Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/26688
2B – Daily News – Tuesday, March 8, 2011 A’s owner Lew Wolff waits for commissioner’s call Oakland Athletics OAKLAND (AP) — Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff has the spot for a new ballpark all picked out. Funding is in place and the San Jose mayor is on board with Wolff’s plan to relocate his club some 40 miles south. Wolff has been wait- ing two years for his old fra- ternity brother, commission- er Bud Selig, to tell him whether he can go ahead with his proposal to move the A’s from Oakland into Santa Clara County even though the San Francisco Giants hold the territorial rights in technology-rich Silicon Valley. Selig appointed a com- mittee in March 2009 to evaluate the issue facing the Bay Area teams, yet he has provided no timetable for when he might announce a decision. Thus far it appears Selig doesn’t want to make a decision that would anger the A’s or Giants. ‘‘I think the Giants have a position they believe in and we have a position we think would be great for us,’’ Wolff said. ‘‘Those posi- tions are well known to the HIRE (Continued from page 1B) 03. Oakland won the AFC West in his first three seasons and went to the Super Bowl following his third year in 2002. ‘‘This is an incredible opportunity for me to come back to the Raiders and work again where we had so many great years,’’ said Bresnahan, who was also a defensive backs coach in Oakland in 1998-99. ‘‘It’s so exciting to be reunited with Hue Jack- son because of the passion and energy that he brings. I’m also thrilled to be a part of this talented staff, many of whom I’ve shared previous success with.’’ The Raiders have been aggressive so far this offsea- son about keeping some of their key potential free agents on the defensive side of the ball. Oakland gave cornerback Stanford Routt a three-year, $31.5 million deal, signed defensive tackle Richard Seymour to a $30 million, two-year contract, placed an $11,312,000 fran- chise tag on linebacker Kamerion Wimbley that has already been signed, and agreed to an $8 million, two- year contract with defensive tackle John Henderson. TENNIS ATP Money Leaders 1. Novak Djokovic 2. Andy Murray 3. Roger Federer 4. David Ferrer 5. Robin Soderling 6. Nicolas Almagro 7. Andy Roddick 8. Tomas Berdych $2,588,395 $1,122,597 $778,374 $768,508 $674,090 $419,550 $400,562 $389,489 9. Alexandr Dolgopolov $355,899 10. Stanislas Wawrinka $330,937 1. Kim Clijsters 2. Li Na WTA Money Leaders $2,181,058 3. Caroline Wozniacki $838,250 4.Vera Zvonareva 5. Flavia Pennetta 6. Petra Kvitova 7. Svetlana Kuznetsova $304,087 8. Gisela Dulko 9. Agnieszka Radwanska $274,374 10. Andrea Petkovic $289,705 $259,753 $1,158,629 $574,276 $437,801 $358,301 commissioner, and he has to decide.’’ Understandably, Wolff is getting anxious. He is deter- mined to move the small- market A’s as soon as possi- ble and begin breaking ground on an intimate, pri- vately funded new ballpark, but San Francisco’s owner- ship has no plans to hand over Santa Clara County — which includes many of the club’s big sponsors. The Giants are coming off the franchise’s first World Series title since moving West in 1958 and first over- all since ’54 in New York. ‘‘The South Bay is the single-most compelling part of our fan base,’’ Giants President Larry Baer said. ‘‘It’s densely populated with the strongest representation of our sponsors, the strongest representation of our ticket buyers and the strongest representation of our television viewership and radio listeners.’’ Selig — who has repeat- edly said the A’s can’t sur- vive financially playing in the run-down Oakland Coli- seum they share with the NFL’s Raiders — has indi- cated in the past he consid- ers territorial rights to be Oakland has two other key defensive free agents in Pro Bowl cornerback Nnam- di Asomugha and safety Michael Huff. Decisions on those two players won’t be made until after a new col- lective bargaining agreement is reached. Regardless of what hap- pens with Asomugha and Huff, the Raiders have some talented, young defenders whom they believe can be part of a stellar defense. Oak- land’s top two draft picks from last year, middle line- backer Rolando McClain and defensive end Lamarr Houston started right away as rookies and showed promise. Defensive tackle Tommy Kelly had his best season with seven sacks and Oak- land has high hopes for safeties Tyvon Branch and Mike Mitchell, linebackers Trevor Scott and Travis Goethel, and defensive tack- le Desmond Bryant. The primary task for Bresnahan will be improving a run defense that has been a problem for years for the PGA FedEx Cup Leaders Rank Points YTDMoney 1. Mark Wilson 1,055 $2,206,115 2. Jhonattan Vegas 752 $1,410,010 3. Rory Sabbatini 724 $1,412,194 4.Bubba Watson 724 $1,633,134 5.D.A.Points 713 $1,482,707 6. Aaron Baddeley 658 $1,435,716 7. Luke Donald 618 $1,536,800 8. Jonathan Byrd 589 $1,219,666 9. Matt Kuchar 567 $1,272,473 10.Vijay Singh 564 $1,179,492 11. Hunter Mahan 556 $1,128,394 12. Bill Haas 13.Y.E.Yang 14. Phil Mickelson 489 $951,031 15. Spencer Levin 487 $996,432 16. Gary Woodland 445 $860,064 17. Jason Dufner 407 $751,041 18.Jimmy Walker 405 $762,857 19. Steve Marino 404 $800,248 20. Nick Watney 352 $768,000 Upcoming Schedule March 10-13 — WGC-Cadillac Champi- onship, TPC Blue Monster at Doral, Doral, Fla. March 10-13 — Puerto Rico Open, Trump International GC, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico March 17-20 — Transitions Champi- onship, Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course), Palm Harbor, Fla. March 24-27 — Arnold Palmer Invitation- al, Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Fla. sacred. The A’s and Giants play about 17 miles apart, separated by picturesque San Francisco Bay. Selig formed the task force to analyze the situation and report back to him, and Wolff believes that process is done. ‘‘The committee is work- ing and I do not know when their work will be com- plete,’’ said Pat Courtney, Selig’s spokesman. In the A’s view, how could the Giants be upset about them moving 40 miles farther away? The Giants don’t consid- er it that simple when their South Bay fan base is taken into account. They declined to provide exact numbers of their ticket sales in the South Bay, but acknowledge hav- ing contributed financially to the group ‘‘Stand for San Jose’’ — which is supported by San Francisco’s Class-A San Jose club and opposes the A’s moving to town. ‘‘We solidified a fan base and the core is the city of San Francisco and straight directly south those 50 miles,’’ Baer said. ‘‘This is our focus.’’ Selig has asked the two clubs not to publicly debate Raiders. Oakland allowed the fourth-most yards rush- ing last season at 133.6 per game and has the worst run defense in the NFL since Bresnahan left before the 2004 season. Oakland has allowed 140.4 yards rushing per game over those seasons with a league-worst 139 touchdowns on the ground. Oakland did finish second in the league in pass defense and was tied for second with 47 sacks. During Bresna- han’s tenure as defensive coordinator in Oakland, the Raiders ranked 17th in rush- NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA SHARKS 38 22 6 82 185 167 Phoenix 34 23 10 78 191 194 Dallas 35 23 7 77 180 183 Kings 36 25 4 76 180 159 Ducks 35 26 5 75 182 193 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Detroit 39 19 8 86 219 193 Chicago 37 23 6 80 218 182 Nashville 33 24 9 75 167 156 Columbus 31 26 8 70 180 196 St. Louis 29 28 9 67 182 198 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 42 16 9 93 216 155 Calgary 35 24 9 79 207 193 Minnesota 34 25 7 75 171 174 Colorado 26 31 8 60 185 224 Edmonton 23 35 8 54 169 215 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia40 19 6 86 208 174 Pittsburgh 38 21 8 84 193 166 N.Y. Rangers 35 29 4 74 193 164 New Jersey 30 31 4 64 139 168 N.Y. Islanders25 32 10 60 184 213 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA 519 $967,600 500 $1,068,396 Boston 38 19 8 84 199 152 Montreal 36 23 7 79 176 167 Buffalo 32 25 8 72 189 187 Toronto 29 28 9 67 173 202 Ottawa 22 34 9 53 147 206 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Washington 37 20 10 84 178 167 Tampa Bay 37 21 8 82 196 200 Carolina 31 26 9 71 191 201 Atlanta 27 28 11 65 184 214 Florida 26 31 9 61 165 184 ————————————————— Monday’s results St. Louis 5, Columbus 4, SO Washington 2, Tampa Bay 1, SO Dallas at Los Angeles, late Today’s games Nashville at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.,CSNC Ottawa at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Toronto at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Edmonton at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. Boston at Montreal, 4:30 p.m. Chicago at Florida, 4:30 p.m. Colorado at Minnesota, 5 p.m., VS Vancouver at Phoenix, 6 p.m. the issue. Many San Jose city officials are on board, with Mayor Chuck Reed a big proponent of profession- al baseball in the South Bay — and he is on record say- ing he would welcome the A’s. But if this process takes too long, the A’s risk that he might no longer be in office. ‘‘I’m patiently waiting for the commissioner to rule,’’ Wolff said. ‘‘The committee hopefully has finished its work and Bud is contemplating his decision. That’s all I know. I think it will be sooner rather than later. I don’t think it’s anoth- er year off.’’ A’s majority owner John Fisher doesn’t speak out about the situation, though Wolff has expressed his frustrations at times. Wolff, the savvy Los Angeles real estate developer and a frater- nity pal with Selig back in their days at Wisconsin, is ready to break ground on a ballpark projected to cost between $400 million and $450 million — if and when he gets the OK to relocate. There are working drawings of the venue and an architect has been chosen. Wolff expects getting building per- mits to take about nine ing defense (117.2 yards per game), tied for 14th in scor- ing defense (20.5 points per game), tied for 22nd in total defense (331.3 yards per game), tied for 17th in turnovers forced (117) and tied for 12th in sacks (152). Bresnahan spent last sea- son as defensive coordinator for Florida in the UFL. He has also been defensive coor- dinator for three years with Cincinnati and coached as an assistant with Indianapolis and Cleveland. NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL Pct GB Lakers 45 19 .703 — Phoenix 32 29 .525 11.5 WARRIORS 27 35 .435 17 Clippers 24 40 .375 21 KINGS 15 45 .250 28 Southwest Division WL Pct GB San Antonio 51 12 .810 — Dallas 46 17 .730 5 New Orleans37 29 .561 15.5 Memphis 36 29 .554 16 Houston 32 32 .500 19.5 Northwest Division WL Pct GB Okla. City 39 23 .629 — Denver 37 27 .578 3 Portland 36 27 .571 3.5 Utah 33 31 .516 7 Minnesota 15 50 .231 25.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB x-Boston 46 15 .754 — New York 33 29 .532 13.5 Philadelphia 32 30 .516 14.5 New Jersey 19 43 .306 27.5 Toronto 17 46 .270 30 Southeast Division WL Pct GB 43 20 .683 — Miami Orlando 40 24 .625 3.5 Atlanta 37 26 .587 6 Charlotte 26 37 .413 17 Washington 16 46 .258 26.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 44 18 .710 — Indiana 27 35 .435 17 Milwaukee 23 38 .377 20.5 Detroit 23 41 .359 22 Cleveland 12 50 .194 32 x-clinched playoff spot ————————————————— Monday’s results Houston at Sacramento, late Chicago 85, New Orleans 77 Dallas 108, Minnesota 105 L.A. Clippers 92, Charlotte 87 Memphis 107, Oklahoma City 101 New York 131, Utah 109 Portland 89, Orlando 85 Today’s games Golden State at Cleveland,4 p.m.,CSNB L.A. Lakers at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Milwaukee at Washington, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Indiana, 4 p.m. Portland at Miami, 4:30 p.m., NBATV Houston at Phoenix, 6 p.m. AMERICAN LEAGUE WL Pct Kansas City 7 3 .700 Detroit Minnesota 6 3 .667 Texas 8 4 .667 6 4 .600 Baltimore 4 3 .571 Angels 5 5 .500 Seattle 4 4 .500 Boston 4 5 .444 Cleveland 4 5 .444 New York 4 5 .444 Toronto 4 5 .444 A’s 46 .400 Chicago 2 6 .250 Tampa Bay 2 7 .222 NATIONAL LEAGUE WL Pct GIANTS 93 .750 Atlanta 7 3 .700 St. Louis 6 3 .667 Washington 5 3 .625 Cincinnati 6 4 .600 Milwaukee 6 4 .600 Colorado 5 4 .556 Florida 4 4 .500 Padres 4 4 .500 Philadelphia 5 6 .455 Pittsburgh 5 6 .455 New York 4 5 .444 Chicago 4 6 .400 Dodgers 4 7 .364 Arizona 4 9 .308 Houston 2 8 .200 NOTE: Split-squad games count in the standings; games against non-major league teams do not. ————————————————— Monday’s results San Francisco 4,Texas 1 Seattle 6, Oakland 3 Arizona (ss) 8, Kansas City (ss) 6 Baltimore (ss) 0, N.Y.Yankees (ss) 0, tie Boston 6, Baltimore (ss) 5 Chicago Cubs 14, L.A. Angels 13 Chicago White Sox (ss) 12, Arizona (ss) 1 Chicago White Sox (ss) 16, Cleveland 16, tie Detroit 2, N.Y. Mets 1 Florida 4, Atlanta 3, 10 innings Kansas City (ss) 11, San Diego 3 L.A. Dodgers 7, Colorado 1 Milwaukee 15, Cincinnati 2 N.Y.Yankees (ss) 7, Philadelphia 1 St. Louis 10, Minnesota 4 Tampa Bay 4, Pittsburgh 2 Washington 14, Houston 9 Today’s games San Diego vs. Oakland, 12:05 p.m. San Francisco vs. Seattle, 12:05 p.m. Baltimore vs. Philadelphia, 10:05 a.m. Boston (ss) vs. St. Louis, 10:05 a.m. Florida vs. Detroit, 10:05 a.m. Houston (ss) vs.Boston (ss), 10:05 a.m. N.Y.Mets (ss) vs.Houston (ss), 10:05 a.m. N.Y.Yankees vs. Atlanta, 10:05 a.m. Pittsburgh vs. Minnesota, 10:05 a.m. Toronto vs. Tampa Bay, 10:05 a.m. Washington vs. N.Y. Mets (ss), 10:10 a.m. Arizona vs. Cleveland, 12:05 p.m., MLBN Cincinnati vs. Kansas City, 12:05 p.m. Colorado (ss) vs.Chi.White Sox, 12:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers vs. Milwaukee, 12:05 p.m. Texas vs. L.A. Angels, 12:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs vs.Colorado (ss), 12:10 p.m. months, then the actual ball- park would require another two years to complete. Wolff would like to hear from Selig either way, though the A’s ‘‘don’t have a Plan B,’’ Wolff said. ‘‘I’m in baseball because of Bud, and I believe he’s the best commissioner in baseball by far, even though he’s my friend,’’ Wolff said. ‘‘Baseball wouldn’t be where it is without Bud. I respect his reasoning.’’ The city of Oakland in December 2009 unveiled three waterfront sites as potential spots to build a new ballpark for the A’s and ultimately keep the team from leaving town. Yet Wolff and the owner- ship group, committed to keeping the team in the Bay Area, feel they have exhausted their options in Oakland after years of effort. In the past they haven’t been able to find a suitable spot to build and were set to leave blue-collar Oakland and move to near- by Fremont until that plan fell through. Wolff said it cost his group $30 million. ‘‘It takes me an hour and 45 minutes exactly to go through (the paperwork) of NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1. Tony Stewart 2. Kurt Busch 3. Carl Edwards 7. Martin Truex Jr. 8. Denny Hamlin 113 113 106 4. Juan Pablo Montoya 106 5. Ryan Newman 103 6. Paul Menard 96 95 95 9. A J Allmendinger 94 10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 91 11. Mark Martin 12. Jimmie Johnson 87 13. Kasey Kahne 14. Kyle Busch 91 87 15. Bobby Labonte 84 16. Matt Kenseth 17. Marcos Ambrose 76 18. Clint Bowyer 19. Jeff Gordon 20. Kevin Harvick 21. David Gilliland 22. Bill Elliott 86 77 75 74 71 70 67 23. Brad Keselowski 63 24. Brian Vickers 25. David Reutimann 61 26. David Ragan 27. Robby Gordon 54 28. Regan Smith 29. Jamie McMurray 53 30. Joey Logano 31. Greg Biffle 32. Jeff Burton 33. Casey Mears 34. Andy Lally 35. Dave Blaney 36. Terry Labonte 37. Tony Raines 38. J.J.Yeley 39. Michael McDowell 7 40. Michael Waltrip 4 41. Brian Keselowski 3 Upcoming Schedule March 20 — Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City, Bristol, Tenn. March 27 — Auto Club 400, Fontana April 3 — Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500, Ridgeway, Va. April 9 — Samsung Mobile 500, Fort Worth, Texas NCAA Conference Tournaments Already qualified: Belmont, Atlantic Sun Conference; Indiana State, Mis- souri Valley Conference; Morehead State, Ohio Valley Conference; Old Dominion, Colonial Athletic Associa- tion; UNC Asheville, Big South Confer- ence;Wofford, Southern Conference MLB Spring Training Atlantic 10 Conference First Round — Today La Salle at St. Bonaventure, 2 p.m. Saint Joseph’s at George Washington, 4 p.m. Saint Louis at Rhode Island, 4 p.m. Dayton at Massachusetts, 6 p.m. Big East Conference At Madison Square Garden New York First Round — Today Connecticut vs.DePaul, 9 a.m., ESPN2 Seton Hall vs. Rutgers, 11 a.m., ESPN2 Villanova vs. South Florida, 4 p.m. Marquette vs. Providence, 6 p.m. Big Sky Conference At Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion Greeley, Colo. Semifinals — Today Montana vs.Weber State, 4:30 p.m. N.Colorado vs.Northern Arizona, 7 p.m. Horizon League At U.S. Cellular Arena Milwaukee Championship — Today Butler vs.Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 6 p.m., ESPN Metro Atlantic Athletic At Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard Bridgeport, Conn. Championship — Monday Saint Peter’s 62, Iona 57 Mid-American Conference First Round — Today Toledo at Ohio, 4 p.m. Eastern Michigan at Akron, 4 p.m. Northern Illinois at Bowling Green, 4 p.m. Central Michigan at Buffalo, 4 p.m. Mid-Eastern Athletic At Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Winston-Salem, N.C. First Round — Today Florida A&M vs.Md-Eastern Shore, 3:30 p.m. Delaware State vs.South Carolina St., 6 p.m. Summit League At Sioux Falls Arena Sioux Falls, S.D. Semifinals — Monday Oakland, Mich.110, South Dakota State 90 Oral Roberts 83, IUPUI 77 Championship — Today Oakland vs.Oral Roberts, 6 p.m., ESPN2 Sun Belt Conference At Sioux Falls Arena Summit Arena Semifinals — Monday North Texas 81, Western Kentucky 62 Arkansas-Little Rock 65, Middle Tennessee 56 Championship — Today North Texas vs.Ark-Little Rock, 4 p.m., ESPN2 West Coast Conference At Orleans Arena Las Vegas Championship — Monday Gonzaga 75, Saint Mary’s, Calif. 63 61 61 53 53 50 50 45 37 32 30 28 12 what we did in Oakland,’’ Wolff said of his efforts in the diverse East Bay city. This isn’t the first time baseball has dealt with terri- torial rights. The Baltimore Orioles were compensated in a complicated transaction when Major League Base- ball bought the Montreal Expos and moved them to Washington, D.C. Base- ball’s other 29 teams pur- chased the poor-drawing Expos for $120 million in 2002, and the commission- er’s office initially operated the team before it sold. The franchise was moved to Washington for the 2005 season and renamed the Nationals. In the Bay Area, former A’s owner and well- known businessman Walter Haas — a third-generation San Franciscan who ran the Oakland franchise from 1979-95 — gave the Giants the OK to assume rights to San Jose in a favor of sorts to former San Francisco owner Bob Lurie when his team was considering mov- ing to Florida. The deal basi- cally happened with a hand- shake. NCAA The Top Twenty Five The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first- place votes in parentheses, records through March 6, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking: Record Pts Pvs 1. Ohio St. (52) 29-2 1,612 1 2. Kansas (13) 29-2 1,569 2 3. Pittsburgh 4. Notre Dame 25-5 1,416 8 5. Duke 9. Purdue 10. Texas 27-4 1,493 4 27-4 1,265 4 6. North Carolina 24-6 1,209 13 7. San Diego St. 29-2 1,197 9 8. BYU 28-3 1,187 3 25-6 1,108 6 25-6 1,081 7 11. Syracuse 25-6 984 12 12. Florida 13. Wisconsin 23-7 870 10 14. Louisville 15. Kentucky 16. Arizona 24-6 931 14 23-8 794 11 22-8 639 20 25-6 562 18 17. St. John’s 20-10 462 15 18. Xavier 24-6 437 23 19. Kansas St. 22-9 345 — 20.West Virginia 20-10 294 — 21. Connecticut 21-9 281 16 22. Georgetown 21-9 244 17 23. Utah St. 24. Temple 25. Cincinnati 24-7 202 — Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 177, Vanderbilt 101, Villanova 64, UCLA 40, UNLV 29, Missouri 22, George Mason 12, Old Dominion 11, Alabama 10, Belmont 9, Butler 9, Gon- zaga 6, Saint Mary’s, Calif. 4, Va. Com- monwealth 3, UAB 2, Harvard 1. Today’s Top 25 games No. 21 Connecticut vs. DePaul at Madison Square Garden, 9 a.m 28-3 234 25 24-6 209 —