Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/203877
Sports 1B Friday November 1, 2013 49ers activate Aldon Smith after leave SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — All-Pro 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith was activated to the 53-man roster from the non-football injury list Thursday, two days after he turned himself in to Santa Clara County authorities as he faces weapons charges. One of San Francisco's dynamic pass rushers appears ready to return. Smith had been undergoing rehab at an in-patient facility for substance abuse since late September and missed five games. With San Francisco (6-2) on its bye this week, Smith could resume practicing and working out on his own, then formally practice next week ahead of a Nov. 10 home game against the Carolina Panthers. Smith was charged Oct. 9 with three felony counts of illegal possession of an assault weapon, stemming from a party at his home in June 2012. 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said on his weekly radio show with 95.7 The Game that Smith met with 49ers officials Wednesday at team headquarters. General manager Trent Baalke said last week in London that Smith would have to show ''progress'' to play again this year. Smith will be due in court twice — Nov. 12 and Nov. 19 — to face DUI and weapons charges. The 24-year-old Smith had been on what the team called an indefinite leave of absence from the NFC champion Niners. Smith's agent didn't immediately return requests for comment Thursday. Harbaugh traded text messages with Smith when he was gone, and the coach said on the radio ''he's made quite a bit of progress.'' While Smith is likely to face a suspension from the NFL, the league typically waits until all legal issues are resolved before handing down its own discipline. Also in September, Smith and former teammate Delanie Walker were named in a lawsuit filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court by a Northern California man who said he was shot at a party at Smith's house on June 29, 2012. The players charged a $10 admission and $5 per drink, the lawsuit said. Smith and now-Titans tight end Walker, 29, were allegedly intoxicated on Smith's balcony when they fired gunshots in the air while trying to end the party, the lawsuit said. Before the 2012 home opener last September, Smith was the passenger in a car during an accident in Santa Clara County in which the driver swerved to avoid hitting a deer. Smith sustained a cut beneath his right eyebrow. He apologized and insisted he would change his ways. Smith, selected seventh overall in the 2011 draft out of Missouri, had previously been arrested on suspicion of DUI in January 2012 in Miami shortly after the 49ers lost in the NFC championship game. There was no NFL minimum for the number of games he had to miss while on the non-football injury list. The 49ers continued to pay Smith his weekly salary of more than $98,000 while he was away. Smith played in a 27-7 home loss to the Colts on Sept. 22 and had five tackles just two days after he was arrested and jailed on suspicion of DUI and marijuana possession. Smith apologized for his behavior after the game then later announced he would leave for treatment. Smith set a franchise record with 19 1/2 sacks last season. Senior leads Charles Schwab Cup Championship SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Australia's Peter Senior shot an 8-under 63 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead in the Champions Tour's season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Senior had nine birdies, an eagle and three bogeys at TPC Harding Park. David Frost shot 64, missing a short putt on the 18th hole. Fred Couples was third at 65, and Mark O'Meara had a 66. Bernhard Langer, Steve Elkington and Duffy Waldorf shot 67. Charles Schwab Cup points leader Kenny Perry topped the group at 68. Perry entered the event 612 points ahead of second-place Langer. If Langer wins the tournament, Perry needs only to finish fifth or better take the season title and $1 million annuity. Tehama Tracker Tuesday's schedule FOOTBALL Red Bluff at Paradise, 7:30 p.m.; Yreka at Corning, 7:30 p.m.; Los Molinos at Portola, 7:30 p.m. TENNIS NSCIF Individual Finals Sports on TV AUTO RACING 9:30 a.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Sprint Cup, practice for AAA Texas 500, at Fort Worth, Texas 11 a.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Nationwide Series, practice for O'Reilly Auto Parts 300, at Fort Worth, Texas Noon FS1 — NASCAR, Truck Series, pole qualifying for WinStar World Casino 350, at Fort Worth, Texas 1:30 p.m. ESPN2 — NASCAR, Sprint Cup, pole qualifying for AAA Texas 500, at Fort Worth, Texas 5:30 p.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Truck Series, WinStar World Casino 350, at Fort Worth, Texas COLLEGE FOOTBALL 6 p.m. ESPN2 — Southern Cal at Oregon St. GOLF 1:30 p.m. TGC — Champions Tour, Charles Schwab Cup Championship, second round, at San Francisco 8 p.m. TGC — PGA Tour-WGC, HSBC Champions, third round, at Shanghai HORSE RACING 1 p.m. NBCSN — NTRA, Breeders' Cup World Championships, at Arcadia, Calif. MEN'S COLLEGE HOCKEY 5 p.m. NBCSN — Northeastern at Boston College NBA BASKETBALL 5 p.m. ESPN — Miami at Brooklyn 7:30 p.m. ESPN — San Antonio at L.A. Lakers Courtesy photo The Red Bluff Junior Spartans peewee cheer squad placed first in the dance and cheer categories at the Northern California Federation Division 1 Cheer Competition at Corning High School on Oct. 20. Jr. Spartans nab cheer championship Special to the DN The Red Bluff Junior Spartans peewee cheer squad placed first in the dance and cheer categories at the Northern California Federation Division 1 Cheer Competition held at Corning High School on Oct. 20. The cheerleaders now move on to the NorCalFed State Cheer Competition, where they will compete against the other division winners starting at 10 a.m. Sunday at Anderson High School. The Jr. Spartans would like to encourage all to come out and support the peewee girls. The champion 2013 Jr. Spartans Peewee Cheerleaders, which include 9- and 10-year-olds, are: Elyse Benson, Aaliyah Chavez, Victoria Clark, Camryn Clement, Badegech Dittner, Kirra Ferreira, Andrea Garcia, Renee Garcia, Lily Morales, Adrianna Rhoda, Nicole Rodriguez-Torres, Alexandra Torres-Ramos, Alexandra Vicuna and Abigail Zirkle. They are coached by Cori Dittner, assistant Deanna Bachmeyer and trained by Yessie Chavez, Jasmine Dittner, Mary Herrera and Karlie Lopez. Courtesy photo Tarver brings passion to Raiders defense ALAMEDA (AP) — Defensive coordinator Jason Tarver's contributions to the Oakland Raiders this season are much bigger than that obscene gesture at the officials that got him into so much hot water. Tarver has overseen a remarkable improvement on the defense while incorporating 10 new starters who mostly came in with little fanfare. The Raiders went browsing through the bargain basement to bring in many of the newcomers, signing five free agents to one-year deals. Only the addition of Charles Woodson generated much interest while players like cornerbacks Mike Jenkins and Tracy Porter, linebackers Nick Roach and Kevin Burnett and defensive linemen Pat Sims, Vance Walker and Jason Hunter were under-theradar additions. ''Probably a lot of people outside of this area, outside of this building probably don't know a lot about who these no-name guys are on defense but we have a lot of guys who are pretty good football players,'' coach Dennis Allen said. ''I think a lot of these guys that we brought in here kind of have a little bit of a chip on their shoulders. They want to prove that they're worthy of being top-notch players in this league.'' The man putting all those parts together is Tarver, who has a master's degree in biochemistry and molecular biology and boundless energy that comes through on the sideline and in the meeting rooms. That gave him some unwanted notoriety last week against Pittsburgh. In the third quarter, an official threw a flag on Jenkins for an illegal hit to the head of a defenseless receiver. The call set Tarver off and he was caught by television cameras screaming an obscenity at the officials and twice making the one-fingered gesture. He was forced to apologize the following day and was disciplined by the team. ''Everybody around here, we love it,'' Jenkins said. ''It shows that he has a lot of passion for the game. He's just into the game. We feed off that, knowing he has our back.'' Tarver has nothing to apologize for when it comes to how well his defense is playing. The performance is quite a surprise considering how overmatched that unit looked in the preseason when the Raiders allowed the opposition to score on 16 of 18 firsthalf drives, excluding one kneel-down possession. It looked like it would be more of the same when Indianapolis scored touchdowns on the first two drives of the season opener, but Oakland's defense has been extremely stout since then, with the exception of one game against Peyton Manning and the high-powered Broncos. The Raiders are allowing 21.4 points per game — down more than six points from last year's average of 27.7 that was the worst for the franchise since 1961. ''We've been good at times, but we've got to be good all the time,'' Tarver said. ''You turn bad into good, good into great. That's what we're trying to do.'' The strength of the defense has been stopping the run and rushing the passer. A leaky run defense had been a constant in Oakland during a 10- year run without a playoff berth as no other defense allowed more yards rushing or more touchdowns on the ground during that span. This year Oakland ranks sixth in the league in rushing defense at 89.9 yards per game, fourth with 3.6 yards per carry and is the only team not to allow a run of at least 20 yards so far this season. They have held three opponents under 40 yards rushing after doing that just four times the past 10 seasons. The focus on stopping the run has complemented a pass rush that has 21 sacks through seven games — matching the team's total through 14 games a year ago. With an improved secondary that allows for more man coverage, the Raiders are blitzing 35 percent more this year than they did in Tarver's first year as coordinator, according to STATS LLC. That has led to 14 players getting credit for sacks so far, making it especially difficult for opposing teams to know where exactly to focus their protection. Quarterbacks have talked about being confused at times by Oakland's defense even though the players contend Tarver's schemes are very simple. ''He's a very smart guy,'' Woodson said. ''He game plans as well as anybody I've been around, as far as knowing what teams are trying to do to attack you, and putting guys in position to take advantage of certain situations. So, it's been fun for me playing under him and I know we can get better with him.'' A-Rod accuses MLB of 'gross, ongoing misconduct' NEW YORK (AP) — With the World Series over, Alex Rodriguez resumed his criticism of Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bud Selig for its investigation that led to a 211-game suspension that the New York Yankees third baseman is trying to overturn. In addition to a grievance filed by the players' union, Rodriguez filed a lawsuit against Selig and MLB that accused them of engaging in a ''witch hunt.'' ''I am deeply troubled by my team's investigative findings with respect to MLB's conduct,'' Rodriguez said in a statement Thursday. ''How can the gross, ongoing misconduct of the MLB investigations division not be relevant to my suspension, when my suspension supposedly results directly from that division's work?'' MLB suspended Rodriguez on Aug. 5 for violations of its drug agreement and labor contract, but he was allowed to keep playing pending a determination of the grievance. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz has heard eight days of hearings, and the next session is Nov. 18. Speaking last weekend at the World Series, Selig praised MLB's investigative team, saying ''I'm very comfortable with what they did and how they did it.'' ''I've been in baseball now for 50 years,'' he said. ''I thought I'd seen everything, but I hadn't.'' Rodriguez waited to respond until after the World Series had ended. ''It is sad that commissioner Selig once again is turning a blind eye, knowing that crimes are being committed under his regime,'' the three-time AL MVP said. ''I have 100 percent faith in my legal team. To be sure, this fight is necessary to protect me, but it also serves the interests of the next 18year-old coming into the league, to be sure he doesn't step into the house of horrors that I am being forced to walk through.'' Rodriguez and MLB have publicly assailed each other for months. MLB accused Rodriguez of ''possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone, over the course of multiple years.'' ''This latest, sad chapter in Mr. Rodriguez's tarnished career is yet another example of this player trying to avoid taking responsibility for his poor choices. Given the disappointing acts that Mr. Rodriguez has repeatedly made throughout his career, his expressed concern for young people rings very hollow,'' MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred said in a statement. ''Mr. Rodriguez's use of PEDs was longer and more pervasive than any other player, and when this process is complete, the facts will prove that it is Mr. Rodriguez and his representatives who have engaged in ongoing, gross misconduct.'' One of Rodriguez's lawyers, Joseph Tacopina, responded by calling for Manfred to be removed from the three-person panel, which includes Horowitz, hearing the slugger's appeal.