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Sports 1B Thursday October 24, 2013 NBA Finals format goes to 2-2-1-1-1 NEW YORK (AP) — The 2-3-2 NBA Finals format is following David Stern out of the league. NBA owners unanimously voted Wednesday to return to the 2-2-1-1-1 format, believing the travel inconveniences that teams faced when Stern became commissioner nearly 30 years ago no longer exist. Beginning with the 2014 finals, the higher-seeded team will host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The lower seed gets Games 3, 4 and 6, following the same format the NBA uses in all other rounds. The current format was instituted in 1985, Stern's first full year in charge, in part to ease the amount of cross-country travel with the Celtics and Lakers frequently meeting for the championship. But critics felt it gave an edge to the lowerseeded team. ''There certainly was a perception ... it was unfair to the team that had the better record, that it was then playing the pivotal Game 5 on the road. So this obviously moves that game back to giving home-court advantage to the team with the better record if it's a 2-2 series,'' Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said. The vote came during Stern's final preseason meeting with his board of governors. Owners also voted to add an extra day between Games 6 and 7. The league's competition committee had recommended the change last month back to 2-2-1-1-1, which was used in all but one finals from 1957 to 1984. The change to the 2-3-2 format was one of the earliest made by Stern, who has often said he was acting on advice — or complaints — about the travel from former Celtics boss Red Auerbach. But with commercial flights long since replaced by charters, teams didn't have the same difficulties now with the number of trips. Instead, the ones who had the higher seed found it more inconvenient, Stern said, to be on the road for as many as eight days in a row when the opponent hosted the middle three games. Silver, who will become commissioner after Stern retires Feb. 1, is a proponent of the 2-2-1-1-1 format, though he said Stern and other league executives all thought it was time for the change. ''It reached a crescendo where basketball people thought it was important and the business people stood down and said it was no longer necessary for the convenience of transportation or the media,'' Silver said. Beyond the re-election of Spurs owner Peter Holt as chairman, there was little other business for the owners, who toasted Stern during dinner Tuesday night. Stern said there was a video tribute voiced by Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, along with ''some speechifying'' and ''a series of totally embarrassing photos of me over the last 36 years.'' ''I got the opportunity to thank my colleagues at the NBA for their incredible work and saying how pleased I was that the league was in such good hands under those colleagues and Adam's stewardship,'' Stern said. AP photo Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz jumps after scoring on a double by Mike Napoli during the first inning of Game 1 of baseball's World Series Wednesday in Boston. Ortiz was greeted at home by Jonny Gomes, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia. St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is at left. Red Sox rout Cards, take lead BOSTON (AP) — Given a bit of help by the umpires and a lot more by the Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox turned this World Series opener into a laugher. Mike Napoli hit a three-run double right after the umps reversed a blown call, Jon Lester made an early lead stand up and the Red Sox romped past sloppy St. Louis 8-1 Wednesday night for their ninth straight Series win. David Ortiz was robbed of a grand slam by Carlos Beltran — a catch that sent the star right fielder to a hospital with bruised ribs — but Big Papi later hit a two-run homer following third baseman David Freese's bad throw. The Red Sox also capitalized on two errors by shortstop Pete Kozma to extend a Series winning streak that began when they swept St. Louis in 2004. Boston never trailed at any point in those four games and, thanks to this embarrassing display by the Cardinals, coasted on a rollicking night at Fenway Park. It got so bad for St. Louis that the sellout crowd literally laughed when pitcher Adam Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina, who've combined to win six Gold Gloves, let an easy popup drop untouched between them. Serious-minded St. Louis manager Mike Matheny didn't find anything funny, especially when the umpires huddled in the first inning and flipped a call by Dana DeMuth at second base. The six-man crew correctly ruled that Kozma had not caught a soft toss from second baseman Matt Carpenter on a slow grounder by Ortiz. A season before Major League Baseball employs full replay, fans got to see a wrong get righted. ''There's five of us out here, OK? And all five of us agreed 100 percent that it wasn't a catch. Our job is to get it right,'' crew chief John Hirschbeck told Matheny on audio played on the Fox telecast. The normally slick-fielding Cardinals looked sloppy at every turn. Wainwright bounced a pickoff throw, Molina let a pitch skitter off his mitt, center fielder Shane Robinson bobbled the carom on Napoli's double and there was a wild pitch. The Cardinal Way? More like no way. Game 2 is tonight, with 22-year-old rookie sensation Michael Wacha starting for St. Louis against John Lackey. Wacha is 3-0 with an 0.43 ERA this postseason. Lester blanked the Cardinals on five hits over 7 2-3 innings for his third win this postseason. Ryan Dempster gave up Matt Holliday's leadoff home run in the ninth. Boston brought the beards, but it was a most hairy night for St. Louis. The Cardinals wrecked themselves with just their second three-error game of the season. The umpires made a mistake, too, but at least they got to fix it in a hurry. After the control-conscious Wainwright walked leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia singled him to second with one out. Ortiz then hit a slow grounder to Carpenter, and it didn't appear the Cardinals could turn a double play. Hurrying, Kozma let the backhanded flip glance off his glove. DeMuth instantly called Pedroia out, indicating that Kozma dropped the ball while trying to transfer it to his throwing hand. Boston manager John Farrell quickly popped out of the dugout to argue while Pedroia went to the bench. Farrell argued with every umpire he could and must've made a persuasive case. As the fans hollered louder and louder as they studied TV replays, all the umpires gathered on the dirt near shortstop and conferred and decided there was no catch at all. Pedroia came bounding from the dugout and suddenly, the bases were loaded in the first. Napoli unloaded them with a double that rolled to the Green Monster in left-center. PREP ROUNDUP NFL at a glance Red Bluff High girls tennis team AFC NFC West West Kansas City Denver Chargers RAIDERS East N. England N.Y. Jets Miami Buffalo South Indianapolis Tennessee Houston Jacksonville North W 7 6 4 2 L 0 1 3 4 T Pct 0 1.000 0 .857 0 .571 0 .333 W 5 4 3 3 L 2 3 3 4 T 0 0 0 0 Pct .714 .571 .500 .429 W 5 3 2 0 L 2 4 5 7 T 0 0 0 0 Pct .714 .429 .286 .000 W L T Pct Cincinnati 5 2 0 .714 Baltimore 3 4 0 .429 Cleveland 3 4 0 .429 Pittsburgh 2 4 0 .333 —————————————————— Week 7 results San Francisco 31, Tennessee 17 Atlanta 31, Tampa Bay 23 Buffalo 23, Miami 21 Carolina 30, St. Louis 15 Cincinnati 27, Detroit 24 Dallas 17, Philadelphia 3 Green Bay 31, Cleveland 13 Indianapolis 39, Denver 33 Kansas City 17, Houston 16 N.Y. Giants 23, Minnesota 7 N.Y. Jets 30, New England 27, OT Pittsburgh 19, Baltimore 16 San Diego 24, Jacksonville 6 Seattle 34, Arizona 22 Washington 45, Chicago 41 Seattle 49ERS St. Louis Arizona East W 6 5 3 3 L 1 2 4 4 T 0 0 0 0 Pct .857 .714 .429 .429 caps unblemished season, 12-0 W L T Pct Dallas 4 3 0 .571 Philadelphia 3 4 0 .429 Washington 2 4 0 .333 N.Y. Giants 1 6 0 .143 South W L T Pct PF PA N. Orleans 5 1 0 .833 Carolina 3 3 0 .500 Atlanta 2 4 0 .333 Tampa Bay 0 6 0 .000 North W L T Pct Green Bay 4 2 0 .667 Detroit 4 3 0 .571 Chicago 4 3 0 .571 Minnesota 1 5 0 .167 —————————————————— Week 8 schedule Today's game Carolina at Tampa Bay, 5:25 p.m. Sunday's games San Francisco vs. Jacksonville at London, 10 a.m. Pittsburgh at Oakland, 1:05 p.m. Buffalo at New Orleans, 10 a.m. Cleveland at Kansas City, 10 a.m. Dallas at Detroit, 10 a.m. Miami at New England, 10 a.m. N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. N.Y. Jets at Cincinnati, 1:05 p.m. Atlanta at Arizona, 1:25 p.m. Washington at Denver, 1:25 p.m. Green Bay at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m. Open: Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, San Diego, Tennessee Tehama Tracker Today's schedule SWIMMING Eastern Athletic League Championships, 10 a.m. TENNIS NSCIF Team Semifinals VOLLEYBALL West Valley at Red Bluff, 7 p.m.; Yreka at Corning, 7 p.m.; Chester at Mercy, 6:30 p.m. Sports on TV CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE 4:30 p.m. NBCSN — Winnipeg at Toronto COLLEGE FOOTBALL 4:30 p.m. ESPN — Kentucky at Mississippi St. FS1 — Marshall at Middle Tenn. GOLF 9 a.m. TGC — LPGA, Taiwan Championship, first round, at Yang Mei, Taiwan (same-day tape) 8 p.m. TGC — PGA Tour, CIMB Classic, second round, at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 11:30 p.m. ESPN2 — Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, second round, at Longkou, China MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 4:30 p.m. FOX — World Series, game 2, St. Louis at Boston NBA BASKETBALL 5 p.m. TNT — Preseason, Houston at San Antonio NFL FOOTBALL 5 p.m. NFL — Carolina at Tampa Bay SOCCER 10 a.m. FS1 — UEFA Europa League, Sheriff vs. Tottenham, at Tiraspol, Moldova Noon FS1 — UEFA Europa League, St. Gallen at Valencia Courtesy photo The Red Bluff Lady Spartans tennis team ended its year undefeated at 12-0 and captured a Sac River League championship. The Spartans will play in the League Champions Tournament on Friday, Saturday and Monday at Foothill High School. Pictured from left to right are Victoria Yates, Tina Ortega, Josie Clements, Erika Ellis, Emmaline Iverson, Riley Du Frain, Ginger Shaffer and Aislynn Lair. The Red Bluff High School girls tennis team capped its remarkable season undefeated (12-0) and captured a Sac River League title in the process. The Spartans' No. 1 singles player Ginger Shaffer finished the year undefeated. Shaffer and Aislynn Lair also finished undefeated in doubles play. Red Bluff will compete in the League Champions Tournament on Friday, Saturday and Monday at Foothill High School. In its final league match on Oct. 17, the Spartans downed the West Valley Eagles, 9-0. Red Bluff was led by Ginger Shaffer's 6-1, 60 win over Tatiana Pellow. Among Red Bluff 's singles winners were Aislynn Lair (6-2, 6-4); Erika Ellis (6-0, 6-2); Tina Ortega (7-6 [2], 64); Josie Clements (6-3, 7-5) and Emmaline Iverson (6-0, 6-0). In doubles play Shaffer and Lair teamed up to win 10-2. Ellis and Clements won 8-5, and Ortega and Rylee DuFrain prevailed 8-7 (7-5).