A18
FRIDAY, July 10, 2015
www.kamloopsthisweek.com
NATIONAL SPORTS
LIONS SEEK FIRST WIN AT HOME
Raonic eyes return DAN RALPH
THE CANADIAN PRESS
JOSHUA CLIPPERTON
THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER — One game into their season and the B.C. Lions are already looking at the CFL standings. Coming off a disappointing loss on the road, the Lions host the Saskatchewan Roughriders in their home opener tonight before the teams meet again next week in Regina. It’s a two-game stretch in mid-July that could go a long way in determining where the clubs end up come November. “These West Division games, even early in the season, are hugely important,’’ said Lions quarterback Travis Lulay. “We expect a great effort from them and we know we’ll get it. We know we have to put a good one together to win.’’ The Lions had a bye to open the schedule before falling 27-16 to the Ottawa Redblacks last weekend, while Saskatchewan comes in off two straight home defeats, including Sunday’s 42-40 double overtime loss to the Toronto Argonauts. “It’s going to be a battle,’’ said Lulay. “They’re going to be kicking themselves because they were in position to win both of those football games and they didn’t find a way to get it done. They’re in a similar boat to us where they feel like they could have got an earlier jump in the win-loss column.’’ Lions linebacker Solomon Elimimian, last season’s most outstanding player, said it will come down to his team matching Saskatchewan’s desperation. “It has to be a mindset where they’re 0-2, so they want it,’’ he said. “We’re 0-1,
KTW FILE PHOTO
Travis Lulay and the B.C. Lions are aiming to avoid an 0-2 start to the CFL season tonight at BC Place Stadium. The Saskatchewan Roughriders will be in Vancouver, with game time set for 7 p.m. The Roughriders are 0-2, having lost last week to Toronto in Regina.
we want it . . . but we’ve got to be ready to die for it. That’s what’s going to separate it.’’ Apart from the game being a crucial early-season matchup, it will also mark the return of a number of familiar faces to BC Place Stadium. Kevin Glenn started all but one game under centre for the Lions in 2014 because of Lulay’s welldocumented shoulder injuries. Glenn signed with Saskatchewan to be the backup this off-season, but was thrust into the spotlight in Week 1 when starter Darian Durant ruptured his left Achilles tendon and was lost for the year. “I just try and stay prepared,’’ Glenn
told reporters in Regina this week. “That’s one thing I was taught going into college and I’ve tried to carry it all the way through my career.’’ Veteran kicker Paul McCallum was cut by the Lions five days into training camp. He signed with the Roughriders — a club he originally left for B.C. in 2005 — and booted four field goals against Toronto. Lulay said it will be strange to see McCallum on the opposite sideline along with former B.C. offensive co-ordinator Jacques Chapdelaine and offensive line coach Dan Dorazio. “It’s weird,’’ said Lulay. “The only thing that’s constant is change.’’
Milos Raonic is looking to resume his season on home soil. The native of Thornhill, Ont., is sidelined with lingering problems from foot surgery in May. But, he’s targeting the Rogers Cup in Montreal, which begins Aug. 7, for his return to the tennis court. “Yes, that’s the objective for me now,’’ Raonic said during a conference call yesterday. Raonic, who is ranked eighth in the world, underwent surgery to repair a pinched nerve leading to a toe. The operation forced Raonic to miss the French Open. He resumed playing in June and last week lost a third-round match to Australian Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon. Raonic said the surgery fixed the nerve problem, but he’s now dealing with fluid buildup in the foot with which he is being cautious. So, Raonic won’t
play for Canada’s Davis Cup squad in Belgium later this month. The team received another big blow yesterday when Tennis Canada announced Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil, who reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon, wouldn’t play because of a severe bone bruise to his right wrist.
Wimbledon The Wimbledon men’s semifinal round will be played today in London. At 5 a.m., Novak Djokovic of Serbia will play Richard Gasquet of France. Andy Murray of Great Britain will square off with Roger Federer of Switzerland at 7:30 a.m. Serena Williams of the U.S. disposed of Maria Sharapova of Russia yesterday to advance to the women’s final. Williams will play Garbine Muguruza of Spain tomorrow for the title. Muguruza topped Agnieszka Radwanska in the other semifinal yesterday.
Jordan causes fuss with Cuban snub THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The fallout from DeAndre Jordan’s decision to spurn the Dallas Mavericks and stay with the Los Angeles Clippers continued reverberating through the NBA yesterday, the first day teams and players could officially do business in the new league year. In Dallas, owner Mark Cuban was predictably unhappy. And, two general managers who weren’t involved in the saga wonder if Jordan’s turnabout will spark leaguewide change in how the off-season moratorium — and, really, free-agent talks in general — get handled going forward. “It’s a weird way to do business, where agents will tell you we’ve signed a guy and we can’t comment,’’ Brooklyn GM Billy King said yesterday. “And, so I think from both sides, I think everybody realizes it’s something that has to be looked at.’’ Added Orlando GM Rob Hennigan: “The rules have been the rules for a while now. I don’t think this is the first time that something like this has happened. But that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be looked at.’’
DeAndre Jordan shunned the Dallas Mavericks and signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in a free-agent signing fraught with controversy.
How the Jordan saga played out is certain to be a hot topic at NBA meetings in Las Vegas next week. The NBA has not commented on the Jordan matter. Cuban spoke out yesterday via social media, his first public comments since the dramatic change of events. “I don’t think the time is right to say anything beyond the facts
that he never responded to me at all yesterday,’’ Cuban wrote on the Cyber Dust messaging app. “Not once. To this minute I have not heard anything from him since Tuesday night.’’ The Dallas owner addressed the message to Mavs fans. He did not mention Jordan by name, though it was obvious to what he was referring. Cuban said he will eventually have more to say about what transpired on Wednesday, when a group of Clippers travelled to Jordan’s home in an apparent lastditch push to re-sign him. “I thought I had a good pump fake,’’ Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons wrote on Twitter, another thinly veiled reference to Jordan changing his mind and spurning the Mavericks. Shane Larkin, who signed with the Nets as a free agent yesterday and spent his rookie season in Dallas, said it’s a difficult situation to talk about. On one hand, he is happy for Jordan to be able to go where he wanted; on the other, he expressed confidence the Mavs would find a way to get past the mess.
But, when he committed to Brooklyn in recent days, Larkin took that pledge seriously. “When I agreed, I didn’t pick up the phone for anybody else,’’ Larkin said. “That’s it.’’ It’s impossible to say how much of a domino effect Jordan’s last-minute flip impacted free agency for franchises and other players. If he had announced early he was staying with the Clippers, teams may have changed their free-agent strategies, including the Mavericks. Former NBA executive Stu Jackson tweeted that changes could be coming to the system. “Change to the moratorium system is imminent 8-9 days is too long and process could move back,’’ Jackson wrote. The moratorium next year is scheduled to last from July 1 through July 11. Earlier in the week, Cuban was fined $25,000 by the NBA for commenting about the team’s agreements with Jordan and Wes Matthews during the league’s free-agent moratorium. Cuban praised Jordan’s ability and discussed the role he would have on the Mavericks during a radio interview.
Cuban said he offered Matthews the chance to back out of his handshake deal and that Matthews declined. “Wes Matthews is exactly the type of player we want in a Mavs uniform and our fans will love him,’’ Cuban wrote in his message. Free agency started on July 1 and players could agree to deals at any time after that window opens, but they could not become official until 12:01 a.m. Eastern time yesterday — the start of the new league year, one day after the salary cap and other financial matters for the coming season are released and finalized. The Clippers announced at 12:05 a.m. yesterday that they were keeping Jordan, releasing a tweet saying, “We’re officially centred.’’ “In all the years I’ve been I guess doing this job or been in the league, I’ve never seen it,’’ King said. “And I think it’s only going to get worse. So, I think as a league we have to look at it and maybe start the signing, everything starts the same time when the moratorium ends rather than starting July 1.’’