SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY11, 2017:: LATIMES.COM/SPORTS
D
NEWYORK — Aday be-
fore the first anniversary of
NFLowners approving the
Ramsreturn to Los Angeles,
members of the league’s fi-
nance and stadium commit-
tees will meetWednesdayto
discussthe future of the San
Diego Chargers and Oak-
land Raiders.
There are no obviou s so-
lutionsto the complex chal-
lenges, with the Chargers
facinga Jan. 15 deadlineto
decideon sharing a sta dium
with the Rams in Inglewood,
andtheRaidersanglingfora
move to Las Vegas. Exactly
what the leaguecan do at
this point is unclear, as are
the roles of thetwo commit-
tees of owners who willcon-
vene at NFL headquarters
for the daylong meeting.
Ayear ago Thursday,
team owners met in Hous-
ton and bya 30-2 vote se-
lected the Inglewood plan of
Ramsowner Stan Kroenke
over a competing proposalFuture of
Chargers,
Raiders is
on agenda
NFL owners’ finance,
stadium committees
will discuss status of
thetwo teams.
BySam Farmer
andNathan Fenno[SeeNFL,D6]For nearlya full minute
after his postgame news
conference ended, Lakers
Coach Luke Walton stared
at the box scor e from the
Lakers’ 1 08- 87 losstothe
Portland Trail Blazers on
Tuesday with his brow fur-
rowed as hereviewed it.
“I’m still trying to figu re
out what just happened in
the second half, honestly,”
Walton had said nine min-
utes before when the news
conference began. “Iwas
shocked that that’s how we
cameout, honestly.”
Two old nemeses re-
turned for theLakers. The
Trail Blazers,a team that
has beaten the Lakers inev-
ery meetingsince March of
2014, was one nemesis.The
third quarter wasanother.
ThelossdroppedtheLakers
to 15-27 while the Trail Blaz-
ers improved to17-23.
Luol Dengled the Lakers
with14 points,13 of them in
the first half, Julius Randle
had six points and10 re-
bounds. Brandon Ingram
scored11 points and Lou
Williams had10.
Portland point guard
Damian Lillard finished
with 20 points, eight re-
bounds and six assists— 18
ofthosepointscominginthe
second half.Portlandguard
C.J. McCollum scored 25
pointswithonereboundand
four assists,making10 of 18
shots.
In December, the Lakers
were one of the league’s
worstthird-quarterteamsin
nearlyevery statistical cate-
gory. That carriedover to
some games inJanuary, butLakers
leave
Walton
in state
of shock
Coach can’t figure out
histeam slumped
again in third quarter,
scoring only12 points.
PORTLAND 108
LAKERS 87ByTania Ganguli[SeeLakers,D4]Kings defenseman Drew Dough-
tyandforwardJeffCartercanexpect
roaringovations when they’re intro-
duced at the NHL All-Stargame on
Jan. 29 at Staples Center. But Ducks
center RyanKesler, widelydespised
for hisget-under-your-skintenacity,
is anticipatinga differentreception.
“An amazing one,I bet,” he said,
knowing fanswon’t shel ve their hos-
tility even when he plays alongside
Doughty and Carter on the Pacific
Division team.
Carter— whorankssecondinthe
NHL with 22 goals — Doughty,
Kesler and Ducks defenseman Cam
Fowlerwereamong40All-Starselec-
tions announcedTuesdayby the
NHL. The four captains weredeter-
min ed by fanvoting. It will be
Doughty’s third All-Stargame and
Carter’s second.
“To be ableto play in our home
city in front of our home fans, that
will really make things special for meIt’s in the stars for these Kings, Ducks
Doughty, Carter, Kesler and
Fowler areselectedto play
for Pacific Divisionteamat
Staples Center onJan. 29.
ByHelene Elliott
JEFFCARTERof the Kings
will beplaying in his second
All-Star game.Alex GallardoAssociated Press
RYAN KESLERof the Ducks
says his strongplayhas vindi-
cated his big contract.Sean M. HaffeyGetty ImagesNHL All-Star weekend
When:Jan. 28-29.
Where:Staples Center.
What:All-Starweekend will
consist of the skills competition
Jan. 28(4 p.m., Channel 4) and
All-Star3-on-3 tournament on
Jan. 29(12:30 p.m., Channel 4).[SeeAll-Stars,D3]shotat next season’s title.
Not thatyou’ll catch Alabama
Coach Nick Saban thinking that
way.
“We don’tever talk about win-
ninga nationalchampionship,”
Saban saidrecently. “We basically
talk about whatwe needto do with
everyindividual in our organiza-
tion to help them be asgood as
they can be.”
Looking ahead, the Crimson
Tide heada short list of potential
contendersthatincludes Florida
State and several teams from the
Big Ten ConferenceTAMPA, Fla.— The Clemson
football team won’t get too long to
savor its last-second victory over
Alabama in the national champi-
onshipgame.
Withindays, the players will be
back on campus andgathering for
their first official meeting of the
2017 sea son.
“There will bea new group of
seniors sitting in thefront row,”
Coach Dabo Swinney said. “New
challenges, new journey... we’ll
start all over.”
With junior quarterback De-
shaunWatson stating his inten-
tion to leave schoolearl y for the
NFL, the Tigers face an uphill
battleto repeat. If anything, the
team theydefeated inTampa on
Monday night might have the bestUSCcould be in the mixtoo,
with Sam Darnolda year older. As
Coach Clay Helton put it: “I’ve
always said that ifyou’ve got a
great quarterback, you’ve got a
great team.”
In odds issuedTuesday, the
online gambling site Bovada put
Alabama at 4-1, followed by Florida
State at 7-1 and Ohio State at15-2.
USC, Oklahoma and Michigan
wereat 9- 1.
The Crimson Tide, who had a
26-game winning streak ended by
Clemson, will head into next fallTide really hasn’t turned all that much
Alabama isexpectedto be
a force again nextseason,
with Clemson facing a
challenge withoutWatson.
DAVIDWHARTON
ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL
[SeeWharton,D5]Everything stinks.Everybody is
afraud.Nothing makes sense.
The refrains of anger and
negativity sweeping across our
country in recent months have
threatenedto turn America into
the land of the fury and homeof
the bitter.
ThenMonday night happens.
Afearlesscollege kid throws a
touchdown pass in the final ticks of a four-
month season to upset a giant opponent and
win a national championship.
Acoach collapses injoy on thefield. Strang-
ers dance in each other’s arms. The fearless
college kid weeps.
Yet again,just when it seems like we are
being swallowed by ourown cynical misery, a
nation is witnessto true drama,real emotion,
and the absolute truth found in the glow of a
scor eboard.
With Clemson’s final breath ofa 35-31 win
over Alabama in college football’s title game,
sportsonce again saved us from ourselves.
Did you see it? Didyou occasionally gasp at
the outrageousness of it all? Didyou talk about
the game Tuesday morning with folks at work,
about its man-childBILL PLASCHKEFINDING
OUR
UNITED
STATE
Magicalyear offered fresh
evidence of sports’ ability
to bring peopletogether,
even in a fractured nation
ONE OF THE RICHESTsportsyears in memory culminated Monday with Hunter
Renfrow(13) andJordan Leggett celebrating Clemson’s last-second collegefootball title
victory, above. The Chicago Cubs, below left, and ClevelandCavaliers, right, ended epic
championship droughts, andNneka Ogwumike (30) and the Sparkswon WNBA title.Kevin C. CoxGetty Ima gesBrian CassellaChicago Tribune Jim MoneAssociated Press EzraShawGetty Images[SeePlaschke,D5]