belief

CHICAGO — In the nearly nine months since he was hired as head coach at UCLA, Bob Chesney has won over a lot of hearts and minds with his unwavering sense of belief.

First, he won over his star quarterback, Nico Iamaleava, who opted to stick with the Bruins after a 3-9 season a year ago. He won over 45 new transfers, who came to UCLA as part of the portal’s 11th-ranked class and seems to be winning over recruits, too, with UCLA currently ranked in the top 10 among 2027 classes. He even won over once-dormant Bruin donors, who, according to the school’s athletic department, have now poured over $41 million in private support into UCLA athletics over the past fiscal year, an increase of 80% from the previous year.

“It’s his energy, man,” Iamaleava said. “He brings a different type of energy.”

At this point, the only thing it seems Chesney hasn’t won yet at UCLA is an actual football game.

He couldn’t do anything about that Wednesday from the podium at Big Ten media days. Though, as far as first impressions go in this conference, Chesney certainly had a leg up on his predecessor, who stumbled through his own opening address two years ago.

But as the season draws nearer and a new era of Bruin football begins, all the enthusiasm does beg the question: What does a successful debut actually look like for Chesney at UCLA?

Chesney said Wednesday he had no interest in setting those expectations or “in putting artificial limits on ourselves.”

“Outcomes have to be earned,” he said. “And I think in the end, potential is a gift, right? The work is becoming. That’s the work.”

Considering UCLA’s recent history, you can understand why Chesney wouldn’t want to wade too far into setting expectations. Hope, after all, may be his most valuable resource at the moment.

The Bruins are coming off a season in which they won just three games, their fewest in more than 54 years. They’ve reached the nine-win mark once in the past decade. And just two UCLA coaches in a half-century — Jim Mora and Terry Donahue — have clocked a winning campaign in their debut seasons with the Bruins.

“There’s no better place I’d rather be at this moment in time,” Chesney said. “I strongly believe in the power of what UCLA is.”

The collective Big Ten media seems less convinced, having voted the Bruins to finish 13th in their preseason conference poll. That’s exactly where they finished last season.

But there are some things working in Chesney’s favor. For one, a schedule that includes just four opponents picked to finish in the top half of the Big Ten.

It doesn’t hurt, either, that his quarterback got a full spring and summer under his belt as a Bruin. Iamaleava didn’t join the program until late in the process last season after his transfer portal drama dragged out through the spring and summer. Then once he started to find his bearings, UCLA’s coach was fired.

There was no such uncertainty this offseason, as Chesney moved to quickly retain Iamaleava.

“It was a matter of making sure he understood we had a plan,” Chesney said. “That was the most important thing we could do to make sure he stuck around and he did.”

Not only was Iamaleava impressed with his plans to prepare him for the NFL, but he found himself right away swept up in the coach’s personality.

“When you first talk to him,” Iamaleava said, “it kind of sounds like you’re talking to a poet or something, the way the words roll off.”

Chesney is counting on Iamaleava to make things move smoothly for UCLA’s offense this season. But the most marked difference for the Bruins on that side of the ball should be the ground game.

The Bruins boasted one of the least dynamic rushing attacks in the Big Ten a season ago, as Iamaleava led the team with just 505 rushing yards. Their lead running back, Jalen Berger, rushed for a meager 364 yards over the course of the season.

Meanwhile, at James Madison, Chesney had three running backs with as many yards last season. The Dukes rushed for the fifth-most yards (3,381) of any Football Bowl Subdivision team.

Their lead rusher, Wayne Knight, followed Chesney to UCLA and should step in as one of the best backs the Bruins have had in years. Of the 30 backs in college football with over 200 carries, Knight averaged the most yards per carry last season (6.63).

“There’ll be a commitment to playing that style of football,” Chesney said.

The rest is mostly just a projection, a fact that Chesney openly acknowledges.

“Everything here is ultimately conceptual,” he says.

But one change has already taken hold, if you ask Iamaleava. One that might appear unrecognizable from recent history at UCLA.

“He’s definitely changed the mindset in there, just how you feel. I don’t know how to explain it,” Iamaleava said.

“When Ches walks into a room, he just brings that winning mentality.”

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham stands by her comments about transgender athletes competing: She says she just ‘wants to protect’ women’s sports.

Despite her views that were expressed in an ESPN article published Tuesday, Cunningham insisted the next day that she doesn’t have anything against the transgender community.

“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” Cunningham said in the article. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

The article became fodder for questions Wednesday before the Fever’s 123-88 victory against the Connecticut Sun.

“I think it’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham told reporters. “And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. And so I’ll stand on what I said, and I’ll always believe that.”

She reiterated that her feelings on the matter don’t stem from hatred.

“I think there is room for absolutely everyone here, and I think there is room to love everyone,” Cunningham said. “I truly think when you get people in the same room and you have conversations, you actually have a lot in common with a lot of people. And so I’m there to love.

“But I’m also there to love biological women, and I think that there are rights that need to be protected. And, like I said, I’m gonna stand true to that. I’ll never falter in my beliefs in that. But I have never once said that I hated the trans community. Like I said, I think there’s space for everyone.”

Cunningham appeared to triple down on her comments Thursday morning on Instagram, writing simply, “I said what I said.”

The topic of transgender athletes participating in women’s sports has become a polarizing issue in recent years. In February 2025, President Trump signed an executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” that looked to ensure that entities receiving federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the administration’s view that a person’s sex is the gender they were assigned at birth.

Last month, the Supreme Court upheld laws in West Virginia and Idaho that banned transgender athletes from competing on girls’ sports teams. Days later, two transgender girls who were the first to challenge Trump’s executive order dropped their lawsuit in New Hampshire.

“Men should not be playing in women’s sports. It’s completely ludicrous that anyone could support that,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday. “It’s even more ludicrous that you do have [Sophie] Cunningham — a female athlete herself, very accomplished in her own right — coming forth and speaking that truth that men shouldn’t play in women’s sports, we want to protect women and girls, and the backlash she is receiving from Democrats and left-wing figures across the country is astonishing.”

The league’s collective bargaining agreement states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” but does not specifically exclude transgender women. When reached for comment, a WNBA representative referred The Times to a statement released by the Fever on Wednesday.

“Our players are thoughtful adults with their own perspectives and voices, and those views are their own,” the team said. “We are committed to welcoming fans from every background and treating everyone with respect, and that’s what guides us as an organization.”

Cunningham has been called “MAGA Barbie” since her college days at Missouri, according to Complex, because some of the people she follows and engagement with conservatives on social media.

In 2022, when Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship, Cunningham reposted a since-deleted tweet stating that “female collegiate athletes deserve so much better than this.”

Soon after, Cunningham posted a statement saying that she stands “with all people, especially my fellow athletes.”

“I do not judge, but support all races, religions, sexual preferences and gender equity,” she wrote. “We all have a place in this world to compete and I hope we are able to grant everyone that opportunity fairly.”

Even with a seeming endorsement from the White House and a nickname that’s followed her, Cunningham says her political views are “very much in the middle.”

“I agree with things on both sides, disagree with things on both sides,” she said in the ESPN article. “And that’s all I’ve ever said about my political beliefs. But people love to assume.”

On Wednesday, Cunningham went into more detail, telling reporters “I’m not a very political person.”

“But I do have beliefs, I have morals, and I’ll always stand on those and be true to who I am,” she added. “… And so when it comes to just protecting young girls in sport and women in sport, I feel very strongly about that.

“That’s why you have Title IX. That’s why you have some of the greats in women’s sports. If Title IX and women’s sports weren’t protected, then you wouldn’t hear about any type of women in sport.”

Netflix viewers are binge watching the four part series, which has already found itself in the top 10

A “disturbing” true crime series that gives viewers nightmares is available to stream in full.

Earlier this week (July 1), streaming giant Netflix released four part series Worst Neighbor Ever, which comes from the same creators of shows Worst Ex Ever and Worst Roommate Ever.

Spanning across four episodes, it plunges viewers into real life neighbour disputes that often escalate to violence, and even murder. Through chilling body cam and CCTV footage as well as heartbreaking interviews with victims, the series also offers a unique approach by using animated re-enactments.

Promising to show cases that are “more shocking than ever”, an official synopsis teased: “You think you know your neighbors? Think again.

“This new series features first-hand accounts of violence, intimidation, and harassment that are more shocking than ever. Through compelling testimonials, startling body cam footage, and animated re-enactments, Worst Neighbor Ever proves the people next door aren’t just a nuisance – they’re lethal.”

The cases included a huge insurance scam explosion that had a catastrophic impact on one community, as well as a suspect’s chilling moves before a brutal shooting that left one dad dead.

Already, Worst Neighbor Ever has found itself in the top 10, surpassing other new releases taking the top spot.

Viewers cannot stop binge watching the four part anthology series, with some having “nightmares” from the harrowing cases shown.

Taking to X, one person wrote: “Episode 3 of #WorstNeighborEver has in my tearssssss. J**** man.” Another said: “#worstneighborever is crazy.”

A third fumed: “this #WorstNeighborEver series is ridiculous. there’s really some evil people out here.”

A fourth added: “These #WorstNeighborEver cases get worse and worse omg.” A fifth commented: “Episode 3 of worst neighbor ever just ruined my mf dayyyyyy!!!!!”

Another stated: “Every single episode of #WorstNeighborEver has made me cry, episode 3 especially.”

Over on TikTok, one true crime fan said the show was “unbelievably shocking” as they said in a video: “It did not disappoint, it was absolutely fantastic and I am shocked beyond belief.” They added it made then “so sad and so angry”.

One person replied: “just watched it the first episode was gut wrenching”, as another echoed: “OMG just finished watching it, I was bawling my eyes out he didn’t deserve that.”

A third added: “Thought it was so good, and so disturbing.” In another video, one reviewer stated the ‘Worst Ever’ collection has them “locked in every time”, as another said they were “not prepared” when watching the heartbreaking episode. A third penned: “It gave me nightmares.”

Worst Neighbor Ever can be streamed on Netflix