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RIYADH: Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah received a phone call from Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan, official ministry statements said Sunday.
Officials from both countries reviewed the state of bilateral relations and discussed recent regional developments, including the ongoing crisis in the region.
The ministries stated that the conversation addressed efforts to contain the crisis and promote peaceful solutions through dialogue and negotiation, with the aim of reducing tensions and preserving security and stability in the region.
سمو وزير الخارجية الأمير #فيصل_بن_فرحان” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>https://x.com/hashtag/%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B5%D9%84_%D8%A8%D9%86_%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%86?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#فيصل_بن_فرحان @FaisalbinFarhan” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>https://x.com/FaisalbinFarhan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@FaisalbinFarhan يتلقى اتصالاً هاتفياً من معالي نائب رئيس الوزراء وزير خارجية جمهورية باكستان الإسلامية محمد إسحاق دار. pic.twitter.com/puIUe1VwKg
Former Leicester City and England striker Jamie Vardy has joined Burnley until the end of the season.
The 39-year-old, who is Leicester’s record Premier League scorer with 145 goals, departed for Cremonese in 2025.
Vardy left the Italian side in the summer and now joins the winless Clarets who are bottom of the Championship.
“This club has a proper footballing history and passionate fans who deserve a team that represents them and their town,” Vardy told the club website., external
“I can’t wait to get going on the pitch and help the team move in the right direction.”
Vardy, who won 26 caps for England, scoring seven goals, spent 13 years at Leicester after signing from non-league Fleetwood Town in 2012.
He went on to score 200 goals in all competitions in 500 appearances.
Burnley, relegated from the Premier League last season, have made a poor start back in the second tier and have not won in five matches under new boss Nicky Hayen.
On Saturday they conceded two goals in the final 10 minutes to lose 2-1 at home to Bristol City.
“His experience and leadership will be invaluable to our squad, and we believe he can make a significant impact on our campaign,” Hayen added.
“Jamie has a proven track record, and we are looking forward to seeing him in a Claret shirt.”
It will mark the ninth Super Bowl in the Los Angeles area across three venues: the Coliseum (two), Rose Bowl (five) and SoFi (two). But in some ways, all those previous games were a drumroll leading up to this one — Super Bowl LXI, in a futuristic $5-billion stadium, absent the lingering restrictions of a pandemic.
“Super Bowl LVI was an amazing experience, but it was still on that tail end of COVID, and it was not everything that this Super Bowl LXI could be,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business, international and league events.
“We didn’t do a Super Bowl Opening Night — it was virtual — and there were a lot of things we were still adjusting. … It was absolutely spectacular during the weekend and on game day, but I do think this Super Bowl gives us all the chance to do it full-on, in the way an L.A. Super Bowl can and should be.”
In the weeks leading up to the first Super Bowl at SoFi, there were misguided rumblings that the game might be moved to Dallas, because the NFL had secured that city as a backup. But those type of contingency plans are in place for every Super Bowl, and the game was not in serious peril of being moved. Still, there was a cloud of public doubt lingering over the event.
“Those rumors created a lot of havoc and uncertainty in our market,” said Kathy Schloessman, chief executive of the Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee for both games. “It was hard to get the excitement going because people didn’t know if the city was open or closed. I almost hate to say it because I don’t want to jinx anything, but this is our first normal Super Bowl planning.”
Super Bowls can take over a city. Look at the games played in New Orleans, Indianapolis or Houston. Seemingly every resident was aware the game was happening. But in some of the bigger cities — New York, Los Angeles, Miami — there aren’t reminders everywhere you turn.
Something that might offset that this season is ESPN is broadcasting the game for the first time, and has been hyping it ever since the most recent Super Bowl ended.
“It’s a year of the Super Bowl for them that ends in Los Angeles,” O’Reilly said. “That feels natural and poetic. I can’t say enough good things about the way they’ve embraced it.”
South side view of the field at SoFi Stadium.
(Sam Farmer / Los Angeles Times)
Disney is the parent company of ESPN, and likewise has embraced the game, which feels like a true confluence of the sports and entertainment industries.
“When I think about L.A. and brands coming together — Disney, SoFi Stadium, the Rams — I think it takes advantage of what the NFL had always hoped when bringing a Los Angeles team back,” Rams president Kevin Demoff said. “SoFi Stadium is that marriage of the NFL and entertainment.”
Whether they play in the game or not, the Rams are intimately connected to this Super Bowl, as they are the host team. That means they have a degree of financial responsibility to make good on the commitments made to the NFL when Los Angeles was awarded the game. They also are allotted more tickets to the game than the other franchises not hosting (or playing in) the event.
Although the Chargers were co-hosts for the first Super Bowl at SoFi, they opted not to host this one. According to a Chargers spokesman, they chose to cede the stage to Rams owner Stan Kroenke, whose vision they credit for the stadium and Hollywood Park development, but will make a “significant seven-figure financial commitment” to the host committee in the run-up to the game.
Part of Kroenke’s vision in moving the Rams and building the stadium and surrounding campus was to shift the center of gravity of the sporting world to Los Angeles. It’s worth noting that SoFi was a central location of the World Cup — the first U.S. goal was scored there — and will play host to swimming events in the 2028 Olympic Games.
“[SoFi] is now established as one of the world’s greatest sporting stages, which the Super Bowl helped put on the map the first time,” Demoff said. “But now it’s in the middle of this global run.”
It isn’t just the Super Bowl. SoFi will also play host to the NFL’s first-ever Thanksgiving Eve game — Rams versus Green Bay Packers — on Netflix.
“If you’re looking at the arc — not as a Super Bowl but how the NFL wanted to come back to Los Angeles — you have Disney, a longstanding, old-school entertainment partner,” Demoff said. “And then you have this element of streaming and new media and where the NFL is heading. It’s a really interesting juxtaposition.”
Fifa president Gianni Infantino will stand for re-election in March, says football’s world governing body.
Infantino, who has filled the role since 2016, has been under pressure following his scrapped plans to sell stakes in Fifa competitions to private investment firms.
Infantino’s lucrative plan sparked a global outcry, with European football’s governing body Uefa threatening to boycott all Fifa competitions, including the World Cup.
“The Fifa president announced in April that he will stand for re-election in 2027,” read a Fifa statement.
“Of course, nothing has changed. Mr Infantino will be standing for re-election.”
It is the first time Fifa has said he will aim to run for a fourth term since the scandal began following the summer’s World Cup.
Last week Uefa filed legal papers in the US requesting disclosure of evidence and documents from Fifa, warning it could lodge a criminal complaint in Switzerland.
BBC Sport understands Uefa is confident that a candidate can be found to stand against Infantino.
A candidate must received the backing of at least 106 of the 211 Fifa member associations.
Uefa has abandoned the idea of trying to force a vote of no confidence.
It would require three-quarters of the members – 159 votes – to pass the motion through a change of Fifa statutes, which is considered unrealistic.
No other candidates to challenge Infantino have been named, although Concacaf president Victor Montagliani is considered a serious option.
After a series of head-turning trades, signings and one legendary player’s return from retirement, the Rams and 10th-year coach Sean McVay are well beyond all-in.
On paper, the star-studded offense is seemingly invincible, the reconstructed defense inarguably impenetrable.
“It gets down to: how do we come together as a team,” McVay said. “But it’s hard to say top to bottom that the collection of individuals is not very special.”
The Rams are an overwhelming favorite to win Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.
It’s Super Bowl or bust. Again.
McVay said at the outset of training camp that the season would not be considered a success or a failure by whether the Rams win the Super Bowl.
Tell that to Rams fans.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford is the reigning NFL most valuable player — and shows no sign of slippage as he enters his 18th NFL season.
Receiver Puka Nacua led the league in receptions last season, and future Hall of Famer Davante Adams led the league in touchdown catches.
After their secondary was exposed in an NFC championship game defeat by the Seattle Seahawks, the Rams traded for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie. They signed cornerback Jaylen Watson, McDuffie’s former Kansas City Chiefs teammate. And then general manager Les Snead pulled off another stunning deal for defensive end Myles Garrett, a two-time NFL defensive player of the year.
And that was before Aaron Donald, a three-time defensive player of the year, ended a two-year retirement to join a team about to embark on a boom-or-bust season.
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Defensive lineman Aaron Donald has come out of retirement to join the Rams’ Super Bowl title push.
“You know all these other teams probably hate us,” Rams safety Quentin Lake said, chuckling. “They think we’re like the new Dodgers or something like that.”
Defensive line coach Giff Smith described the acquisition of Garrett, who amassed an NFL-season record 23 sacks last season, as “a grand slam.”
So what could possibly go wrong?
Nacua and left tackle Alaric Jackson are under investigation by the NFL regarding separate off-the-field incidents. If the league determines they violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy, they could be suspended.
The offensive line is experienced but short on quality depth at tackle. If Jackson is injured or suspended, Stafford is at more risk of injury.
Garrett sat out most of training camp and preseason practices because of a knee issue. Donald has not played a snap in two years.
Kicker Harrison Mevis came on last season and solidified a suspect field-goal unit, but it remains to be seen whether new coordinator Bubba Ventrone turns special teams from a liability into a strength.
Regardless, the Rams are built to win another title on their home turf.
“It’s special to be part of a team that can truly go all-in and bring in some new firepower to help us be able to reach the goals that we have in store for ourselves,” defensive lineman Kobie Turner said.
The Rams open the season this week against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia. The 49ers traveled there last week. The Rams are scheduled to depart Tuesday evening, arrive Thursday morning and play on Friday.
Unlike after other previous international trips, there will be no off week before the Rams play their home opener against the New York Giants. Then it’s consecutive road games against the Denver Broncos and the Philadelphia Eagles before a home game against the Buffalo Bills.
Rams defensive end Myles Garrett smiles during training camp in July.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Rams then host the Arizona Cardinals before playing three of the next four games on the road at Las Vegas, Washington and Arizona.
It doesn’t get easier after a shortened bye week. The Rams play the Green Bay Packers the night before Thanksgiving. Then it’s a home game against the Chiefs, a trip to Santa Clara to play the 49ers, and a home game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Rams play the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks twice in the final three weeks, with a game at Tampa Bay sandwiched in between.
After all the buildup, the Rams are ready to embark on their quest.
They plan to finish it by hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at SoFi Stadium.
“It’s our time,” Turner said, “to go and make those dreams a reality.”
It was more than three minutes outside her best time for the course and well outside her British record for the distance of 1:05:43.
Britain’s Jack Rowe missed out on a record fourth consecutive victory in the men’s race, finishing in second place, 14 seconds behind Birchfield Harriers’ Kadar Omar Abdullahi, who won in a time of 1:01:51.
Britain’s David Weir defended his title in the men’s wheelchair event, winning the race for the fifth time in its nine-year history in a new record time.
The 47-year-old, who retired from Paralympic competition in 2024, knocked 45 seconds off his own record for the course, which he set last year, winning in 46:13.
Eden Rainbow Cooper won the women’s event in 52:47 to defend her title.
While her trophy cabinet is overflowing with gold medals and world title belts, perhaps her greatest legacy is leaving women’s boxing in a vastly better place than she found it – that Serrano trilogy lifting women’s boxing to new heights.
Taylor broke through the barriers with a grace which belied the obstacles she faced yet her quiet determination and humble nature will serve as an example of what can be achieved by belief, hard work and a refusal to accept her lot as young girls can now walk the path she laid.
Fierce inside the ring yet unassuming outside of it – even factoring in an impulse-buy speedboat, since sold – superlatives such as trailblazer, icon and Ireland’s greatest sportsperson are not hyperbolic, for Taylor’s status as a legend is in no way cliched.
She has indicated she will remain in the sport, but for now, there is time to savour an extraordinary career, with her place among boxing’s greats set in stone.
Irish boxing is going to be a lesser place.
“I’m retired now so I can eat what I want, but I’m just going to enjoy a nice celebration and look back on a dream ending to a dream career.
“My story is the story of everyone in this room: we all have our ups and downs. I think people resonate with your vulnerabilities and your successes – saw me cope with the heartbreak of Rio, the Chantelle Cameron loss and personal difficulties.
Keys appeared on course for a first fourth-round appearance at her home slam since 2023 after taking a commanding third set lead against Olympic champion Zheng.
But the 2025 Australian Open winner would miss a match point and lose each of the final seven games in a 1-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 loss that stunned the crowd.
The 31-year-old Keys said she felt as though she “couldn’t play tennis anymore” in the final set.
“I obviously got off to a really good lead, and then I got really scared, like I couldn’t swing [the racquet],” Keys said.
“I felt like I couldn’t play tennis anymore. It just felt like it was a much bigger deal than just playing a tennis match all of a sudden.”
Keys, who lost the 2017 US Open final to fellow American Sloane Stephens, went out in the fourth round at the other three majors in 2026.
“I feel like I’ve been struggling for a while now. I’m going to have to make some sort of changes,” Keys said.
“I just kind of keep putting it off because that’s how the tennis world works. It’s just to the point where I actually need to do something about it.”
Anisimova, beaten by world number one Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s US Open final, lost in straight sets to Russian-born Austrian 24th seed Anastasia Potapova.
The 25-year-old was visibly frustrated with herself throughout the contest, losing her serve twice in the first set and four times in a topsy-turvy second.
Meanwhile, two-time champion Naomi Osaka fought back from a break down in the decider to see off Belgian 23rd seed Elise Mertens.
Osaka, seeded 13th, won 6-3 3-6 7-5 to set up a last-16 match against second seed Elena Rybakina.
Kazakhstan’s Rybakina, who knows she will be guaranteed to become the new world number one if she reaches the semi-finals, demonstrated her quality in a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 victory over Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has not played since Wednesday, when he struck out four times and winced noticeably at the plate.
On Saturday, the Dodgers held him out of the lineup for the third consecutive game because of pain in his right biceps.
Manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani’s path back to the field is predicated on how he responds to hitting in the cage, which he planned to do before Saturday night’s game against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium.
“My expectation is that he’s going to hit today in the cage,” Roberts told reporters. “Once he hits and how he comes out of it, that’ll be telling for tomorrow.”
The injured list becomes a consideration if Ohtani is not trending in a positive direction Sunday, Roberts said.
Ohtani falls under the 15-day category for the IL, which covers pitchers and two-way players, as opposed to the 10-day list for position players. The Dodgers can backdate the move up to three days, akin to time served. So a 15-day window would be reduced to 12 days.
Although Roberts said he has not spoken to Ohtani about how he feels physically, the manager said he can get a hint from the player’s demeanor.
“When he doesn’t feel well physically, he gets more short and he’s not the same personality,” Roberts said, adding that Ohtani has seemed looser and more easygoing the past couple of days.
“We have a chance to put it together against another opponent, a really good opponent, very well-coached, phenomenal talent on this team, but it all starts with No. 3,” Chesney said.
And while No. 3, Cal quarterback Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele, may be familiar with UCLA’s defensive scheme and personnel — telling reporters Tuesday that the offense has been studying film from James Madison’s 2025 unit for the past few weeks — he may not be as accustomed with the defense’s new identity.
Defensive lineman Sahir West, who transferred to from James Madison to UCLA, says the Bruins have embraced their coach’s emphasis on toughness and attention to detail.
(Robert Simmons / Associated Press)
UCLA defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler, who has made stops as defensive coordinator and safeties coach at JMU, Alabama, Wisconsin and Cincinnati during the past six years, wanted his defense to enter 2026 with a brand — a reputation to describe the team’s play.
And after presenting his team with different options, the defense settled on the “Bruin Bullies,” a name based on the 1970s Philadelphia Flyers “Broad Street Bullies” — an homage to Hitschler’s home city.
“It’s a lifestyle, it’s a mentality more than anything,” Hitschler said. “It’s what we need to do to win the next play. That toughness, that internal belief. That’s what it’s about.”
Since arriving in Westwood, Hitschler has consistently been touted for his toughness and encouraging his players to compete with an unwavering belief — values he developed as a wrestler.
Hitschler, who won a national prep championship at William Penn Charter School and then wrestled at the University of Pennsylvania from 2005 to 2010, grew up in Philadelphia surrounded by the sport, with his older brother, father and grandfather all lettering at his alma mater, and his father working as a longtime football and wrestling coach at his high school.
“Wrestling is a unique sport in that it’s an individual sport, and you walk out on a mat and you win or lose, and it’s all about just you,” Hitschler said. “It’s a glorified fight with rules. Winning your individual battle in football is what leads to team success, and when those guys really buy into that toughness that it takes to beat the guy across from you, then you’re going to have a really good defense.”
Beyond toughness, Hitschler wanted the Bruins to show intensity and relentless attention to detail, emphasizing the importance of “being intentional in everything you do.”
“The first fundamental is effort and attitude, which is four to six, A to B, and nasty intentions,” UCLA sophomore linebacker Scott Taylor said. “He won’t tolerate low effort or low intensity, and it could be on any play. … We might do all the things we want to do, and then we’re going to come back to meeting that night, and he’s going to pull up the three bad clips from practice and go, ‘This is unacceptable. We better fix it tomorrow.’”
Hitschler’s emphasis on attacking extends to the secondary.
“All 11 guys want to tackle the ball. We have some really tough kids playing [defensive back.] … Those guys love hitting,” Hitschler said.
Hitschler’s track record developing elite defensive backs — such as the Indianapolis Colts’ Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, Chicago Bears’ Coby Bryant and San Francisco 49ers’ Darrick Forest — drew players such as Derrick Barksdale to UCLA.
“His intensity level, the way he approaches the game, is something that inspires a player to even play even harder, play with even more technique, or play with more detail,” Barksdale said.
James Madison’s Derrick Barksdale said UCLA defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler’s history of developing players inspired him to join the Bruins.
(Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
Hitschler’s revitalized defense will have to create splash plays — something the Bruins lacked last season, finishing last in the nation in sacks and tying for third worst in interceptions — if it wants to stop the potent Cal offense.
“Takeaways are all about playing longer and harder than the offense does, and our job doesn’t stop till somebody or the ball is on the ground,” Taylor said. “Personnel aside, the way we’re going to attack offenses, and the way we’re going to play on defense, is going to create stress and chaos for every team we play. Inherently, with how we play, there’s going to be a lot of big plays, and we’re not going to sit back and hope that the offense messes up.”
Junior defensive lineman Sahir West said the UCLA defense has fully embraced the challenge of being “Bruin Bullies” all season.
“That’s who we truly want to be. That’s not just a moniker. That’s what we live by. That’s basically the brand of football that we want to play,” West said. “Be bullies on the field. Be dominant. Take play by play. Just play hard. That’s who we are.”
Arizona State hockey player Matthew Mayich remains incapacitated more than two weeks after he collapsed during an outdoor team practice in Tempe.
“Matthew’s injuries [are] from exertional heat stroke that caused the lack of oxygen to his brain,” the family’s attorney, Robert Carey, told The Times on Thursday. “There were no other contributing conditions, only exertion-related heat. This is not a coma, and the family is at his bedside praying for a miracle.”
While the family has not given up on the 21-year-old former draft pick of the St. Louis Blues, Carey said the prognosis they have received is not good.
“He’s been incapacitated from the moment he left the field, and with no chance of recovering,” said Carey, who added that he is limited on what he has been authorized to discuss concerning Mayich’s condition.
He added that the family is “just giving him a chance to have a miracle. And when they decide that’s not coming — I don’t know. They’re in a position no parent should ever be in.”
Mayich was selected by the Blues in the sixth round of the 2023 draft but never signed with the team. He played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League and one at Clarkson University last season before transferring to Arizona State.
Arizona State and its police department referred questions from The Times to a recent statement from the university. In its statement, the university did not mention Mayich by name because of “privacy interests” but talked about an ASU hockey player “who collapsed during an outdoor workout on Aug. 20” and “remains hospitalized.”
Arizona State said that the workout was a team event at which coaches and training staff were present, “along with a third party who had previously worked with the ASU Hockey team.”
The university stressed that it has policies regarding the engagement of “outside entities who interact with ASU student-athletes” and heat-illness guidelines for outdoor workouts. It added that James Rund, senior vice president for educational outreach and student services, would lead a review into the “circumstances surrounding the workout and related university policies, procedures and training protocols.”
“The review will take the time needed to collect and assess information in a manner that is thoughtful, respectful of the student-athlete, his family, his teammates and ASU’s privacy obligations,” the statement says.
The practice took place on a field outside the team’s on-campus arena. According to the university’s statement, the campus police department responded to a 911 call at approximately 8:30 a.m. “and began investigating as they would anytime they are called to a serious incident.”
The temperature at around that time in Tempe that morning was in the upper 80s.
Carey said that from talking to people who were present at the practice and relying on “other objective evidence,” he has determined that it was a military-style practice that ran “nonstop for well over an hour. And there was no rest, and there was almost no water.”
“Matthew was struggling,” Carey said, based on the information he has gathered. “He was disoriented, confused, dizzy, well before he collapsed. … Matthew was demonstrating signs of a problem well before he collapsed, and they did nothing.”
After Mayich’s collapse, Carey said, the staff was “completely and utterly unprepared” to treat him.
“So when he left the field that day, by the time he got to the hospital, there was almost zero chance of recovery,” Carey said.
Carey, who was chief deputy attorney general of Arizona during the 1990s, said he has been retained as the family’s counsel to help guide them through the situation, but no decision about any kind of legal action has been made at this point.
“They’re not going to make any decisions, and I’m not going to make any recommendations, until we get an investigation completed that’s transparent and robust and competent,” Carey said. “We need to know what happened before we can say you have rights or here’s a way to fix things for other kids down the road. …
“We just need to see what the evidence is. That’s our main goal right now, let’s go get the evidence and figure out what happened.”
He added that the family wanted him to express their gratitude for the outpouring of support they’ve gotten during this time.
“They’re from Canada and they’re in Arizona, where they had no connection really, and they’re sitting in a hospital every day,” Carey said, “and they’re just very appreciative of the support they’ve received across the country to help them.”
City clung on to a nervy victory against the Sky Blues to maintain their 100% winning start to the season, but managed to get the job done courtesy of a string of saves from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Haaland continued his fine start to the season by converting his third goal in as many games from Antoine Semenyo’s deep cross, which came after Fernandez played through a slide-rule pass to the Ghanaian.
Playing in the number eight role, Argentina international Fernandez was given licence to roam and make late bursts into the box – he touched the ball six times in the opposition area, with only Haaland managing more with 11.
Fernandez could have had a dream debut but saw two shots blocked, before being replaced after 76 minutes by fellow summer signing Ayyoub Bouaddi.
The 18-year-old Morocco international was part of City’s midfield rebuild and highlights the options available to Maresca despite the departures of Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez.
Ndiaye, meanwhile, became the first Senegalese player to represent City and is bound to give opposition defenders with his trickery and pace. No player attempted more dribbles in the match than his eight.
Maresca said: “Enzo and Iliman [played their] first game with us and then Ayyoub and Ryan [McAidoo] their first game in front of our fans.
“That is why I said there are many reasons I am happy about our win. I think they were all good.
“Ili just had two sessions with us. He needs to understand how to move. Most of the time he was moving in the wrong way, wrong position, but he needs to learn and for sure he is going to learn.”
Asked to elaborate on Ndiaye’s performance, Maresca said: “When Marc Guehi has the ball and he was dropping a lot and we don’t need that.
“We need him in the last third so he can be a little bit more higher. That space was more for Josko Gvardiol.
“It is the same thing in this [other] side. But it is normal and with time they will learn the way we want them to play.”
The sun hadn’t even set yet over the Coliseum, and already Trent Mosley had broken free, with nary a defender within 15 yards on either side.
It was the start of the second quarter on Friday night, when USC quarterback Jayden Maiava spotted his budding star freshman soaring on a slot post through the wide-open center of the field. And a split-second later the crowd saw it, too — their quiet rumbles rising to a thrilling roar, as if they knew what was coming next.
One ankle-twisting stutter-step is all it took for the true freshman to take off, once again. And it didn’t take much after that for USC to stick a fork in Fresno State.
But while Mosley captivated once again and Maiava came alive, it was Gary Patterson and the Trojans’ defense that really twisted the knife in a dominant 39-0 win for USC.
A week ago, it was Patterson who took the Trojans’ poor finish the hardest after they gave up 23 points in the fourth quarter to San José State. But a week spent looking in the mirror seemed to make a major difference as USC (2-0) managed its first shutout since Week 2 of the 2024 season.
“He loves shutouts,” sophomore defensive back Alex Graham said of the Trojans’ defensive coordinator. “He thinks shutouts are the best thing in the world.”
Patterson must have felt particularly thrilled Friday, considering how thoroughly USC’s defense dismantled Fresno State. The Bulldogs had just 56 yards heading into their final drive, 52 of which they accumulated in the first quarter.
“I told you guys,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said, “he makes it challenging on the other side.”
That was an understatement, given what happened after Mosley’s tide-turning touchdown. With the Bulldogs backed up against their goal line, Patterson dialed up a nickel blitz — and Fresno State didn’t account for it. So defensive back Kennedy Urlacher came flying into the backfield and collided into Bulldogs quarterback Jayden Mandal, who fell out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
“That’s just great coaching,” Urlacher said. “Coach knows what to call in certain situations.”
USC coach Lincoln Riley, center, celebrates during the Trojans’ 39-0 win over Fresno State at the Coliseum on Friday night.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Patterson had no problem pouring it on, as it didn’t get any less demoralizing for Fresno State (0-1) after that. USC’s defense didn’t give up a single yard or a first down in the second and third quarters. And over that stretch, the Trojans gave up just one completed pass.
USC’s defense actually tallied more safeties (two) during that same stretch.
The second, from defensive back Alex Graham, came a quarter later, and it looked quite familiar. This time, Graham came screaming out of the slot on the same blitz and leveled Mandal in the end zone. It was one of three sacks that USC registered off the nickel blitz — and one of four overall.
The combination of an all-around dominant defensive effort, with the Trojans’ usual offensive mastery, offered a glimpse of what USC hopes it can be this season. The question is whether it can actually do it again moving forward.
Maiava might have a hard time staying quite this perfect. The USC quarterback had one of the most precise performances of his Trojans tenure, completing 23 of 25 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns. Through two games, just six of his 54 passes have ended up incomplete.
“It’s more than perfect,” wideout Corey Simms said. “It’s amazing playing with a quarterback like Jayden Maiava.”
It certainly doesn’t hurt to have Mosley, who notched his second consecutive 100-yard game, tallying all of his 104 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter. Or what about Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, his freshman counterpart? He had 102 yards on six catches.
USC was all but unstoppable through the air. But on a night where there was little to nitpick, the Trojans weren’t exactly efficient on the ground. Their ballcarriers averaged under four yards per carry, and Waymond Jordan, USC’s leading rusher with 67 yards, lost a fumble.
But with Maiava doing most of the heavy lifting, USC barely needed its backfield.
Maiava completed 19 of his first 20 passes, picking up where he left off last week when he connected on 25 of 29 in the opener. Faced with an early fourth down, he heaved a pass deep down the sideline for Dixon-Wyatt, who leaped over a defender to reel in a 31-yard reception. Three plays later, he found sophomore wideout Tanook Hines streaking across the end zone, uncovered, and hit him for an opening score.
USC running back Deshonne Redeaux scores a touchdown after Fresno State defensive back Taylor Powell, left, fails to tackle him during the second half of the Trojans’ 39-0 win Friday night at the Coliseum.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
He didn’t take his foot off the gas. After Jordan fumbled away a screen pass, Maiava later found Mosley for that 68-yard score. Then he didn’t miss a single pass for another two quarters.
By that point, USC’s defense had found another level.
It wasn’t until the final drive that Fresno State managed to move the ball. The Bulldogs tallied more yards on that possession (60) than they had the rest of the game combined, and they managed to march to the Trojans’ eight-yard line.
But that was as far as Fresno State would go. This time, on fourth down, a pack of Trojan defenders descended. They piled on Mandal for a game-ending sack.
On the sideline, players crowded around Patterson, jumping for joy. And in the center of the chaos, the Trojans’ new defensive coordinator cracked a smile.
A few months after Mark Walter became the chairman and majority owner of the Dodgers, he was told a fan in one of Dodger Stadium’s upper decks was upset about a mix-up with his tickets.
On most days, that would be an issue for an usher to handle. Not on this day.
Walter and team president Stan Kasten decided to address the problem, climbing the narrow stairwell to the top level where they found the fan and listened to his complaint.
“Obviously the guy was floored just to see me, let alone to see Mark,” Kasten said. “Mark, he’s incredibly comfortable around people. Not just his peers, but average fans. Because he considers himself an average fan.”
The Dodgers’ billionaire owner, hardly an average fan, is under intense scrutiny these days, following the sale of his controlling interest in the Lakers and a federal investigation into his business dealings. The drama has come as a surprise to some who know Walter, who has earned respect for his financial acumen and, despite his purchases of high-profile sports teams, has tended to dodge publicity.
He put together the ownership group that bought the Dodgers in 2012. Since the purchase, the team has played in five World Series, winning three, and finished first in the National League West 12 times in 14 seasons. It’s the greatest sustained run of excellence in baseball in more than a generation.
Walter waves to the crowd during the Dodgers’ ring ceremony in March.
(Jessie Alcheh/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
If the Dodgers win a third straight World Series this fall, they will become the first team to three-peat this century. And much of the credit for that would go to Walter, who has funded a front office that consistently has outspent the rest of Major League Baseball, signing seven players to contracts worth more than $2 billion combined in the last six years alone.
Now Walter faces questions about his future owning the Dodgers. Last month, his companies became the focus of two federal inquiries and a Delaware insurance regulatory review.
He is helping pay off some of his companies’ loans and sold the Lakers at a record valuation of $12.5 billion, a deal Walter’s holding company, TWG Global, says was not forced by the inquiries. Still, the sale raised questions about whether he will sell his ownership stakes in other sports properties, including English soccer club Chelsea, the Cadillac Formula One racing team, the WNBA’s Sparks and the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
Walter declined to comment for this article.
Kasten insists Walter has no plans to divest from the Dodgers. “The sports portfolio is going to remain intact,” Kasten said. “It’s important to Mark. I can’t tell you how important the Dodgers are to him.”
Still, Kasten acknowledges the decision to sell the Lakers to former Disney chief executive Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner just 14 months after agreeing to buy the team “was not a planned thing,” either.
Walter hoists the World Series trophy next to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred last November.
(Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Like most of the middle-class kids in the class of 1978 at Jefferson High in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Walter worked in high school.
“He pumped gas and he played golf,” recalled Cathy Boland Polito, Walter’s date for the senior prom who is now a retired medical technologist living in Oro Valley, Ariz.
Walter hardly stood out in his graduating class of about 350 students. He was athletic but not a stud. He was a good student, especially in math, but not a nerd.
“He was friendly. He was nice,” Polito said. “Everybody sort of knew him.”
Walter talks with Dodgers president Stan Kasten during the playoffs last year. “I can’t tell you how important the Dodgers are to him,” Kasten says.
(Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
Walter went to Creighton University , where he studied accounting and business while playing intramural sports and participating in the philosophy society. Three years later, he earned a law degree from Northwestern.
Walter met his wife, Kimbra, in Chicago, where they raised their daughter, Samantha.
After a decade split between a Chicago law firm and First Chicago Capital Markets, a financial services and securities brokerage, Walter founded an investment firm, Liberty Hampshire Co., in 1996. While there he met J. Todd Morley, who connected him with the Guggenheim family fortune. The introduction quickly led to the formation of Guggenheim Partners, an investment and advisory financial services firm that works with insurance services, among other assets, and one that has a Wall Street reputation for being low-key but aggressive.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic closed Guggenheim’s offices, the lobby of the firm’s Chicago headquarters on the 49th floor of the AT&T Center boasted one of Monet’s “Water Lilies” paintings, which hung behind the receptionist’s desk inside a glass case with an alarm. A Picasso brightened another office upstairs.
Walter with Guggenheim Baseball Management partners Peter Guber, left, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson at Dodger Stadium in 2012 after the group bought the Dodgers for $2 billion.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
A company insider not authorized to speak publicly told The Times in 2012 that Walter was a disciplined, focused and careful investor.
“He is a guy with one of the great financial minds of our time,” the person said.
For Walter, 66, who grew up playing youth baseball about 50 miles from the Iowa cornfield that became Kevin Costner’s “Field of Dreams,” that financial success was all well and good. But the longtime Chicago Cubs season-ticket holder really was a die-hard baseball fan whose dream was to own a sports franchise.
Walter first explored a purchase of the Houston Astros, who eventually were sold to Houston businessman Jim Crane for $615 million ahead of the 2012 season. So Walter pivoted and formed Guggenheim Baseball Management, a group that included Kasten, Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, movie producer Peter Guber and investors Bobby Patton and Todd Boehly, to buy the Dodgers for $2.15 billion, a record at the time, in March 2012. Part of the money Walter invested in the deal came from the insurers he controlled, although that deal was vetted by state insurance regulators.
MLB engineered the sale of the Dodgers after previous owner Frank McCourt filed for bankruptcy.
“The market drove the price,” Walter told The Times after the sale closed, calling the investment “a multigenerational thing my daughter’s granddaughters will own.” Walter’s daughter, who grew up joining family trips to Los Angeles for Dodgers games, is a marketing manager at TWG Global.
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1.WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 02: U.S. President Joe Biden (C) holds the jersey given to him by Los Angeles Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter during an event with the 2020 World Series champions in the East Room of the White House on July 02, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win the championship series at the end of an abbreviated season due to the coronavirus. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)2.WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 07: (L-R) Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Los Angeles Dodgers Owner and Chairman Mark Walter pose with a jersey presented to Trump as he hosts the 2024 World Series champions in the East Room of the White House on April 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees with a 7-6 victory in Game 5. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)(Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)
Today, the team is the most lucrative in the sport and is on pace to become just the second this century to draw more than 4 million fans in consecutive seasons. The Dodgers could be sold for a valuation of $10 billion to $13 billion — at the higher end, three times as much as the record sale price for a major league team — an industry source told The Times on the condition of anonymity.
Through it all, Walter mostly has shunned attention. The exception is participating in on-field championship celebrations and joining the team for trips to the White House during the Trump and Biden administrations.
His smooth run was interrupted during the Dodgers’ run to the 2024 World Series when Walter suffered a stroke that kept him from the victory celebration. His recovery reportedly was arduous; Walter struggled to speak clearly for months and didn’t return to public view until the Dodgers’ season-opening series in Japan the following spring.
Walter didn’t publicly step down from any roles after the stroke, holding on to control of a vast portfolio. Since buying the Dodgers, he has invested in European soccer, women’s hockey and basketball, squash and auto racing. He also bought several historic buildings in the resort town of Crested Butte, Colo., where he and his philanthropist wife own a home. In 2013, the couple purchased the Wild Oak Plantation, a 17,000-acre wildlife preserve in northeast Florida, where the Walters now spend most of their time.
Kimbra has served on the boards of Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, OneGoal nonprofit and Goodman Theatre and is active in the family’s charitable organization, TWF Causes, which focuses on social impact and conservation work, including owning or supporting several major conservation and private reserve properties in Africa.
The family has a limited political footprint, with Walter donating to the Democratic National Committee and the campaigns of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama and then-Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel. The majority of their donations, however, run through their family foundation and the Dodgers Foundation.
“For us, my wife and I, and all of my partners believe that corporations have to be corporate citizens, and individuals who benefit from them, or who have built them, need to give back,” Walter told ESPN soon after buying the Dodgers. “You can’t take it with you, and you ought to do something philanthropic with it.”
But while he’s put money into charitable projects, he’s invested his heart and soul in the Dodgers, Kasten said.
“He cares deeply about it,” the Dodgers president said. “He’s living through every play, every out, every at-bat.”
However much longer Walter remains invested in the Dodgers — financially, at least — could come down to math.
Justice Department prosecutors, the Securities and Exchange Commission and a Delaware insurance regulator are investigating whether Walter funneled as much as $21 billion from the portfolios of two insurance companies he owns into private credit for loans to other companies he also controls while reporting just a fraction of the loans’ value. The Wall Street Journal and the Athletic reported Walter used billions of dollars of those insurance premiums to buy sports teams.
Such “related party transactions” are legal, within limits, but are required to be reported to guard against conflicts of interest and to protect clients.
In Walter’s case, the related-party loans f initially were reported at between $1 billion and $1.4 billion when the true total actually was between $16 billion and $21 billion. The reclassification meant the affiliated investments jumped from 2% of one insurer’s portfolio to about 40%, according to Fitch Ratings.
No formal charges have been filed, and TWG Global, the multinational holding company led by Walter, is cooperating in the investigation. Walter has declined to be interviewed or to respond to written questions about the investigation, but his representatives have strongly denied any improper behavior, describing reports of the probe as “substantial speculation and misinformation” advanced by “unnamed sources and self-serving interests.”
“It does not inspire confidence to know that this kind of wild understatement happened,” said Andrew Granato, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in corporate finance and insurance. “It also doesn’t inspire very much confidence in the system of insurance regulation we have, that there could be this big of a mess that was not caught for years.”
Walter hired veteran Goldman Sachs lawyer David Markowitz to be his chief legal officer and reportedly is exploring the sale of his 12.8% stake in the Chelsea soccer club to Clearlake Capital, a Santa Monica-based private-equity firm whose Puerto Rican-born co-founder, José E. Feliciano, recently bought the San Diego Padres.
A source close to Walter not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times he has an interest in selling Chelsea if the terms are right but insisted there is no desire to sell the Sparks, the PWHL, his investment in professional squash or, more prominently, his stake in the Dodgers.
While Kasten and TWG Global officials insist the Dodgers aren’t for sale, uncertainty likely will linger at least until all investigations are completed.
Times staff writer Mirjam Swanson contributed to this report.
Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes has stepped down and is set to join Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal.
Hughes had only been at the club since June 2024, after moving from a similar position at Bournemouth, and his exit had been expected with his contract set to expire in June 2027.
In the summer he oversaw transfer spending of about £200m, including the signing of Bradley Barcola from Paris St-Germain.
“I’ll always follow and support the club with great affection, and I wish everyone involved nothing but success for this season and beyond,” said Hughes in a statement released by Liverpool.
Hughes, 47, arrived at Anfield after the departure of long-time manager Jurgen Klopp and was instrumental in the appointment of his successor, Arne Slot, who led Liverpool to a 20th Premier League title in his first season as manager.
Hughes oversaw the £125m record signing of Alexander Isak last summer and the £116m arrival of Florian Wirtz.
But Slot was unable to match his initial success and Liverpool finished fifth last season, prompting the Dutch manager’s departure and his replacement by Andoni Iraola, whom Hughes worked with at Bournemouth.
Mike Gordon, president of the Fenway Sports Group which owns Liverpool, said: “We respect Richard’s life choices and wish him and his family well in their next venture.”
Al-Hilal spent almost £180m signing Premier League players in the summer transfer window.
Al-Hilal, who are managed by former Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi, also secured the services of Netherlands midfielder Cyrenscio Summerville from West Ham for £60m.
Five-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar will not race again this season after suffering injuries including a neck fracture at the Vuelta a Espana.
The injury, which he suffered last month on the race’s eighth stage, means the Slovenian will miss out on the chance to defend his title at the upcoming World Championships.
He crashed out of the Vuelta from a dominant position as race leader and required surgery on a broken collarbone, suffered a concussion, a “stable” fracture in his neck and multiple abrasions.
The 27-year-old, who was aiming to complete the set of Grand Tour titles, adding the Vuelta to his single Giro d’Italia victory and Tour de France wins, was due to defend his rainbow jersey at the World Championships in Montreal later this month.
“Of course, this isn’t the way I wanted my season to finish,” Pogacar said in a statement released by his team, UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
“Right now, the most important thing is to recover properly and give my body the time it needs.
“It has been a season with many special moments and I’m proud of what we achieved together. Now I’ll focus on getting healthy, supporting the guys from home, and coming back next year ready for what’s ahead.”
In October, Pogacar was due to defend his title at the European Championships in Ljubljana, in his home country, and in the Il Lombardia – the final one-day Monument race of the season.
The team said that the decision not to race again until 2027 would allow him to return to full health “without placing a timeline on his return to competition”.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG also announced their leading rider had agreed to extend his contract by two years, until 2032.
Cheer captain. Student body president. Leader for Shoes for Souls, a nonprofit that gives out shoes to people in need.
Sarah Sobel is one busy teenager at Sierra Canyon High. She knows how to be organized, which her father, David, an assistant athletic director, probably offered some tips to follow.
Sarah took over running Shoes for Souls from her sister, Lindsay, who created the organization in 2016. More than 70,000 shoes have been donated.
High school is a balancing act between academics, school activities and other responsibilities. So far, Sarah is finding time to do all of it.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
The first edition of the remade “60 Minutes” under CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss debuts Sept. 13 with a reliable formula from the venerable newsmagazine’s playbook.
Correspondent Jon Wertheim will lead off the 59th season with an in-depth look at the Los Angeles Rams, the favorite of oddsmakers to win the Super Bowl this season. Wertheim sits down with Rams general manager Les Snead, head coach Sean McVay and veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford. The segment will also explore team owner Stan Kroenke’s investment in technology, including artificial intelligence, to help the team gain an edge on the field.
Jon Wertheim interviews Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.
(CBS News)
“60 Minutes” has often turned to sports-related segments when a season premiere follows a late afternoon NFL game. Last year, Wertheim profiled Ultimate Fighting Championship Chief Executive Dana White for the 58th season premiere. The program scored more than 10 million viewers and was the most-watched non-sports program of the week. In 2023, Wertheim interviewed University of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders for the 56th season opener.
CBS News will be under pressure to have “60 Minutes” get off to a strong start in the ratings following the major upheaval at the program earlier this year.
After the completion of a successful season where ratings were up 9% over the previous year, Weiss fired “60 Minutes” correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega — both of whom complained that the executive pushed them to add right-wing talking points to their stories. Weiss also dismissed “60 Minutes” executive producer Tanya Simon and replaced her with screenwriter and documentary filmmaker Nick Bilton, who has no previous experience in TV news.
In response to the firings, longtime correspondent Scott Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering” the program and claimed she was putting “her thumb on the scale” for more favorable coverage of President Trump’s administration. Pelley was shown the door with cause after confronting management at a June 1 meeting. CBS denied the claims.
The discord meant the program spent much of the summer hiring replacement correspondents, including Ross Douthat, a conservative New York Times opinion writer with no experience as a TV journalist.
Weiss, founder of the heterodox digital news site the Free Press, was hired by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison with a mandate to pull the news division to the political center. The stated goal has put every move by Weiss under heavy scrutiny, as many critics have suggested she is at the network to placate the Trump White House while Paramount pursues its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Other new “60 Minutes” contributors include author and journalist Sebastian Junger, former CNN and Vice News correspondent Gianna Toboni, and Trevor Phillips, a British journalist who joined CBS News earlier this year as a senior global affairs correspondent. They will join correspondents Wertheim, Norah O’Donnell, Bill Whitaker and Lesley Stahl.
The program will also feature stories with CBS News correspondents outside of the core group at “60 Minutes,” such as Seth Doane and Matt Gutman.
The other two segments on the “60 Minutes” premiere, — which could include a significant newsmaker interview, — will be announced sometime next week.
This year’s premiere should get a strong boost, as most of the country will get CBS coverage of a late afternoon match-up between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings, two contenders in the highly competitive NFC North. The network’s pregame show “The NFL Today” is traveling to Green Bay for the telecast.
Initially, it seemed Campbell’s time in the gym would serve the sole purpose of learning self-defence before moving to secondary school a couple of years later.
That was until he started competing in amateur competitions, slowly but surely becoming obsessed with his newfound escape from the difficulties he faced at school.
“I was quite a soft kid, in the sense that I didn’t really like the violence or the fighting,” Campbell said.
“I felt like when I did fight, and when I really did go into it, everything changed and I never looked back.”
Aged 15, he won his first international Muay Thai title and started to realise that, with the blessing of his parents, combat sports could become more than just a pastime.
“I was never the cleverest kid. I was always in the bottom sets at school, so I wasn’t really focused,” Campbell said.
“All of the teachers told me, ‘you need to do something else. You have to have a plan B.'”
But for Campbell, who was beginning to attract attention across Merseyside, his unwavering commitment to the sport meant there was no need for a back-up plan.
That included regularly running almost five miles to and from school. There was even one occasion when he missed school while studying for his GCSEs to attend a coaching seminar in Liverpool hosted by John Kavanagh – the coach of former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor.
After completing his GCSE exams at the age of 16, Campbell enrolled on a college course that combined studying for a qualification in sport with playing football.
Or at least that was what he was supposed to be doing.
Campbell struck an arrangement with the course leads that allowed him to attend classes before leaving to train in combat sports, while his peers were on the football pitch.
“I was always avoiding anything just for fighting,” Campbell said.
“I really didn’t like school. It wasn’t me. But I made a good few mates there, so you’ve got to take the pros with the cons.”
