16: at Atlanta, 5 p.m. x-Sunday, Sept. 19: at Atlanta, Noon x-Tuesday, Sept. 21: at Seattle, 5 p.m. x - if needed