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2B Daily News– Wednesday, June 27, 2012 PLAYOFF progress,'' football. ''I think it's tremendous (Continued from page 1B) bowls — Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Sugar — and two more to be determined. The winners will advance to the champi- onship on the first Monday in January that is six or more days after the last semifinal. The first champi- onship Monday is set for Jan. 12, 2015. will move around the way the Super Bowl does, with cities bidding for the right to host. State coach Mike Leach, a playoff proponent. ''Five years ago there wasn't even dialogue about a playoff. Instead of diving in the water, they dipped their toes in. I think it's' going to be ridiculously exciting and it's going to generate a bunch of money. I wish they dived in.'' Washington The site of the title game The teams will be select- ed by a committee, similar to the way the NCAA bas- ketball tournament field is set. The men's tournament has 68 teams, and 37 at- large bids. No one has put a hard number on it yet, but this new format figures to more than double the TV revenue of the current BCS and Rose Bowl contracts. Those pay out about $155 million annually. will have a much tougher task, trying to whittle the field down to four. Among the factors the committee will consider is won-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head results and whether a team is a confer- ence champion. This sea- son, 125 schools will play at the highest level of college The football committee DRAFT (Continued from page 1B) ''I think what I've learned is that you don't see the best offers until you get close to the deadline,'' Myers said. ''Seems to me that 95 percent of the time teams will withhold their best offer until within a day or two or the day of the deadline. We're open to moving the pick, we're open to keeping the pick and I can tell you ... if we had seen something we real- ly liked, we would've moved the pick. ''I think you can deduce from that we haven't seen anything we really liked thus far.'' The commissioners want to lock in this format for 12 years with a television part- ner. The current BCS deal with ESPN runs through the 2013 season. The new for- mat will be presented to potential TV partners in the fall, starting with ESPN. There are still some details to work out — such as who will be on the com- mittee and what new bowls will be involved in the semi- final rotation — but all the decision-makers are on board. we're not near where we need to be as a team. We need to get better. So we can't afford to let an asset pass us by and address need in the draft. We have to be a team where, when other teams look at our roster, they see players that they'd like on their team.'' That has not been the case in a while. Coming off a 23-43 record in a lockout-short- ened season swallowed by injuries and trades, expecta- tions will be higher than they have in years this fall. The Warriors, with only one playoff appearance since 1994, will finally have a starting lineup that has a legitimate chance to make the playoffs — if healthy. Golden State's biggest need is at small forward. The backcourt tandem of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson is expected to team with new center Andrew Bogut and power forward David Lee next sea- son. Dorell Wright, heading into the final year of his contract, slipped under rookie coach Mark Jackson and his long-term future with the team is uncertain. That doesn't necessarily mean the Warriors will opt for another small forward. Myers has talked about acquiring ''assets'' and drafting the most talented players, not necessarily the best at a position of need. North Carolina's Harrison Barnes and Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist — both considered top-tier small forwards — would be ideal for Golden State, but neither is expected to be around at No. 7. More likely, the selection will come down to a trio of 7-footers: 18-year-old Andre Drummond of Con- necticut, North Carolina's Tyler Zeller and Illinois' Meyers Leonard. ''I like size, but at the same time, we have to look at the draft and decide who we think the best player is,'' Myers said. ''We have to have assets. The reason we have to have assets is that Health, however, is a huge concern. overall pick and best center the franchise has had in at least a decade, fractured his left ankle Jan. 25 with Mil- waukee and sat out the rest of the season when he was acquired in a trade for star guard Monta Ellis. Curry repeatedly sprained his sur- gically repaired right ankle last season while playing only 26 games. And Lee missed the final eight games, undergoing surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle. Bogut, the 2005 No. 1 All are expected back by training camp. With four solid starters and a collection of young talent on the bench, Myers believes the Warriors are not far away from a postseason berth. That puts the pressure on draft night even more this year knowing even one right choice — especially at No. 7 — could make all the difference next season. ''You fluctuate on how you feel about your pick, is the honest answer,'' Myers said. ''I think we're getting close to developing a com- fort level with that number. Doesn't mean we're going to absolutely keep it, does- n't mean we might not trade back, there's still a lot of variables at play. But I think we're comfortable with the pick where it is right now.'' Red Bluff Youth Soccer League Take advantage of this chance to sign your children up for the fall 2012 soccer season!!! Thursday June 28, 2012 from 5:30 to 8:30 at Round Table U12 and above- $75.00 U6 to U8- $65.00, U10- $70.00, Fees: Please bring a COPY of your children's birth certificate and the appropriate fees with you to registration. Serena wins after Venus falls WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — On one point Tuesday at Wim- bledon, Serena Williams dumped a forehand into the net and dropped to a knee, her jaw clenched as she let out a shriek. On another, she pushed a back- hand into the net while her feet gave way, yet again leaving her awk- wardly splayed on the grass at Court 2, the same place where her sister Venus lost a day earlier. By the end, the younger match,'' Williams said, ''I either win it or lose it.'' She'll want to play better than she did against Zahlavova Strycova, who is 0-21 against top-10 oppo- nents, 13-27 in Grand Slam match- es, and never has made it past the third round at any major. Williams was screaming after near- ly every point, good or bad — and, well, there were plenty of both. Her harder-than-the-score-looked 6-2, 6-4 victory over the 62nd-ranked Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic in the first round at the All England Club wasn't exact- ly perfect or pretty. ''Definitely a little relief,'' the sixth-seeded Williams said. ''I was letting out a lot of cries. I was happy to get through that.'' Yes, Williams got the job done, something she couldn't say the last time she was at a major champi- onship. Last month at the French Open, the 30-year-old American tossed away a big lead — nine times, she was two points from vic- tory — and lost to a woman ranked 111th, the only first-round exit of Williams' career in 48 Grand Slam tournaments. ''I learned that you got to ... keep Some other top players were sluggish at the start against unher- alded foes Tuesday, when action was cut short in the evening because of rain. Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal, for instance, trailed 4-0 against 80th-ranked Thomas Bellucci of Brazil before turning it around and winning 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6- 3. ''but I have to improve a lot for the next round.'' Defending women's champion Petra Kvitova fell behind 3-0 and 4- 1 but eventually used a seven-game run to take control and beat 96th- ranked Akgul Amanmuradova 6-4, 6-4. The match was halted by a 30- minute rain delay in the second set; when they returned, Kvitova needed all of three minutes to wrap things up. ''Fantastic for me,'' Nadal said, going,'' Williams said about that stunning defeat. ''I was really dis- appointed. Obviously, I was extremely disappointed. But as Kelly Clarkson says, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.''' In part because of a series of health scares that sidelined her for about 10 months, Williams has gone two years since the most recent of her 13 major titles, includ- ing four at Wimbledon. And even though she bowed out quickly in Paris, Williams is a popular pick to do well this fortnight. ''For me, when I'm playing a acknowledged, ''I think I was ner- vous.'' Twelve singles matches were suspended in progress and four were postponed altogether. Among those that began but didn't finish, 2003 U.S. Open champion and three-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick led British wild-card entry Jamie Baker by a set and a break; French Open finalist Sara Errani was a point from beating U.S. qualifier CoCo Vandeweghe; and 21st-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada was a game from eliminat- ing Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, leading by two sets and 5-4 in the third. Winners included 10th-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States, playing his first match since having ''In the beginning,'' Kvitova a medical procedure on his heart a month ago. The 30-year-old Fish hit 24 aces and defeated Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo of Spain 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (1), then didn't attend a postmatch news conference; a tour spokesman said Fish wasn't feeling well, but didn't elaborate. action Tuesday exited, meaning none reached the second round at the All England Club for the first time since 1938. No. 20 Bernard Tomic, a quarterfinalist at 18 years old in 2011, was knocked out by David Goffin, the Belgian wild-card recipient who took a set off Roger Federer in the fourth round of the French Open; 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt lost to No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; and Matthew Ebden was beaten by Benoit Paire of France. ''The boys didn't have the best All three Australian men in day,'' said Hewitt, who used to be ranked No. 1 but has dealt with a series of injuries, is now 202nd, and needed a wild card to get into the field. He hadn't bowed out in the first round at Wimbledon since 2003. Williams never has. Never lost before the third round, actually, and now is 13-0 in openers at the grass- court Grand Slam tournament. Last year, Williams questioned why tournament organizers assigned her and her sister to play on Court 2 rather than the larger and more prestigious Centre Court or Court 1. They have, after all, won a total of nine singles championships at Wimbledon and faced each other in four of those finals. Given that Venus lost in straight sets on Court 2 on Monday, and Serena went through a workout to win there on Tuesday, the issue came up. ''I can't even talk about it. I'm over it,'' Williams said, raising her left palm. ''I just can't talk about that right now. I'm not in the mood.'' Phelps, Lochte advance in 200 free OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps stayed on course for their second showdown at the U.S. Olympic swim- ming trials on Tuesday. Lochte qualified fastest in the 200-meter freestyle preliminaries, exploding off the final turn to take the lead and cruise into the wall at 1 minute, 48.14 sec- onds. He's the world cham- pion in the event, having beaten Phelps for the title last year in Shanghai. Charlie Houchin, a 24- year-old from Raleigh, N.C., who was 77th in the 200 free at the 2008 trials, was second-fastest at 1:48.15. Swimming in the heat before Lochte, Phelps qualified third at 1:48.31. He is the Olympic champi- on and world record holder. Lochte got the better of Phelps in their first final at trials when he won the 400 individual medley on Mon- day. Phelps finished sec- ond, and they both secured spots for London. Phelps has set himself up for another eight-event MLB West Division Texas Angels A's Seattle East Division New York Baltimore American League WL Pct GB 46 29 .613 — 41 33 .554 4.5 36 38 .486 9.5 31 44 .413 15 WL Pct GB 45 28 .616 — 41 32 .562 4 Tampa Bay 40 34 .541 5.5 Boston Toronto Central Division Chicago 39 35 .527 6.5 38 36 .514 7.5 WL Pct GB 39 35 .527 — Cleveland 37 36 .507 1.5 Detroit 36 38 .486 3 Kansas City 33 39 .458 5 Minnesota 30 43 .411 8.5 —————————————————— Tuesday's results N.Y.Yankees 6, Cleveland 4 L.A. Angels 7, Baltimore 3 Boston 5, Toronto 1 Texas 7, Detroit 5 Chicago White Sox 3, Minnesota 2 Kansas City 8, Tampa Bay 2 Oakland at Seattle, late Today's games Cleveland (Jimenez 7-5) at N.Y.Yankees (Pettitte 3-3), 1:05 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Sale 8-2) at Min- nesota (Blackburn 4-4), 1:10 p.m. Toronto (R.Romero 8-1) at Boston (Lester 4-5), 1:35 p.m. Tampa Bay (M.Moore 4-5) at Kansas City (Teaford 0-1), 2:10 p.m. Oakland (J.Parker 3-3) at Seattle (Mill- wood 3-6), 3:40 p.m. L.A. Angels (Weaver 7-1) at Baltimore (Hammel 8-2), 7:05 p.m. Detroit (Fister 1-4) at Texas (Oswalt 1-0), 8:05 p.m. Thursday's Games Chicago White Sox at N.Y.Yankees, 7:05 p.m. Cleveland at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m. L.A. Angels at Toronto, 7:07 p.m. Detroit at Tampa Bay, 7:10 p.m. Oakland at Texas, 8:05 p.m. Boston at Seattle, 10:10 p.m. West Division Dodgers GIANTS Arizona Colorado program in London — something he insisted he wouldn't do again after the Beijing Games. ''It's not an easy pro- gram, but we're going to try to do some things here,'' he said. ''The biggest thing is really how I hold up all week. I was definitely happy with getting last night out of the way early. It wasn't the easiest race. But this morning felt pretty comfortable, so hopefully we can just keep everything rolling for the rest of the meet.'' Can Phelps repeat his historic haul of eight golds? ''Anything can happen,'' 16-man evening semifinals were Conor Dwyer (fifth) and Peter Vanderkaay (sixth). They already earned berths on the U.S. team in the 400 freestyle Monday night. Davis Tarwater, who he said. ''You've got to be in the right place at the right time.'' Also moving into the MLB National League WL Pct GB 43 31 .581 — 41 33 .554 2 37 36 .507 5.5 28 44 .389 14 San Diego 27 48 .360 16.5 East Division Washington 41 30 .577 — Atlanta New York Central Division WL Pct GB 39 34 .534 3 Philadelphia 36 40 .474 7.5 Miami Cincinnati 41 32 .562 — St. Louis 39 35 .527 3.5 34 40 .459 8.5 WL Pct GB 40 35 .533 2 Pittsburgh 38 35 .521 3 Milwaukee 33 41 .446 8.5 Houston Chicago 31 43 .419 10.5 25 48 .342 16 —————————————————— Tuesday's results Philadelphia 5, Pittsburgh 4 Atlanta 8, Arizona 1 Cincinnati 4, Milwaukee 3 St. Louis 5, Miami 2 Houston 5, San Diego 3 N.Y. Mets at Chicago Cubs, late Washington at Colorado, late L.A. Dodgers at San Francisco, late Today's games Milwaukee (Greinke 8-2) at Cincinnati (Bailey 5-5), 9:35 a.m. N.Y. Mets (Niese 5-3) at Chicago Cubs (Samardzija 5-6), 11:20 a.m. L.A. Dodgers (Billingsley 4-6) at San Francisco (Lincecum 2-8), 12:45 p.m. Pittsburgh (Ja.McDonald 6-3) at Philadel- phia (Valdes 2-0), 4:05 p.m. Arizona (Cahill 6-5) at Atlanta (Hanson 8-4), 4:10 p.m. St. Louis (J.Kelly 1-0) at Miami (A.Sanchez 3-6), 4:10 p.m. San Diego (Richard 5-7) at Houston (Harrell 6-6), 5:05 p.m. Washington (Zimmermann 3-6) at Col- orado (Outman 0-3), 5:40 p.m. Thursday's games Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, 10:05 a.m. Washington at Colorado, 12:10 p.m. Arizona at Atlanta, 4:10 p.m. San Diego at Houston, 5:05 p.m. N.Y. Mets at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. Cincinnati at San Francisco, 7:15 p.m. narrowly missed making the 2008 Olympics when he was third in the 200 but- terfly, was eighth. Ricky Berens, bidding for his sec- ond straight Olympic spot, was ninth. Weber-Gale didn't advance, finishing 24th. Austin Surhoff, the son of former major league base- ball player B.J. Surhoff, tied for 66th. 2008 Olympian Garrett Budding star Missy Franklin and two-time Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin advanced in the 100 backstroke prelims. Swimming her first Franklin saw the sign under the massive score- board above the pool as she stroked to the opposite end of the pool. ''It was U.S. Olympic Team. Talk about motiva- tion. That helped me get my tempo up the last 25,'' she said. ''I was nervous for my first race. But right now, I feel good.'' event of the eight-day meet, Franklin was the top qualifier in 59.54 seconds, easily moving the 17-year- old from Colorado into the evening semifinals. ''I had some first-race jitters,'' she said. ''But I'm super, super happy with my time. It felt awesome.'' NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1. Matt Kenseth 2. Greg Biffle 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4. Jimmie Johnson 5. Tony Stewart 6. Kevin Harvick 7. Clint Bowyer 8. Denny Hamlin 9. Martin Truex Jr. 10. Brad Keselowski 11. Carl Edwards 12. Kyle Busch 13. Ryan Newman 14. Paul Menard 15. Joey Logano 16. Marcos Ambrose 17. Kasey Kahne 18. Jeff Gordon 19. Jeff Burton 20. Jamie McMurray 21. Aric Almirola 596 585 582 571 533 532 529 523 520 490 479 459 453 445 441 425 421 414 408 402 388 22. Juan Pablo Montoya 387 23. A J Allmendinger 24. Mark Martin 25. Regan Smith 26. Bobby Labonte 27. Kurt Busch 28. Casey Mears 29. David Ragan 30. David Gilliland 31. Travis Kvapil 32. Landon Cassill 33. Dave Blaney 34. David Reutimann 35. J.J.Yeley 36. Brian Vickers 37. David Stremme 38. Michael McDowell 39. Tony Raines 40. Ken Schrader 41. Josh Wise 42. Brendan Gaughan 43. Terry Labonte 44. Stephen Leicht 45. Scott Speed 46. Scott Riggs 47. Michael Waltrip 48. Boris Said 49. Hermie Sadler 50. Robby Gordon 365 341 338 336 331 296 278 264 228 227 219 198 117 106 103 83 61 60 59 50 42 37 31 27 26 15 13 11 Upcoming schedule June 30 — Quaker State 400, Sparta, Ky. July 7 — Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola, Daytona Beach, Fla. July 15 — Lenox Industrial Tools 301, Loudon, N.H. July 29 — Crown Royal Presents The Your Hero's Name Here 400 at The Brick- yard, Indianapolis Franklin led a quartet of teenagers who represent the U.S. future in the event. Rachel Bootsma, an 18- year-old from Minnesota, was second at 59.69, mak- ing her and Franklin the only women to go under 1 minute. Elizabeth Pelton, an 18- year-old from Connecticut, was third at 1:00.55. Olivia Smoliga, a 17-year-old from suburban Chicago, was fourth-quickest at 1:00.66. WNBA WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Minnesota 12 1 .923 — Los Angeles10 4 .714 2.5 San Antonio 5 5 .500 5.5 Seattle 6 7 .462 6 Phoenix 3 8 .273 8 Tulsa 1 11 .083 10.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Connecticut 9 3 .750 — Chicago 7 3 .700 1 Indiana 7 5 .583 2 Atlanta 6 7 .462 3.5 New York 4 9 .308 5.5 Washington 2 9 .182 6.5 —————————————————— Tuesday's results Atlanta 70, Indiana 58 Seattle 79, Washington 71 Los Angeles at Tulsa, late Today's games Indiana at Chicago, 9:30 a.m. Phoenix at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Thursday's games Los Angeles at San Antonio, 9:30 a.m. Phoenix at Minnesota, 2 p.m. GOLF 1. Luke Donald 2. Rory McIlroy World Golf Ranking ENG 9.96 NIR 8.89 3. Lee Westwood ENG 8.33 4. Tiger Woods USA 6.70 5.Webb Simpson USA 6.62 6. Bubba Watson USA 6.25 7. Matt Kuchar 8. Jason Dufner USA 5.75 9. Justin Rose 10. Hunter Mahan USA 5.41 11. Graeme McDowell NIR USA 5.90 ENG 5.61 5.16 12. Steve Stricker USA 5.03 13. Dustin Johnson USA 4.89 14. Phil Mickelson USA 4.86 15. Martin Kaymer GER 4.84 16. Adam Scott AUS 4.68 17. Charl Schwartzel SAF 4.60 18. Zach Johnson USA 4.58 19. Rickie Fowler USA 4.49 20. Louis Oosthuizen SAF 4.49 21. Jason Day AUS 4.30 22. Sergio Garcia ESP 4.13 23. Keegan Bradley USA 3.94 24. Bill Haas USA 3.91 25. Peter Hanson SWE 3.82