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2B – Daily News – Saturday, January 8, 2011 Fan apathy could be greatest threat to BCS SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Bowl Championship Series is facing a threat that’s greater than any lawmaker or political action committee pushing for a playoff. Apathy seems to have set in among many college foot- ball fans toward the sport’s marquee games, and bowl offi- cials indicate they are ready to try and fix it. The problem really isn’t the BCS national title game. Tickets to Monday’s showdown between No. 1 Auburn and second-ranked Oregon are a hot item. It’s the undercard that could use a boost. Ticket sales for some of those games — the Orange, Sugar, Rose and Fiesta bowls — have been sluggish, and ratings generally have been lukewarm for matchups that haven’t gotten the casual fan excited. ‘‘We have to find a way to revitalize the market place,’’ Sugar Bowl executive director Paul Hoolahan said. The ratings for Hoolahan’s game were down a touch, from 8.5 last year when the game was on Fox to 8.4 this sea- son, ESPN’s first as the TV home of the BCS — though the Superdome in New Orleans was filled to capacity Tuesday for BCS-newcomer Arkansas and Ohio State, one of college football’s glamour programs and a reliable draw with its enormous alumni base. The Fiesta Bowl and the Orange Bowl had more serious issues. The Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1 between Oklahoma and Connecticut drew a 6.7 rating, down 22 percent from last year, and UConn sold only about 5,000 of the 17,500 tickets the school was required to buy from the organizers. Atten- dance at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., was 67,232, about 6,000 below capacity for the game. At the Orange Bowl in Miami, Stanford and Virginia Tech drew a 7.1 overnight rating, down from last year’s 7.2 for Georgia Tech-Iowa, and the attendance of 65,453 was about 9,000 below capacity at Sun Life Stadium as neither team came close to selling its allotment of 17,500 tickets. Geography was clearly an issue for those two games. In a perfect world, Stanford would have played in Arizona, far 49ERS (Continued from page 1B) The 49ers finished 6-10 this year — in the chase for a playoff berth in the NFL’s worst division until the sec- ond-to-last week — and haven’t had a winning sea- son since their last trip to the playoffs in 2002. ‘‘I met this man six or seven years ago at a college All-Star game and I fell in love with his energy,’’ Baalke said. ‘‘This is the start of a new generation. ... What we have to do is bring back the culture of winning. He’s a guy who can lead the 49ers franchise back to where it rightfully belongs.’’ Harbaugh likely will be grooming a new quarterback in the coming months. Alex Smith, the 2005 No. 1 over- all draft pick out of Utah, becomes a free agent. So, finding a QB is high on the team’s to-do list heading into what should be a busy off- season. Once the season begins, Harbaugh will face a familiar foe — big brother John Har- baugh, coach of the Balti- more Ravens. Jim Harbaugh won’t be attending his broth- er’s playoff game in Kansas City this weekend after all. ‘‘Let me tell you guys out in San Francisco, you got a great one,’’ John Harbaugh said. ‘‘I’m very happy he’s NFLPLAYOFFS Wild-Card Round Saturday’s games New Orleans at Seattle, 1:30 p.m., NBC N.Y. Jets at Indianapolis, 5 p.m., NBC Sunday’s games Baltimore at Kansas City, 10 a.m., CBS Green Bay at Philadelphia, 1:30 p.m., FOX not in the AFC. We’ll see him once every four years and Super Bowls — hope- fully we could get a couple of those. ... I got a feeling you’ll see two pretty similar- ly built football teams.’’ Niners team president and CEO Jed York said when Singletary was fired that money would be no object in finding the team’s next coach. He promoted vice president of player per- sonnel Baalke to GM earlier this week, then they worked together to make their push for Harbaugh, who also was in talks with the Miami Dol- phins and Stanford. The 49ers didn’t put him on a deadline, telling Har- baugh, ‘‘There can’t be any doubt in your mind,’’ York said. Harbaugh asked for Thursday night to ‘‘sleep on it,’’ then signed his deal Fri- day. He also informed Luck and his players at Stanford. Harbaugh insists this move wasn’t all about money. He reportedly had an offer for more from Miami. ‘‘It wasn’t the factor. I like a buck just like the next guy, but I love coaching and I love winning and I love football,’’ he said. ‘‘The factor that dic- tated my being here was that LOCAL Red Bluff Parks & Recreation Basketball Jan. 3 results McGlynn Law 45, Dominicks 44 Jim Weber 22 points Mike Weibling 17 points Mt. Lassen 50, Brewers Arena 46 Brian Stone 21 points Will Clement 17 points Jan. 6 results Barnes Boys 94, Arrow Fencing 49 Ryan Stevens 34 points John Chase 17 points Corning Glass 81, Vineyard 52 Shane Robertson 28 points Dave Bunch 15 points closer to its campus in Palo Alto, Calif., and Connecticut could have shot down to south Florida. But the way BCS berths are dolled out prevented that. ‘‘Anytime we can make it better for fans that want to sup- port their teams and for the quality and the excitement of the game and the attraction of the matchups, that seems a sensi- ble thing to address and to discuss,’’ Fiesta Bowl executive director John Junker said Friday. ‘‘That may not be easy to do, but I think there’s some obvious value.’’ He also added: ‘‘I’m not sure it’s all necessarily, solely geographic.’’ While Junker praised Connecticut and its fans, the Huskies were clearly a problem for the BCS this season. They earned the program’s first BCS bid by winning the Big East’s automatic berth, but they were 8-4 and a huge under- dog against Oklahoma, sneaking into the last spot in the AP Top 25 at very end of the regular season. The game played out about as expected with the Sooners winning 48-20. No one in the bowl business likes lopsided games. That’s why, even though it made more sense geographi- cally for the Orange Bowl to take UConn, given the choice between the Huskies and fifth-ranked Stanford, with Heis- man Trophy runner up Andrew Luck, officials in Miami understandably went for the more attractive team — even if it meant empty seats in the stadium. ‘‘We can’t just focus in on the gate,’’ Orange Bowl CEO Eric Poms said. Poms also said he was pleased with the opportunity to bring a Pac-10 to the Orange Bowl, just like he was thrilled to bring a Big Ten team in Iowa there last year. The Orange Bowl’s relationship with the Atlantic Coast Conference clearly hasn’t been what either side would have hoped. With Miami and Florida State struggling to win the league in recent years, the ACC’s representative in the Orange Bowl has been Virginia Tech three times in the last four years. Hokies fans flocked to Charlotte, N.C., for the Trent and Jed and the 49er organization wanted me to be here and I wanted to be here as much or more than they wanted me. Here I am.’’ The 47-year-old Har- baugh went 58-27 overall as a college coach and 29-21 in four seasons at Stanford. He took over a 1-11 team when he was hired in December 2006 and quickly turned the program back into a winner and bowl contender. The Cardinal went 4-8 in his first season, 5-7 the next, then improved to 8-5 and earned a Sun Bowl berth in 2009 — the school’s first bowl appearance since 2001. His next challenge will be getting San Francisco back to the playoffs. ‘‘It’s the process of build- ing a team, being part of a team and leading a team, and working at it,’’ Harbaugh said. ‘‘It’s committing a lot of energy to it. There are defi- nitely similarities.’’ When Stanford arrived back on campus Tuesday, one man hollered ‘‘Stay in the Bay Area!’’ when Har- BOWLS Friday’s result Cotton Bowl LSU 41, Texas A&M 24 Saturday’s bowl BBVACompass Bowl At Birmingham, Ala. Pittsburgh (7-5) vs. Kentucky (6-6), 9 a.m., ESPN Sunday’s Bowl Fight Hunger Bowl At San Francisco Nevada (12-1) vs. Boston College (7-5), 6 p.m., ESPN Monday’s game BCSNational Championship At Glendale, Ariz. Auburn (13-0) vs. Oregon (12-0), 5:30 p.m., ESPN baugh hopped off the bus carrying his 2-year-old daughter, Addison. He also has a newborn baby girl. Not having to move his family across the country was an added bonus. Harbaugh was the Oakland Raiders’ quar- terbacks coach from 2002- 03 before spending three sea- sons as head coach at the University of San Diego. He said he recently spoke to Raiders owner Al Davis, but not specifically about the now-vacant Oakland coach- ing job. Harbaugh, a college star at Michigan where there also is a coaching vacancy after the firing of Rich Rodriguez, played 15 sea- sons in the NFL for the Bears, Colts, Ravens, Charg- ers and Panthers. A first- round draft pick taken 26th overall by Chicago in 1987, Harbaugh completed 2,305 of 3,918 passes for 26,288 career yards and 129 touch- downs in the NFL. NCAABASKETBALL Saturday’s Top 25 games No. 4 Syracuse at Seton Hall, 9 a.m. No. 5 Pittsburgh vs. Marquette, 11 a.m. No. 6 San Diego St. at Utah, 1 p.m., VS No.8 UConn at No.12 Texas, 12:30 p.m., ESPN No. 9 Missouri at Colorado, 10:30 a.m. No.10 Kentucky at Georgia, 1 p.m. No.13 Georgetown vs.W.Vir., 8 a.m., ESPN2 No.14 Notre Dame vs. St. John’s, 5 p.m. No.15 BYU vs. Air Force, Noon No. 16 Texas A&M at Oklahoma, 1 p.m. No.17 Kan.St.at Okla.St., 10 a.m., ESPN2 No.18 Michigan State at Penn State, 10 a.m. No.19 UCF at Houston, 2 p.m. No.21 Memphis vs. East Carolina, 1 p.m. No.22 Vanderbilt at S.Car., 2 p.m., ESPN2 No.23 Washington vs.Oregon St., 3:30 p.m. No.25 UNLV vs.TCU, 7 p.m. Saturday’s other televised games California at Arizona St., 11:30 a.m, CSNB Florida St. at Virginia Tech, Noon, ESPN2 Stanford at Arizona, 3:30 p.m., CSNB USF at Santa Clara, 8 p.m., CSNC Sunday’s Top 25 games No. 1 Duke vs. Maryland, 5 p.m., CSNB No. 2 Ohio State vs.Minnesota, 11 a.m. No.3 Kansas at Michigan, 1:30 p.m., CBS No.7 Villanova vs.No.24 Cincinnati, 9 a.m. No. 11 Purdue vs. Iowa, 9 a.m. Sunday’s other televised game UCLA at Southern Cal, 7:30 p.m., CSNB ACC title game in early December, but were not so enthusi- astic about gobbling up Orange Bowl tickets — again. Return bowl trips generally aren’t ideal for anyone involved. ‘‘Within the system there’s a great degree of agreement that one of our primary goals is the experience for the stu- dent-athlete and frequent return trips probably doesn’t serve that at its best,’’ Junker said. To make matters worse, from an Orange Bowl stand- point, Stanford then went on to run away with the game in the second half, winning 40-12 and celebrating before rows and rows of empty seats. So what can be done? Bowl offi- cials aren’t ready to present specific ideas — and don’t think for a second think that a playoff will be one of those ideas — but there are a few others that will likely be tossed around in New Orleans when bowl officials and conference com- missioners get together for their annual BCS meeting. — A minimum BCS ranking for automatic qualifiers. A way to eliminate future UConn-type problems would to make conference champions have to reach a certain ranking to secure a spot. That number would need to be no higher than around 18th for the conferences to even listen. — Mandating geographical considerations, so teams play closer to home. — Making more teams at-large eligible, which could require lifting the rule that limits conferences to no more than two BCS bids. So an 11th-ranked, two-loss LSU could still make it to a big-money bowl. — Allow for more horsetrading. The system doesn’t allow much (if any) flexibility for the bowls to broker deals to trade teams. BCS executive director Bill Hancock files some of the apathy issues under ‘‘unintended consequences’’ of a system that basically works, and isn’t sure this season’s problems are anything more than just that — this season’s problems. ‘‘You have to be careful to evaluate the difference between a blip and a paradigm shift,’’ he said. NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Lakers WL Pct GB 26 11 .703 — WARRIORS 15 21 .417 10.5 Phoenix 14 20 .412 10.5 Clippers 11 24 .314 14 KINGS 825 .242 16 Southwest Division WL Pct GB San Antonio 30 6 .833 — Dallas 26 9 .743 3.5 New Orleans 21 16 .568 9.5 Memphis 17 19 .472 13 Houston 16 20 .444 14 Northwest Division WL Pct GB Okla. City 24 13 .649 — Utah 24 13 .649 — Denver 20 15 .571 3 Portland 20 17 .541 4 Minnesota 9 28 .243 15 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB Miami Boston 28 7 .800 — New York 21 14 .600 7 Philadelphia 15 21 .417 13.5 Toronto 12 24 .333 16.5 New Jersey 10 26 .278 18.5 Southeast Division WL Pct GB 29 9 .763 — Orlando 24 12 .667 4 Atlanta 24 14 .632 5 Charlotte 12 21 .364 14.5 Washington 9 25 .265 18 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 23 12 .657 — Indiana 14 19 .424 8 Milwaukee 13 21 .382 9.5 Detroit 11 24 .314 12 Cleveland 8 28 .222 15.5 ————————————————— Friday’s results Golden State 116, Cleveland 98 Boston 122, Toronto 102 L.A. Lakers 101, New Orleans 97 Memphis 110, Utah 99 Miami 101, Milwaukee 95, OT New York 121, Phoenix 96 Orlando 110, Houston 95 Philadelphia 105, Chicago 99 Portland 108, Minnesota 98 San Antonio 90, Indiana 87 Washington 97, New Jersey 77 Saturday’s games Indiana at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Milwaukee at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Washington at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Boston at Chicago, 5 p.m., WGN Memphis at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. Orlando at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Utah at Houston, 5:30 p.m. Sunday’s games Sacramento at Toronto, 10 a.m. Golden State at Clippers,12:30 p.m.,CSNB Minnesota at San Antonio, 4 p.m. Cleveland at Phoenix, 5 p.m., NBATV Miami at Portland, 6 p.m. New Orleans at Denver, 6 p.m. New York at L.A. Lakers, 6:30 p.m. Thursday’s late result Sacramento 122, Denver 102 Dallas Ducks NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA 24 13 5 53 120 116 22 18 4 48 116 123 SHARKS 21 15 5 47 118 115 Phoenix 19 13 8 46 112 115 Kings Central Division Detroit 26 10 5 57 143 117 Nashville 21 13 6 48 104 96 Chicago 22 18 3 47 133 124 St. Louis 20 13 6 46 106 110 Columbus 20 18 3 43 103 124 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 27 8 5 59 140 97 Colorado 21 15 5 47 136 130 Minnesota 20 15 5 45 103 114 Calgary 18 20 4 40 112 123 Edmonton 13 20 7 33 101 138 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Pittsburgh 26 12 4 56 136 97 Philadelphia 25 10 5 55 135 106 N.Y.Rangers 24 15 3 51 124 106 N.Y.Islanders 12 20 6 30 90 122 New Jersey 10 28 2 22 71 128 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 21 12 6 48 111 88 Montreal 22 16 3 47 102 97 Buffalo 17 18 5 39 111 118 Ottawa 16 19 6 38 92 124 Toronto 16 20 4 36 105 121 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Tampa Bay 24 12 5 53 123 130 Washington 23 12 6 52 120 107 Atlanta 22 16 6 50 137 136 Carolina 19 15 6 44 117 120 Florida 18 19 2 38 107 103 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. ————————————————— Friday’s results Anaheim 6, Columbus 0 Carolina 5, Florida 3 Chicago 3, Ottawa 2, SO Detroit 5, Calgary 4, SO N.Y. Rangers 3, Dallas 2, SO Toronto 9, Atlanta 3 Vancouver 6, Edmonton 1 Saturday’s games Nashville at San Jose, 5 p.m.,CSNC New Jersey at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. N.Y. Islanders at Colorado, Noon Boston at Montreal, 4 p.m., NHLN Florida at Washington, 4 p.m. Minnesota at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Ottawa, 4 p.m. Buffalo at Phoenix, 5 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Detroit at Vancouver, 7 p.m. Columbus at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Sunday’s Games San Jose at Anaheim, 5 p.m.,CSNC Atlanta at Carolina, 10:30 a.m. Tampa Bay at New Jersey, 2 p.m. Dallas at Minnesota, 3 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Chicago, 4 p.m. Thursday’s late results Buffalo 3, San Jose 0 Nashville 5, Los Angeles 2 22 17 1 45 118 101 WL OT Pts GF GA Tehama County’s Personal/Professional Service Directory AT YOUR SERVICE! $ 9900 3 month Attorney Local Bankruptcy Attorney Jocelyn C. 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