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ByAnneM.Peterson The Associated Press SteveandMarianaGrasu,im- migrants from Romania, pre- ferred soccer over American football, which they saw as too dangerous. It was only reluctantly that Grasu was allowed to kick for his high school team, and when a coach put him on the offensive line, well, he didn't exactly men- tion it to his folks. It was a long, silent ride home when the Grasus attended their son's first game. "They enjoy it now," he said, laughing. "They come to every single game, home and away. I think I've got the family hooked on football." Lucky for Oregon the Grasus allowed their son to keep play- ing. Now a senior, Grasu is un- questionably the No. 3 Ducks' anchor, according to quarter- back Marcus Mariota. Grasu, who is 6-foot-3 and just shy of 300 pounds, is con- sidered one of the best players at his position in the nation, and he's on the preseason watch lists for the Outland and Rimington trophies. He leads a strong group of linemen that helped Oregon lead the Pac-12 in rushing, scor- ing and total offense last season. The line was to return all five starters, but Tyler Johnstone in- jured his right knee during fall camp and is out for the season. "We've got so many guys on this team who are on the same page as me, guys that have a lot of experience and a lot of play- ing time. But we have so much work to get done," Grasu said. "We've always got to get a new standard, reach a new standard, and then set another one." Grasu grew up in the Los An- geles area, where his parents own a chain of pizza parlors. His older brother, Nico, was a kicker at Washington State. He became Oregon's starting center as a redshirt freshman af- ter beating out Karrington Arm- strong for the job. At the time, then-coach Chip Kelly said the best compliment he could give COLLEGE FOOTBALL Grasuactsasanchor ofOregon'soffense Son of Romanian immigrants considered one of the best in the nation at his position RICKSCUTERI—ASSOCIATEDPRESS Oregon offensive linesman Hroniss Grasu during the first half of a football game last November against Arizona, in Tucson, Ariz. By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press Reigning champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of the U.S. Open because of an injury for the second time in three years Monday, leaving Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as the men to beat at the year's last Grand Slam tournament. Nadal announced his with- drawal, blamed on a bad right wrist, one week before play be- gins at Flushing Meadows. "I am sure you understand that it is a very tough moment for me since it is a tournament I love and where I have great memories from fans, the night matches, so many things," a posting on Nadal's Facebook page read. "Not much more I can do right now, other than ac- cept the situation and, as always in my case, work hard in order to be able to compete at the highest level once I am back." The second-ranked Nadal plays left-handed, but he uses a two-handed backhand. The 14-time major champion was hurt July 29 while practic- ing on his home island of Mal- lorca ahead of the North Amer- ican hard-court circuit. The next day, Nadal announced he needed to wear a cast on his wrist for two to three weeks and would be sitting out tour- naments in Toronto and Cin- cinnati. The 28-year-old Spaniard TENNIS Wrist injury forces Nadal out of US Open He'll miss event for second time in three years CHARLES KRUPA — ASSOCIATED PRESS Rafael Nadal reacts a er a point against Novak Djokovic during the men's singles final of the 2013U.S. Open tennis tournament. By Rachel Cohen The Associated Press NEW YORK "The Big Bang The- ory" is one of the few television shows that can approach the NFL in viewership. CBS executives still didn't hesitate to temporar- ily move TV's top-rated comedy to a different night to make room for football. Already dominating Thursdays in prime time, CBS outbid its com- petitors when the league offered up games that had aired on NFL Network. "The highest priority for this corporation at that time was ac- quiring 'Thursday Night Foot- ball,'" CBS Sports Chair Sean Mc- Manus said Monday. Thursdays conjure up memo- ries of "Must See TV." But view- ers' habits are now very differ- ent from the NBC heyday of "The Cosby Show" or "Friends." So many more options abound: cable, Netflix, DVRs, on-demand. Viewers can fast-forward through ads or avoid them entirely. According to Nielsen, premiere episodes of "The Big Bang The- ory" during the last TV season av- eraged a total of 23 million view- ers over seven days — by that measure, even more than "Sun- day Night Football." But only 13.5 million watched live, compared with 20.9 million for the NFL games on NBC. On Thursdays, that's especially problematic to advertisers, said Jack Myers, the chairman of me- dia industry intelligence firm My- ersBizNet. Thursdays brimmed with top shows because consum- ers are starting to think about their weekends: which movies they'll attend, which big-ticket items they'll buy, which restau- rants they'll patronize. So "The Big Bang Theory" will anchor Monday nights while CBS broadcasts NFL games on Thurs- days for seven weeks. CBS's reg- ular Thursday lineup won't pre- TELEVISION NFL games take over Thursday on CBS By Jenna Fryer The Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. There are hun- dreds of guidebooks on how to handle grief, how to navigate the emotional suffering that follows a significant loss. None of those studies offer a clean timetable on when the roller coaster of emotion will come to a stop. So there is no timetable on when Tony Stewart will get back into a race car. The three-time NASCAR champion has skipped two races since he struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. during an Aug. 9 sprint car race. His Stewart-Haas Rac- ing team will not pressure him to return, and wins and trophies and a berth in the important Chase for the Sprint Cup cham- pionship have all been put into perspective in a sport in which the show always goes on. "The Chase is of the low- est priority as it relates to Tony right now," said Brett Frood, ex- ecutive vice president at SHR. "Right now it's about getting Tony in a better place than he is. When he's ready to do that, he'll get back in the car." NASCAR Grief gives no timetable on Stewart return Rick Perry on Friday became the first Texas governor since 1917to be indicted, but a judge has decided against is- suing an arrest warrant. TEXAS Noarrestwarrant issued for Perry FULLSTORYONPAGEB5 Clear Creek Sports Club at Rolling Hills Casino in Corning is registering for its Thursday evening fall sporting clays league. Teams consist of five members. For more informa- tion call Brad at 520-9464. SPORTING CLAYS Clear Creek to host autumn league The Red Bluff Derby Girls take on the visiting Southern Oregon Roller Girls Satur- day at the Tehama District Fairgrounds. Tickets are $12 at the door or $10in advance. Doors open at 5:30p.m. ROLLER DERBY Red Bluff Derby Girls to host Southern Oregon The recent wave of lawmak- ing has fallen into two broad categories: bills Congress had to do to avoid embarrass- ment and less controversial measures lawmakers decided they wanted. ANALYSIS Congress can still make deals if it must FULL STORY ON PAGE B5 TENNIS PAGE 2 FOOTBALL PAGE 2 NFL PAGE 2 NASCAR PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, August 19, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1