The veteran started the season as first-choice – just as he did in each of his previous three campaigns at Newcastle.
But Howe recognised the need to bring in fresh competition, even before goalkeeper Martin Dubravka’s departure to Burnley was sanctioned last summer.
James Trafford had been a longstanding target, but the 23-year-old decided to rejoin former club Manchester City from Burnley instead.
And Pope previously admitted that Newcastle’s very public search for a permanent goalkeeper – and the subsequent arrival of Ramsdale on loan from Southampton – drove him on to “push himself to the absolute maximum to earn the right to play for the club”.
Pope certainly earned that right after starting the campaign strongly.
Such was Pope’s form, the 33-year-old was recalled to the England squad for the first time in a year earlier this month – only to have to withdraw after suffering a concussion during a match against Brentford.
It was a deserved call-up.
Pope kept eight clean sheets in his opening 14 games in all competitions, and his superb 65-yard throw went viral after he set up Harvey Barnes’ breakaway goal against Benfica.
But Newcastle have struggled defensively on the road in recent weeks.
Though he has not always been offered much protection by those around him, Pope has let in 10 goals in his past four away games and made different types of errors against Marseille, Brentford and West Ham when his side were in front.
West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta’s shot squirmed past him at the London Stadium.
Pope was caught out at the Gtech Community Stadium a week later when he attempted to punch the ball only for Kevin Schade to equalise from Brentford defender Michael Kayode’s long throw.
And then there was his rush of blood to the head in Marseille.
A crescendo is building, and the Rams might be best to ignore it.
So much can happen from week to week in the NFL — check out Philadelphia’s loss to Dallas — that the Rams can’t get too comfortable, even with the way they’re playing.
In the last five games, culminating with their 27-point stomping of Tampa Bay on Sunday night, the Rams have outscored opponents in the opening quarter, 63-3.
Matthew Stafford has thrown 27 touchdown passes without an interception.
In four of the games in this six-game winning streak, the Rams defense has allowed 10 points or fewer.
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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their 34-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday night.
But it’s uncomfortably early for anyone in the organization to be thinking about Santa Clara in February. The Rams need to play with blinders on. Yes, they’ve secured the NFC’s No. 1 seed for the moment, but they have a one-game lead over the Eagles, who beat them earlier this season and therefore have the tiebreaker. There’s no wiggle room.
The glide path is far different than 2021, when the Rams wound up winning the Super Bowl on their home field. That season, they went 0-3 in November games.
This bears a closer resemblance to 2018, Sean McVay’s second season, when the last game before Thanksgiving was an instant classic at the Coliseum, Jared Goff and the Rams beating Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, 54-51.
There’s no ignoring that we’re watching something special in Stafford, who takes the snap, scans the field and delivers a laser with remarkable reliability. He processes with the speed of AI.
It was 10 years ago at Levi’s Stadium that Denver’s Peyton Manning, quarterbacking his second franchise, won his second Super Bowl ring and decided to retire.
Could that be Stafford? Second franchise. Potential for a second ring. Then again, Manning’s body was breaking down on him and he wasn’t at the top of his game. Those Broncos ran the ball and had a great defense.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford warms up before a 34-7 win over the Buccaneers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
At the moment, Stafford is playing as well as anyone who has ever played the position. He looks nothing like a 37-year-old guy who sat out training camp with back problems.
His streak of 27 touchdown passes without a pick is, according to Elias, the longest such streak by any player since play-by-play was first tracked in 1978.
“It’s hard to conceptualize the fact that you can throw — put the ball in the end zone that much,” said Rams receiver Davante Adams, who has 12 touchdown receptions this season. “Most quarterbacks can’t throw 27 passes without throwing a pick.”
Stafford’s the leading most valuable player candidate, and this could be the season that secures him a bronze bust in Canton.
As for the poetry of him walking off the biggest stage the way Manning did, that’s all fantasy football now, especially with more than a quarter of the regular season remaining.
(A little more premature conjecture: It’s not inconceivable that the Rams and New England Patriots could meet in the Super Bowl for a third time.)
What is irrefutable is the Rams are continually deepening their foothold on the Los Angeles market. They set their regular-season attendance record Sunday night (75,545 tickets distributed), surpassing the mark they set a week earlier with a home game against Seattle.
This is what Rams owner Stan Kroenke was talking about when he brought the team back in 2016, and when he built SoFi Stadium with the idea of making the nearly-300-acre campus a center of gravity on the West Coast.
It’s not just home to the Rams and Chargers, but it’s the integral role the stadium will play in the World Cup, the 2028 Olympics, and in early 2027, the second Super Bowl it will host. No matter how you feel about UCLA trying to wriggle out of its Rose Bowl deal, there’s a reason the school has turned its attention to SoFi.
Kroenke always told his development team that undershooting L.A. would be a huge mistake, that the opportunity here was immeasurable.
“Sometimes when you’re a real estate developer, I think you have to be tremendously optimistic,” Kroenke told the Los Angeles Times. “You encounter so many issues. … With the NFL, you saw how difficult that whole thing was. So you had to be the optimist.
“Then you get a night like tonight, and it’s just awesome.”
Rams defensive end Kobie Turner reacts during player introductions before facing the Buccaneers on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
The stadium was loud and overwhelmingly blue, with only a sprinkling of Tampa Bay fans. That’s progress.
The peril for the Rams now is letting down their guard. They travel across the country next weekend to play at Carolina, a team that won four of five not so long ago, including an upset of Green Bay.
In his postgame news conference, cornerback Cobie Durant was asked how it feels to have the No. 1 seed in the conference.
“I didn’t know that,” he said, sounding pleasantly surprised. “I don’t keep up with that.”
Scotland’s chance of gold at the European Curling Championships lies in the women’s competition after the men fell at the semi-final stage.
Bruce Mouat’s rink sailed through the round-robin phase with a 100% record but lost 8-5 to Sweden in the last four showdown.
Swedish skip Niklas Edin will now go for an eighth title against Switzerland, who beat Italy 8-7.
The Swedes, who lost three of their opening nine games, took two in the seventh and ninth ends to lead 7-5 and Mouat could not extend a tense tie when he was a fraction out with his final stone.
Team Mouat, runners-up last year and four-time winners, will play the Italians for bronze on Friday evening, with the action streamed on the BBC Sport website and iPlayer at 17:00 GMT.
“We’ve played a million times before,” said Edin of his team’s victory. “In the Olympic final it was the same situation.
“We just have to reach our own top level. We came in with the right mindset and executed well.”
On Thursday, Scotland’s women continued their revival in Finland by beating Switzerland in their semi-final.
The Scots – bronze medallists last year and ranked second going into this tournament – lost four of their opening six matches, but won their final three round-robin games to scrape into the knockout matches.
And in a dominant performance, Rebecca Morrison’s rink prevailed 8-5 to earn a place in the final against Sweden.
“Reaching our first European final together and that is a great achievement for us,” said an excited Jen Dodds, who won European gold in 2021.
“We got our bronze medal last year, which back then we were so happy with, and one of our goals for this season was to upgrade that and get to the final.
“Now we are really looking forward to getting that opportunity to compete in it.”
The final will be live on the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app at 08:00 on Saturday.
Rams defensive end Kobie Turner, a 294-pound man strong enough to carry a piano on his back, can also tap out a tune.
The country saw that Sunday night when, on two occasions, NBC aired video footage of Turner expertly playing a complex version of the “Sunday Night Football” theme song. He learned it by ear, then set up his phone to capture the clip.
The song was written by legendary composer John Williams and originally was called “Wide Receiver,” although NBC never adopted that name.
“He listened to it a couple of times and was able to play it and add his own flair,” NBC coordinating producer Rob Hyland said of Turner, who majored in music theory and composition at University of Richmond.
“I was completely blown away. Kobie has so much talent on the football field and just as much with musical instruments. His nickname, `The Conductor,’ is very fitting.”
Turner had two sacks in the 34-7 trouncing of Tampa Bay. He was instrumental in the Rams assembling their best defensive performance of the year, giving up 70 yards passing and 193 total.
The idea to show Turner’s musical talents was hatched earlier this year, and for “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon Prime. There’s a lot of crossover between those two production crews.
Reid Esocoff, whose father, Drew, directs the Sunday night show, pitched the idea to Prime to have Turner play that song for the Oct. 2 game against San Francisco. The segment got the green light, and Amazon sent the Rams star the sheet music.
“It was like five minutes long,” Turner recalled. “I was like, OK, I’m going to have to rearrange this. There’s like trumpets and strings, and I’m like, ‘I’m only doing piano.’”
Turner did his part, but the video wound up on the cutting-room floor.
Enter NBC, which made the same ask and ensured the Rams it would air the video. This time, Turner didn’t want the sheet music, just a recording of the familiar theme song.
“I picked it up by ear and I rearranged it too,” he said, “Because it was another three-minute-long song.’ I was like, how can I emulate this with just the keys and me in a solo take? It was a lot of fun.”
He nailed it, and the video ran twice, when NBC was going to a commercial and after Turner made a big play.
“Anytime I can learn something new, and anytime I can flex the music muscle it’s a lot of fun,” he said.
After playing the song — on his first take, mind you — Turner paused, then popped up and did a strongman flex in triumph.
Experience of Ulster club hurling final day may be an advantage for Slaughtneil when they take on St John’s at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday (18:00 GMT), but manager Paul McCormack insists they will need much more to retain their provincial crown.
The Derry champions are appearing in their 10th final of their 13-in-a-row run of county success with a sixth Ulster title in their sights.
Last year, they got their hands on the Four Seasons Cup for the first time since 2021 when coming through in a thriller against Portaferry and they had to dig deep once again against the Down club in this year’s semi-final, winning 1-23 to 1-18.
There is a know-how of playing late in the year for this group, a result of their desire to get back to the All-Ireland stage with Galway’s Loughrea awaiting the winner of Saturday’s Ulster decider, but McCormack is aware St John’s will be equally motivated having ended their 52-year wait for an Antrim title.
“That [experience] is an advantage we have, but St John’s are coming fresh, hungry and eager to make their impact now,” the Keady native told BBC Sport NI.
“The Antrim championship is very hard won, so this is their time and they will do all they can to make that time count.
“Our experience, will it tell? We’ll see on Saturday evening. I would hope it would because our fellas are grounded, still hungry and have that desire, so they will need all those qualities to get through the game.”
LAS VEGAS — Gabriela Jaquez scored 23 points and UCLA defeated Duke in the third-place game of the women’s Players Era Championship.
Handed their first loss this season the night before, 76-65 by second-ranked South Carolina, the Bruins came out red-hot even without star center Lauren Betts, who injured her left arm Wednesday.
UCLA (7-1) led 30-7 after shooting 60% (12 of 20) from the field in the first quarter, including 5 for 7 on 3-pointers. The Bruins also did a good job at the defensive end, forcing the Blue Devils (3-5) to commit six turnovers.
The Bruins shot 46.9% in the first half and took a 43-25 lead into halftime. Duke was 9 of 32 (28.1%) from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
Five players scored in double figures for UCLA. Charlisse Leger-Walker finished with 20 points, six assists and five rebounds. Kiki Rice had 17 points and six rebounds. Gianna Kneepkens added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Angela Dugalic had 12 points and eight boards.
UCLA shot a season-high 59.1% from 3-point range, hitting 13 of 22 from beyond the arc.
The Blue Devils were led by Ashlon Jackson, who had 18 points. Toby Fournier posted her second double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Delaney Thomas scored 10.
Duke went 22 of 65 from the floor (33.8%) in its second-worst shooting performance this season.
No. 4 Texas edged No. 2 South Carolina 66-64 in the championship game earlier Thursday.
Without Cummins and Hazlewood, Australia could field an unchanged attack for the pink-ball Test.
In Perth, left-armer Mitchell Starc took 10 wickets and was named player of the match. He was joined by fellow seamers Scott Boland and debutant Brendan Doggett, along with all-rounder Cameron Green and off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon struggled in Perth after being struck while batting by England fast bowler Mark Wood. If Australia decide to omit their frontline spinner in Brisbane, his replacement would be either seamer Michael Neser or all-rounder Beau Webster.
Khawaja’s place is under scrutiny after he was not fit to open the batting in either innings in Perth.
In the second innings, Travis Head was promoted from number five and struck one of the all-time great Ashes hundreds to lead Australia to victory.
If Khawaja is left out on his home ground, it would leave the door open for Josh Inglis, who made a hundred for a Cricket Australia XI against England Lions on Monday.
Australia have not lost an Ashes Test in Brisbane since 1986. They have lost only one of their 14 previous pink-ball Tests and have beaten England in all three Ashes day-nighters.
England opted against sending any of their first-Test XI to play in a two-day pink-ball match between England Lions and the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, starting on Saturday.
The tourists have arranged two extra training sessions in the run-up to the second Test.
They will return to practice at Allan Border Field on Saturday, when captain Ben Stokes is due to speak to the media.
When Lindsay Gottlieb put together a nonconference schedule she believed to be the hardest in the country, USC’s coach knew it would be an uphill climb. But that was the point. She wanted her team to be tested nightly, to play on “the biggest stages.”
“It’s not a schedule designed to win every nonconference game by an average of 40 points,” Gottlieb said earlier this month.
But after losing twice through a five-game gauntlet to start the season, a blowout nonconference win was precisely what the doctor ordered for USC.
“It was a really tough loss the other night,” Gottlieb said. “No doubt about that, for all of us. But the only thing you can do is utilize those lessons that are painful to get better.”
It was a particularly big night for freshman Jazzy Davidson, who bounced back from an eight-turnover performance in South Bend to tally her first collegiate double-double. Davidson nearly crossed that threshold before halftime Tuesday, and she finished the game with 20 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and two blocks.
The 16 boards, Davidson said, was the most she could remember having in a single game.
“She has a will to go get that thing,” Gottlieb said.
Davidson and Londynn Jones were once again USC’s most reliable options on offense. Jones, who was held scoreless in the loss to Notre Dame, poured in a season-high 20 points. Together, they made16 of 23 from the field, while the rest of the team shot a combined 17 of 40.
USC also got a critical contribution from sophomore big Vivian Iwuchukwu, whose work inside gave the Trojans their most consistent frontcourt threat of the season on Tuesday. After playing strictly a reserve role a year ago, Iwuchukwu scored 11 points on five-of-six shooting in a performance Gottlieb said was indicative of her progress so far this season.
But it was USC’s defense that really overwhelmed Tennessee Tech. The Trojans were especially suffocating underneath, blocking 15 shots — their most since 1984, when they tallied a program-record 18.
“What was impressive about this is our length that we can put in a number of different places,” Gottlieb said. “Laura [Williams] had a couple. Kai [Milton] had a couple. But you also had Jazzy and [Kennedy Smith].”
USC’s length was so difficult for Tennessee Tech to deal with that it managed just nine total buckets inside the arc.
“There was an emphasis for us just being the hardest-working team tonight,” Davidson said. “I think our defense really showed that.”
USC held Tennessee Tech scoreless for the first five minutes of the game, then the first six minutes of the second quarter. Midway through the second, Davidson had more total points than the Golden Eagles had as a team.
It didn’t get any easier for Tennessee Tech from there, as the Trojans rolled to a resounding victory, bouncing back as best as they could have hoped.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ play-off hopes are hanging by a thread after losing 31-28 at the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving.
The Cowboys have traditionally hosted games on the American holiday since 1966 and ‘America’s Team’ produced a superb performance to overcome the Chiefs despite Patrick Mahomes throwing four touchdown passes as he returned to his native Texas.
Mahomes has led the Chiefs to five of the past six Super Bowls, winning three, but they now have a 6-6 record and are in danger of missing out on the play-offs for the first time since the 2014 season.
The Cowboys came from behind to lead 17-14 at half-time, but a tense finish began with the Chiefs taking a 21-20 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Dak Prescott then held his nerve as Dallas scored 11 points on their next two possessions to keep them clear, despite a late Chiefs reply.
After a stirring 21-point comeback against the Eagles – who denied the Chiefs a three-peat in February – the win over Kansas City is a third in a row for Dallas, to improve to 6-5-1 and keep alive their own hopes of sneaking into the post-season.
With five games left, Dallas are second to the Eagles (8-3) in the NFC East while the Chiefs trail both the Denver Broncos (9-2) and Los Angeles Chargers (7-4) in the AFC West.
The Chiefs finally broke through last week, but Dallas looks like the more complete team right now: healthier, faster on defense, and leaning into a locker room identity. Kansas City will land some shots, but the Cowboys rally at home in their traditional Thanksgiving game.
“It feels almost like a loss,” Tavernier conceded. “Being a Rangers player, you have to win every single game. That’s what we have to do from now to the end of this competition.
“It’s definitely not over, but we have to build from this.”
Djiga contrived to head the ball into Martinez’s path under no pressure to gift Braga a point, the defender appearing to lose the flight of the ball in swirling conditions.
With John Souttar and Derek Cornelius injured, Djigi was paired with Emmanuel Fernandez, with the former ultimately costing Rangers a vital win.
“I’ve got no complaint with Nasser, everyone makes a mistake, but we ultimately should have that game tied up before that even happens,” Tavernier added.
“We have to be more patient, probing around their final third instead of trying to shoot maybe when it’s not on. I’ve spoken about it before, about being clinical in both boxes, and we’ve got to do that.
“If we keep it clean sheet, we win. That’s our aim as a team, to keep clean sheets. We should have had that in our pocket with the 10 men that we were playing against.”
For as long as most of us can remember, the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions have played games on Thanksgiving Day. But why?
Let’s start with the Lions. They have played every Thanksgiving since 1934, with the exception of 1939-44, despite the fact they haven’t been a good team most of those years. The Lions played their first season in Detroit in 1934 (before that, they were the Portsmouth Spartans). They struggled their first year in Detroit, as most sports fans there loved baseball’s Detroit Tigers and didn’t come out in droves to watch the Lions. So Lions owner George A. Richards had an idea: Why not play on Thanksgiving?
Richards also owned radio station WJR, which was one of the biggest stations in the country at that time. Richards had a lot of clout in the broadcasting world, and convinced NBC to air the game nationwide. The NFL champion Chicago Bears came to town, and the Lions sold out the 26,000-seat University of Detroit field for the first time. Richards kept the tradition going the next two years, and the NFL kept scheduling them on Thanksgiving when they resumed playing on that date after World War II ended. Richards sold the team in 1940 and died in 1951, but the tradition he started continues today when the Lions play the Green Bay Packers.
The Cowboys first played on Thanksgiving in 1966. They came into the league in 1960 and, as hard as it is to believe now, struggled to draw fans because they were pretty bad those first few years. General manager Tex Schramm basically begged the NFL to schedule them for a Thanksgiving game in 1966, thinking it might get them a popularity boost in Dallas and also nationwide since the game would be televised.
It worked. A Dallas-record 80,259 tickets were sold as the Cowboys defeated the Cleveland Browns 26-14. Some Cowboys fans point to that game as the beginning of Dallas becoming “America’s team.” They have missed playing on Thanksgiving only in 1975 and 1977, when NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle opted for the St. Louis Cardinals instead.
The games with the Cardinals proved to be losers in the ratings, so Rozelle asked the Cowboys if they would play again in 1978.
“It was a dud in St. Louis,” Schramm told the Chicago Tribune in 1998. “Pete asked if we’d take it back. I said only if we get it permanently. It’s something you have to build as a tradition. He said, ‘It’s yours forever.’ ”
Dallas takes on the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday.
Robin van Persie says his decision to hand son Shaqueel a senior debut in Feyenoord’s Europa League defeat by Celtic was made “as a coach” and not out of sentiment.
The 19-year-old forward spent two seasons at Manchester City’s academy, before following in his father’s footsteps with a move to Feyenoord in 2017 and signing a first professional contract with the Dutch club in 2022.
Fast forward to 2025 and Shaqueel was named in Feyenoord’s first-team squad for the first time in Sunday’s Eredivisie defeat by NEC Nijmegen.
“I made that call as a coach, not as a dad because we needed a goal,” said former Arsenal and Manchester United forward Robin afterwards.
“Shaqueel is a player who can score a goal from all angles. That was the reason I brought him on.
“From a father’s point of view, when your son makes his debut that is always a special moment. But I wasn’t that busy with enjoying that moment, I was doing my work like Shaqueel was.”
The London-born teenager didn’t have chance to make an impact and had just one shot in Celtic’s box.
He came on with the score at 2-1, with Martin O’Neill’s side scoring their third a minute after his introduction.
“The way I see Shaqueel is as one of the players,” added Robin. “This is what we both agreed to a couple of years ago when we already worked together. Shaqueel was handling that really well, I am too in my opinion.
“Later on when we are home of course we will have a nice moment, when we are proud of each other. I am proud of Shaqueel because, like every player who makes his debut, there is a whole process going on before he made his debut. He worked hard, deserved it and, for him, is a special moment.”
Van Persie is not the first manager to give his son a debut as BBC Sport picks out some of the others, plus other father-son duos to have featured in the same team.
They came on electric bikes, skateboards, walked or were dropped off by car early Thanksgiving morning at Cleveland High in Reseda.
It’s championship week in high school football, and practicing on Thursday means teams are still alive and one win away from trophy time.
“Turkey day,” starting lineman Adam Garbisch shouted as he joined teammates for stretching.
In coach Mario Guzman’s football office, his wife, Elizabeth, volunteered to be the breakfast cook and worker. On Wednesday, Guzman purchased 15 dozen eggs, 25 pounds of pancake mix, 15 pounds of bacon.
“It comes out of my huge stipend at the end of the season,” Guzman said.
Elizabeth Guzman, wife of Cleveland football coach Mario Guzman, cracks one of 180 eggs Thursday morning to serve to players on Thanksgiving morning.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
His wife had already basted the family turkey the night before and now she was cracking 180 eggs with a smile and wearing plastic gloves. When she finished, she decided to take a brief break. “I need coffee first,” she said.
Cleveland is set to play San Fernando for the City Section Division II championship on Friday at 6 p.m. at Birmingham.
The wife of Cleveland football coach Mario Guzman, Elizabeth, is cracking 15 dozen eggs for Thanksgiving practice. City DII finalists. Cooking for 60 players. 25 pounds pancake mix. A new tradition at Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/4QAKZ0pjal
You can tell the Cavaliers have created the culture of a championship team because players were running onto the field when they were late with no coaches around to tell them to hustle.
Across the Southland, similar scenes were happening in the Southern Section and City Section as teams prepare for their championship games on Friday and Saturday.
Elizabeth, who teaches pre-kindergarten children, was thrilled to be volunteering on Thanksgiving for her husband’s team.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here,” she said.
After breakfast following practice, she was set to rush home and put the family turkey in the oven.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
Despite Liverpool’s poor run of form, sources have told BBC Sport that Slot’s position is not under imminent threat.
He has credit in the bank following his Premier League title-winning debut season, while there has been reflection at Anfield that it was a difficult summer of the club with Diogo Jota’s death and the £400m investment attempting to regenerate the squad.
Sporting director Hughes and chief executive Michael Edwards were key in Slot’s appointment, and the Dutchman retains their backing.
Liverpool do not make snap decisions and afforded Brendan Rodgers more than three seasons as manager despite finishing outside the top four twice.
There is, however, internal concern about Mohamed Salah’s performances, with a noticeable drop off in his form.
He is their key forward player but Liverpool’s best attacking performance in the past 12 games came in a 5-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt – a game Salah did not start.
The Egyptian has scored seven goals in 25 games since his new contract was announced in April, which would be viewed as a good return for some, but the 33-yar-old is judged by standards he has set during his eight years at the club.
Looking ahead to January, Liverpool are interested in reviving their move for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi after missing out on the final day of the summer transfer window.
Guehi, who is available for a free transfer in July but has multiple options in England and across Europe, is able to discuss the terms of his next contract with clubs from outside of England in just four weeks’ time.
Fuzzy Zoeller, a two-time major champion and one of golf’s most gregarious characters whose career was tainted by a racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woods, has died, according to a longtime colleague. He was 74.
A cause of death was not immediately available. Brian Naugle, the tournament director of the Insperity Invitational in Houston, said Zoeller’s daughter called him Thursday with the news.
Zoeller was the last player to win the Masters on his first attempt, a three-man playoff in 1979. He famously waved a white towel at Winged Foot in 1984 when he thought Greg Norman had beat him, only to defeat Norman in an 18-hole playoff the next day.
But it was the 1997 Masters that changed his popularity.
Woods was on his way to a watershed moment in golf with the most dominant victory in Augusta National history. Zoeller had finished his round and had a drink in hand under the oak tree by the clubhouse when he was stopped by CNN and asked for his thoughts on the 21-year-old Woods on his way to the most dominant win ever at Augusta National.
“That little boy is driving well and he’s putting well. He’s doing everything it takes to win. So, you know what you guys do when he gets in here? You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not to serve fried chicken next year. Got it?” Zoeller said.
He smiled and snapped his fingers, and as he was walking away he turned and said, “Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve.”
That moment haunted him the rest of his career.
Zoeller apologized. Woods was traveling and it took two weeks for him to comment as the controversy festered. Zoeller later said he received death threats for years.
Writing for Golf Digest in 2008, he said it was “the worst thing I’ve gone through in my entire life.”
“If people wanted me to feel the same hurt I projected on others, I’m here to tell you they got their way,” Zoeller wrote. “I’ve cried many times. I’ve apologized countless times for words said in jest that just aren’t a reflection of who I am. I have hundreds of friends, including people of color, who will attest to that.
“Still, I’ve come to terms with the fact that this incident will never, ever go away.”
It marred a career filled with two famous major titles, eight other PGA Tour titles and a Senior PGA Championship among his two PGA Tour Champions titles.
More than winning was how he went about it. Zoeller played fast and still had an easygoing way , often whistling between shots.
He made his Masters debut in 1979 and got into a three-way playoff when Ed Sneed bogeyed the last three holes. Zoeller defeated Sneed and Tom Watson with a birdie on the second playoff hole, flinging his putter high in the air.
“I’ve never been to heaven, and thinking back on my life, I probably won’t get a chance to go,” Zoeller once said. “I guess winning the Masters is as close as I’m going to get.”
Zoeller was locked in a duel with Norman at Winged Foot in the 1984, playing in the group behind and watching Norman make putt after putt. So when he saw Norman make a 40-footer on the 18th, he assumed it was for birdie and began waving a white towel in a moment of sportsmanship.
Only later did he realize it was for par, and Zoeller made par to force a playoff. Zoeller beat him by eight shots in the 18-hole playoff (67-75). Zoeller’s lone regret was giving the towel to a kid after he finished in regulation.
“If you happen to see a grungy white towel hanging around, get it for me, will you?” he once said.
He was born Frank Urban Zoeller Jr. in New Albany, Ind. Zoeller said his father was known only as “Fuzzy” and he was given the same name. He played at a junior college in Florida before joining the powerful Houston team before turning pro.
His wife, Diane, died in 2021. Zoeller has three children, including daughter Gretchen, with whom he used to play in the PNC Championship. Zoeller was awarded the Bob Jones Award by the USGA in 1985, the organization’s highest honor given for distinguished sportsmanship.
Armagh will face Tyrone in the preliminary round of the 2026 Ulster Championship, while holders Donegal are potential semi-final opponents.
Kieran McGeeney’s side, who have lost three Ulster finals in a row, will have to battle past Tyrone in a tantalising provincial opener.
The sides played out a thrilling semi-final in last year’s Ulster Championship as Armagh ran out one-point winners.
Armagh last won the Anglo Celt Cup in 2008 while Tyrone last triumphed in 2021.
The winner of that tie will face Fermanagh in the quarter-finals, while Donegal or Down will then await in the last four.
Jim McGuinness’ Donegal have defeated Armagh in the past two finals and are aiming to become the first province to win the Ulster final three times in a row since the Orchard County 20 years ago.
On the top half of the draw, Derry will be heavy favourites against Antrim in their quarter-final and will face the winner of Monaghan and Cavan, who were paired together in an intriguing derby, in the last four.
Dates for the fixtures will be announced by the GAA in due course.
Ulster Championship
Preliminary round: Armagh v Tyrone.
Quarter-finals: Derry v Antrim,Monaghan v Cavan, Donegal vDown,Fermanagh v Armagh/Tyrone.
In each case, Riley has opted to keep with the known quantity. But as his fourth regular season at USC comes to a close Saturday against UCLA, the coach could face a more complicated conundrum at the position this offseason.
Run it back with Jayden Maiava, who statistically has been one of the more accomplished passers in college football this season? Or turn the page to electric five-star freshman Husan Longstreet, who might not be willing to wait much longer for his shot as USC’s starting quarterback?
It’s a question that has confounded many college football coaches during the transfer portal era, as the notion of a top quarterback prospect patiently waiting his turn to be named a starter has become increasingly rare. Of the top dozen quarterbacks in the class of 2024, six have already transferred. From 2023, it’s seven of the top 12. From 2022, it’s eight. And of those who do stay, only a handful were still waiting to start as sophomores.
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava looks for an open receiver during a win over Michigan at the Coliseum on Oct. 11.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
It’s not clear yet if that’ll be the case with Longstreet. But this week, Riley made a clear plea for the young passer’s patience when asked about the challenge of convincing a top prospect to stick around in a reserve role.
“For any player, especially a quarterback, I don’t know if this would be the right time to leave this place,” Riley said. “This thing is getting pretty good. And I think a lot of people recognize that, both in what we have now and what we’re bringing in, where this thing is going.”
“Other than Jalen Hurts, we haven’t had any quarterback that’s come in and was the guy right away,” Riley said. “Every one of them, all the guys that did all the things, they all had that time. And if you ask them now, maybe then they wanted to be playing of course, the competitor in them. But if you ask them now, they’re all damn happy they had time and it made a big difference. Because when it became their time, they were ready.”
USC quarterback Husan Longstreet scores a touchdown against the Missouri State at the Coliseum on Aug. 30.
(Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Maiava, of course, has been more than just a mere caretaker. After all, he leads the Big Ten in passing yards per game this season (3,174), while also leading USC in rushing touchdowns (6). With Maiava and his cannon arm at the helm, USC’s offense has returned to its right place as one of college football’s most explosive outfits, producing 51 plays of 20-plus yards this season, fourth-most in the nation.
On paper, there’s no reason to think Riley would be eager to replace Maiava, who has rejuvenated both the read-option game and the downfield aspect of his offense since taking over for Miller Moss last season. But the conversation about USC’s future at the position was complicated by the second half of the season, during which Maiava stumbled against stiffer competition.
During the Trojans’ first six games, Maiava appeared to have taken a major step forward. He was completing 72% of his passes, up 12% from the previous year. He was averaging an eye-popping 11 yards per attempt, two yards better than Caleb Williams in his Heisman-winning season. Plus, after vowing to cut down on turnovers, Maiava had only thrown two interceptions over those six games, showcasing a much better grasp of the game and Riley’s offense.
“A very high percentage of our plays, he knows what to do and where to go with the ball,” Riley said. “He’s very comfortable with what we’re doing. Very focused, confident on his reads. That’s why he’s been so efficient all year.”
The strong start garnered serious NFL interest. Pro Football Focus just recently ranked Maiava as the No. 5 draft-eligible quarterback in the upcoming draft. But his second half of the season has begged some questions — not just about whether Maiava is ready to declare for the draft, but whether he’s the right quarterback for Riley to prioritize heading into next season.
Up against three of the nation’s top 11 defenses in pass yards allowed — Oregon, Iowa and Nebraska — Maiava keeps up the same consistency from the season’s first half. His completion rate, through his last five outings, sits just above 59% — lower than it was during his 2024 stint as USC’s starter. Maiava’s turnovers have also tripled during that stretch (6), while he’s averaging more than three yards fewer per attempt (7.64)
Riley said Tuesday that Maiava’s inconsistencies of late were due to the caliber of defenses he’s faced — and circumstances that forced USC’s offense to be aggressive downfield.
“We’ve continued to score points and win games and have one of the best offenses in the country, and he’s been a big part of that,” Riley said. “He’s still learning. He can play better. But he’s continuing to give us chances to win every week.”
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava gestures to teammates during a win over Iowa on Nov. 15.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
He’ll also have the chance in the coming weeks to consider if he wants to enter the NFL draft.
In the meantime, Longstreet will continue to watch dutifully as the No. 2 quarterback. He’s appeared in four games, completing 13 of 15 passes, on his way to a redshirt season. That time waiting, Riley said, has been essential.
“This has been such a valuable year for him — to serve as a backup quarterback, to learn, to just kind of be there to see all of these things transpire,” Riley said. “These are just things you can’t simulate. It gives you an opportunity to watch these different situations, how they happen, be able to go back, like, ‘What would you do? How would you handle it?’
“The hope is maybe you learn, ‘All right, I wasn’t the one playing, but when I am, I know exactly what I need to do or what I don’t need to do.’ It might be about on the field. It might be about leadership. It might be about a number of different things.”
USC quarterback Husan Longstreet is pushed out of bounds by Illinois’ Miles Scott at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 27 in Champaign, Ill.
(Justin Casterline / Getty Images)
When Longstreet will get a chance to put that knowledge to use remains to be seen. But his teammates at USC have been impressed so far by what they’ve seen from the freshman.
“Husan is a machine, for real,” said freshman Tanook Hines. “He throwing that thing about 80 [yards], then turn around and run 4.3, 4.2.”
Others were even more encouraging of the quarterback they hope stays a part of USC’s plans.
“He’s destined for greatness,” guard Kaylon Miller said of Longstreet. “Every single time I see him out there, I tell him, keep doing your thing. You keep going on the route you are right now, you’re going to be great.”
Boss Arne Slot says Liverpool must “fight together” after Wednesday’s humiliating 4-1 defeat by PSV Eindhoven at Anfield was the Reds’ ninth loss in 12 games – their worst run in 71 years.
The performance needed no evaluation beyond the exclamation. Kurt Suzuki bounded out of the visiting clubhouse at Angel Stadium to catch up with his friend.
In 2009, in the first start of his first full major league season, the Angels’ pitcher threw six shutout innings against Suzuki and the Oakland Athletics. On Team USA, Suzuki had been his catcher.
Suzuki congratulated the pitcher, shared the exclamation and — because this is what friends do — gave him a hard time.
“I woke up the next morning to 10 text messages you don’t want to hear,” Suzuki said.
A drunk driver had blown through a red light and into a minivan full of friends. He killed three of them, including Adenhart. One survived: Jon Wilhite, who played baseball at Cal State Fullerton with Suzuki.
Sixteen years later, a forever bond endures between Wilhite and Suzuki. When the Angels introduced Suzuki as their new manager last month, Wilhite was in the audience.
Their friendship is compelling. Their story is poignant. We’ll get to it, but first Suzuki ribs Wilhite for wearing long pants on a sunny autumn day in Manhattan Beach. Suzuki is wearing shorts and flip-flops.
“We’re by the beach, dude,” Suzuki laughs.
Suzuki eggs on Wilhite: Tell the story about the white suit.
In 2004, Fullerton won the College World Series, with Suzuki as the All-America catcher and Wilhite as a redshirt catcher. In 2005, the Titans visited the White House.
“I didn’t own a suit,” Wilhite said. “I went to the Men’s Wearhouse in Hawthorne, just by myself, and this guy sold me on a white suit.”
New Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, left, and general manager Perry Minasian speak to reporters at Angel Stadium last month. Jon Wilhite was in the audience.
(Greg Beacham / Associated Press)
On the day of the White House visit, his teammates thought the white suit was a joke. Dear reader, it was not.
Wilhite stood in line with his teammates, waiting to meet President George W. Bush. As the president shook Wilhite’s hand, he took a look at the suit and deadpanned: “Bold move, son.”
Fullerton has won four College World Series championships, more than any other school besides USC, Louisiana State, Texas and Arizona State — elite by any standard, but frankly amazing given the Titans’ status as a financially challenged athletic program at a commuter school. The players believed in themselves, because they could not count on anyone else to believe in them.
“It was like a brotherhood,” Suzuki said.
That drunk driver very nearly killed Wilhite, too. You can get chills just by saying out loud the medical term for what happened to him: internal decapitation.
Wilhite was in the hospital for weeks, in rehabilitation for months. Suzuki, then in his second full major league season, raised more than $50,000 for Wilhite’s recovery fund by tapping veterans for baseball memorabilia that could be sold or auctioned.
“Luckily, with the money raised, I was able to take a year and get myself physically as good as I could be,” Wilhite said, “before I went back to work.”
That money was not the most valuable contribution Suzuki made toward Wilhite’s healing.
When Wilhite finished his rehabilitation program, Suzuki was back in Southern California, in the midst of offseason workouts.
Hey, he told Wilhite, come work out with me.
“This is a guy that’s a professional athlete getting ready for his next year,” Wilhite said, “and I was struggling to walk.
“I showed up every single day, and I got stronger. That’s when I really made strides. I wasn’t just a patient. I felt like an athlete again.”
Even in those worst of times, Suzuki was not above ribbing Wilhite. For both of them, it felt, well, normal.
“He was still getting his balance back,” Suzuki said. “I’m like, come on dude, don’t go falling on me or everybody’s going to be looking at us!”
Suzuki could have made a modest donation to Wilhite’s recovery fund. That would have been a lovely gesture.
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, left, and Jon Wilhite were teammates at Cal State Fullerton. “Would you just write your family member a check? No, you’re going to be there for him,” Suzuki said of how he’s supported Wilhite since the accident.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
For Suzuki, that would not have been enough. The Titans were family, and to this day he remembers that Wilhite’s father attended practice just about every day, sitting in the front row, wearing that trademark white bucket hat.
“Would you just write your family member a check?” Suzuki said. “No, you’re going to be there for him.”
The Angels honor their best pitcher each year with the Nick Adenhart Award. Suzuki can present it now, and share his memories of Adenhart. Perhaps Wilhite could join Suzuki.
If he were to do that, he would want to make sure to share his memories of the other victims, too: Courtney Stewart, 20, a Fullerton classmate he described as smart, fun, and not at all scared to tease her ballplayer friends about their play; and Henry Pearson, 25, a law student and aspiring sports agent who Wilhite said never took a moment for granted.
We met at Marine Park in Manhattan Beach, where Pearson and Wilhite played youth baseball, and where a memorial reads: “On April 9, 2009, Henry Pearson, Courtney Stewart and Nick Adenhart were killed by a drunk driver. Jon Wilhite miraculously survived and recovered. They remain an inspiration to us all.”
Some days more than others, Wilhite feels the miracle of survival, of prayer, of modern medicine. I asked him how he explains what happened to people who don’t already know.
“I usually don’t like to drop that bomb on people,” he said. “I usually try to be vague.”
He knows he is the lucky one. He tries to remember that every day, but his mind never drifts far from the others.
“Three of the best people I know lost their life for a senseless act,” he said, “people with such promise.”
Thanksgiving is upon us, so I asked Wilhite if anything came out of this horrific tragedy for which he can be thankful.
He paused. The grief might never fully pass. He was not about to force an answer.
But, after a minute or so, he talked of the relationships he had built with the families of Adenhart, Pearson and Stewart, and the baseball community that supported him, and the close friends who stepped up to help him in his time of need.
