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JEFFCHIU–THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Former Giants slugger Barry Bonds appears on 64percent of the 203Hall of Fame ballots that have been made public. ByAndrewBaggarly BayAreaNewsGroup Peter Gammons, the pioneering baseball journalist, television com- mentator and Hall of Fame honoree, recently wrote about a conversation he had with Barry Bonds last spring: "You know I am a Hall of Famer," Bonds told Gammons. "He didn't say it with any hint of anger, no staccato, just a matter-of- fact sentence about his ability and his career," Gammons wrote. Gammons had not voted for Bonds the first four times that baseball's all- time home run leader appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot. This time, Gam- mons did. And he isn't alone. While Bonds isn't expected to reach the 75 percent threshold required for induction when the Hall of Fame an- nounces the final results on Wednes- day, the sizable number of publicly re- vealed ballots show an accelerating trend of acceptance among voters. And because Bonds and Roger Cle- mens are more or less on the same ticket, as all-time greats with oth- erwise unquestionable accomplish- ments who stood hip-deep in the muck of the sport's steroid era, the rising tide of relaxed voter attitudes is lifting both their boats. Bonds appears on 64 percent of 203 ballots that have been made public or otherwise revealed to Ryan Thibodaux, an Oakland A's fan and Hall of Fame voting hobbyist who has organized his findings at www. bbhoftracker.com. That's a signifi- cant increase from the 44.3 percent that Bonds received in the final tally last year, among eligible members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Clemens was polling at 63.5 per- cent — a major uptick from the 45.2 percent he garnered in last year's re- sults. The public votes represent nearly 47 percent of the known ballots cast by BBWAA members — not a small sample by any means. But the sam- ple does skew toward younger vot- ers, who appear to be less likely to reflexively reject suspected players from an era in which unchecked per- formance-enhancing drug use led to MLB WhythehugeHOFsurgeforBonds? By Chip Thompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter RED BLUFF The Los Moli- nos Bulldogs weren't very gra- cious guests Tuesday night, go- ing in to the Mercy Warriors' gym and handing them a pair of losses — 60-30 for the girls, 69-25 for the boys. Defensive pressure was the key for the Bulldogs, causing lots of turnovers and making it difficult for the Warriors to set up their offense. The Lady Warriors played tough in the opening pe- riod and finished with a 12- 11 lead, but the Lady Bulldogs clamped down on defense in the second, holding the War- riors to just 2 points. With a 23-14 lead at the half, the Bulldogs came out on fire in the second half, putting up 20 in the third and 17 in the fourth, while holding a frus- trated Warriors squad to 16 in the half. Bulldogs standout Rachel Rogers led the team with 32 points, Genesis Acevedo had 8, Valeria Garnica had 5 and Henna Acevedo, Kegan Shan- non and Sandra Carbajal each had 4. For the Warriors, Julia O'Neal had a big night with 16 points, Mary DiMaggio had 10 and Lianne Schaeffer had 3. The Lady Bulldogs move to 11-4 overall with the win, 1-0 in league play. They are sched- uled to face the Chester Volca- noes (9-6) at 6 p.m. Friday in Chester. The Lady Warriors (2-14 overall, 0-1 league) are sched- uled to host the Burney Raiders (4-8) Friday for homecoming. The Bulldogs boys used an overpowering defense and a 20-point run in the first period to jump out to a 24-6 lead by the end of the period, and they didn't let up. The Bulldogs (13-3 over- all, 1-0 league) are scheduled to head to Chester Friday for a 7:30 p.m. tip off against the Volcanoes (7-6) The Warriors (1-15 overall, 0-1 league) will host the Bur- ney Raiders (0-12) Friday for homecoming. BASKETBALL BULLDOGS ROMP HOST WARRIORS Los Molinos' Rachel Rogers goes up for a shot Tuesday night against the Mercy Warriors. PHOTOS BY CHIP THOMPSON — DAILY NEWS Mercy's Mary DiMaggio puts up a shot Tuesday night against the Los Molinos Bulldogs. By Janie McCauley The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Hard hats on, Steve Kerr and Kevin Durant lifted their golden shovels filled with dirt in a ceremonial moment for the Warriors franchise as it broke ground on snazzy new San Fran- cisco digs at long last. And keep- ing KD in a Golden State uniform to see it through is a key part of the grand plan. This project has already been 4 years in the making. "Honestly, a relief to some ex- tent," owner and CEO Joe Lacob said. Kerr is campaigning for the Golden State name to stay put along with his superstar players. "We are the Golden State War- riors and it's not up to me, but I don't want it to change," Kerr said. "It's a unique name. It's the only one like it in the league. I would like to see that remain. I fully be- lieve we are still the Bay Area's team, no matter whether we're playing in Oakland or San Jose or San Francisco. The name Golden State Warriors, there's too much history, there's too much tradition to change." Even if in a success-oriented business like the NBA, nobody knows who will still be around when 18,000-seat Chase Center is complete. Kerr has no idea if he will even still be on the sidelines then. "If you're lucky enough in life, like I've been, you reach a point where you get to choose who you work with, you get to choose where you live and you get to choose where you work," Kerr said. "By those metrics, I want to stay here forever. I'm also an NBA coach and I'm well aware that this building is going to take about three years NBA Warriors break ground on San Francisco arena By John Pye The Associated Press MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA There was no easing into a title defense for Novak Djokovic, starting his Australian Open against the man who upset Rafael Nadal here last year in the first round. Djokovic lifted when he most needed to Tuesday night, hold- ing off Fernando Verdasco in a 71-minute, momentum-swinging second set before winning 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-2. There were glares, stares and frustrated outbursts from players who met in a tense semi- final earlier this month in Doha, where Djokovic saved five match points en route to victory. "I'm very pleased with the first round, considering I had one of the toughest first-round draws, definitely considering his form, " said Djokovic, who is aiming to be the first man to win seven Austra- lian titles. "Just overall I'm feel- ing good about my performance." Another six-time champion had a tough first round, with Serena Williams needing to produce some of her best tennis to get far enough ahead against Belinda Bencic that a late lapse wasn't a real worry. And after starting her quest for a record 23rd Grand Slam ti- tle with a 6-4, 6-3 first-round win, Williams walked into her news conference wearing a black shirt with the word "Equality" printed across the front. It was still before midnight Monday in the United States, where the holiday in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was nearly ending. "With today being Martin Lu- ther King Day, it's important to spread the message of equality," Williams said. "Something he talked about a lot and he tried to spread a lot, is equality and rights for everyone." Asked if she was concerned about the future of equality in the U.S., Williams declined to get into specifics but said the issue is "a concern for just everyone in general." Williams became engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Oha- nian during the holiday break, and he was in the crowd watching her play at Rod Laver Arena. The 35-year-old Williams has been AUSTRALIAN OPEN Djokovic, Williams open with victories JEFF CHIU — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Warriors coach Steve Kerr, le , and forward Kevin Durant shovel dirt during a ground- breaking ceremony Tuesday. WARRIORS PAGE 4 TENNIS PAGE 4 Supportforhomerunking'sinclusionintobaseball'sshrineisgrowing BASEBALL PAGE 4 Th e girls cruise 60-30; the boys also win big 69-25 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, January 18, 2017 MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1 ★