Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/20649
2B – Daily News – Wednesday, December 1, 2010 Losing team could win the ’NFC Worst’ GIANTS GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Well, some- body has to win the NFC West, where medi- ocrity would be an improvement. There is an increas- ingly strong possibility that the champion will have a losing record. Not only that, a 7-9 St. Louis or Seattle or San Francisco team could wind up hosting a first-round playoff game against a team that has won 10 or 11 games, maybe more. That potentially embarrassing scenario results from an NFL rule that guarantees each division champion a home playoff game. With five weeks to go, Seattle and St. Louis are tied for first at 5-6, with San Francisco 4-7 and Arizona 3-8. As Seahawks quar- terback Matt Hassel- beck put it, ‘‘Yeah, it’s weird.’’ In games outside their division, NFC West teams are 10-20. Only St. Louis is respectable at 4-4. The division has played a big role in Kansas City’s revival. The AFC West-leading Chiefs have beaten San Fran- cisco 31-10, Arizona GORE (Continued from page 1B) on the sideline because he wanted to stay in the game. San Francisco also placed wide receiver Dominique Zeigler on IR with a torn anterior cruci- ate ligament in his left knee. For now, Brian West- brook and rookie Antho- ny Dixon will be called upon to carry a bigger load as the 49ers make a quick turnaround to play at Green Bay on Sunday. Westbrook had all of 10 touches this season before carrying 23 times for 136 yards Monday, though Singletary wants to be cautious not to over- work Westbrook and risk injury. ‘‘Frank is a big part of what we do — heart, soul, everything he brings is what you want,’’ Sin- gletary said. ‘‘But thank- fully, Brian Westbrook is a mature, experienced leader and we just have to be careful about how we use him and how much exposure we allow him to see. I think there will be a good mixture between Brian Westbrook and Dixon. We’ll just have to see how we do that.’’ Westbrook, who sus- tained two concussions last season, had the most 31-13 and Seattle 42- 24. The coaches of the four NFC West teams don’t like to talk about the sorry state of their division. They’re under- standably consumed by trying to right their respective ships. ‘‘I don’t know. It’s hard for me to speculate on that,’’ Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said on Tuesday when asked if he thought the division winner would have a losing record. Whisenhunt’s Cardi- nals, winners of the NFC West the past two seasons, are mired in a six-game losing streak and were embarrassed on national television in a 27-6 home loss to San Francisco on Monday night. ‘‘My focus right now is really worrying about what we do. As a Cardi- nal answer to a non- Cardinal question, I’m really worried about what we’re going to do,’’ Whisenhunt said. ‘‘I’m not worried about that right now. We have played all the three teams in our division and to me they have all been good football teams.’’ To him maybe. yards and carries — in fact the fourth-most rush- es of his career — against the Cardinals since Dec. 7, 2008, when he had 33 carries for 131 yards against the Giants. ‘‘I saw him a couple of times on the sideline, and he gave me a couple of ideas of different things to do,’’ Westbrook said of Gore’s influence. ‘‘Frank is a competitor. He wants to be out there.’’ So does Westbrook, who came to San Francis- co for a fresh start. The 31-year-old West- brook was released by the Philadelphia Eagles in February after an injury- filled 2009 season. He wound up with the 49ers after talking to several coaches from various franchises. Westbrook led the NFL with 2,104 yards from scrimmage in 2007, but missed eight games last season with a pair of concussions and an ankle injury while scoring only two touchdowns. Singletary said 23 car- ries could be too much of a load for Westbrook at this stage of the season even considering he has- n’t had much time on the field so far. Westbrook began this season having rushed for 5,995 yards and 37 touch- downs on 1,308 carries in eight NFL seasons, all Here is a look at the ‘‘contenders’’ and what they face to try to finish at least at .500. —The Rams: St. Louis could have the best shot. After going 6- 42 the past three sea- sons and 1-15 last year, the Rams are on the rise under second-year coach Steve Spagnuolo and rookie quarterback Sam Bradford. They play three of their last five against NFC West opponents. A sweep there and St. Louis could lose to Kansas City and New Orleans and still finish 8-8. It could come down to the regular-season finale at Seattle on Jan 2. —The Seahawks: Seattle has allowed 76 points in its last two games, losses at New Orleans and at home against Kansas City. On the positive side, the Seahawks have a home game against the Caroli- na Panthers, whose only win this season was against, of course, an NFC West foe — 23-20 over San Francisco. But the Seahawks have Atlanta at home and are at Tampa Bay. Seattle might have to sweep San Francisco and St. Louis to climb to .500. with the Eagles, and also caught 426 passes for 3,790 yards and 29 TDs. ‘‘I used to choose the Eagles whenever I played Madden Football, just so I could be Brian West- brook,’’ rookie offensive lineman Anthony Davis said after Monday’s game. Also Tuesday, Single- tary declared kicker Joe Nedney healthy and ready to return from a right knee strain and bone bruise. San Francisco waived his two-week fill- in, Shane Andrus. The 49ers promoted safety Chris Maragos and running back DeShawn Wynn from the practice squad and released tackle Xavier Fulton from the practice squad. NCAABASKETBALL Tuesday’s Top 25 results No. 2 Ohio State 58, Florida State 44 No. 7 Connecticut 62, New Hampshire 55 No. 8 Syracuse 78, Cornell 58 No.16 Georgetown 111, No.9 Missouri 102, OT No.10 Kentucky 91, Boston University 57 No.13 Tennessee 86, Middle Tennessee 56 No. 20 Illinois 79, North Carolina 67 No.23 Washington vs.Long Beach St., late No. 25 Notre Dame 81, Indiana State 72 Today’s Top 25 games No.1 Duke vs.No.6 Mich.St., 6:30 p.m., ESPN No. 3 Pittsburgh vs. Duquesne, 6:15 p.m. No.14 Memphis vs.Arkansas State, 5 p.m. No.17 S.Diego St.vs.Saint Mary’s, 7:30 p.m. No. 18 Florida at UCF, 4 p.m., CSNB No. 19 Texas vs. Lamar, 5 p.m. No. 21 BYU at Creighton, 5:05 p.m. No.22 Purdue at Vir.Tech, 4:30 p.m., ESPN No.24 UNLV at Illinois State, 5:05 p.m. Today’s other televised games N.C.State at Wisconsin, 4:15 p.m., ESPN2 Maryland at Penn St., 6:15 p.m., ESPN2 Monday’s late result Anaheim 2, Los Angeles 0 —The 49ers: San Francisco was the pre- season favorite but started 0-5. The 49ers have won three of four since Troy Smith became starting quarter- back but have lost star running back Frank Gore for the season with a hip injury. They would have to finish 4-1 to get to 8-8. That would require a victory at Green Bay or San Diego, along with a sweep of Seattle, St. Louis and Arizona. —The Cardinals: Forget about it. If the playoffs were to start this weekend, St. Louis — with a tie- breaking win over Seat- tle — would open at home against the reign- ing Super Bowl champi- on New Orleans Saints, who are 8-3. Two years ago, a 9-7 Arizona team played at home against 11-5 Atlanta and barely won 30-24, with a big assist from a boisterous crowd, in the first step to an unlikely run to the Super Bowl. St. Louis or Seattle would have to finish 4- 1, San Francisco 5-0, to equal Arizona’s 9-7 record that year. ‘‘We’re trying to get NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Dallas WL OT Pts GF GA 14 8 1 29 68 62 Phoenix 11 7 5 27 66 68 Ducks Central Division Detroit SHARKS 11 7 4 26 65 63 Kings 12 11 3 27 66 77 13 10 0 26 63 57 WL OT Pts GF GA 15 4 2 32 73 56 Chicago 14 11 2 30 86 79 Columbus 14 8 0 28 62 53 St. Louis 12 8 3 27 62 64 Nashville 10 8 5 25 54 60 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 12 7 3 27 68 59 Colorado 13 9 1 27 83 71 Minnesota 11 10 2 24 56 65 Calgary 10 12 2 22 67 69 Edmonton 7 12 4 18 59 89 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia 15 6 4 34 87 61 Pittsburgh 16 8 2 34 79 62 N.Y. Rangers14 11 1 29 74 69 New Jersey 8 14 2 18 45 69 N.Y. Islanders5 12 5 15 46 72 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Montreal 15 8 1 31 60 47 Boston 12 8 2 26 59 46 Ottawa 11 13 1 23 58 75 Buffalo 9 13 3 21 62 73 Toronto 8 11 4 20 51 65 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Washington 17 6 2 36 86 68 Tampa Bay 14 8 3 31 77 81 Atlanta 12 9 3 27 77 72 Carolina 10 11 3 23 71 78 Florida 10 12 0 20 57 57 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. ————————————————— Tuesday’s results Detroit at San Jose, late Chicago 7, St. Louis 5 Nashville 3, Phoenix 0 Tampa Bay 4, Toronto 3, OT Atlanta at Colorado, late Today’s games Boston at Philadelphia, 4 p.m., CSNC Edmonton at Montreal, 4 p.m. Nashville at Columbus, 4 p.m. Phoenix at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Washington at St. Louis, 5 p.m., NHLN Vancouver at Calgary, 6:30 p.m. Florida at Anaheim, 7 p.m. our ball right,’’ Sea- hawks first-year coach Pete Carroll said. ‘‘It happens that we’re still in this race. ... I think teams have to learn what it takes to be a champion team, what it takes to be on top, and what it takes to be in the lead position before you can expect to move on and take on bigger fish to fry.’’ While others may ridicule the division, it’s no laughing matter for the coaches involved. San Francisco’s Mike Singletary has wept after almost every loss, and that’s a lot of cry- ing. He and several of his players even cried during the team’s over- powering win over the punchless Cardinals on Monday night. ‘‘The most important thing is what you do after you wipe the tears away,’’ Singletary said. ‘‘It’s not the fact that someone cries. It’s extremely important what they do after that, after the disappoint- ment. That’s the thing that separates when you continue to move on and get better or stay where you are and listen to the circumstances around you.’’ NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL Pct GB Lakers 13 5 .722 — WARRIORS 89 .471 4.5 Phoenix 8 9 .471 4.5 KINGS 411 .267 7.5 Clippers 3 15 .167 10 Southwest Division WL Pct GB Utah San Antonio14 2 .875 — Dallas 13 4 .765 1.5 New Orleans12 5 .706 2.5 Memphis 8 10 .444 7 Houston 5 12 .294 9.5 Northwest Division WL Pct GB 14 5 .737 — Okla. City 12 6 .667 1.5 Denver 10 6 .625 2.5 Portland 8 9 .471 5 Minnesota 4 13 .235 9 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB Boston 13 4 .765 — New York 10 9 .526 4 Toronto 6 11 .353 7 New Jersey 6 12 .333 7.5 Philadelphia 5 13 .278 8.5 Southeast Division WL Pct GB Orlando 13 4 .765 — Atlanta 11 7 .611 2.5 Miami 10 8 .556 3.5 Charlotte 6 11 .353 7 Washington 5 11 .313 7.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 9 6 .600 — Indiana 8 7 .533 1 Cleveland 7 10 .412 3 Milwaukee 6 11 .353 4 Detroit (Continued from page 1B) after declining to exercise their $9.5 million option on Renteria earlier this month, instead paying him a $500,000 buyout. Then they lost Uribe. So, finding a reliable replacement in a timely fashion was among general manager Brian Sabean’s top priorities. Renteria is a free agent contemplating retirement after an injury-plagued year, and Uribe completed a $21 million, three-year contract with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday. The Giants last week brought back first baseman Aubrey Huff. ODDS Glantz-Culver Line For Dec.1 NCAAFootball Thursday at Arizona 6 (54.5) NFL Thursday at Philadelphia 8.5 (50.5) Sunday at Minnesota 6 (44.5) at Miami 4.5 (42.5) 3.5 (44.5) Houston Buffalo at Tennessee OFF (OFF) Jacksonville at Kansas City 8.5(48.5) Cleveland Denver at N.Y.Giants 7 (43.5) Washington Chicago at Green Bay 10 (42) San Francisco New Orleans 6.5 (47) Atlanta at San Diego 13 (46) at Seattle at Indianapolis 5.5 (47.5) St.Louis 6 (40) 3 (43) at Baltimore 3 (40) Monday at New England 3.5 (46.5) Off Key Tennessee QB questionable NCAABasketball Today at George Mason 12 George Washington at Providence 6 at Drexel 9 at Harvard Temple Xavier 16.5 9.5 5 at Old Dominion 5 at East Carolina 2.5 at Cincinnati 11 at Towson at Detroit Florida-x at Louisville 22 Va.Commonwealth 2.5 at Boston College 6.5 at Wisconsin 9.5 at Virginia Tech 2 Butler at Memphis at Arkansas at N.Iowa 8.5 4 at Missouri St. 17.5 at Colorado St. 9.5 Arizona BYU 9.5 6 UNLV New Mexico 9.5 3.5 at Louisiana Tech 4 at Alabama Pittsburgh-y at Penn St. at Duke 18 9.5 10.5 4 12.5 at San Diego 1 Pk 18 19 13.5 Northeastern Saint Joseph’s Fordham at Cent.Michigan at Miami (Ohio) Richmond Charlotte Wright St. 3.5 W.Michigan 3 9 Akron UCF Fla.International at South Florida Indiana N.C.State Purdue 4.5 at Loyola of Chicago 17 Ark.-Little Rock Drake at Rice at Creighton at Illinois St. at S. Illinois SMU at Vanderbilt 14 W.Kentucky Utah St. South Alabama at Denver Duquesne Maryland Michigan St. UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara 6 Loyola Marymount at Cal Poly at California at Pacific at San Diego St. 5.5 at Furman 12.5 at UAB x-at Amway Arena y-at Consol Energy Center 6 12 .333 4.5 ————————————————— Tuesday’s results Indiana at Sacramento, late San Antonio at Golden State, late Boston 106, Cleveland 87 Memphis 98, L.A. Lakers 96 New York 111, New Jersey 100 Orlando 90, Detroit 79 Philadelphia 88, Portland 79 Today’s games Memphis at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Oklahoma City at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Washington at Toronto, 4 p.m. Detroit at Miami, 4:30 p.m. Portland at Boston, 4:30 p.m., NBATV Charlotte at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Orlando at Chicago, 5 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Houston, 5:30 p.m. Minnesota at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Indiana at Utah, 6 p.m. Milwaukee at Denver, 6 p.m. San Antonio at Clippers, 7:30 p.m., NBATV at Atlanta at Toronto NBA Today 6 Oklahoma City 4 at Miami at Boston at Chicago at New Orleans 8 at Dallas L.A.Lakers at Denver at Utah 11 6 Memphis 6 Washington at New Jersey Detroit 1.5 11 5.5 8 7.5 San Antonio 7 NHL Today at Columbus -155 at Montreal -230 at Philadelphia-145 Washington -130 at Minnesota -145 Vancouver -125 at Anaheim -145 Nashville + 135 Edmonton +190 Boston+125 at St.Louis +110 Phoenix+125 at Calgary +105 Florida+125 ALLEN’S CONCRETE Foundations Curbs-n-Gutters Sidewalks Driveways Patios HOME SERVICES DIRECTORY $8900 Concrete Runs Every Monday - Wednesday - Friday $ 7900 Repairs & Replacement Quality Work-Reasonably Priced FREE ESTIMATES 530 949-6162 LIC#914460 Serving Red Bluff, Corning area Advertisement If this was your Service Directory ad customers would be reading it right now!! Call us at 527-2151 For more information a month with a 3 month commitment Residential • Commerical PATIOS • DECKS Construction Remodel, Construction Burrows New Additions, Siding Repair and Replacement, Water and Dryrot Damage Specialist, New Construction Foundation to Finish FREE ESTIMATES & REFRENCES Lic#824770 Ph: (530) 515-9779 Handyman a month for a 1 month commitment No early cancellation, non-refundable Heating & AC Help for Seniors & Singles “Let me help you with the small repairs to keep your home running smoothly” 527-2288 Home Repairs At Very Reasonable Rates Call Richard at HVAC & General Contractor Lic. #619239 TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL REBATES ON FULL INSTALLATIONS FREE ESTIMATES D.A.V. & SENIOR DISCOUNT References available upon request (New Construction/Remodels) 1-800-739-4706 Serving Tehama County and surrounding areas since 1990 Advertisement If this was your Service Directory ad customers would be reading it right now!! Call us at 527-2151 For more information Construction Need help finishing a home improvement project, or just want someone to take it over? I can Repair/Remodel, Build Practically Anything FREE ESTIMATES 530 949-6162 CA LIC#914460 Septic IT’S NOT SO PLUSH WHEN YOU CAN’T FLUSH! Septic and Leach Field problems? Call Bill (530) 526-2216 Portland Orlando Charlotte Minnesota at Houston Milwaukee Indiana at L.A.Clippers Hawaii UC Davis Pepperdine SaintMary’s,Calif. Elon Jacksonville St. Arkansas St. Oklahoma Iowa St. N.Y.Jets at Arizona Pittsburgh at Detroit at Cincinnati 3 (44.5) at Tampa Bay Oakland Carolina Dallas Arizona St.