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Michigan has fired head football coach Sherrone Moore with cause after a university investigation found “credible evidence” he had “engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member,” the school announced Wednesday.

“This conduct constitutes a clear violation of University policy,” athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement, “and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”

Moore started at Michigan in 2018 as tight ends coach and worked his way up to offensive coordinator. He was named head coach in January 2024, weeks after the Wolverines won the College Football Playoff national championship, after Jim Harbaugh left to become coach of the Chargers.

The Wolverines went 8-5 in Sherrone’s first season, including a win over Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl, and 9-3 this season, earning a spot in the Citrus Bowl against Texas on Dec. 31.

Associate head coach Biff Poggi has been named interim head coach. Poggi also served as interim coach for two games in 2025 while Sherrone was suspended after an NCAA investigation into Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal.

The start that Real made seemed like they had turned the corner, taking the game to City and going in front courtesy of Rodrygo’s low drilled effort.

But they conceded twice in the final 10 minutes of the first half through Nico O’Reilly poking in from close range and Erling Haaland’s penalty.

The Real ultras dressed all in white behind the goal had been chanting and clapping until that point, but when the Norwegian’s spot-kick rippled the net in front of them they were silenced.

There was, though, a period of unrest between minutes 65 and 71 when supporters whistled at the players in disappointment three times – the message was to say ‘give us more’.

They pushed and created chances thereafter but will it be enough to save Alonso? The impression has been given that they have another gear and it gives him a bit of credit.

There is a general feeling from fans that the manager is not to blame, it is the players that are not following his instructions – they are the ones that need to listen more and start applying what has been asked.

Ex-Bayer Leverkusen boss Alonso took over before the Club World Cup in the summer and started this season by winning 13 of his first 14 games, but it started to go wrong after the loss at Liverpool on 4 November.

Real have won just twice in eight games since and there has been an apparent clash of cultures at the club with players seemingly not buying into his strict methods and wanting to adopt a pressing style of play.

Asked if his players had played for him, Alonso said: “The performance has been intense. A professional Champions League level game. They have given their best, so from my side no complaints for anything.

“It is hard to take another defeat but we tried until the end.”

England international Jude Bellingham told TNT Sport that the squad were “100%” behind their manager.

“I personally have a great relationship with him, a lot of the lads do as well,” he added. “After the first run of games we had some really great conversations internally and we felt we were on the back side of that form.

“In the past couple of games we let ourselves down again. No-one’s downing tools, no-one’s complaining and moaning thinking the season is over.”

Troy Aikman said he’s “done with NIL” after writing a check to a UCLA football player who never thanked him and went on to leave for another school after one season.

There was a reason for that lack of gratitude, according to one person familiar with the Bruins’ football name, image and likeness operations from that time not authorized to discuss donor information publicly.

The player in question didn’t know who funded his NIL deal, only that it was coming from the team’s collective, Men of Westwood. It was standard practice for players not to know which donors or alumni contributed NIL funds that were distributed to the team.

Aikman, who did not identify the player in his remarks, did receive thanks from Men of Westwood leadership, coach Chip Kelly and athletic director Martin Jarmond, according to the person familiar with the situation.

Aikman, the former UCLA quarterback who led the Bruins to a victory in the 1989 Cotton Bowl before going on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Dallas Cowboys, voiced his frustrations about NIL on the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch.

“I gave money to a kid, I won’t mention who,” Aikman told Deitsch. “I’ve done it one time at UCLA, never met the young man. He was there a year, he left after the year. I wrote a sizable check, and he went to another school. I didn’t even get so much as a thank-you note. So, it’s one of those deals, to where I’m done with NIL. I want to see UCLA be successful, but I’m done with it.”

Aikman went on to say he believed that players should be able to leave one school for another amid coaching turnover but should have to otherwise stay with the program paying them.

“There’s got to be some leadership at the very top that kind of cleans all of this up,” Aikman said. “Starting with players that accept money. There’s got to be some accountability and responsibility on their behalf, to have to stick to a program.”

Yet Newcastle found a way to climb it.

Following some strong words at half-time, the visitors rallied after the break and won a penalty courtesy of Nick Woltemade aggressively pressing Leverkusen goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

And after equalising from the spot, Gordon then went on to set up substitute Lewis Miley’s header to put Newcastle in front.

However, another familiar issue reared its head.

Despite taking the lead in the 74th minute, Newcastle were unable to see out the game.

This side have dropped more points from winning positions – 11 – than any other team in the Premier League.

They have failed to win four of their past five away games in all competitions despite taking the lead in all of them at some stage.

Newcastle may have hit the upright through substitute Jacob Murphy after going in front, but Howe’s side began to drop deep against Leverkusen late on, consciously or not.

And Grimaldo’s clever dummy took Newcastle’s midfield out of the game before Leverkusen’s talisman levelled.

It was a familiar story for Howe.

“I don’t think it’s ever a case of sitting back and absorbing pressure,” the Newcastle head coach said.

“That’s not number one in our aim, but you need to do whatever it takes to win. Sometimes that is par for the course, that’s what you have to do.”

Newcastle remain on course for at least a play-off spot and are only a couple of points off the automatic qualification places for the last 16.

But Howe’s team cannot afford to let history repeat itself when they host a PSV side who are starting to hit form, on 21 January, before a trip to the Parc des Princes to take on holders Paris St-Germain a week later.

“We have it all to prove,” Howe added. “The two games we have are very difficult games but I believe in the group. Wherever we go, if we’re near our best, we can win.”

The NFL is advocating a more performance-driven model for its game officials, one linking bonuses and postseason assignments to regular-season grades as opposed to seniority.

The plan was outlined in a memo distributed to the league’s 32 teams Wednesday and obtained by the Los Angeles Times. It comes with the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with game officials expiring at the end of May and negotiations slowed to a crawl.

The topic was part of a two-hour virtual owners meeting on Wednesday.

In the memo, sent by NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent and Management Council General Counsel Lawrence Ferazani Jr., the league said it is looking to implement changes that will “improve the performance of game officials, increase accountability, and ensure that the highest-performing officials are officiating our highest profile games.”

The NFL is pushing for mandatory training and development programs for low-performing and probationary officials, and contends the union is “resisting our efforts to give these officials access to more practice repetitions.”

The league is also seeking to extend the probationary period for assessing new game officials to have more flexibility to identify and remove those who are underperforming. According to the document, the union’s latest proposal seeks to eliminate the probationary period entirely.

“Our union’s negotiating committee is working diligently on behalf of members, and we will continue to respect that process,” said Scott Green, Executive Director of the NFL Referees’ Assn., in a statement. “We look forward to our continued conversations with the league as we make progress towards a new CBA.”

As it stands, the NFL has no communication with game officials following the Super Bowl through May 15. The league wants to shorten that so-called “dead period” and increase access to officials for rules discussions, video review and the like.

The league is also proposing a practice squad for game officials to deepen the bench of talent.

The next formal bargaining session between the NFL and officials union is scheduled for Dec. 30 in Atlanta.

Champions League pundit Rory Smith looks at the future of Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso following their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League, which leaves the Spanish club on a run of two wins from their last eight games.

WATCH MORE: Man City beat Real Madrid to pile pressure on Alonso

ORLANDO, Fla. — As the hotel lobby at the Signia by Hilton Orlando filled at MLB’s winter meetings on Tuesday morning, an unexpected prize was falling into the Dodgers’ lap.

Edwin Díaz, the top reliever on this year’s free-agent market, was suddenly slipping away from the incumbent New York Mets, who reportedly made the fan favorite closer only a three-year offer that did little to entice him to re-sign with the team.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, were swooping in late to snatch away the hard-throwing right-hander, submitting a more lucrative three-year bid that would pay Díaz a relief-pitcher-record $23 million per season.

Just like that, the Dodgers had gone from a perfectly content, but unremarkably quiet winter, to one in which they’d once again flexed their financial muscles and stunned the baseball industry.

“There were a lot of scenarios [that could have potentially played out this winter] where we didn’t necessarily end up with a top-end reliever,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Tuesday night, while declining to comment on Díaz directly since the transaction wasn’t finalized. “But we just kind of prepared on a bunch of different fronts. And being aggressive, if something lined up, we’ve known all along [it is something we would do].”

The Díaz signing was an affirmation of the team’s operating procedure on the free-agent market. They always at least target top talent. They always at least stay around the proverbial blackboard, as Friedman calls it, in case a player’s market doesn’t develop as expected. And now, they are armed with the kind of endless resources that can make them a threat to scoop up any rebound.

As they leave Orlando this week and embark on the rest of this offseason, it serves as a reminder:

The Dodgers might not need to make another big move, in the same way they downplayed the need for any big acquisition coming into the winter.

But they’ll certainly be ready to pounce if another opportunity materializes.

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“I would say we definitely can,” Friedman hinted when asked if another big move this offseason could be possible. “Whether that makes the most sense within the timing of our roster — there’s so many factors that go into it, and any decision you make has a future cost. It’s just weighing that. So, yes, we can. How likely it is, is probably another question.”

Start with the top overall available free agent, Kyle Tucker.

The Dodgers are not expected to entertain a long-term contract for the soon-to-be 29-year-old and four-time All-Star. If his bidding war, as projected, results in offers upwards of 8-10 years and $400 million, the club is unlikely to engage; given the glut of long-term contracts already on their books, and the crop of young outfield prospects expected to reach the majors in the next several seasons.

But what if Tucker’s market cools? What if, like Díaz, he is left to consider relatively shorter-term deals with higher annual salaries? Granted, that’s unlikely to happen, considering the wide interest Tucker is reportedly attracting, including from the Toronto Blue Jays and their suddenly big-spending front office. If it does, however, the Dodgers could once again become candidates for a blockbuster, still needing to fill out their outfield as they embark on a quest for a World Series three-peat.

The same dynamic could be in play with other top free agents. The Dodgers have already shown interest in familiar face Cody Bellinger, who could bring both positional versatility and a more refined hitting approach than he had during his first stint with the club. Bo Bichette also presents the kind of balanced offensive profile the Dodgers are believed to seeking, as they try to shore up a lineup that too often was boom-or-bust last year.

Like Tucker, both players are unlikely to fit the Dodgers’ bigger-picture plans if their free agencies develop as expected (with Bellinger pegged for roughly five years and $150 million, and Bichette perhaps eight years and more than $200 million).

But thanks to the team’s flush financial outlook — and the fact that a salary cap could be coming next year, potentially incentivizing extra spending right now — all it could take is a slight cooling in either player’s market to make them more realistic targets for the two-time defending champions.

As long as there isn’t an overburdensome long-term risk, the Dodgers don’t seem afraid of lucrative shorter-term commitments to sustain their newly cemented dynasty.

“We have not only a really talented group of players, but an extremely driven group of players, who want to take care of their legacy and create a dynasty and be part of something really special,” Friedman said. “Because of that mindset, it makes it easier to invest. And do everything we can to help support that and be a part of helping bring that to fruition.”

The Dodgers could alternatively get aggressive on the trade market. Brandon Donovan and Lars Nootbaar of the St. Louis Cardinals are seen internally as fits. Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians would be an even bigger-name addition, albeit is less likely to be dealt this winter.

Then there is the real white whale: Two-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers.

For now, it’s uncertain at best that Skubal, who will be a free agent after next season and is unlikely to sign a contract extension with the Tigers (or any other team that trades for him) before then, gets moved this winter.

If he does, it figures to come at an extremely steep cost for a starting pitcher with one year remaining of team control.

If there’s any team that has the ammunition to pull it off, however, it’s the Dodgers, with their ample pitching depth and top-ranked farm system. Like with their free-agent pursuits, there is likely to be a limit for how much they’d part with. But if the Tigers seriously consider a trade, it would be no surprise to see the Dodgers be seriously involved.

There are less splashy routes for this offseason to go down, of course. If the Dodgers don’t make another marquee addition, they still feel confident with the roster core they have in place.

Then again, that’s the tone they were striking coming into these Winter Meetings, before swiping away Díaz in the surprise move of the week.

Thus, the baseball world has been put on alert again: The Dodgers won’t be reckless. They want to maintain longer-term flexibility. But if they see value in a top-talent target in the short-term, they won’t be afraid to once again spend big.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery says he wants to “get a solution” for on-loan Harvey Elliott, who will “not definitely” be joining the club on a permanent basis.

The Liverpool midfielder, 22, has only featured seven times since moving to Villa Park on transfer deadline day.

A £35m permanent deal will be triggered if he plays in 10 Premier League games.

Elliott, who starred for England Under-21s as they won the European Championship last summer, is not in the squad for Thursday’s Europa League tie at Basel.

His last appearance came as a late substitute against Feyenoord in the Europa League on 2 October.

“We are speaking with him and about his situation. He is not here with us,” Emery said when asked about Elliott on Wednesday.

Former Clippers point guard Chris Paul says he’s “at peace with everything” after being abruptly dismissed by the team last week.

“Stuff’s been a little crazy in the past few days — to say the least,” Paul told People magazine in an interview published Tuesday. “But honestly, I’m home. My daughter had tryouts yesterday. My nephew had a basketball game. My son has a game coming up on the 12th.”

Paul’s son, Chris Paul II, is a sophomore guard for the Campbell Hall varsity basketball team, which plays Newbury Park on Friday.

“I have never seen my son play a game in person,” the elder Paul said. “Not a middle school game, not a high school game. So I’m excited about seeing him play.”

Also on Tuesday, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue denied an ESPN report from last week that he and Paul hadn’t been on speaking terms in the weeks leading up to the team’s decision to part ways with one of its most iconic players.

“That ain’t true. We were talking,” Lue told reporters at practice. “I mean, he played. How he gonna play [if] I’m not talking to him?

“I mean, there was a stretch when we said he wasn’t gonna play, he’s gonna be out of the rotation. That was tough for him because he’s a competitor and what the game means to him and what he brings every single day. But after that it wasn’t really much.”

Paul is a 12-time All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist who ranks second in NBA history with 12,552 assists. He was the first player with at least 20,000 points and more than 10,000 assists.

Playing for the Clippers from 2011-17 — the team’s “Lob City” era — Paul and fellow superstar Blake Griffin led the team to six winning seasons, its first two Pacific Division titles and three playoff series victories. As a 40-year-old free agent in July, Paul signed a $3.6 million deal to return to the Clippers for his 21st, and very possibly final, NBA season.

This season, Paul averaged career lows in points (2.6), assists (3.3.) and minutes (14.3). He didn’t play at all in five consecutive games in mid-November. The Clippers, off to a disastrous 5-16 start to the season, were in Atlanta for a game against the Hawks when Paul made a surprise announcement on social media.

“Just Found Out I’m Being Sent Home,” Paul posted Dec. 3 on social media at around 3 a.m. Eastern time.

Later that morning, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank confirmed the move.

“We are parting ways with Chris, and he will no longer be a part of the team,” Frank said in a statement. “We will work with him on the next step of his career.”

Frank indicated that the team will attempt to trade Paul, who becomes trade-eligible on Monday.

A league source not authorized to discuss the issue publicly told The Times last week that Paul had called out teammates, coaches and Frank this season. Paul apologized, but “everyone was fed up,” the source said.

Lue insisted Tuesday that his relationship with Paul wasn’t an issue.

“I had no problem with Chris,” Lue said. “The guy’s a competitor, he wants to play. You can understand that. So, you know, he was a little frustrated at first, but we got over that. … That’s my guy, my friend before he got here. So you don’t want to see that happen to anybody no matter what the circumstances are.”

Asked why the team ultimately decided the situation with Paul couldn’t be fixed, Lue responded, “You gotta ask Lawrence.”

In his interview with People, Paul didn’t offer any insight on what happened between him and the Clippers. Instead, he seems to be focused on the present — “I’m excited to be back here with my family,” Paul said — and the future.

“More than anything, I’m excited about being around,” he said, “and getting a chance to play a small role in whatever anything looks like next.”

Staff writer Broderick Turner contributed to this report.

Same-sex couples will be allowed to compete in British ice dance competitions next year after a change for the 2026-27 season, external.

British Ice Skating announced the move which follows the lead of national federations in Canada and Finland.

Canada was the first country to allow same-sex pairs to compete in 2022.

British pairs will not be able to compete internationally, however, as International Skating Union (ISU) rules stipulate pair and dance teams must comprise one man and one woman.

“This change reflects our ongoing commitment to making ice skating inclusive and accessible for all,” British Ice Skating said.

Retired female Olympic ice dance champions Madison Hubbell of the United States and Gabriella Papadakis of France have skated together in exhibitions.

IOC currently has no universal rule in place for the participation of transgender athletes at the Olympic Games.

The International Olympic Committee says it will announce eligibility criteria for transgender athletes early next year, after months of deliberation as it seeks to find a consensus on how to protect the female category.

The issue has been a source of controversy, with no universal rule in place for the participation of transgender athletes at the Olympic Games.

The IOC, under its new President Kirsty Coventry, did a U-turn in June, deciding to take the lead in setting eligibility criteria for Olympic participation, having previously handed responsibility to the individual sports federations, leading to a confusing patchwork of different approaches.

In September, Coventry set up the “Protection of the Female Category” working group, made up of experts as well as representatives of international federations, to look into how best to protect the female category in sports.

“We will find ways to find a consensus that has all aspects covered,” Coventry told a press conference on Wednesday following an IOC executive board meeting.

“Maybe it is not the easiest thing to do, but we will try our best, so when we talk about the female category, we are protecting the female category.”

Coventry said a decision would come in the first months of 2026.

“We want to make sure we have spoken to all stakeholders, taken adequate time to cross the Ts and dot the Is,” she said.

“The group is working extremely well. I don’t want to try to constrain the working group by saying they need to have a specific deadline, but I am hopeful in the next couple of months and definitely within the first quarter of next year we will have a clear decision and way forward, which I think we are all looking forward to,” said Coventry, a former Olympic swimming champion.

Before Coventry’s decision in June, the IOC had long refused to apply any universal rule on transgender participation for the Games, instructing international federations in 2021 to come up with their own guidelines. Under current rules, still in force, transgender athletes are eligible to take part in the Olympics.

Only a handful of openly transgender athletes have taken part in the Games. New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in a different gender category to that assigned at birth when the weightlifter took part in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Currently, some international federations have rules in place, but others have not yet reached that stage.

US President Donald Trump has banned transgender athletes from competing in sports in schools in the United States, which civil society groups say infringes on the rights of trans people, as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Trump, who signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order in February, has said he would not allow transgender athletes to compete at the LA Games.

After 18 months of shopping the script, the proposed Lionsgate Television series based on the gambling scandal involving Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is in development at Starz.

The project will spotlight the audacious theft by Ippei Mizuhara of $16 million from Ohtani to pay off staggering gambling debts. Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers after the crimes came to light in March 2024. A year later, he was convicted of defrauding Ohtani in federal court and sentenced to 57 months in prison.

The series will be produced by Tony Award winner Scott Delman, known for “The Book of Mormon” and “A Raisin in the Sun,” and sports journalist Albert Chen. Alex Convery, who wrote “Air,” is on board as showrunner and screenwriter while Justin Lin (the  “Fast and Furious” franchise) will direct, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

“This is Major League Baseball’s biggest sports gambling scandal since Pete Rose — and at its center is its biggest star, one that MLB has hitched its wagon on,” Chen said in a statement to The Times. “We’ll get to the heart of the story — a story of trust, betrayal and the trappings of wealth and fame.”

Lionsgate was having trouble selling the project to companies with media rights agreements with Major League Baseball — Disney, Warner Bros., Discovery, Apple, Netflix and Comcast — because the companies didn’t want to jeopardize their relationships with the league, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Lionsgate is the former parent company of Starz, but the two formally separated in May.

The story unquestionably is compelling. Mizuhara befriended Ohtani in Japan when the player who would become the most accomplished hitting and pitching combination in baseball history was an 18-year-old rookie with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

Ohtani came to the United States in 2018 at age 23, signing with the Angels. Mizuhara soon became his most trusted friend and interpreter, serving as an intermediary between Ohtani and nearly everyone who spoke English, including the media, his agent and Angels officials.

Mizuhara arranged wire transfers from Ohtani’s bank account without the player’s knowledge or permission and impersonated him during more than two dozen phone calls with bank employees, all to feed a gambling habit that accumulated $40 million in losses across thousands of bets.

Mizuhara allegedly collected $142 million in winnings but lost about $183 million.

Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700-million contract with the Dodgers in December 2023 and the scandal came to light three months later. Ohtani was absolved of wrongdoing and described as a victim by federal authorities.

“Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies,” Ohtani said through his new interpreter, Will Ireton, shortly after Mizuhara was arrested. “I never agreed to pay off the debt or make payments to the bookmaker.

“I’m just beyond shocked. It’s really hard to verbalize how I am feeling at this point.”

Ohtani quickly put the episode behind him, leading the Dodgers to World Series championships in 2024 and 2025. He was named National League Most Valuable Player both years.

After finishing on top of their group in the opening round of the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup, Palestine will look to continue their historic run when they face Saudi Arabia at Lusail Stadium on Thursday.

The Palestinian side also defied the odds to reach the knockout stages of the AFC Asian Cup for the first time earlier this year.

Having already beaten hosts and favourites Qatar, who were subsequently eliminated at the group stage, Palestine must now overcome a Saudi Arabia side that produced a shock at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup when they defeated the eventual champions, Argentina.

Billie Jean King, who won 39 Grand Slam titles and is founder of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), believes the organisation’s billion-dollar deal with Mercedes-Benz shows that the tour “continues to lead the way” in women’s sport.

READ MORE: WTA signs with Mercedes in ‘most significant deal in our history’

Follow the build-up, analysis and live text commentary of the game as Madrid host City at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Before Stuart Scott, the phrase “Boo-yah,” was used to express joy. When he made it one of his catch phrases on ESPN, the expression entered the sports vernacular.

Director Andre Gaines explores the impact Scott had on the media landscape in his 30 for 30 documentary for ESPN, “Boo-Yah: A Portrait of Stuart Scott,” premiering Wednesday.

“He can easily be reduced down to a number of different things, maybe his catchphrases, maybe his style,” he told The Times. “All of these types of things are very reductive and have the ability to sort of diminish his legacy, but the reality is that broadcasting, prior to Stu, looked very different than it did after Stuart.”

The Times spoke to Gaines about the emotional journey he had making the film and capturing the “grit and perseverance” that made Scott a staple of journalism. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you decide to open the film with a Stuart Scott quote about his dreams?

Gaines: It really had to do with one of the main themes, conceptually, of the film — the fact that Stuart truly believed that you could manifest your own destiny. It was part of his belief when he tried out for the Jets, was part of his belief when he became the icon that he was. It was something that he really saw, and we had this proof of this through his video journals that he kept over the course of his life that we try to showcase very heavily in the film. So, I wanted to start the film off with a quote from him that was exemplary of that.

Why did you decide to use Scott’s voice throughout the documentary?

Gaines: I always try to tell my stories from the perspective of the subject. I don’t want other people dominating the story or telling the story on behalf of the subject. I want the lead character to be the person to narrate their own story, to narrate their own journey, and for Stuart, this proved to be a bit of a challenge, just because he, for so long, was the interviewer and not the interviewee, and there wasn’t, particularly in the early years of his life, there weren’t a lot of interviews to cut a glean from. But after some heavy research, and digging, we were able to find those little gems, either from his own personal archive, of footage that he shot or from interviews that he conducted, or interviews that he was the subject of the interview with other folks, and able to tell that story. I really wanted to give him the platform to carry us through the entire film and be kind of our spirit guide that takes us through his journey and let him be the leader of his own show.

Black sports reporters only make up less than 34%, according to a report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports. How do you hope this film changes the landscape of sports journalism?

Gaines: The third of the landscape in the first place, we have Stuart to thank for a lot of that. He was very cognizant of the shoulders of the giants that he stood upon, and understood his place, and once he realized the level of authenticity that he was bringing to a very stilted medium, he took on that burden by just continuing to be himself. My hope is that those numbers just continue to grow. The closer that we get to equity, I think is honoring Stuart’s legacy in the best way possible. Yes, we have this tribute to him. We have this opportunity to see his life in pictures, and really understand his legacy from the ground up, and where it began, but at the end of the day, there’s always gonna be more work to do.

Many athletes want to be rappers, many rappers want to be athletes, Scott managed to smash both worlds together by incorporating some of the language into his reporting. How different is the collaboration between these two worlds because of Scott?

Gaines: What was needed was a glue, something to admonish and recognize both of those realities and how to bring them together. And that was Stuart. That was one of the many things that set him apart. When you look at what Stuart had to endure as a newbie at ESPN 2, and the reason why they ended up hiring him is the same reason why they ended up trying to squash him. The same reason why they were discriminating against him and being prejudiced against him. But he was there as a spirit guide for these two things to come together in such a clear and cohesive and harmonious way. We do have him to thank for so many of the television personalities that we have today as a result of that. He gets a lot of credit for his celebrity. He gets a lot of credit for bringing personality to a very buttoned up and scripted media. But he doesn’t get a lot of credit for being the excellent journalist that he was.

You managed to get a lot of good stories from athletes and his co-workers. What was a story that didn’t make the final cut but still wanted to get out there in the public?

Gaines: There was definitely a really interesting story about a very, very competitive game of pickup basketball between Stuart Scott and Dan Patrick that was pretty incredible, but ended up getting cut for time. There’s another story about a flag football league that they had at ESPN, and they’re playing against some local news stations and guys. Jay Harris tells a story about how Stuart showed up in full pads like this was a real football game. Full pads and goggles and knee high socks and gloves. It was that level of competitiveness that was baked into his soul that showed us what a real fight against cancer actually looks like. He was physically fighting cancer, physically fighting what it was doing to his body, and trying to defeat it through diet and exercise and just a rigorous workout routine. There were a couple of those tidbits that if we had more time, I would love to add in there, but the essence of what those stories are did make the film ultimately.

You really captured his essence in the film. What does he mean to you as a Black filmmaker?

Gaines: For me, he was always a North Star. I started my career in journalism, I should say, went to school for journalism at Northwestern University, and Stuart was also a member of my fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha. There were a couple of the dots that were connected already there for me. So when ESPN called to ask me to do this, it was a thousand times yes. I never got the opportunity to meet him, unfortunately, but I always looked at him as a symbol. It was just an honor to be able to memorialize this incredibly beloved cultural figure in a way that it will live forever, that people can watch again and again, and come back to relive some of the great moments that we all know and love, and learn a whole hell of a lot about the real human being behind it at the end of the day, someone who had trials and triumphs and difficulties and successes just like all of us do. He just had to experience those things on a display as a public figure.

There is an original song by Common in the end-credits. How did that song come about?

Gaines: Common and I have known each other for quite some time. We were working on a TV show several years ago, and he’s just a wonderful human being, an incredible artist, also someone who’s touched so many. I wanted to interview him for the film, because I knew that he had some relationship with Stuart. We talked, and he said, yeah, you know, I’d love to do a song. And I said, you really read my mind. [The song] was just perfectly fitting for what it is that we needed for the end of the film, both solemn and sublime and uplifting at the same time. And that’s a special sauce that he really has among so many musicians.

What do you hope people take away after watching this documentary?

Gaines: I really hope that they’re inspired. I wanted the movie to be so much more than Stuart being defined by the last battle of his life. I wanted it to be defined by his perseverance through his life. Prior to the battle with cancer, he had a series of different challenges that he had to overcome. And so when cancer showed up, I don’t think, uh, he or his family or anybody around him felt that this wasn’t a hurdle that he was going to not overcome, just like he did anything else in his life. But what he showed us all was what real grit and perseverance looks like.

What will be Scott’s legacy in sports journalism?

Gaines: His legacy really should be looked at through that lens as somebody who changed media, somebody who changed broadcasts, news, for the better. Because now we take someone’s having that level of personality on screen, we take that for granted, but that just wasn’t something that existed prior to him.

The Women’s Tennis Association has announced a long-term partnership with Mercedes-Benz which has the potential to be the largest in women’s sport.

The German car manufacturer will become the premier partner of the WTA and pour $50m (£37.5m) per year into women’s tennis for up to 10 years.

The deal has been described as the “most significant” in the WTA’s history, and could ultimately be worth up to half a billion dollars (£375m).

The National Women’s Soccer League in America signed a $240m (£180m) four-year media rights deal in November 2023, while Nike has invested $350m (£262m) across multiple women’s football leagues.

Announced on Wednesday, the WTA deal will help with the tour’s commitment to have equal prize money at events where both men and women feature by 2027 and at non-combined events by 2033.

Equal prize money was one of the key goals when the WTA was founded in 1973.

American tennis great Billie Jean King, who founded the WTA and was its first president, said the deal shows the tour “continues to lead the way in women’s sport”.

“Our mission statement when we founded the WTA was that any girl born in this world, if she was good enough, would have a place to compete, be respected and make a living playing tennis,” King told BBC Sport.

“This is a real partnership and Mercedes are in it for the long term.

“Seeing a brand like that stand with us sends a message that echoes far beyond tennis.”

From Jack Harris: Coming into the offseason, the Dodgers signaled that they would be conservative when it came to pursuing help in the bullpen.

Turned out, they were quietly plotting one of the most surprising — and influential — signings of the winter.

In a blockbuster move on Tuesday, the team agreed to a three-year, $69-million deal with top free-agent closer Edwin Díaz, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly, snatching the three-time All-Star and three-time reliever of the year award winner in a move that will transform their previously shaky bullpen.

Díaz, 31, was the consensus best relief pitcher in this year’s free-agent class. Over his nine-year career, he has a 2.82 ERA and 253 saves. In that time, no other MLB reliever tops him in strikeouts (839), while only Kenley Jansen has recorded more saves (334). With the New York Mets this past season — his second since returning from a knee surgery that sidelined him for all of 2023 — Díaz also had one of his best career campaigns, posting a 1.63 ERA with 28 saves in 31 opportunities and 98 strikeouts in 66 ⅓ innings.

He was so good, he elected to opt out of the final two years of the record-setting five-year, $102-million deal he signed with the Mets in 2022.

Thanks to that track record, the hard-throwing right-hander was positioned to be the highest-paid reliever on this year’s market. Most projections pegged him for another four- or five-year deal, making upward of $20 million per season again.

Continue reading here

MORE BASEBALL:

Shaikin: Edwin Díaz signing shows Dodgers aren’t going to worry about potential salary cap

Take a swing? Two Buss brothers consider investing in baseball’s Athletics

NEW UCLA COACH TAKES AIM AT USC

From Ben Bolch: Nine months before his debut in his first big-time college football coaching job, Bob Chesney sounded as confident as a running back with four downs to gain one yard.

Nothing could stop him, no matter the weight of the unique challenges ahead.

For instance…

How did he feel about UCLA’s lack of recent football success?

“To me,” Chesney said, “there is zero doubt in my mind that we can win here.”

A perceived lack of institutional support?

“Alignment,” Chesney said, referencing his shared vision with university officials, “was a word that continued to show up over and over and over again.”

That annoying crosstown rival?

“We don’t need to be the other school in this town,” Chesney said, “we need to be the school in this town and I promise that will happen here in the very, very near future.”

Continue reading here

USC BASKETBALL TAKES NOSTALGIC TRIP

From Ryan Kartje: When they first met more than four decades ago now, the four freshmen on the University of San Diego’s men’s basketball team in 1983 didn’t need long to figure out who would lead them. Eric Musselman had all but elected himself within moments of moving into their dorm room.

“Before I could even drop my bag on the bed, Eric goes, ‘OK, we’re going to the gym,’” recalled Scott Thompson, San Diego’s 7-foot center. “He’d barely said hello.”

It didn’t matter that, at 5-foot-7, Musselman — the future USC men’s basketball coach — was more than a foot shorter than his freshman counterparts, with the other two checking in at 6-foot-11 and 6-foot-9. Or that Musselman carried himself with a swagger and confidence more befitting, even then, of a coach than a college freshman. He was so sure of himself, he actually pitched himself for the head coaching job as a sophomore.

“Father [Pat] Cahill was our athletic director,” Musselman said. “So before they named our new coach [in 1984], I went in there and told him, ‘Hey I think I can coach these guys and be a student athlete and a coach, and it’d be great publicity, the first time ever and all that.”

“And Father Cahill told me to get back to class.”

Continue reading here

MORE USC:

Chad Baker-Mazara and Ezra Ausar lead USC to win at San Diego

USC vs. San Diego summary

RIVERS RETURNS TO NFL

From Sam Farmer: These are not your grandfather’s Indianapolis Colts.

Or perhaps they are.

The Colts are planning to sign Chargers legend Philip Rivers, who recently became a grandfather, bringing back the 44-year-old quarterback after five years of retirement.

Continue reading here

HIGH SCHOOLS

From Eric Sondheimer: It was paparazzi time on Tuesday night at the old Morningside High gymnasium, where more than 20 photographers stationed themselves on the baseline trying to capture the moment Jason Crowe Jr. of Inglewood set the state record for career scoring by a high school basketball player.

Think Chino Hills days with the Ball brothers and Sierra Canyon days with Bronny James to bring out the cameras en masse.

The 6-foot-4 senior and son of Inglewood coach Jason Crowe Sr. needed 29 points to pass the 3,659 career points accumulated by Tounde Yessoufou of Santa Maria St. Joseph.

Continue reading here

MORE HIGH SCHOOLS:

Josh Gallagher helps Loyola turn back Cathedral in boys’ soccer rivalry game

Prep basketball roundup: Freshman Major Williams makes 11 threes for Edison

DUCKS

Beckett Sennecke scored a shorthanded goal with one second remaining to force overtime, Leo Carlsson scored in the shootout and the Ducks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night for their fifth win in seven games.

The 19-year-old Sennecke eluded three defenders and his shot deflected off the glove of Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson and into the net. A replay review confirmed the shot beat the buzzer.

Ville Husso made 45 saves, including seven in overtime, and stopped all three shots in the shootout.

Continue reading here

Ducks-Penguins summary

NHL standings

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1939 — The Green Bay Packers register the first shutout in an NFL championship game by beating the New York Giants 27-0.

1961 — Billy Cannon of the Houston Oilers rushes for 216 yards, catches five passes for 114 yards and scores five touchdowns in a 48-21 victory over the New York Titans. Cannon finishes with 373 combined yards.

1971 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores a career-high 55 points in Milwaukee’s 120-104 victory over the Boston Celtics.

1982 — Michael Dokes knocks out Mike Weaver in the first round to capture the WBA heavyweight title in Las Vegas.

1985 — The Indiana Pacers hits only 19 field goals in an 82-64 loss to the New York Knicks, setting an NBA record for the fewest field goals made by one team since the inception of the shot clock.

1986 — Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins scores 57 points to lead the Hawks to a 123-95 rout of the Chicago Bulls.

1992 — The NHL awards expansion franchises to Anaheim and Miami. The newcomers, scheduled to begin play in the 1993-94 season, bring the NHL to 26 teams.

1994 — Art Monk sets an NFL record for consecutive games with a reception on New York’s first play in the Jets’ 18-7 loss to the Detroit Lions. Monk’s 5-yard catch gives him 178 consecutive games with a reception, breaking Steve Largent’s NFL mark.

1999 — Laffit Pincay Jr. guides Irish Nip to a two-length victory in the sixth race at Hollywood Park for his 8,834th victory, breaking Bill Shoemaker’s 29-year-old record and making him the world’s winningest jockey.

2006 — LaDainian Tomlinson breaks Shaun Alexander’s NFL single-season touchdown record of 28 when he scores three times in the San Diego Chargers’ 48-20 victory over the Denver Broncos. Tomlinson has 26 TDs rushing and three receiving.

2006 — Marvin Harrison of Indianapolis is the fourth player in NFL history with 1,000 receptions, joining Jerry Rice, Tim Brown and Cris Carter.

2008 — Carmelo Anthony matches George Gervin’s NBA record for points in a quarter with 33 in the third and finishes with a season-high 45 points in Denver’s 116-105 victory over Minnesota.

2010 — George Karl earns his 1,000th coaching victory, the seventh coach in NBA history, as Al Harrington scores a season-high 31 points and Nene adds 26 to help the Denver Nuggets hold off the Toronto Raptors 123-116.

2016 — 82nd Heisman Trophy Award: Lamar Jackson, Louisville Cardinals (QB), youngest player to win at 19.

2016 — Army ends a 14-year run of frustration against Navy, using an overpowering running game and opportunistic defense to carve out a long overdue 21-17 victory.

2016 — Roman Torres scores in the sixth round of penalty kicks to give the Seattle Sounders their first MLS Cup title, 5-4 over Toronto FC after 120 scoreless minutes. It’s the first MLS Cup final to fail to produce a goal in regulation, setting the stage for a dramatic tiebreaker.

2017 — Ben Roethlisberger completes 44 of a franchise-record 66 passes for 506 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to top 500 yards passing three times and leading Pittsburgh past Baltimore 39-38. Antonio Brown caught 11 passes for 213 yards for Pittsburgh.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Should Morgan and Lake depart, the uncertainty in crisis-stricken Welsh rugby will have been a major factor in their decisions.

Ospreys have said publicly they want to keep the pair, who are close friends, but the two players are unsure what the future holds in their homeland.

Ospreys supporters were told in September Morgan had warned the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) he would leave professional domestic rugby in Wales if Ospreys ceased to exist.

The WRU announced in October that it planned to reduce the number of professional men’s sides in Wales from four to three.

Welsh rugby’s governing body confirmed it proposes to grant three licences for men’s clubs.

There will be one in Cardiff, one in the east and one in the west, which is expected to result in a straight survival fight between Swansea-based Ospreys and Scarlets in Llanelli.

Another option that has now emerged is Ospreys owners, Y11 Sport & Media, taking over WRU-owned Cardiff, which could produce the desired number of three professional sides.

One of the main purposes of the planned reduction in sides in Welsh rugby is to concentrate Welsh talent into three squads.

But if Lake and Morgan leave, they will be joining top Welsh players like Williams, Louis Rees-Zammit and Dafydd Jenkins who play in England.

Wales head coach Steve Tandy selected 13 players in the autumn series who plied their club trade in England or France.

Prepare for lots of tears this weekend at the CIF state championship football games in Orange County.

“No doubt,” Ventura High quarterback Derek Garcia said.

Seniors are playing in their final high school football games. Others will never play again unless it’s intramural football. And others are heading off to college in a matter of days as scholarship athletes, so win or lose, change is coming, which will challenge emotions when reality sets in.

“It’s been a great feeling all week knowing this will be my final high school game because most of the time you go in it’s up in the air,” Garcia said. “Win and you keep going or lose and you go home. It’s a great feeling we made it this far and we’re in the last possible game to play. We’re ready to go.”

Garcia has been playing for his father, Tim, Ventura’s head coach, for years. Now it will end on Friday in a Division 3-AA final against San Francisco St. Ignatius at 8 p.m. at Fullerton High before heading off to Nevada Las Vegas.

“It’s hard sometimes, but it’s been able to bring us so many memories and so many great times together,” Garcia said. “It’s been an awesome journey and wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Some of the teams in state championship games are playing in their 16th game in a long, memorable season.

“It’s been cool to still be playing,” Garcia said.

On Jan. 18, he moves into his UNLV dorm, driving his truck and relying on his parents to help him move. But will his mom let him leave the family nest?

“We’ll see when the day comes,” he said.

Yes, it’s that time for tears from football players and their parents.

There’s a tripleheader on Saturday at Saddleback College that should produce memorable games.

Open Division

De La Salle (12-0) vs. Santa Margarita (10-3), 8 p.m.

A Northern California team has not won in the state’s highest division since 2015. De La Salle’s speed could produce some big plays against the state’s best defense, particularly if 100-meter record holder Jaden Jefferson gets room to run. But Santa Margarita has its own big-play weapon in Trent Mosley, who had 10 catches for 292 yards two weeks ago against Corona Centennial. The pick: Santa Margarita.

Division 1-A

Oxnard Pacifica (15-0) vs. Fresno Central East (13-1), 3:30 p.m.

This is a battle of junior quarterbacks. Pacifica’s Taylor Lee has has passed for 3,742 yards and 51 touchdowns. East has passed for 4,298 yards and 56 touchdowns. If you like offense, this could be the most entertaining game. The pick: Pacifica.

Division 2-A

Rio Hondo Prep (15-0) vs. Sonora (14-0), 11:30 a.m.

This is the game where small schools finally get the spotlight. Both love to run the ball, so the game might get completed in less than two hours. Sonora rushed for 340 yards in its regional final. Rio Hondo Prep had 263 yards rushing and attempted one pass. The pick: Sonora.

Division: 3-AA

Ventura (13-2) vs. San Francisco St. Ignatius (8-6), 8 p.m., Friday, at Fullerton High

Garcia has passed for 3,360 yards and 36 touchdowns and has rushed for 750 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Cougars also have Oregon-bound linebacker Tristan Phillips. St. Ignatius is on a six-game winning streak after getting more consistent play at quarterback. The pick: Ventura.

(All times BST)

11 June: Mexico v South Africa (20:00 BST) – ITV

12 June: South Korea v play-off D (03:00) – ITV

12 June: Canada v play-off A (20:00) – BBC

13 June: USA v Paraguay (02:00) – BBC

13 June: Qatar v Switzerland (20:00) – ITV

13 June: Brazil v Morocco (23:00) – BBC

14 June: Australia v play-off C (05:00) – ITV

14 June: Scotland v Haiti (02.00) – BBC

14 June: Germany v Curacao (18:00) – ITV

14 June: Netherlands v Japan (21:00) – ITV

15 June: Play-off B v Tunisia (03:00) – ITV

15 June: Ivory Coast v Ecuador (00:00) – BBC

15 June: Spain v Cape Verde (17:00) – ITV

15 June: Belgium v Egypt (20:00) – BBC

15 June: Saudi Arabia v Uruguay (23:00) – ITV

16 June: Iran v New Zealand (02:00) – BBC

16 June: France v Senegal (20:00) – BBC

16 June: Play-off 2 v Norway (23:00) – BBC

17 June: Argentina v Algeria (02:00) – ITV

17 June: Austria v Jordan (05:00) – BBC

17 June: Portugal v play-off 1 (18:00) – BBC

17 June: England v Croatia (21:00) – ITV

18 June: Ghana v Panama (00:00) – ITV

18 June: Uzbekistan v Colombia (03:00) – BBC

18 June: South Africa v play-off D (17:00) – BBC

18 June: Play-off A v Switzerland (20:00) – ITV

18 June: Canada v Qatar (23:00) – ITV

19 June: Mexico v South Korea (02:00) – BBC

19 June: USA v Australia (20:00) – BBC

19 June: Scotland v Morocco (23:00) – ITV

20 June: Paraguay v play-off C (05:00) – ITV

20 June: Brazil v Haiti (02:00) – ITV

20 June: Netherlands v play-off B (18:00) – BBC

20 June: Germany v Ivory Coast (21:00) – ITV

21 June: Japan v Tunisia (05:00) – BBC

21 June: Curacao v Ecuador (01:00) – BBC

21 June: Spain v Saudi Arabia (17:00) – BBC

21 June: Belgium v Iran (20:00) – ITV

21 June: Cape Verde v Uruguay (23:00) – BBC

22 June: Egypt v New Zealand (02:00) – ITV

22 June: Argentina v Austria (18:00) – BBC

22 June: France v play-off 2 (22:00) – BBC

23 June: Senegal v Norway (01:00) – ITV

23 June: Algeria v Jordan (04:00) – ITV

23 June: Portugal v Uzbekistan (18:00) – ITV

23 June: England v Ghana (21:00) – BBC

24 June: Croatia v Panama (00:00) – BBC

24 June: Colombia v play-off 1 (03:00) – ITV

24 June: Canada v Switzerland/Play-Off A v Qatar (20:00)

24 June: Scotland v Brazil & Morocco v Haiti (23:00) – BBC

25 June: Mexico v play-off D & South Africa v South Korea (02:00) – BBC

25 June: Germany v Ecuador & Curacao v Ivory Coast (21:00) – BBC

26 June: USA v play-off C & Paraguay v Australia (03:00) – ITV

26 June: Japan v play-off B & Netherlands v Tunisia (00:00) – BBC

26 June: France v Norway & Senegal v play-off 2 (20:00) – ITV

27 June: Cape Verde v Saudi Arabia & Uruguay v Spain (01:00) – ITV

27 June: Egypt v Iran & New Zealand v Belgium (04:00) – BBC

27 June: England v Panama & Croatia v Ghana (22:00) – ITV

28 June: Algeria v Austria & Argentina v Jordan (03:00) – BBC

28 June: Colombia v Portugal & play-off 1 v Uzbekistan (00:30) – BBC