Former USC and NFL linebacker Keith Browner died Tuesday morning in San Leandro, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau confirmed Wednesday. He was 63.
Keith Browner Jr. told TMZ that he talked to his father Monday night when the elder Browning was having stomach problems, vomiting and feeling tired. Browner Jr. said his father told him he would go to the hospital the next morning.
Browner was getting ready to go to the hospital Tuesday morning, according to TMZ, “when he curled over the side of a chair and collapsed to the floor next to his girlfriend.” TMZ also reported that “it appears” Browner suffered a heart attack and that his death was “unexpected and sudden.”
Alameda County authorities provided no cause of death Wednesday.
Born in Warren, Ohio, Browner was the fifth of six brothers, all of whom played college football and four of whom went on to play in the NFL. A second-round pick (30th overall) for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1984, Browner also played for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders and San Diego Chargers during a five-year NFL career.
Oldest brother Ross Browner spent 10 years in the NFL, playing for the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers. Jimmie Browner Jr. played two years with the Bengals. Joey Browner was a six-time Pro Bowl player who spent nine seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and one with the Buccaneers.
Browner Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps as a college and pro football player. A standout defensive end at Dorsey High, Browner Jr. played three seasons at California and one season with the Houston Texans.
A nephew, Ross Browner’s son Max Starks, played nine years for the Pittsburgh Steelers and one for the St. Louis Rams.
Browner — who was 14 when his father, Jimmie, died of cancer at age 49 — said his mother Julia was the driving force behind her sons’ passion for the sport.
“She’s the one who always urged us to play,” he told the Dayton Daily News in 2023, “and sometimes she’d be right out there with us in the yard when we were having pick-up games.”
A three-sport standout at Warren Harding High, Browner spent four seasons at USC (1980-83), overlapping with brother Joey for the first three. He was named a captain for his final season and finished his college career with six interceptions in 34 games played.
Browner made the NFL’s all-rookie team in 1984. After three years with the Buccaneers, he split the 1987 season between the 49ers and Raiders before spending his final NFL season with the Chargers.
He finished his NFL career with 10.5 sacks, four interceptions (including one returned 55 yards for the Chargers against the Seattle Seahawks in 1988) and five fumble recoveries, then played two seasons in the Canadian Football League and six in the Arena Football League.
Browner is survived by his son and four daughters.
Northern Ireland captain and Birmingham City striker Simone Magill has announced she is pregnant.
The 31-year-old shared the news with her Birmingham team-mates on Wednesday and announced it on social media along with her husband, Mark.
“Something tells me next year is going to be the best one yet,” Magill posted on Instagram.
Magill will not feature for Birmingham for the rest of the season or for Northern Ireland in the 2027 World Cup qualifiers, which begin in March.
WSL2 club Birmingham City say Magill will continue “light training” with the team and that the club’s medical and performance staff will support her “throughout her pregnancy and beyond”.
Amy Merricks, Magill’s head coach at Birmingham, said she would “make an amazing parent”.
“We’re looking forward to supporting her on this journey through her pregnancy and as her baby comes into the world, we’re excited to have a Bluenose baby,” Merricks said.
“We want to keep Si in and around the environment as much as possible.
“She wants to remain sharp and play a critical part in this season and we’re looking forward to supporting her with her journey.”
Magill missed Northern Ireland’s Nations League play-off defeat by Iceland at the end of October and last played for Birmingham in September because of a hip issue.
She won the first of her 95 NI caps as a teenager in 2010 and was named captain by Tanya Oxtoby in October 2024.
Magill played a key role in Northern Ireland’s qualification for Euro 2022 – her country’s first major tournament – but sustained a knee injury in the first match against Norway.
“It doesn’t hurt me. Just to come back to this particular player, obviously a legend, a big player of the game who inspired so many, I can say only positive things but I feel that comment is just I would say it’s a bit of a lazy criticism.
“It’s easy to blame the other players but he knows we do it together, trying to help each and every one of us to try to get out of this. Last year when things go well you don’t hear that at all. It is what it is.
“[Pundits] have to do that job. He has an opinion and we have to deal with it. There’s no hard feelings. I don’t take it personally.”
Liverpool are third in the Premier League and seven points behind leaders Arsenal heading into a two crucial games this week.
Slot’s side host Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday before they visit Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
“I’ve heard the reports as well about [Slot] being under pressure, but I don’t think we play at a club that makes rash decisions,” added Van Dijk.
“We all felt that we can work our way out of this. It’s not a guarantee, but we can do it together. As long as we believe, stay humble and keep working, we can do it, and we all have that feeling.”
“There’s so much T20 talent there and the next period will be important to get cricket into these guys and get them ready for the World Cup.
“Mitch [Santner] is a brilliant captain and leader – he has really come into his own with this team.
“It’s now their time to push the Black Caps forward in this format and I’ll be supporting from afar.”
The T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka starts in February.
Williamson made his T20 debut for New Zealand in 2011 but had not featured since June 2024.
Regarded by many as the best batter in New Zealand history, he is their leading Test run-scorer of all time and fourth on the ODI list.
New Zealand Cricket chief executive Scott Weenink said Williamson had earned the right to decide how he finished his ODI and Test careers.
“We’ve made it clear to Kane he has our full support as he reaches the back end of his illustrious career,” he said.
“We would, of course, love to see him play for as long as possible, but there’s no doubt whenever he does decide to finally call time, he will go down as a legend of New Zealand cricket.”
New Zealand completed a 3-0 clean sweep in the one-day series against England on Saturday, having lost a rain-affected T20 series 1-0 beforehand.
Australia beat England in the 2022 World Cup final and are bidding for a record-extending eighth title.
Healy faces a race against time to recover for the semi-finals with the first scheduled for 29 October in Guwahati or Colombo and the second due to take place the following day in Mumbai.
The 35-year-old, who made her Australia debut in 2010, has endured a difficult time with injuries in recent years.
She missed the final group game of the T20 World Cup in 2024 and was unavailable for their semi-final loss to South Africa with a plantar fascia issue.
Healy also missed large periods during the 2024-25 season with knee and foot problems keeping her sidelined for the majority of the Sydney Sixers’ WBBL campaign, an ODI series against India, the T20 leg of the Ashes and a T20 tour of New Zealand.
She returned from injury in August to play six white-ball matches for Australia A against India A in Queensland, before being named in the World Cup squad.
Cummins’ injury concerns heading into this winter’s Ashes could be a case of a career about to come full circle – but not in the way Australia’s captain will have wanted.
He made his Test debut as an 18-year-old in 2011 against South Africa, becoming the second-youngest player to take a five-wicket haul in an innings at that time, despite sustaining a heel injury during the match.
But his explosive debut proved to be something of a false dawn. Cummins had to wait six years to make his second Test appearance as a young body failed to withstand the load of fast bowling, suffering repeated stress fractures to his lower back.
Fast-forward 14 years, to the upcoming winter of 2025, and back problems have once again resurfaced, albeit this time as “lumbar bone stress” rather than a fracture. He has not bowled a ball since July.
If back injuries have plagued Cummins’ Test career, periods of fitness have been filled with ebullient excellence as a thoroughbred quick.
The 32-year-old, who was made Test captain in the wake of Tim Paine’s resignation shortly before the 2021-22 Ashes, has taken 309 Test wickets at an average of 22.10.
He is even more formidable in Australia, taking 177 wickets at 19.92, while he has also taken 91 wickets against England in just 19 matches.
In the most recent Ashes series in 2023, Cummins played in all five Tests, one of only two bowlers to do so along with Stuart Broad, taking 18 wickets.
A talismanic leader, Cummins enjoyed a glorious 2023 as captain, taking six wickets in Australia’s triumphant World Test Championship final and starring in their 50-over World Cup final victory in Ahmedabad – both against India.
He is the only captain in Test history to win the World Test Championship, World Cup and an Ashes series.
That it took until Sunday’s three-wicket win over India for them to complete their first ODI chase over 300, taking back their record for the highest in the women’s 50-over format, is, in truth, a compliment to the bowlers that have worn canary yellow (OK, Australia gold) over the past 50 years.
It is hard for their batters to hold a record if never given the chance.
Ultimately, the result of Australia conceding 330 was captain Alyssa Healy being given an opportunity to produce her latest masterpiece.
Then best known as the 19-year-old niece of renowned former Aussie wicketkeeper Ian, she debuted in 2010 after her nation failed to win either of the 20 or 50-over World Cups held the previous year and has seen it all through 15 trophy-laden years since.
A T20 World Cup win came three months after her bow and seven world titles have followed from 10 attempts across formats.
The gritty keeper was also there in Derby in 2017 when a semi-final defeat by India briefly halted the run of success.
That loss “drove us to rethink our standards,” Healy said this week.
At the next 50-over World Cup in New Zealand, Healy made 170 against England in the final and was named player of the tournament. She ensured her country would not fall short again.
Whether this latest epic knock topped that previous effort can be debated.
Some will argue the case for the pressure of a final. Others can counter with the challenge that comes when facing a record target and a raucous India-supporting crowd of 20,000.
What is certain is this century was far harder to see coming.
The Christchurch carnage in 2022 came as she topped the run-scoring charts, but this knock followed six innings in India since the start of last month in which she had failed to pass 30.
“If you’ve been watching me in the nets, it’s been a frustrating experience because I feel like I’ve had no rhythm whatsoever,” said Healy.
“But once you step out on the field, your competitive instincts kick in and you just lock into the contest.”
Australia remain hopeful that captain Pat Cummins will be fit for the first Ashes Test against England in November but coach Andrew McDonald says it is getting “tight”.
The 32-year-old pace bowler has not played since suffering a back injury against the West Indies in July. Australian media reported on Wednesday that he will miss the first Test in Perth on 21 November and is doubtful for the whole series.
On Friday McDonald said there was “a lot more positivity” surrounding the skipper’s chances of playing in the opening Test but he would need at least “four, four-and-a-half weeks” of bowling practice to condition his body for the rigours of Ashes cricket. The first Test is six weeks away.
“The reality is, we’re starting to get tight in terms of the times,” McDonald said.
“We’re still optimistic, hopeful, but this time next week, I think we’ll be in a position to get a better gauge on where he’s at.”
McDonald said he would weigh up whether Cummins could be included in the side even if he was a “little bit underdone”.
Cummins has taken 309 Test wickets at an average of 22.10 runs per dismissal.
He is even more formidable in Australia, taking 177 wickets at 19.92, while he has also taken 91 wickets against England in 19 matches.
England vice-captain Harry Brook said it would be a “bonus” if Cummins was to miss out but warned that they could not take any replacement lightly.
“Pat Cummins is a phenomenal bowler and has been for so many years now,” said Brook on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“He’s got incredible skill at high pace and if he’s not there it’s a bonus for us.
“But they have got lots of amazing bowlers so I’m sure they’ll draft someone in who is very skillful. We can’t take anyone lightly.”
Test captain Gill takes over the 50-over leadership role ahead of the ODI series against Australia.
Published On 4 Oct 20254 Oct 2025
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Rohit Sharma has been replaced by Shubman Gill as India’s one-day international (ODI) men’s captain, says the country’s cricket board.
Rohit was India’s all-format captain until June 2024 and has been included in India’s 15-man squad for the ODI series against Australia, along with star batter Virat Kohli, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement on Saturday.
Gill, who took over as the Test captain after Rohit’s retirement from the format in May, will take over the role ahead of the ODI series away in Australia starting on October 19.
Rohit has led India in the ODI format at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in February and March, when his team won the title in the final against New Zealand in Dubai.
The 38-year-old also led India to their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title in 2024 in Barbados, following which he announced his retirement from the 20-over format along with Kohli.
The stalwarts of Indian cricket have also hung up their boots in the longest form of the game following the 2024-25 Test tour of Australia.
Kohli, who turns 37 in November, has also retired from Test cricket.
Suryakumar Yadav replaced Rohit as the T20 international captain in July and led India’s triumphant run at the T20 Asia Cup 2025.
There were no surprises in India’s squad for the five-match T20I series against Australia.
ARSENAL under-19s midfielder Louie Copley was handed a straight red card in his team’s Uefa Youth League match against Olympiacos today.
The team skipper was sent off for a crunching tackle on Argyrios Liatsikouras just 15 minutes into the game at Boreham Wood’s Meadow Park.
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Arsenal youth midfielder Louie Copley got sent off against Olympiacos in the Uefa Youth LeagueCredit: Getty
Copley, 18, who signed a professional deal with the club in July, could have few complaints with Italian referee Matteo Marcenaro and it certainly changed the game.
Fellow midfielder Harrison Dudziak took the captain’s armband but Arsenal struggled and conceded twice in the first half to trail 2-0.
Ethan Cortes and Christos Filis were on target for the Greeks.
Olympiacos seemed a lot more pumped-up for the game but Arsenal did improve in the second half despite only having 10 men.
And with seven minutes left, Arsenal sub Josh Ogunnaike pulled one back.
The 17-year-old almost got an equaliser with just seconds left to play, but his effort was saved.
The attempted fightback proved to be unsuccessful for the hosts as they went on to lose 2-1 at Meadow Park.
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Adam Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (Everton).
Defenders: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry City), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff City), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (Bournemouth), Jordan James (Stade Rennais), Aaron Ramsey (Pumas UNAM), Josh Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City – on loan from Liverpool), Daniel James (Leeds United), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham).
European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald is “so proud” of his team after they win the Ryder Cup in New York after “some of the most stressful hours of my life”.
For the uninitiated, the Ryder Cup is not something from which you drink coffee in your rental truck. As a matter of fact, 15 years ago, this golfing classic was proclaimed by the locals to be the biggest sporting event ever in the country of Wales.
The newest edition of the Ryder Cup will find your TV screen Friday through Monday. It will be contested on Long Island on a torture-chamber called Bethpage Black. They played the U.S. Open there in 2009 and it rained so hard and so often that there were rumors Noah was getting another Ark ready. Lucas Glover didn’t win that one. He survived it.
To be clear, this will not be the biggest sporting event in the New York area. Thursday afternoon Mets’ games create more stomach aches and fist pumps.
But it should not be dismissed or greeted by yawns.
U.S. Ryder Cup golf team captain Keegan Bradley, left, and Team Europe captain Luke Donald, right, will face off this week.
(Heather Khalifa / Associated Press)
This every-other-year, alternating-home-course event that matches the best golfers in the United States against the best in Europe, creates as much emotion as you can find in a sport that preaches controlling that.
Recently, British golfer Matt Wallace shed tears on camera after falling just short of qualifying. “I will never give up on the Ryder Cup,” he sobbed.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, one of the best players ever in the sport, made the mistake years ago of calling the Ryder Cup “mostly an exhibition.” He has been apologizing for that ever since.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia, a former Masters champion and an emotional leader of many past European teams, pulled out of a European tournament immediately after he learned he would not be on this year’s Ryder Cup team. He said he needed to get away for a while.
Keegan Bradley was on U.S. teams that lost both the 2012 and 2014 Cups, and he has spoken of the still-unpacked and logoed Ryder Cup backpack that he brought back after 2012. He has vowed to never unpack it until he is part of a winning Ryder Cup team.
If you think that golf and its top players are the living definition of a sports metronome (tick-tock boring), it is not so with the Ryder Cup.
The event keeps sneaking up on people. McIlroy was right, just not up to date. By 2010, the U.S. had started to lose Ryder Cup matches, and that suddenly made them important. U.S. sports fans like a little agony and drama before celebrating winning moments. Losing is not acceptable. From 1959 through 1983, the U.S. had won every Ryder Cup. Then, in 1985, Europe won and held the cup for eight of the next 11 meetings.
Now, it was game on.
Europe’s Rory McIlroy celebrates after winning his singles match against American Sam Burns at the Ryder Cup played at the Marco Simone Golf Club in Guidonia Montecelio, Italy, on Oct. 1, 2023.
(Gregorio Borgia / Associated Press)
The U.S. won in 2008, but this time, for 2010, the Europeans were ready. They even had a special course built, clearly with one thing in mind. It was in Newport, Wales, the club was named Celtic Manor and the course was called the Twenty Ten.
They held a huge pre-celebration dinner and by the time it started, they had sold out the six-day package (three practice rounds and three competition rounds) to 45,000 people at $660 each. That $29.7 million paid nicely for the big party.
Big profits haven’t seemed to be the driving force yet in the Ryder Cup, but like everything else in sports, that is likely to change. This year’s Ryder Cup will be its most extensively televised one to date in the U.S.
Bradley, the guy with a 13-year-old unpacked suitcase, will be the U.S. captain. He has played on two Ryder Cup teams, both defeats, and lost the deciding match to Jamie Donaldson in 2014 in Scotland. The suitcase remains unpacked.
He is still one of the top players in golf, good enough to be a player on this year’s team, but chose not to choose himself and will be a traditional non-playing captain. He was also high enough in the rankings to be considered for a spot on the ’23 U.S. team that lost in Rome. He later said that, when ’23 U.S. captain Zack Johnson passed him over, “It broke my heart.”
Luke Donald of England, who played his golf at Northwestern, was good enough to be No. 1 on the PGA Tour for 56 weeks and was the first golfer to top season money-winning lists on the PGA and European tours in the same year, will be the European captain. He has played on four Ryder Cup teams, all European victories. He was also the captain in Rome.
Donald was a member of that 2010 team in Wales. The U.S. lost by a point and Donald won three of the Europeans 14½.
Celtic Manor was more than just a European win. It was a rub-your-face-in-it win, a remember-who-invented-this-game moment. It was more than winner-take-all. It was winner-celebrate-all-night and-be-smug-about-it-all-next-year.
The setting helps to understand all this.
American Phil Mickelson plays a shot from the rough during the 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort on Oct. 1, 2010, in Newport, Wales.
(Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images)
The Twenty Ten course was surprisingly not a classic European links course. Much was made of that in the run-up. Why give the Americans a golf course type that they were used to — soft, grassy fairways and smooth-rolling greens — when the links courses usually drove them nuts. Then it started to rain and seemed as if it would never stop. Twenty Ten became Twenty Thousand Puddles. It was so bad that the final day of concluding singles match-play was contested on a Monday, a first for a Ryder Cup. The U.S. team was ready, with nicely logoed rain suits. Except they leaked.
Amid one particularly drenching downpour, U.S. star Phil Mickelson spotted a reporter he knew walking the sidelines. He sauntered over, soaked and dripping, eyed the reporter’s rain gear and said, “Wanna trade?”
The next day, the U.S. team got replacement rain gear from the same gift shop that the reporter had purchased his.
Such nuances are the responsibility of team captains. The Europeans, whose rain suits stayed sealed, were led by longtime tour pro Colin Montgomerie, a great player who never won a major and who many feel was the model for the Pillsbury Dough Boy. The U.S. captain was Corey Pavin, who not only won a U.S. Open in 1995 with his famous four-wood to the green on No. 18, but also was a Gutty Little Bruin, a pride of UCLA golf.
U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin holds a flag stick during a practice round prior in 2010 at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales.
(Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
The match, eventually won by Europe, came down to the final singles pairing on Monday. Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, who had won that year’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, was matched by Montgomerie against Pavin’s Hunter Mahan, a Texan who had been the No. 2 Ryder Cup qualifier behind Mickelson.
McDowell took a two-up lead on No. 16, making a sliding, curling 15-foot downhill putt for birdie that left him two up with two holes to play. Then, on the par three 17th — Mahan had to win this hole and the next to keep the U.S. hopes alive — Mahan chunked his second shot, a chip, short of the green. The Euro fans went wild. Mahan walked to McDowell, whose ball rested in easy two-putt, par territory, and shook his hand in concession.
Europe had won, 14½-13½, and the champagne began to flow.
The Celtic Manor clubhouse was on a hill, with a long balcony overlooking the 18th green. Within minutes, the European players were up there, shaking huge bottles of champagne and spraying them all over each other and the thousands of fans below. It went on and on. It was a post-Super Bowl-in- Philadelphia celebration, minus the bent traffic lights; a post-Lakers-win-the-NBA-title-at Staples celebration, minus the burning police cars. It produced photos that dominated every major European newspaper and TV broadcast for the next several days.
Eventually, the U.S. team shuffled into an interview room. There was not a smile to be found. All were there, a unit to the end, sitting at a long table. Quickly, a question went to Mahan about his gagged chip shot. He looked like a man who had just watched his dog get hit by a car. Before he could conjure up much of an answer, two of the three main veterans on the team ran interference. Both Mickelson and Jim Furyk jumped in to answer, saying basically, that none of the people asking the questions could have any idea of the pressure involved in a Ryder Cup situation like that. Of course, none of the people asking the questions had ever aspired to that pressure.
Tiger Woods remained silent.
American Tiger Woods attends a tense news conference after Europe’s 14.5 to 13.5 victory over the U.S. at the 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales.
(Sam Greenwood / Getty Images)
At a press gathering before the event, he had fielded a question from a member of the British press. If there was a moment that set a tone of animosity for the event, it was right there.
Reporter: “You don’t win majors any more, you don’t win regular tournaments. Where is the Ryder Cup on your agenda, now that you are an ordinary golfer?”
Woods, the ordinary golfer: “I hope you are having a good week.”
The captains’ comparisons are fun, but probably not meaningful. Bradley has won a major, the 2011 PGA, and was ranked as high as No. 7 in the world. His Ryder Cup playing record is 4-3-0. Donald never won a major, but was World No. 1. His Ryder Cup record is 10-4-1. He was Ryder Cup captain in 2023 in Paris. He has never been on a losing Ryder Cup team, as a player or captain. Bradley’s Ryder team record is 0-2.
The only playing returnee from 2010 at Celtic Manor — Donald was also on the team — is McIlroy, who once called this whole thing an “exhibition.” That was before he stood on a balcony in Wales, 15 years ago, and looked below to a mass of idolizing golf fans, begging to be sprayed with champagne.
In that moment, the Ryder Cup became a huge deal for McIlroy. The rest of the sports world now follows.
Anze Kopitar, widely considered the greatest player in Kings franchise history and poised to become the team’s all-time leading scorer, announced Thursday he will retire at the end of the 2025-26 season.
Entering his 20th season with the Kings and the final year of his contract, the decision was somewhat expected from the 38-year-old team captain. He told KCAL News last month he was thinking about retirement and that it could be his last NHL season.
Kings general manager Ken Holland told NHL Network Radio in July that Kopitar indicated he wasn’t seeking a contract extension this summer and was intending to take things a “year at a time.”
Kopitar is second all-time in franchise scoring, with 1,278 points in a franchise-leading 1,454 games played. He is 30 points away from breaking Marcel Dionne’s team record for most points (1,307). He ranks third all-time in franchise goals (440) behind Luc Robitaille (557) and Dionne (550) and leads in assists (838). He is a two-time Selke trophy winner (best defensive forward) and three-time Lady Byng trophy winner (gentlemanly play).
Drafted 11th overall by the Kings in 2005, Kopitar made an immediate impact during his 2006-07 rookie season, finishing with 20 goals and 61 points for a downtrodden team that was in the middle of a six-year playoff drought.
Kings center Anze Kopitar celebrates with the Stanley Cup after the Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils to win the franchise’s first title in 2012.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Eventually, with Doughty joining the team in 2008 coupled with steady growth from Brown, Quick and Kopitar, the Kings returned to the playoffs in 2010 before capturing the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2012.
Kopitar has stood out on a team that has had many greats, including NHL all-time leading scorer Wayne Gretzky.
“It’s really hard for me to sit here and say I’m the greatest King. That’s just not my personality. Far from it,” Kopitar told The Times’ Helene Elliott in 2023. “There’s been great Kings in this organization, with Marcel, Luc, Dave [Taylor], Wayne, Blakey [Rob Blake]. The list can go on for a little bit. Brownie. Individually, yes, but it’s about collective wins.”
With Kopitar’s decision, the biggest roster question facing the Kings remains whether they can re-sign Adrian Kempe to a long-term deal. Kempe, who has led the team in points the last two seasons, is in the final year of his contract.
The Kings open the preseason Sunday against the Ducks in the Empire Classic at Toyota Arena in Ontario. They begin the regular season against the Colorado Avalanche at Crypto.com Arena on Oct. 7.
This is a developing story. The Times will have more on Kopitar’s decision to retire at the end of the season soon.
Stacy Lewis, the captain of the United States’ 2024 Solheim Cup-winning team, says she will retire from golf at the end of the LPGA season.
The 40-year-old won 13 LPGA titles, including two majors, and led the United States to victory over Europe in last year’s Solheim Cup.
She also spent 25 weeks as world number one and was named LPGA Player of the Year in 2012 and 2014.
Lewis’ achievements came despite being diagnosed with curvature of the spine at the age of 11 and spending the next seven years wearing a back brace for 18 hours a day.
“Never in a million years would I have thought this journey playing golf would still be going in 2025, but the time has come to put the clubs away,” Lewis wrote on social media.
“I am going to miss the LPGA Tour family and this part of my life, but my body has told me it’s time.”
Lewis’ two major victories were at the 2011 Chevron Championship and the 2013 women’s British Open.
She represented the United States four times at the Solheim Cup as a player and twice as captain – including last year’s dramatic 15½-12½ victory in Virginia – as well as finishing in a share of fourth place at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Durham head coach Ryan Campbell says England captain Ben Stokes “is back in training” after a shoulder injury and “will be ready” for this winter’s Ashes in Australia.
Stokes, 34, missed the fifth and final Test against India at The Oval with the shoulder problem he sustained during the draw at Old Trafford in July.
The all-rounder expected to be sidelined for about six or seven weeks and has now started batting in the nets again with his county side.
With the first Ashes Test to begin in Perth on 21 November, Campbell also confirmed fast bowler Mark Wood is “extremely close to playing” for Durham again after having surgery on a knee injury.
“Stokes is back in training,” Campbell told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Over the last week, he’s started to hit balls and had a really good session. Scott Borthwick was throwing to him with [coach] Will Gidman for nearly two hours.
“The batting side of things is going very well but the bowling will take a lot longer. He is being treated very steadily.”
The 35-year-old had hoped to return for the fifth Test against India before a setback and was also left out for white-ball matches against South Africa and Ireland.
“I’ve got my fingers crossed that Wood plays for us next week,” said Campbell.
“If that happens, it’s not only great for Durham but also for England. He is extremely close to playing.”
Kami Miner, an All-American volleyball player at Redondo Union and Stanford, dropped by her alma mater’s match last week before heading to Italy to play pro volleyball.
Coach Tommy Chaffins knew what to do.
“Hey, you want to come into the team room?” he asked.
“‘I’d love to,” Miner said.
Redondo Union players got a good pep talk before a win over Long Beach Poly.
“She loves Redondo,” Chaffins said.
Redondo Union is 13-1 heading into a competitive home match on Tuesday against Marymount, followed by a showdown against Mater Dei on the road.
Abby Zimmerman, a four-year starter and captain headed to Cal, has been leading the Sea Hawks.
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Jess Breach, who is one score away from 50 international tries, retains her spot after two tries against the USA, as does impressive outside centre Megan Jones.
Jones is joined by Gloucester-Hartpury’s Jade Shekells in the midfield, with Emma Sing named at full-back.
In the forwards, lock Lilli Ives Campion and flanker Abi Burton are set for World Cup debuts after being named to start.
Maddie Feaunati starts at number eight against the nation her father Zak played for 13 times.
Prop Mackenzie Carson could make her first appearance from the bench after being injured in this year’s Six Nations.
World Rugby women’s player of the year Ellie Kildunne, who starred with two tries against the United States, is included on a strong bench that includes last week’s starting half-backs Natasha Hunt and Zoe Harrison.
Samoa, who are fully amateur and ranked 15th in the world, lost their opening game 73-0 to Australia.
Given England played two different teams across this year’s Women’s Six Nations and still won a fourth consecutive Grand Slam, they are likely to record a big scoreline despite the wholesale changes.
A bonus-point victory will put Mitchell’s side in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stages.
This was probably as close as we will ever get to having another playing captain in a Ryder Cup. In truth, the PGA of America put Bradley in an invidious position by appointing him long before his days at the top of the game are done.
As a result, it could be argued, the American team have been denied one of their top dozen golfers for the 12-man team charged with trying to win back the trophy.
Bradley’s form and playing passion ticked every one of the boxes he cited for the six players he chose as wildcard picks. “They’re all incredibly gritty players, tough players, great competitors,” the skipper said.
“They’ve all proven themselves at the highest level. And again, they’ve played basically in the bubble of the Ryder Cup for the last month and a half and performed at the highest level.”
Bradley insists their current playing standards made it easy for him to leave himself out. But if someone else was captain, Bradley would have felt aggrieved to be ignored in the way that he was by Zach Johnson two years ago.
Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay were no-brainers. They bring vital experience and strong matchplay credentials – especially Cantlay, who has a 15-6-1 record in team competitions for the United States.
Cameron Young, a New Yorker who set the Bethpage Black course record as an amateur, won his first PGA Tour title only three weeks ago. His form and background made him a natural selection.
Ben Griffin’s consistency has been stellar and as someone who gave up the game to work in an office before returning to stardom, he provides a romantic perspective that could sit well in the locker room.
Sam Burns’ putting will worry Luke Donald’s European team, but Collin Morikawa’s patchy form in 2025 perhaps makes the two-time major champion the most fortunate of the picks.
