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Dana White has credited Eddie Hearn for making sure the long-awaited fight between Tyson Fury and Antony Joshua will be held in the UK but insisted he was “bored” of their ongoing feud.

The heavyweight bout will take place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff – despite efforts to host it New York’s Madison Square Garden – on a bill that starts on 11 December, though they are not expected to fight until the early hours of 12 December.

White and Saudi Arabian organisers wanted the bout in the United States, but Joshua and his promoter Hearn refused to budge on their contractual right to have it in the UK.

“You’ve got to give credit to Eddie for really grinding that and making sure that it happened in the UK,” UFC president and Zuffa Boxing chief White told Steve Bunce on the 5 Live Boxing with Bunce podcast.

However, there had been doubts over the contest because of a dispute over the role of White in the promotion of the event.

The fight, which will be shown on Netflix, has been presented as a collaboration between Saudi boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh’s The Ring and White.

Hearn has been publicly feuding with White since the launch of Zuffa Boxing earlier this year and said his involvement in the fight “ain’t happening”.

But, Fury and Joshua held a news conference on 30 September, to ease concerns over their fight.

The Portuguese computer hacker who released documents which helped trigger the Premier League investigation into Manchester City will remain in witness protection after authorities in the country suspended the decision to end it.

Football Leaks founder Rui Pinto had been scheduled to leave the protection programme on Saturday, a ruling he previously said had put him in a “life-threatening situation”.

Pinto, 37, disclosed a tranche of confidential football documents, including emails and financial records relating to the English Premier League side.

In 2018, he shared documents with German magazine Der Spiegel, which used them for investigations into City’s finances and alleged breaches of financial fair play rules.

City were recently found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. They have appealed against the decision.

Pinto became part of Portugal’s witness protection programme in 2020 after agreeing to co-operate with authorities and provide information obtained through the Football Leaks operation.

However, in a statement on Friday,, external Portugal’s Ministry of Justice said a decision to remove Pinto from witness protection had been reversed for the time being, with the body responsible for it – the special security programmes commission – having not adequately “notified” Pinto of grounds for its termination or given him the opportunity to challenge the decision.

Pinto will now be given 10 days to assess a risk assessment conducted by the special security programmes commission that indicates a low threat to his safety.

He posted on X, external thanking Portugal’s Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcao Judice and saying the commission’s initial decision had clearly violated the law and amounted to a “manifest abuse of power”.

Pinto has described himself as a whistleblower, but was convicted in Portugal of offences including illegal access to data and attempted extortion and given a four-year suspended sentence.

He wore a bulletproof vest during his first trial in 2020, which was also subject to heightened security measures.

Earlier this year, he was acquitted of 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to a number of sports bodies in Portugal, including Benfica.

Melanie Marx bought Angel City season tickets before the team was a team. It had no players, no coach and no uniform. It was more a concept than a reality and Marx bought in.

“I’ve always had pride for this team.” she said. “This was the first team from the NWSL that I’ve been able to say that I’m a supporter for.”

Yet supporting Angel City, she says, has been as exhausting as it has been exciting. Once the most valuable women’s professional sports team in history, Angel City has had one winning season and made just one playoff appearance in its first four seasons.

Attendance declined more than 22%, high-profile players such as Alyssa Thompson, Christen Press, Ali Riley and Madison Hammond have either been transferred away, retired or been allowed to leave and the team hasn’t re-signed popular captain Sarah Gorden for next season. At the same time, it has gone through five coaches and three general managers/sporting directors in less than five years.

Angel City defender Gisele Thompson celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal.

(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)

That’s not exactly what Marx signed up for.

“I’m upset as a fan, of course, and I’m upset as a season-ticket holder,” she said. “But I’m also upset as a fan of these players and someone who’s been invested in this league of almost 10 years.”

“What keeps myself and others coming back week to week is because of the players themselves,” she added. “Because the results on the pitch haven’t always matched the ambitions of the supporters.”

During the past three months, that support has finally been rewarded. Following Sunday’s draw with first-place Gotham FC, the reigning NWSL champion, Angel City (12-8-7) heads into the league’s two-week international break riding a seven-game unbeaten streak and is in sixth place in the 16-team table, in position for another playoff berth.

The team has lost just twice in 16 games under interim coach Leif Gunnar Smerud. Its 12 victories with three games to play is already a franchise record for a single season, as are its 45 goals. After posting a substantial negative goal differential in its first four seasons, Angel City’s plus-16 mark this year in best in the league.

And in the current international break, the team had a record nine players called up to various national teams. It’s one of the most dramatic turnarounds in NWSL history, one that may have saved at least a portion of the team’s most loyal fan base.

“My renewal for next year just recently came up and I was on a bit of knife’s edge deciding whether I want to go ahead,” said Michael Jaeger, an attorney who has had multiple Angel City season tickets in section 133 since the first season. “There have been consistent problems throughout.

“I really want the team to succeed. Given the recent successes, I did go ahead and re-up for next year because I’m feeling optimistic.”

Optimistic but not necessarily confident.

“I am not feeling like ‘OK, this is what I’ve been waiting for. The team’s really turned a corner,’” Jaeger said. “That to me would be success on the field, plus a decision about Sarah Gorden, plus [a] permanent head coach who we know is at least going to have one or more seasons to have things play out.

“So I don’t think we’re there yet. I like the current trend but because not a lot has necessarily changed about the front office, I’m not ready to say ‘OK, we’re fully on the right track.’”

Angel City has only itself to blame for that lack of trust. When the team launched with a massive ownership group that included Hollywood A-listers, former U.S. women’s national team stars and sports luminaries including Serena Williams and Billie Jean King, it promised to ignite a revolution in women’s sports.

Angel City FC fans chant during a match against the San Diego Wave at BMO Stadium on May 9.

(Luiza Moraes / Getty Images)

“We’re not just building a soccer club. We want to build an organization that has impact,” said Julie Uhrman, one of its team’s three founding owners.

And while Angel City has done real, meaningful work in the community, providing millions of meals to the hungry, funneling millions of dollars into community programs and taking a courageous stand against ICE raids across Southern California, as a soccer team it hasn’t delivered on its promises.

The loyal fans blame the front office, which has waived nearly six dozens players and five managers, including interim coaches, through its revolving doors since the first season. Mark Parsons, who won six trophies as manager with the Portland Thorns, was hired 20 months ago to stabilize things but his highly touted global search for a coach ended with Alexander Straus spending just a year with the club — going 7-15-5 in parts of two seasons — while Parsons unsettled the roster by making more than 40 transactions.

“There’s just a lack of trust in the front office frankly,” said Nadia Johnson, who attended games every season but didn’t buy season tickets until this year. “We’re still doing these chaotic things, which is really frustrating as a fan.”

And the chaos may not be ending anytime soon. Despite his success, Smerud has not publicly been guaranteed anything beyond this season; officially, the team is still searching for a new manager.

Gorden, the captain and anchor of the defense, is out of contract at the end of the season as is veteran Claire Emslie. Meanwhile Sydney Leroux, 36, who has played one minute the past two seasons as she deals with mental health issues, is signed through 2027.

At the same time, Parsons has built the league’s youngest roster around players whose performances are bigger than their names. Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, 25, is third in the league with nine clean sheets and 12 wins. Brazilian Maiara Niehues, 22, already has a franchise-record nine goals while Evelyn Shores, 21, has tied the single-season record with seven assists and defender Gisele Thompson, Alyssa’s sister, leads all outfield players with 2,420 minutes.

“I am excited about how diverse our team is and really how they’ve grown,” season ticket-holder Johnson said. “It’s playoff crunch time and so it’s always exciting, especially when your team is in it. So I’m excited to see where they go.”

But after four seasons of mediocrity and worse, however, she’s learned to keep her fingers crossed.

“I’m not confident if we get a rough patch next year what decisions will be made in terms of trying to repair that,” she said. “So yeah, that’s where I’m at.”

When No. 21 UCLA football faces off against No. 13 Oregon on Saturday afternoon at Autzen Stadium, defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler wants the Bruins to toe the line between playing with emotion and playing emotional.

“Big-time environments tend to bring a little extra out of your guys, and when you do a little bit extra, you tend to do too much,” Hitschler said. “Football is a hard game, but you can’t make it harder than it already is. Sometimes when you press, you tend to give up big mistakes. In the Purdue game, looking back, we definitely pressed a little bit too hard and got a little emotional. … Got to play with emotions, but we can’t play emotional. We’re in a good spot of growing and understanding that. But this is a new atmosphere, a new environment.”

Aside from the national rankings, the long history between these former Pac-12 rivals and both teams’ chances to contend for the College Football Playoff, the memory of Oregon knocking James Madison out of the Dukes’ first playoff appearance last December remains fresh for many of their players and assistants who followed coach Bob Chesney to the Bruins.

And the 51 points and 514 total yards the Ducks garnered against Hitschler’s defense left a chip on his shoulder.

UCLA safety Malik Hartford trips Purdue receiver Asaad Waseem at the Rose Bowl on Sept. 19.

(Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times)

“We’re going to continue to be aggressive and continue to find a way to create opportunities for our offense to get the ball in a positive field position,” Hitschler said. “But we got to be on top of our game because they will make you pay no matter who it is at quarterback. They are going to make you pay for your mistakes, and they’re going to find a way to create the explosives they always have, and we got to limit them.”

Although Oregon quarterback Dante Moore — who tallied 313 passing yards and five total touchdowns against Hitschler‘s defense in the playoff — was ruled out for Saturday because of a head injury suffered against USC on Sep. 26, the Ducks’ Dylan Raiola is not a typical backup.

He threw for 4,819 yards and 31 touchdowns in two years as Nebraska’s starter, then went 11 for 11 with three touchdown passes in his Ducks debut before stepping up with 289 yards and two touchdown passes after replacing Moore in a 41-27 win over USC at the Coliseum.

“When you watch him come in and complete that game and do what he did, there’s not a giant drop-off between the two of those guys. They’re both really, really good,” Chesney said. “Dylan obviously had a chance at the end of that USC game to really put himself in position to gain confidence in his teammates and teammates to gain confidence in him, and I thought he was on time. I thought he was accurate. He let those guys compete for footballs, and I’m sure there’s a lot of buy-in in that program right now in him.”

While Raiola is a proven passer, his impact is amplified by the weapons around him. In the backfield, Hitschler touted Dierre Hill Jr. and Jordon Davidson as the best running back duo in the country. While the Bruins have gone toe-to-toe with formidable tailbacks thus far, they have yet to face a one-two punch like Hill and Davidson, which could pose problems for an otherwise staunch run defense.

Raiola’s arsenal includes potent pass catchers, particularly the Ducks’ top two wideouts, Dakorien Moore and Evan Stewart, who have combined for 512 yards and seven touchdowns.

Chesney tabbed Stewart as a matchup “nightmare,” adding that Oregon is going to get him the ball in a multitude of ways by utilizing him in the slot and creating mismatches for Hitschler’s defense. Chesney also said that Dakorien Moore’s extreme speed allows him to take the top off the defense, and that the Ducks will not be afraid to take shots downfield, testing the Bruins’ secondary.

And if the Bruins let emotions get the best of them, like they did against Purdue — when quarterback Ryan Browne threw for 378 yards and two touchdowns — then it may be a long day for Hitschler’s secondary.

The Bruins’ biggest headache could be 6-foot-5 tight end Jamari Johnson, who caught seven passes for 159 yards against USC, particularly with all three of UCLA’s starting cornerbacks shorter than 6 feet.

“The tight end we faced last year, and he’s special. They do a really good job of getting into different personnel packages, and then if you go to a bigger group, they’re going to spread you out. They’re going to try to find a matchup with that tight end,” Chesney said. “He can catch everything in his general vicinity; he’s absolutely phenomenal.”

With an explosive Ducks offense set to perform in the friendly confines of Autzen Stadium, the Bruins trusting the playbook may be most important.

“Football is football no matter where we are,” fifth-year offensive lineman Hall Schmidt said. “We don’t have a magic potion for Oregon, but we definitely have ourselves, and we have the tools that we’re going to use.”

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava has been playing above-average football, but the signal-caller’s deep throws have not been as sharp lately and he has shied away from some contact after taking a big hit to his shoulder during a 39-0 shutout of Fresno State on Sept. 4.

When asked about his quarterback on Tuesday, Trojans coach Lincoln Riley quickly replied that Maiava is not injured.

“Jayden has been pretty healthy,” Riley said. “They’ve kept him upright all season long.”

Maiava has adapted to shifting receiving options, calling it a learning experience as he connects with new pass catchers. USC freshman Trent Mosley was an early breakout star, but Maiava has had to look to others with Mosley out the past two games because of injury.

“I’ve been trusting myself, trusting the plan and trusting those guys on the perimeter,” Maiava said

He credits co-offensive coordinator Dennis Simmons for having his receivers ready whenever their names are called.

“It’s the next-man up mentality and we are all going to do the same thing,“ Maiava said.

A key building block

USC coach Lincoln Riley watches from the sideline during the fourth quarter of a win over Washington at the Coliseum on Oct. 3.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

As USC chases the program’s first win over Penn State in Happy Valley, Riley said he expects the Trojans to draw on the resilience they showed against Washington.

He called the rally for a victory over the Huskies a potential turning point for a program that can’t afford another loss if it hopes to reach the College Football Playoff for the first time during Riley’s tenure.

“It wouldn’t shock me if six to eight weeks down the road you’re going to look back at us and see that’s the game that was critical in the season,” Riley said of the Washington win. “Those are important. It helps develop the personality of your team. Most importantly, the biggest thing it shows is the brotherhood within our locker room right now.”

Supporting the defense

USC cornerbacks Chasen Johnson and Prophet Brown break up a pass intended for Washington receiver Dezmen Roebuck in the end zone to secure the Trojans’ win at the Coliseum on Oct. 3.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

Hiring College Football Hall of Fame coach Gary Patterson was supposed to turn the Trojans into a potent Big Ten defensive team.

Through six games, the Trojans have allowed an average of 25.5 points per game, ranking 89th in the country, and have given up 348.8 yards.

“[Patterson] is one of the best coaches of our generation. One of the best defensive minds in college football history,” Riley said, backing up his coordinator when asked about his progress.

Riley, however, did not defend poor tackling on Washington’s final touchdown drive that put the Trojans on the brink of a loss.

When asked whether the mistakes were addressed with the players, Riley responded, “Oh yeah. … It was a bad play. Not near our standard.”

He later added, “I bet we don’t see it again.”

While the Huskies’ scoring drive exposed some problems, the defense held its ground late in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

The Trojans’ secondary got a boost from Ta’Mere Robinson, who played well in place of suspended defensive back Desman Stephens II.

Stephens served a one-game suspension for a late hit to the head on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore and his behavior celebrating as Moore was being treated by medical staff before leaving the Coliseum in an ambulance.

USC released an apology from Stephens a day after the game. Riley was asked Tuesday whether Stephens would get his starting job back after Robinson’s strong play. While he didn’t specifically address the starting role, Riley did suggest Robinson earned more snaps.

“It was an opportunity for some other guys to step up and they did. … When you see guys that are there for that opportunity and rise to the occasion, it’s going to create more opportunities for some of those guys, there’s no question about it,” he said. “But Des is a good player and an important part of this football team. We view this a lot like just we’re coming back off any normal football game, like nothing else happened. … I think what we learned this week is we have a handful of guys who can go out there and play really, really well. … We look at it as a positive.”

If the Brewers are going to take down the heavily favored Dodgers, their group of Southland products will be key in the National League Championship Series that begins Sunday in Milwaukee.

Former Westlake star Christian Yelich is Mr. Brewer. He’s a three-time All-Star and the National League MVP in 2018. He’s always been willing to come back to the community and make contributions.

First baseman Jake Bauers is a Marina High graduate who lost in the Southern Section Division 1 championship game at Dodger Stadium to Jack Flaherty and Harvard-Westlake 1-0. Here’s a look at Bauers this season.

Former Marina first baseman Jake Bauers has 21 home runs for the Milwaukee Brewers.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Here’s a story from 2013 when Bauers was showing off his hitting prowess.

Closer Trevor Megill also played at Marina. Pitcher JoJo Romero went to Oxnard High.

Second baseman Brice Turang was a star at Corona Santiago. In 2015, he started his freshman season eight for 12 at the plate.

Center fielder Garrett Mitchell, who went to Orange Lutheran and UCLA, has overcome Type 1 diabetes while needing an insulin pump. Here’s a story from 2019 when he was playing for UCLA.

Infielder Joey Ortiz was a standout at Garden Grove Pacifica.

It all makes for an interesting homecoming when the Brewers come to Dodger Stadium next week.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys suffered an unexpected loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels in front of a home crowd on “Thursday Night Football.”

Some might describe the loss as “embarrassing” — in fact, one guy actually said that exact word in the Cowboys tunnel within earshot of Prescott as he walked to the locker room after the game.

Online video footage shows Prescott looking back at the man — who was there as a transportation service driver and not an employee of the Cowboys or AT&T Stadium — while still walking, then turning away. The man then said something else, possibly “you heard me,” which prompted the veteran quarterback to look back and say, “You say it once I look off, huh?” while still walking.

Prescott can then be seen speaking to a Cowboys security employee and gesturing in the direction of the other man. Footage shows the security employee going back down the tunnel, presumably in search of the heckler, but it is unclear what happened after that. The Cowboys declined to comment for this article.

Prescott was asked about the incident during his postgame news conference. At first, he simply acknowledged that the person wasn’t necessarily wrong in his assessment of the game.

“He’s free to speak his mind,” Prescott said.

The four-time Pro Bowl selection was then asked if he thought the comment was disrespectful.

“You know, when he said it I just happened to look at him, and at that point he looked away, didn’t look. And when I turned my head back, he said something else,” said Prescott, who completed 24 of 42 passes for 316 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

“So that’s the part that — just as a man or as a person, feel free to speak your mind. Just speak it. Don’t coward away from the reaction that you’re going to get. If you’re saying it’s embarrassing, say it’s embarrassing. If you’re saying it to me, then say it to me. Don’t go back on it. So that’s all that was, and hate it that it’s even being talked about, to be honest with you.”

The Cowboys led 10-7 at halftime, but Tampa Bay scored 17 points in the third quarter to take control of the game. Dallas pulled to within 24-16 late in the fourth quarter, but Prescott threw his second interception of the night deep in Buccaneers territory with 1:16 remaining to seal the game.

Owner Jerry Jones called the game’s result “extraordinarily, extraordinarily disappointing.”

“Boy, I’ve been so disappointed before with losses, but this was disappointing,” Jones told reporters after the game. “And I’m disappointed because I see potential growth here. And we need to have good experiences on an individual basis as well as a team. And this was not a good experience out here.”

Prescott said he hesitates to use the word “embarrassing” to describe the loss because “I feel like I’m discrediting the NFL if I use that and particularly the Tampa Bay Bucs and a great Todd Bowles-coached and defensive-coached team.”

But, he added, “when a winless team comes into your home stadium on a Thursday night primetime game, yeah, we’re supposed to win that. So it sucks and it’s right up there close to ‘embarrassing,’ but I don’t know if I would say that.”

Defence coach Shaun Edwards has joined Argentina’s coaching staff on a deal that runs until the end of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

The announcement ends any speculation that Edwards could be handed a role in Steve Borthwick’s England set-up, with the 59-year-old set to fulfil his consultancy role with England’s women’s team before joining Felipe Contepomi’s staff.

“I’m delighted to join Felipe Contepomi, his coaching staff and the Argentina rugby team at the end of this month until the World Cup next year in Australia,” said Edwards.

“I’ve always admired the ability and quality of Argentine players and I hope to bring some of my international experience to the team during the next year,” added the former Wigan rugby league great.

Englishman Edwards, who is one of the most decorated coaches in rugby union, left his position as France men’s defence coach earlier this year after helping them win three Six Nations titles.

Edwards and former Argentina head coach and hooker Mario Ledesma, who has been appointed to take charge of the forwards, will start work with the Pumas at the end of October.

Argentina are then set to face Ireland, Italy and France in November in Nations Championship matches.

Three-time semi-finalists Argentina have been drawn in a pool with Fiji, Spain and Canada at the World Cup which takes place between 1 October and 13 November in 2027.

Edwards, who also spent a successful 12 years with Wales and won four English titles and two Champions Cups while on Wasps’ staff, said in March that he was interested in coaching in the Rugby Championship, the southern hemisphere tournament contested by South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.

He turned down a chance to coach his country in 2006, believing that the busier fixture list at Wasps would suit him better as he grieved the death of his brother.

Two years later, he opted to take on a defence role with Wales, rather than lead England’s second-string side, then known as the Saxons., external

In 2021, he met with Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney but, without a firm offer forthcoming, signed a contract extension to stay with France.

Mustache. Aviator sunglasses. Bears sweater vest. Though Mike Ditka‘s look may be iconic, his time as a player and coach is what cemented his name in NFL history.

Ditka, the first ever tight end to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and coach of the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears, has died. He was 86.. His family announced his death in a statement Friday.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka,” The family said. “While the world knew Mike as a Hall of Fame football player, legendary coach, and leader of the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl XX championship team, we knew him as the heart of our family. Mike will be missed beyond measure and remembered forever.”

With nicknames “Iron Mike,” “Da Coach” and “The Hammer,” Ditka was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988 after a 12-year playing career that featured five Pro Bowls, 427 receptions, 43 touchdowns and 5,812 receiving yards.

Ditka, who won two Super Bowls as a coach and one as a player, revolutionized the tight end position, transforming it from a primarily blocking-focused role to one that could pose a threat in receiving.

Notorious for his fiery personality, Ditka also took his stardom from field to screen, starring alongside Will Ferrell in “Kicking & Screaming,” in which he played himself. Though instead of coaching the championship-winning Bears, he helps coach a little league soccer team — but his competitive spirit remains the same. He also made several TV appearances, including in “Cheers,” “L.A. Law” and “Entourage.”

Born in Carnegie, Pa., on Oct. 18, 1939, Ditka was a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 1961. The team at the time was helmed by Bears founder, president and head coach George Halas, who later bestowed Ditka with his first NFL head coaching job in 1982.

Coming from the University of Pittsburgh, where he also played basketball and baseball and received All-America honors in football, Ditka immediately became a mainstay in the Bears lineup, going on to start 84 straight games. He was named rookie of the year with 56 catches for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns, becoming the first tight end to reach 1,000 yards receiving in his rookie season.

He also earned All-NFL honors from 1961 to 1964 and made the NFL Pro Bowl five times in his first six seasons. Ditka was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986.

Chicago Bears tight end Mike Ditka is tackled after a pass reception against the Green Bay Packers at Wrigley Field on Oct. 16, 1966.

(Associated Press)

The tight end eventually became a coach, famously leading the 1985 Chicago Bears. The team, one of the best in NFL history, went 15-1 and scored 456 points while only allowing 198. The Bears had plenty of personality that year as well, audaciously recording a rap-styled video called “The Super Bowl Shuffle” that was released during the regular season.

But it was not only a strong season on paper — Ditka is credited with leading the Bears back to relevance and luster after losing records in 1980, 1981 and 1982. He built them back to a team fans adored and competitors feared.

“I think that’s the way Mr. Halas always wanted it,” Ditka told The Times in 1985. “He wanted to have a ballclub with a certain personality, a team made up of, you know, rough, tough guys, a team that didn’t take any crap from anybody and could dish it out.”

Ditka and the team brought triumph to Chicago in Super Bowl XX in New Orleans with a 46-10 win against the New England Patriots.

Winning NFL coach of the year with the ’85 team, Ditka is one of only two who have won a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

“I believe Mike Ditka represents us, in more ways than one,” then linebacker and captain Mike Singletary told The Times. “We know he’s not coaching the Chicago Bears because he needed a job. The Bears mean something to Mike Ditka. The team is part of him.”

His time in Chicago wasn’t all glitz and glamour, though. Ditka wasn’t immediately welcomed back to the Bears as a coach, with his temper a source of strain between him and the owners. He also had a DUI conviction in 1985 and suffered a heart attack in 1988.

Throughout his tenure, he faced complaints about his hotheaded disposition and outbursts on the sideline, notably having tumultuous relationships with several players and defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, who left after the Super Bowl-winning season to become the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. But Ditka didn’t seem to have an issue embracing his reputation.

“There was a (magazine) poll of 200 NFL players who said the coaches they would least like to play for were, first, (Tom) Landry and, tied for second, Don Shula and me. I was flattered. What a great compliment,” wrote Mike Ditka in his 1986 autobiography.

Ditka was entrenched in controversy, having been outspoken about Washington not changing its name from the Redskins, also facing backlash for comments he made in 2016 criticizing Colin Kaepernick and social justice protests, later apologizing.

Despite it all, his name is etched in NFL history.

“Ditka was proud and headstrong,” wrote former Times sports columnist Mike Downey. “He was common and condescending. … He did as he pleased. But he restored the reputation of the Chicago Bears, made them winners and made them watchable.”

During his playing career, he made an iconic 63-yard catch-and-run against the Steelers on Nov. 23, 1963, which stands in 69th place on NFL’s 100 Greatest Plays. The highlight helped the Bears to a 17-17 tie after being down 17-14 in the fourth quarter; the team later went on to win the NFL championship.

In 1967, he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles and then to the Dallas Cowboys in 1969. During his time with the Cowboys, Ditka made it to two Super Bowls, with a loss in 1971 and finally a win the following year in which he scored the final touchdown in a 24-3 win against the Miami Dolphins.

After retiring in 1972, Ditka joined the Cowboys as an assistant coach. He got his hands on the Super Bowl trophy once again in 1977 with the team and stayed on until joining the Chicago Bears.

The Hall of Famer’s ties with Chicago were once again severed, this time with his firing in 1993 following a 5-11 season. But he refused to shed the navy and orange in the years after he went 106-62 and led the Bears to seven playoff appearances in 11 seasons.

“Yeah, I was fired by the Bears, but that’s life,” Ditka said during a visit to Chicago’s practice field in 2013. “There has never been a time I was not a Bears fan. I have a right to be a Bears fan as much as anybody. I played on a championship team and I coached a championship team.”

The Bears retired Ditka’s number, 89, in 2013.

His involvement with the NFL expanded off the green as he explored TV commentating, even earning Sports Emmy nominations for outstanding sports personality in 1994 and 1996.

Ditka did have one more head coaching stint in the NFL from 1997 to 1999 with the New Orleans Saints. After two 6-10 seasons, the Saints traded all of their draft picks — plus a first-round selection in 2000 — to move up and select running back Ricky Williams. But the team went 3-13 in 1999 and Ditka was fired after the season.

He finished his coaching career 121-95 after the 15-33 stint in New Orleans.

“I’ve been to the top of the mountain and I’ve seen it,” Ditka told The Times in 2004. “And I’ve been to the bottom of the mountain and I’ve seen that too. I don’t want to get anywhere between them anymore.”

Professional football would not see the last of him, however, as he went on to do radio and TV broadcasting for programs such as The NFL Today, Monday Night Football and SportsCenter. His passion for football would never fade, apparent in his launch of X Football, women’s tackle football competition league, in 2021.

And his mark on Chicago was not confined to the stadium gates; he was a partner in Ditka’s Restaurant Group which first opened a steakhouse in downtown Chicago in 1997, boasting its signature dish, “Da Pork Chop.” While the original location closed in 2020, there are still locations in Oakbrook, Ill., and Pittsburgh.

After a short stint living in Florida, Ditka and his wife, Diana, replanted roots in Chicago at the end of 2024.

‘‘I was born in Pennsylvania and raised in Pittsburgh, but Chicago is my home . . . and it is my life,” Ditka told the Chicago Sun Times.

The Africa Cup of Nations could continue to be held every two years, with discussions under way to reverse its proposed switch to a four-year cycle.

Speaking on Friday at a Confederation of African Football (Caf) strategy conference in Cape Verde, president Patrice Motsepe said: “We’ve discussed it over the last few days.

“We are looking at everything, including having the Afcon coming back every two years. We are very clear, the matter is being reviewed.”

The tournament has taken place every two years since 1968, bar a one-year gap between the 2012 and 2013 editions.

However, in December 2025 CAF announced it would shift to being staged every four years after the 2027 Afcon in East Africa and a 2028 edition.

That planned alteration to the schedule had received widespread criticism across the continent.

National associations had raised concerns about the visibility of their teams, the commercial implications and where Africa’s biggest competition would sit in the international football calendar.

Verstappen’s pole lap appeared to be further confirmation of Red Bull’s resurgence after his dominant win in Malaysia but he faces an investigation for overtaking under yellow flags shown before the first session was stopped for the Perez incident.

The four-time champion said he had not believed pole was possible before qualifying.

“We have some difficulties with the car in ride, as we know,” he said, “but at least when we went to the soft tyres (in the final session), it made the car a bit more stable in places where before you were a bit unsure.

“I did not expect this but you take it, I’m happy for sure. Qualifying tomorrow is still the main goal and for us the start is always a critical point but at least a positive end to our day.”

Russell’s performance compared with that of Antonelli raises further doubts about the efficacy of the Mercedes upgrade introduced in Malaysia.

It was their biggest car update since the Canadian Grand Prix in May but team boss Toto Wolff said at Sepang that it had appeared to take them backwards rather than forwards.

Mercedes split the car spec here in Singapore in an attempt to better understand its performance but Antonelli ended the session 0.573secs behind Russell.

The Briton said: “As a team there is still nothing telling us it isn’t working but it’s all driven by the stopwatch and, yeah, the stopwatch hasn’t been great for the upgrade yet. Maybe tomorrow’s a different day.”

Antonelli, who leads the championship by 84 points going into the weekend, said: “Already FP1 I was struggling and there is still a lot to understand about this package. Really the car is very difficult, very unpredictable, very difficult to put a lap together. It’s a shame. I was coming with high hopes but so far it has been very difficult.

“It’s going to be a difficult weekend unless we can pull something out tomorrow. Other than that it is going very tricky. I don’t really see where we can find 0.7secs but you never know.”

Wolff said before sprint qualifying: “The new car seems to be a little more tricky to drive. Not saying it’s necessarily slower, because there will be goodness in it, but maybe we haven’t just found a way of putting it all together and tuning it. The older car is a bit more stable, grippy, but that is really just one data point.”

Leclerc was 0.243secs off pole, and ruing what he said was Ferrari “losing a little bit of our raw performance” in the past three or four races.

However, he added: “Still I feel there is potential in the car and maybe tomorrow we can be there or thereabouts in fighting for pole.”

Hamilton said: “We did a slightly different run plan to the others. It was my choice, but I think we got that wrong. But ultimately, the car was very oversteery on that lap. If the rears [tyres] are not ready or they are overheating, it’s difficult to say. But it was very snappy and oversteery in the lap overall.”

Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca says the club’s titles are “absolutely not” tainted after they were found guilty of the majority of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League.

Maresca reiterated his faith in the club’s owners and belief that they will win their appeal against the verdict during a news conference on Friday dominated by questions on the matter.

The Italian, notably relaxed as he offered his responses, rejected the suggestion City’s titles have been tainted by the ruling, as he knows “exactly the effort that the club put in to achieve” them.

An independent commission found Manchester City guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

The club have appealed against the verdict and claimed in a statement the commission’s ruling contained “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe”.

Preparing to play their first match since that verdict was announced, away to rivals Liverpool on Sunday, Maresca said in an in-house interview on Thursday the “feeling is fantastic” among his players and they are not affected by “the noise” surrounding the club.

He added on Friday: “The reason I joined this club is that I completely trust, 100%, the owner, the CEO, the sporting director, all the organisation. So I don’t have doubt about that.

“I spoke with the club for sure. We all trust, and probably the right moment to speak about that is when we are going to win this appeal.”

He added: “For me, the players – we can control just the pitch side, the football side. So we are focused on that. This is what we can do and what we can control.”

Tickets for Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s fight at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium have sold out in just one hour.

Fury and Joshua will meet on a bill that begins on 11 December but they are not expected to fight until the early hours of 12 December.

The highest-priced tickets were available at £13,128, including booking fees, with the lowest at £88.50.

The all-British heavyweight contest, which will be broadcast globally on Netflix, was announced in September and around 80,000 tickets went on sale at 12:00 BST on Friday.

Just minutes after the tickets went on sale more than 500,000 people were waiting in the online queue.

Tickets quickly began emerging on resale websites, with ringside VIP seats being advertised for £73,645, while upper tier seats were available for £425.

Ringwalks are expected to start around 01:00 GMT on Saturday 12 December, following a short live music performance, and the stadium will remain open until 03:30.

The event is being promoted as a collaboration between Saudi boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh’s The Ring and UFC chief Dana White.

Organisers are yet to confirm any of the undercard fights.

Dodgers bullpen is no longer a weakness

From Mirjam Swanson: And you thought the bullpen was going to be the weakest branch.

In the four aces, you trusted. The Dodgers’ stellar starting rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow? A quartet who can strong-arm anyone.

And you probably figured Freddie Freeman would get it going. You had faith in playoff risers Max Muncy, Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández — and in the Dodgers’ playoff-proven offense overall.

You were not, however, so bullish on the bullpen.

That was the proverbial, annual question mark entering the best-of-five National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, whom the Dodgers vanquished with a 4-1 victory Wednesday at Truist Park to set up an NL Championship Series rematch with the Milwaukee Brewers.

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Dodgers: Reasons to believe, reasons to worry

From Bill Shaikin: As Dave Roberts delivered his victory address, dressed in a gray cap and a gray T-shirt that commemorate a triumph the Dodgers consider merely a speed bump on the road to the main event, the manager was not shy.

“There is no more talented team than the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Roberts told his players amid clubhouse floods of champagne and beer. “This is the best organization in sports, top to bottom. We’re smarter. We’re better. And we’re tougher.”

The Dodgers had eliminated the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series. For the three-peat, that’s one postseason party down and two to go.

“This one is going to be special,” infielder Miguel Rojas said. “We have the motivation of winning three times in a row. That’s all we can think about right now. It’s never going to be easy in baseball. You have to go through tough things. But this team showed it before, and it showed it in this series.”

Nothing is guaranteed in October, not even the Dodgers in the World Series. For the Dodgers, here are four positive signs and four warning signs:

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Doncic, Reaves click in Lakers preseason win

From Broderick Turner: The bond between Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves is as real as it gets.

And though it was just a preseason game Thursday night, Doncic and Reaves showed why they form one of the most dynamic offensive backcourts in the NBA.

The Lakers duo linked up on the very first play against the Sacramento Kings, with Reaves passing to Doncic as he cut to the basket before scoring while being fouled.

Both played 25 minutes, with Doncic finishing with 23 points on six-for-16 shooting during the Lakers’ 114-110 win over the Kings at Crypto.com Arena. Reaves had eight points on two-for-seven shooting, eight assists and five

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MLB postseason schedule

All times Pacific

Division series

American League

No. 2 Cleveland vs. No. 6 Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox 3, at Cleveland 0 (box score)
Chicago White Sox 4, at Cleveland 3 (box score)
Cleveland 9, at Chicago 3 (box score)
Cleveland 9, at Chicago 5 (box score)
Saturday at Cleveland, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max

NLCS

No. 1 Milwaukee vs. No. 2 Dodgers
Sunday at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
Monday at Milwaukee, 2 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
Wednesday at Dodgers, 5 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
Thursday at Dodgers, 6 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
*Friday, Oct. 16 at Dodgers, 6 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
*Sunday, Oct. 18 at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
*Monday, Oct. 19 at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One

ALCS

No. 1 Tampa Bay vs. Cleveland/Chicago winner
Monday, at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
Tuesday at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
Thursday at Chi/Cle, 3 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
Friday, Oct. 16 at Chi/Cle, 3 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
*Sat., Oct. 17 at Chi/Cle, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
*Monday, Oct. 19 at Tampa Bay, 2 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
*Tuesday, Oct. 20 at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max

* if necessary

World Series starts Friday, Oct. 23

Secret to Matthew Stafford’s success

From Sam Farmer: Both NFL most valuable players. Both bound for Canton. Both surgically precise with their passes.

Matthew Stafford and Josh Allen are two of the best liars in football.

Peyton Manning sat in the studio and cued the video. Stafford looked off a Philadelphia safety last Sunday to hold him in place. He froze a cornerback with a glance. Then he threw an out-and-up to Puka Nacua, absorbing a big hit as he released the ball.

“That’s a lot of looking off,” Manning said.

Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly, watching from his own home studio, agreed.

“The quarterback will lie to you,” Kuechly said. “He’s going to look you off. He’s going to pump you. But the one thing that never lies to you is the route.”

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This day in sports history

1943 — Bob Hoernschemeyer throws six touchdown passes, an NCAA record for a freshman, to lead Indiana past Nebraska 54-13.

1965 — The United States wins the Ryder Cup 19½-12½ at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Arnold Palmer clinches the title, beating Peter Butler 2 up. It’s the 13th victory for the Americans in this event, which began in 1927. Britain, a three-time winner, last won in 1957.

1974 — The Washington Capitals lose their first NHL game, 6-3 to the Rangers at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

1982 — Al Del Greco kicks six field goals for all of Auburn’s points in an 18-3 triumph over Kentucky.

1983 — Buffalo’s Joe Ferguson passes for 419 yards and five touchdowns in an 38-35 overtime win against Miami. Uwe Von Schamann of the Dolphins misses two field goals in the overtime and Joe Danelo ends the game with a 36-yard field goal.

1991 — The San Jose Sharks gain their first NHL victory, defeating the Calgary Flames 4-3.

1993 — Minnesota’s Scott Eckers passes for 402 yards and a school-record six touchdowns in his first college start, sending the Gophers past Purdue 59-56.

1993 — Carey Bender rushes 33 times for 417 yards, setting an NCAA all-division single-game rushing record, in Coe’s 69-7 Division III victory over Grinnell.

2004 — Texas Tech beats Nebraska 70-10, the worst lost in the Cornhuskers’ storied 114-year history.

2004 — Texas loses to Oklahoma 12-0, getting shut out for the first time in 282 games and ending the longest streak in the country.

2010 — Mike Brinkley passes for six touchdowns and Armond Smith runs for five scores to lead Union (Ky.) to an 84-55 victory over Bethel (Tenn.) in an NAIA game.

2010 — Derek Stepan becomes the fourth player to score three times in his NHL debut to lead the New York Rangers to a season-opening 6-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

2011 — Sebastian Janikowski kicks four field goals, including three from at least 50 yards (54, 55, 50), in Oakland’s 25-20 win over Houston. Houston’s Matt Schaub throws for 416 yards and two touchdowns.

2011 — The NHL returns to Winnipeg, but Carey Price stops 30 shots and the Montreal Canadiens dampen a city celebration with a 5-1 victory over the Jets.

2015 — Sepp Blatter, hoping to return to power as FIFA president, is banned for 90 days, essentially ending his 17-year reign as the leader of soccer’s governing body. UEFA President Michel Platini also gets a 90-day ban following an investigation of financial misconduct at FIFA in a Swiss criminal case.

2016 — Tom Brady returns from his four-game “Deflategate” suspension, passing for 406 yards and three touchdowns to Martellus Bennett in the New England Patriots’ 33-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

2022 — Dutch Red Bull driver Max Verstappen secures his second consecutive World F1 Drivers C’ship after finishing in front of Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc in the Japanese GP at Suzuka.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1928 — Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Sportsman’s Park to become first to sweep consecutive World Series; Babe Ruth hits smashes three HRs for Yanks.

1934 — Baseball World Series: St Louis Cardinals rout Detroit Tigers, 11-0 at Navin Field to clinch 4 games to 3 series victory and third championship.

1966 — Baseball World Series: Baltimore Orioles claim first championship in franchise history; edge Dodgers, 1-0 at Memorial Stadium for 4-0 sweep; MVP: Orioles outfielder Frank Robinson.

1988 — Dennis Eckersley saves all four games in Oakland’s ALCS victory over Boston.

2005 — Chris Burke hits a home run in the bottom of the 18th inning and Roger Clemens pitches three scoreless innings of relief in Houston’s 7-6, series-ending victory over Atlanta in the NLDS. The longest postseason game in history takes 5 hours, 50 minutes.

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 me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

A growing scrum of reporters around Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, in the locker room Wednesday night after the Dodgers defeated the Atlanta Braves to advance to the National League Championship Series, didn’t put a damper on the celebration.

Tanner Scott stuck upside-down beers in Friedman’s shirt. Alex Freeland dumped beer into his mouth and all over his face. Eric Lauer coordinated a sneak attack, announcing that he was heading to the showers before reappearing from a side entrance.

Friedman never stopped grinning. But it almost looked like he had an extra glint in his eye when asked whether he’d rather take on the Milwaukee Brewers or San Diego Padres in the NLCS.

“I just want chaos,” Friedman said.

Later that night, the Brewers advanced, locking in an NLCS rematch that could certainly deliver chaos.

The Dodgers and Brewers are meeting in the playoffs for the fourth time in nine years. Last season, the Dodgers swept Milwaukee in the NLCS.

Usually before playing a big-market team like the Dodgers, Brewers manager Pat Murphy leans into the underdog narrative by saying he suspects the opponent can’t name many of the Brewers players. But by becoming perennial playoff contenders, and posting the best record in the majors over the past two seasons, the Brewers have given up whatever anonymity they may have had when they promoted Murphy a few years ago.

The cast of characters on both sides has remained relatively consistent since last October. But even after trading away top pitcher Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee is a more complete team than last season.

But losing talented players hasn’t stopped the Brewers from winning the last four NL Central titles. They keep saying goodbye to top players — including Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, closer Devin Williams and shortstop Willy Adames — then raise their win total.

Many of the players remain the same, although the Brewers added former Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May and reliever JoJo Romero in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals at the deadline, after losing in the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes. Several players also took important steps forward.

The biggest difference-maker has been Jacob Misiorowski, who had the lowest ERA (1.80) in the majors this season and is the NL Cy Young favorite. As a rookie last year, the flame-thrower was relegated to the postseason bullpen until the NLCS. This year, he was the Brewers’ Game 1 starter in the NLDS against the Padres.

The Brewers have long hung their hat on playing sound baseball, from pitching and defense to baserunning. But the knock on them has been the lack of thump in their lineup.

First baseman Jake Bauers had a career season, leading the team in home runs (26), on-base percentage (.389) and on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.873). Jackson Chourio, who was hobbled by a hamstring injury in the last NLCS, hit a career-high 25 home runs and led the team in slugging percentage (.487). And though the Brewers likely won’t out-slug the Dodgers — they hit 50 fewer home runs during the season — they have a pesky roster that stole 90 more bases.

The Brewers also had a better regular-season record (103-59) than the Dodgers (100-62), so the series will begin in Milwaukee on Sunday.

Signs point to a more competitive series than last year. The Brewers even entered the postseason with the better World Series odds (18.5%) than the Dodgers (16.7%), according to Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA standings.

The Dodgers certainly won’t take the matchup lightly. They made sure not to underestimate the No. 3 seed Braves.

“The mistake that the outside perspective kind of gets sometimes is to underestimate certain teams,” said Kiké Hernández as the Dodgers celebrated their NLDS victory. “And we knew we had a tough task ahead of us. [The Braves are] a team that was playing really good baseball, had a lot of momentum, and they were throwing the ball really well. They had a really good bullpen, a lot of different kinds of arms, and, fortunately for us, they were a little bit short on starting pitching, so they had to tax their bullpen to a point where it paid off for us.”

The Dodgers ended the series before it returned to Los Angeles for an if-necessary Game 5. So they got to turn their attention to the Brewers a couple days early.

“I think the strength of our team is our rotation,” Friedman said. “And so even if we weren’t able to reset it, we still feel like it would be a strength of ours. But to be able to line it up the way we want to, certainly advantageous. To be able to have a few days off our feet and rest up for Sunday, also really helpful.”

Then the chaos begins.

ROSEMONT, Ill. — With UCLA coming off a national title and USC going for one of its own with star JuJu Watkins returning from injury, there may never have been more attention on women’s basketball in Los Angeles.

“If you intend to come,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said Wednesday at Big Ten media days, “you should probably get your tickets early.”

The success of the two West Coast schools has been a bigger problem for the rest of the Big Ten than Los Angeles basketball fans. In the two years since USC and UCLA left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, each school has topped the standings once and the Bruins have won the conference tournament twice, going on to the Final Four two years ago and winning the championship last April.

UCLA has some holes to fill this season but is still expected to be top-25 caliber. Watkins returns after missing last season with a torn ACL and will join the country’s top recruiting class to try to help USC return to the nation’s elite and extend the rivals’ dominance over their new league.

“Honestly, for me, I’m just excited to be back and whatever comes with that will come,” Watkins said. “I know the team is excited. We’re preparing for a great season ahead. I’m ecstatic.”

The question that poses for the rest of the conference is whether any of the legacy Big Ten teams can mount a challenge to this newfound tilt from Midwest to West. Iowa and Michigan look like the strongest contenders to break the California grip on the league, but there could be as many as eight other Big Ten teams in the preseason Top 25 poll.

“Our league is stronger and tougher than it has ever been,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “Every night, you’re going to face a top-25 opponent in our league. It’s incredibly, incredibly challenging.”

The Big Ten has been through this before. When Maryland jumped from the ACC in the fall of 2014, the Terrapins claimed at least a share of first place in six of the next seven seasons. Either Ohio State or Indiana topped the standings in the three years prior to the latest expansion, but since then it’s been all UCLA and USC at the top.

UCLA forward Sienna Betts, right, drives to the basket under pressure from Indiana forward Maya Makalusky on Feb. 15 at Pauley Pavilion.

(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)

The Bruins have work to do after accounting for six of the first 18 picks in the WNBA draft, but have five returnees assuming larger roles, including sophomore Sienna Betts and junior Timea Gardiner.

“I think we’re not trying to repeat an outcome, we’re really just trying to repeat a process,” Gardiner said. “Really just giving everything we can to each and every day. We have such an amazing group that is committed to doing that, so we will let the cards fall where they may.”

USC, meanwhile, added the No. 1 and No. 5 recruits in the country and a pair of impact transfers to a Watkins-Jazzy Davidson backcourt after going 18-14 without the preseason Big Ten player of the year. The Trojans have loaded up the roster to make a run at the their first Final Four in 40 years. Gottlieb resisted when asked if she had built a super team, but didn’t exactly deflect the notion, either.

“I’ve never called it that,” Gottlieb said. “We’ve just tried to assemble a team that we think can have championship aspirations. We’ve got a lot of excellent players that are all going to play whatever role they’re asked to the best of their ability. If you do that at the highest level, it becomes a super team.”

Super team or not, the challenge the rest of the Big Ten continues to face has not changed.

“It’s great for our league,” Purdue coach Katie Gearlds said. “Obviously, UCLA winning the championship last year, USC as good as they’re going to be this year having Juju back healthy and the star power that they have, it just elevates and lifts our games and gets more eyeballs on us. I think if you talk to anybody that’s here, we all want to find a way to beat them, but it’s cool that we have them in our league and they are as good as they are.”

DeCock writes for the Associated Press.

The bond between Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves is as real as it gets.

And though it was just a preseason game Thursday night, Doncic and Reaves showed why they form one of the most dynamic offensive backcourts in the NBA.

The Lakers duo linked up on the very first play against the Sacramento Kings, with Reaves passing to Doncic as he cut to the basket before scoring while being fouled.

Both played 25 minutes, with Doncic finishing with 23 points on six-for-16 shooting during the Lakers’ 114-110 win over the Kings at Crypto.com Arena. Reaves had eight points on two-for-seven shooting, eight assists and five rebounds.

Doncic, who picked up a technical foul with six minutes and 48 seconds left in the third quarter, and Reaves, who played in his first exhibition game after missing the first two, gave the fans something to be excited about.

Doncic’s moment came in the second quarter when he drilled a 31-foot, one-legged three-pointer off a pass from Sandro Mamukelashvili (19 points).

Reaves’ moment came late in the second quarter when he had a nice hesitation move that froze Emanuel Sharp, allowing him to waltz along the baseline for a layup.

Lakers coach JJ Redick explained why Doncic and Reaves have been so close in their time playing together.

“I think there’s good chemistry with each other,” Redick said. “I think it’s just the natural way they like each other. They like playing together. I think having them together means there’s automatically two ballhandlers on the court. I think that’s like an underrated part of the NBA now … having two-to-three ballhandlers on the floor at all times.”

Injury update

Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton both missed their third straight preseason game and Ziaire Williams missed his second straight game. Cameron Carr, Dalton Knecht and Arthur Kaluma also didn’t play.

Kessler, the Lakers’ big acquisition at center from the Utah Jazz, has been nursing a finger injury he sustained after hitting the backboard during practice.

“We’ve got to check in tomorrow. … It’s not concerning. He’ll play in the preseason,” Redick said.

Redick said Williams had “some soreness, but it’s not anything that we’re concerned about.”

Oct. 8, 2026 11:09 PM PT

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

SOUTHERN SECTION

Alpha League

Mission Viejo 27, Yorba Linda 26

Baseline League

Etiwanda 35, Damien 25

Rancho Cucamonga 21, Chino Hills 9

Boulder League

San Marino d. Pasadena

Delta League

El Modena 21, Laguna Beach 14

Desert Sky League

Silverado 49, Adelanto 28

Victor Valley 41, Granite Hills 17

Golden League

Highland 37, Eastside 0

Hacienda League

Baldwin Park 34, Covina 0

Los Altos 56, South Hills 14

Iota League

Cypress 38, La Palma Kennedy 0

Kappa League

Fullerton 28, Anaheim Canyon 27

Lambda League

Fountain Valley 45, Woodbridge 21

Manzanita League

Silver Valley 42, Nuview Bridge 16

Mid-Cities League

Bellflower 47, California 10

Mojave River League

Apple Valley 21, Oak Hills 7

Hesperia 38, Ridgecrest Burroughs 19

Serrano 48, Sultana 12

Rio Vista League

Artesia 42, Firebaugh 0

River Valley League

Patriot 48, Miller 0

Skyline League

Arroyo Valley 30, Bloomington 8

Carter 40, Indian Springs 0

Fontana 45, San Gorgonio 21

Tango League

Bolsa Grande 37, Garden Grove Santiago 6

Santa Ana Valley 10, Westminster La Quinta 7

Nonleague

Eisenhower 29, Rim of the World 28

Jurupa Hills 60, Kaiser 40

Rialto 21, Grand Terrace 15

Summit 28, Colton 7

8-MAN

CITY SECTION

City League

Stella 44, USC Hybrid at Stella 22

SOUTHERN SECTION

Nonleague

United Christian Academy 56, Milken 52

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

City Section

Cleveland 24, Chatsworth 0

El Camino Real 27, Taft 6

Narbonne 27, Wilmington Banning 18

South Gate 38, Marquez 0

Southern Section

Anaheim Canyon 6, Santa Ana Foothill 0

Arlington 32, Lakeside 0

Arroyo 6, Rosemead 0

Artesia 6, La Mirada 0

Baldwin Park 20, Nogales 18

Bishop Amat 19, Gardena Serra 7

Bishop Montgomery 14, St. Paul 7

Bolsa Grande 57, Magnolia 18

Brentwood 39, YULA 0

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 52, Sacred Heart of Jesus 0

Century 12, Western 0

Chino 28, Chaffey 7

Costa Mesa 20, Ocean View 6

Covina 26, Charter Oak 20

Dominguez 6, Compton Early College 0

Downey 46, Warren 19

Eastside 13, Highland 6

Edison 33, Fountain Valley 18

El Rancho 38, Keppel 0

El Toro 25, Mission Viejo 6

Esperanza 6, Crean Lutheran 0

Etiwanda 37, Eastvale Roosevelt 0

Fillmore 36, Cate 6

Fullerton 13, Westminster 12

Gahr 28, Bellflower 0

Garden Grove Pacifica 48, Troy 0

Garden Grove Santiago 6, Los Amigos 0

Glenn 26, Oxford Academy 6

Godinez 16, Katella 0

Hacienda Heights Wilson 15, Northview 0

Huntington Beach 68, Marina 0

La Canada 20, Burbank Burroughs 13

Laguna Beach 7, Newport Beach Pacifica Christian 6

La Habra 40, Brea Olinda 0

Lakewood St. Joseph 45, St. Mary’s Academy 6

La Serna 42, Mayfair 7

Lawndale 37, Beverly Hills 7

Long Beach Cabrillo 34, Compton Centennial 6

Long Beach Poly 19, Lakewood 0

Long Beach Wilson 34, Long Beach Jordan 12

Louisville 18, Flintridge Sacred Heart 14

Montclair 6, Don Lugo 0

Montebello 14, Mountain View 2

Newport Harbor 38, Corona del Mar 7

Norwalk 25, Whitney 13

Orange 19, Estancia 6

Palm Springs 6, Cathedral City 0

Pasadena Poly 45, Chadwick 0

Placentia Valencia 27, La Palma Kennedy 13

Rancho Alamitos 20, Loara 19

Rancho Christian 27, Orange Vista 26

Redlands 20, Loma Linda Academy 0

Redlands Adventist Academy 33, Yucaipa 7

Redlands Adventist Academy 19, San Jacinto Valley Academy 6

Rowland 6, West Covina 0

Saddleback 12, Savanna 0

Sage Hill 13, Portola 8

San Marino 18, Monrovia 0

Santa Fe 6, Paramount 0

Schurr 19, San Gabriel 6

Segerstrom 32, Laguna Hills 0

South El Monte 19, Bell Gardens 0

St. Bernard 27, Mary Star of the Sea 0

St. Margaret’s 26, Rosary 6

St. Monica 31, Ramona Convent 14

Temecula Prep 13, California Military Institute 6

Tustin 14, Buena Park 6

Upland 19, St. Lucy’s 18

Villa Park 14, Sunny Hills 6

Western Christian 58, Capistrano Valley Christian 6

Woodbridge 44, Irvine University 13

Workman 6, La Puente 0

Yorba Linda 38, Cypress 0

Yucaipa 33, San Jacinto Valley Academy 6

Intersectional

Birmingham 12, Vasquez 0

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

City Section

Carson 14, King/Drew 0

GALA 6, Fremont 0

Garfield 27, South East 6

Hawkins 14, Fremont 6

Los Angeles Hamilton 13, Fairfax 6

Los Angeles Roosevelt 18, Huntington Park 13

Palisades 26, LACES 12

San Pedro 60, Gardena 0

Sotomayor 19, Elizabeth 0

Venice 37, Los Angeles University 0

West Adams 13, Diego Rivera 0

Westchester 20, WISH Academy 6

Southern Section

Agoura 13, Thousand Oaks 6

Antelope Valley 30, Palmdale 0

Brentwood 26, Shalhevet 18

Camarillo 33, Oak Park 0

Canyon Country Canyon 18, West Ranch 13

Capistrano Valley 26, Dana Hills 6

Hart 14, Saugus 0

Mater Dei 34, La Serna 31

Oaks Christian 55, Calabasas 0

Ontario Christian 26, Fairmont Prep 6

Oxnard 26, Ventura 14

Palos Verdes 13, Torrance 0

Peninsula 13, West Torrance 0

Quartz Hill 14, Knight 0

Redondo Union 27, Mira Costa 14

Santa Barbara 46, Del Sol 0

Santa Monica 7, Inglewood 6

Santa Paula 53, Cate 6

Simi Valley 6, Moorpark 0

South Torrance 39, North Torrance 0

Tesoro 37, San Clemente 26

Valencia 40, Golden Valley 0

Valley View 14, Arlington 13

Westridge 14, Windward 13

Westlake 46, Newbury Park 26

Whittier 46, Pioneer 6

Intersectional

Castaic 12, Granada Hills Kennedy 12

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The five Buss siblings who voted to sell the family’s shares of the Lakers filed their formal opposition to team governor Jeanie Buss’ attempts to block the sale on Wednesday, calling Jeanie’s petition “legally and factually baseless” in a statement provided to The Times.

“While discussions among the siblings continue, their focus remains on facilitating the proposed transaction and the Trust’s participation in it, while ensuring that all beneficiaries, including Jeanie, are treated equally,” Jimmy, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss said in the statement.

“Today’s filing is a necessary step to protect those interests and ensure the transaction proceeds on schedule.”

The five siblings voted in August to include the family’s 17.82% of the team in the sale from Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger. Jeanie immediately opposed her siblings’ vote, saying that the transaction would breach the family trust that states she and her co-trustees Janie and Joey must take reasonably available actions to maintain Jeanie’s role as the controlling governor of the team “on an annual basis during [her] lifetime.”

If the Buss Family Trust sells its remaining shares, Jeanie would be ineligible to serve on the board of governors because the NBA requires governors to own at least 15% of the franchise. Although the Buss family ended its more than 40 years of majority ownership of the team in 2025 by selling to Walter at a then-record $10-billion valuation, Jeanie was to remain the controlling governor for at least five years.

Jeanie and her attorneys filed a petition in L.A. Superior Court about two weeks after her siblings’ vote in which she argued their plan was void.

The siblings’ formal opposition claims Jeanie is attempting to prevent the sale “in order to protect her own personal interests” and her actions “constitute a breach of her fiduciary duties as a trustee.” The siblings believe that with five votes to sell, they have the right to proceed with their plan to sell the shares and distribute the proceeds because they have a two-thirds majority of the living children, as outlined in the trust.

With the latest sale from Walter to Kushner and Iger valued at $12.5 billion, a 17.82% share would be worth approximately $2.2 billion for the Buss siblings.

Gianni Infantino’s chances of being re-elected as Fifa president appear to have been given a major boost with potential rival Victor Montagliani set to remain as head of Concacaf.

The Canadian, 61, was widely seen as a possible candidate after Infantino’s failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors sparked a global backlash.

However, Montagliani never confirmed he wanted to challenge Infantino, and according to sources, he has now told colleagues that he will instead seek a final term as head of the confederation which governs North and Central America and the Caribbean.

As first reported by the Guardian, it means he will not stand against Infantino, 56, who is seeking a fourth term in March’s presidential election.

The rebellion against him, spearheaded by European governing body Uefa, must now try to identify a unifying candidate by the deadline of 18 November.

Meanwhile, Aleksander Ceferin will stand for a fourth term as Uefa president.

Ceferin informed delegates of his decision at a meeting of all 55 national association chiefs in Berlin.

Uefa also reaffirmed its opposition to Infantino as it published a 14-point plan to reform world football’s governing body.

Ceferin’s move had been widely anticipated and reverses his insistence he would not seek re-election, which the Slovenian outlined in February 2024.

At that point Ceferin, who was initially elected in 2016, was embroiled in a row over Uefa changing its statutes to allow him to serve for a fourth term.

However, there had been a growing expectation the 58-year-old would stand.

This has only been made more likely since Uefa launched its efforts to oust Infantino, who scrapped his sell-off plan following widespread opposition.

“I want to thank the national associations for their trust,” Ceferin said.

“We have faced extraordinary challenges over the past years, and we have faced them as one team. There is still important work ahead, and I have therefore accepted their request.

“My ambition remains the same: to keep European football united, make our game stronger and leave Uefa ready for the next generation.”

Ceferin has ruled out standing against Infantino himself but is committed to finding a candidate around which the game can unite in March’s FIfa election.