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Weekend PGA— Phoenix Open, Sat and Sun 10 a.m., TGC; Noon, CBS SAT — NBA— Bulls at Warriors, 7:30 p.m., CSNB SAT— NCAA— West Virginia at Villanova, 9 a.m., ESPN SUN— Super Bowl XLV — Steelers vs Packers, 3 p.m., FOX SUN —NBA— Magic at Celtics, 11:30 a.m., ABC SUN—NCAA— Ohio State at Minnesota, 11 a.m., ESPN Sports 1B Weekend February 5, 2011 Rodgers creates his own legacy Super Bowl XLV DALLAS (AP) — As the 2005 draft crept uncomfortably along into hour 2, then hour 3, then hour 4 and beyond, Aaron Rodgers looked at the board, saw the words "Green Bay" up there and knew there was an outside chance his long day would end there. Then, he heard his name. In a matter of seconds, he went from draft day disappoint- ment to Brett Favre's backup. A lot of baggage to carry up to the Frozen Tundra. "I never thought it was baggage," Rodgers said. "I was happy someone picked me." The Packers are happy, too. Despite skeptical fans and a less-than- welcoming Favre, Rodgers took over the starting job three years ago. This year, he led the Pack to the Super Bowl and is now as revered in Green Bay as the guy who once wore No. 4 — the quarterback they once said was irreplaceable. "It was a difficult situation," Rodgers said. "It was tough to stand up every day in front of the media not knowing what ques- tions were coming at me and how the fans were going to react that day in practice. But the whole time, the organization stood by me and they told the truth, and I told the truth, and we moved on together." Those who knew him, had studied his game and his slow, steady rise through the sport could see this coming. One of the most savvy moves Rodgers made was to contact Steve Young, who went through a very similar scenario in San Fran- cisco when he waited behind Joe Montana in the 1990s. Young's advice: "You have to take a laser focus on the opportunity to be on a good team and play good football and not worry about the other stuff. You try to forget about all the things that make it hard. If you go MCT file photo From Pleasant Valley High School and Butte Community College to the Green Bay Packers and Super Bowl XLV, Aaron Rodgers’ long road is starting to pay off. there, you'll find yourself doing the human- nature thing and trying to get people to understand how hard it is. That never works. You never want to let that happen." Rodgers comes by that credo honestly. His whole career has been about overcom- ing one obstacle or another. He was a record-setter at Pleasant Valley High School in Chico, but at 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, didn't get a serious look from the major colleges. So, he stayed in the area, enrolled at Butte Community College and immediately won over a group of players in their 20s who had as much experience in the school of hard knocks as on the football field. "I think Aaron had a unique way of kind of reaching to a different cast of characters," said Butte coach Jeff Jordan, who was Rodgers' position coach back then. "Whether it was guys who were there because of academics or guys who were raised on the streets or spent time in the mil- itary. It doesn't mean he hung with them, but he accepted them. That's kind of why people maybe gravitated toward him, even though he was this young, 18-year-old, skinny little baby-faced boy coming in." See OWN, page 2B Youngsters shine at tourney San Fran exercises 2012 JR. HIGH SPORTS Special to the DN Kirkwood Boys Win ACA/Bend Tournament The Kirkwood Bobcats boys team powered through the field of the 2011 Broncos/Eagles Jr. High basketball tournament. Led by the tournament’s Most Valu- able Player Devin Wunsch and All- Tournament selection Dan Gaskell, the Bobcats saw at least eight different players score in each of their games. The host American Christian Acad- emy Eagles put on a shooting clinic to avenge a season opening loss to Oak Tree Christian School and took second place. Chance Lambert led the scoring with 20, including a record five 3- pointers and the Eagles set season highs in scoring with 40 points and threes with seven. Oak Tree defeated Manton to sal- vage third place behind 20 points in the paint by David Mauer. The All-Tournament team included Wunsch and Gaskell from Kirkwood, Lambert and Christian Sides from ACA, Mauer from Oak Tree and Robert Lewis from Manton. Lady Eagles Fly to Tournament Victory American Christian Academy’s balance of offense and defense proved too much for their opponents as they defended the first place title in their home tournament at Bend School. Alissa Clowers and Michelle Leuch scored 65 combined points over three games, and Aslynn Hubbard led the defense as all three were selected by coaches and officials to the All-Tour- nament Team. Caitlyn Safford’s 4-for-8 free throw shooting proved to be just enough as Kirkwood came from behind to beat Oak Tree 32-30 in the tournament’s final game and force a three-way tie for second. Kirkwood wound up second after tie breakers were settled and Manton’s 18-17 victory over Kirkwood proved to be enough to earn them third place. Oak Tree was forced to settle for fourth, despite a strong all-around tour- nament after missing a chance to tie the game against ACA with 3 seconds left, then losing the heartbreaker to Kirk- wood by just one basket. They gained some solace when the Alissa Clowers dribbles past an opponent. crowd erupted in cheer louder than it had all day as petite Oak Tree seventh grader Audrey Grocott won the half court shot challenge, beating more than 50 boys and girls. The girls All-Tournament team included MVP Clowers, Leuch and Hubbard from ACA, Safford from Kirkwood, Rainy Lander from Manton and Kayla Tuma from Oak Tree. Tournament officials wanted to thank sponsors and volunteers who made the tournaments possible includ- ing: Bend School, American Christian Academy High School Boys Basket- ball Team, Bill Mendenhall, Brian Baer, Gabe Rodriguez, Debbie Span- gler, Garrett Spangler, Michelle Rowen, Luigi’s Pizza, Burger King, Antelope Auto Repair, Round Table, Burrito Bandito, Sunrise Bible Fellow- ship, Lariat Bowl, Mr. Pickles, Cozy Diner, Little Caesars, Bud’s Jolly Kone, Zelma’s Trophies, Les Schwaab Tire, Knightly Computing and the River Bend Store. options for Sabean, Bochy San Francisco Giants SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy are set to lead the San Francisco Giants through 2012. The World Series champions exercised their contract options for the general manager and manager Friday less than two weeks before pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Giants made an improbable run to the franchise’s first title since 1954 and first since moving West in 1958, beating the Texas Rangers in five games last fall. That’s after they clinched their first NL West crown since 2003 on the season’s final day. Sabean, 54, is the longest-tenured GM in the majors heading into his 15th season with San Francisco — the place he has said he’d like to stay for the rest of his career. He became the Giants’ GM in 1996 after three years in player personnel. He was in the Yankees’ organization from 1985- 92 as a scout, scouting director and player development director. Sabean hired the 55-year-old Bochy away from the rival San Diego Padres in 2007 to replace Felipe Alou. But there wasn’t immediate success and both men received harsh crit- icism along the way for moves they made and those they didn’t. Neither is ready to say the 2010 run brings them redemp- tion, both quick to credit the players for the World Series championship that most figured was headed to the favored Philadelphia Phillies. Instead, the Giants eliminated the defending NL champions in the NLCS. Bochy’s spot-on moves throughout the postseason with a roster minus a superstar finally earned him the respect of a fan base that had become impatient to have a winner again. ‘‘This year we got it right largely because he was at the helm,’’ said Giants managing partner Bill Neukom, who said there were no discussions yet about an extension beyond 2012. Courtesy photo In October 2009, the futures of Sabean and Bochy were uncertain. Then, both men received two-year contract exten- sions from Neukom. Neukom saw enough positive signs from a club that stayed in the wild-card chase until mid-September in ’09 but missed the playoffs for a sixth straight year. Even after Bochy’s first season — and Bonds’ last — in 2007 ended with a 71-91 record, some fan message boards called for his firing. Others figured Sabean deserved a shot to turn things around with Bonds finally out of the picture. He has done that at last, making a handful of risky moves midseason last year that paid off when it mattered most. Pat Burrell got a second chance after the Rays released him. The Giants picked up Cody Ross in August off waivers from the Marlins, and he became a postseason start receiv- ing NLCS MVP honors in San Francisco’s six-game victo- ry over the Phillies. He drove in 10 runs during the playoffs, two in the World Series win over the Texas Rangers. Sabean also promoted catcher Rookie of the Year catch- er Buster Posey in May and traded away Bengie Molina. The GM has kept nearly the entire roster intact to make another go at this. The Giants lost World Series MVP Edgar Renteria and utility infielder Juan Uribe, departed to the rival Dodgers. ‘‘I feel a lot more anxiety. What’s next? Have we kept enough of the group together?’’ Sabean said. ‘‘Have we had enough change? ... There’s enough to be excited about, but we also know that we had to go like (mad) to win this thing the last day of the season.’’ Bochy made the tough call to leave struggling $126 mil- See GIANTS, page 2B