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Tuesday Boys Hoops Playoffs —Champion Christian at Mercy, 7 p.m. Girls Hoops Playoffs —Los Molinos at Liberty Christian, 7 p.m. Boys Soccer Playoffs —Oroville at Corning, 3 p.m. Girls Soccer Playoffs — Corning at Sutter, 3 p.m. Boys Hoops — Red Bluff at Oroville, 7:30 p.m. Girls Hoops — Oroville at Red Bluff, 7:30 p.m. Sports 1B Tuesday February 22, 2011 Suppan trying to pitch his way onto Giants SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Jeff Suppan hopes to win a job on the World Series champion San Francisco Giants. Having played for Boston (twice), Arizona, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, St. Louis (twice) and Mil- waukee, the 36-year-old right-hander is competing for a spot on a team that appears to have pitching depth. ‘‘I’m viewing this opportunity as anything, whether it’s starting or long relief,’’ he said Mon- day. ‘‘There is a good group of players here, a good mix of veteran guys and a few younger ones, so it’s been an easy transi- tion so far.’’ Suppan is at spring training with a minor league contract and would get a $1 million, one-year deal if added to the major MCT photo Jeff Suppan plays catch during the first full- squad workout of spring training in Scottsdale, Ariz., Saturday. league roster. He was 3-8 with a 5.06 ERA in 15 starts and 15 relief appearances with Mil- waukee and St. Louis last year, when he was slowed by a neck injury. ‘‘Soup knows the situ- ation, where we’re at, what he needs to do,’’ Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. ‘‘He gives us depth with our starting situation, but we’ll see how things work out once we get into the spring a little deeper.’’ Suppan finished 12-12 with a 4.62 ERA for Mil- waukee in 2007, then went 10-10 with a 4.96 in 2008 and slipped to 7-12 with a 5.29 the following year. ‘‘Those were two rough years,’’ he said. ‘‘The issues were defi- nitely physical. It was a battle. I was unaware of the full magnitude of what was happening to me physically, but now I have a better understand- ing. A pitcher relies on the speed of his fastball and his pitch location maybe even more so. Ultimately, you have to hit your spots. I was miss- ing my location, the pitch- es were coming over the See GIANTS, page 2B Bayne still in shock over Daytona win DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Trevor Bayne celebrated his Daytona 500 victory by playing basketball with friends, then skateboarding on the infield of NASCAR’s most storied race track. And why not? This is the youngest winner of the Great American Race. Bayne seemed still in disbelief Monday of his Daytona 500 victory, which came a day after his 20th birth- day and in just his second start in NASCAR’s elite Sprint Cup Series. His beaming parents, who watched the race in the grandstand and fought the crowd to reach Victory Lane, did- n’t even mind staying up half the night to wash his laundry so there would be clean clothes for the upcoming whirl- wind media tour. Wide-eyed and laughing at the absurdity of his life-changing victory, Bayne was just going with the flow. ‘‘It’s insane because we were kid- ding around, ’Did you bring enough clothes to go if you win the race?’’’ Bayne said. ‘‘I was like, ’Oh, yeah, See BAYNE, page 2B #12 Mercy at #5 Loyalton Girls — Division VI — First Round Wednesday, 7 p.m. Mercy Warriors: 8-18, 2-10, seventh in Tri-Cities Loyalton Grizzlies: 12-10, 8-2, sec- ond in Pioneer-Mountain Previous meeting: The schools haven’t met since the season opener of the 2006-07 season when at the Biggs Tournament Mercy destroyed Loyalton 58-15. The Lady Warriors led 23-0 after the first period and 34-3 at halftime. Shannon Threlkeld had 14 points and 15 rebounds. Annette Ogletree and Markie Fitzgerald both had 14 points and Jessica Colliver had eight points and 14 rebounds for Mercy. Players to watch: Mercy — #11 Maggie Keller, #22 Diana Van Ert, #23 MCT photo Trevor Bayne reaches out to slap hands with fans during driver introductions in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Sunday. Morgan Hampton-Glines Loyalton — #23 Griselda Lizarde, #12 Jessica Richards, #10 Hannah Redding Notes: Mercy is returning to the playoffs after missing them in 2010...Loyalton reached the semis last year. NFL, union exit Matsui gets to work on first day with A’sfrom 4th day of mediation WASHINGTON (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers quar- terback Charlie Batch emerged with a smile and a pos- itive outlook Monday after attending a fourth consecu- tive day of federally mediated negotiations between the NFL and the players’ union. ‘‘Things are going well right now,’’ said Batch, a member of the NFL Players Association executive committee. ‘‘We’ll see how things progress over the next couple days.’’ He didn’t discuss any details. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith left at 6 p.m., about seven hours after Monday’s session began. NFL executives departed minutes after Smith. None would comment on the negotiations; Smith deflected questions by joking about the wintry weather, including snow forecast for Monday night. After months of infrequent — and sometimes con- tentious — bargaining, the league and union have been communicating face-to-face for a total of more than 25 hours since Friday. The sessions are taking place at the office of George Cohen, director of the Federal Media- tion and Conciliation Service, a U.S. government agency. The league and union agreed to try mediation in a bid to find common ground as time runs out before the current labor deal expires at the end of the day March 3. The union has said it believes team owners want to lock out the players as soon as the next day, which could threaten the 2011 season. The sides met for about six hours on both Friday and Saturday, and another eight hours Sunday. Cohen announced Thursday the groups agreed to the media- tion, which is not binding but is meant as a way to spur progress. The plan calls for several days of negotiations with Cohen present. ‘‘Any time that you talk,’’ Batch said, ‘‘you have to feel better.’’ He and two other current players — Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita and New York Jets full- back Tony Richardson — left Monday at 5 p.m., getting into cars that were heading to the airport. It wasn’t clear whether other players would take their spots with the union’s negotiating team in Washington. The NFL’s group began arriving at 8 a.m. Monday, and Commissioner Roger Goodell walked in alone shortly after 9 a.m. The NFL’s group included general counsel and lead labor negotiator Jeff Pash and outside lawyer Bob Batterman. Batterman represented the NHL when it lost its entire 2004-05 season to a lockout. See NFL, page 2B MCT photo The Oakland Athletics had their first day of full squad workouts held at Papago Park Baseball Complex in Phoenix, Monday. PHOENIX (AP) — Coco Crisp approached Hideki Matsui while they warmed up Monday and pulled his new teammate into a hug. They shook hands, too — a little more the Japanese style. Crisp was far from the only one thrilled to see Oak- land’s new designated hitter in uniform and on the field. Pitcher Dallas Braden greet- ed the slugger in the club- house on reporting day with a life-size blowup Godzilla representing Matsui’s nick- name, even dressing it in his No. 55 jersey. ‘‘I felt it. All over the place,’’ catcher Kurt Suzuki said of Matsui fever. ‘‘Very cool.’’ Matsui tipped his cap to the large contingent moni- toring his every move after a session in the covered cage at Papago Park, then smiled as he went through sprint work on a welcome sunny day in the desert following a weekend of heavy rain and cold. He even pulled out his glove to play catch and later did defensive drills with the outfielders. ‘‘It’s like the first day of school. It’s great,’’ second baseman Mark Ellis said of the hype. ‘‘There are a lot of people all over the place. Getting people to talk about the A’s, that’s good. It will be different.’’ The Athletics have high hopes that Matsui and fel- low newcomers David DeJesus and Josh Willing- ham will boost the middle of the order and make them a contender in the AL West. Oakland managed only 109 homers and 663 runs last season, the team’s second fewest in the last 28 non- shortened seasons. ‘‘Practice went pretty well,’’ Matsui said through his interpreter, Roger Kahlon. ‘‘I’m happy to be wearing this uniform.’’ While the A’s got their first look at their upgraded roster all together, there’s not ever much to take from Day 1. Hitters typically stand in the batter’s box and spend more time tracking pitches than taking actual swings. ‘‘They’re all standing upright. That’s good,’’ A’s assistant general manager David Forst said with a smile. His club used the dis- abled list 23 times last sea- son, two shy of the fran- chise record set in 2008. Manager Bob Geren said he spent a little more time addressing his team Mon- day morning and welcom- ing all the new faces. With added depth throughout the roster, a tal- ented starting rotation and bullpen, and a lineup that See A'S, page 2B Wednesday’s basketball playoffs at a glance #11 East Nicolaus at #6 Los Molinos Boys — Division V — First Round Wednesday, 7 p.m. East Nicolaus Spartans: 11-14, 2-3, second in Mid-Valley - South Los Molinos Bulldogs: 14-7, 5-0, first in Mid-Valley - North Previous meeting: These teams just met in Los Molinos on Feb. 8 in a thriller. The Bulldogs won 55-53 in overtime as Dom Ceja had 21 points and Eric Blanchard 14. Riley Shill led the Spartans with 14 points and Alex Weber had five blocks. Players to watch: East Nicolaus — #33 Riley Shill, #44 Alex Weber, #10 Allan DaPrato Los Molinos — #23 Eric Blanchard, #2 Sean Con- rad, #1 Reggie Points Notes: East Nicolaus lost in the second round of last year’s playoffs...in 2009 the Spartans were the D-VI runner- up...Los Molinos hasn’t won a playoff game since 2007 when they defeated East Nicolaus at home behind a 33- point performance by Ryan Frank.