The Rams are no longer kicking the can down the road when it comes to their kicking problems.
On Wednesday, the Rams signed kicker Harrison Mevis to the practice squad to compete with second-year pro Joshua Karty. The move came a day after the team signed veteran long-snapper Jake McQuaide to compete with Alex Ward.
“It’s all geared toward trying to be able to just get some solutions and some kick consistency really with our field-goal operation,” coach Sean McVay said Wednesday. “I think it’s important to have good competition at some spots that we feel we can have improved play.”
The Rams are preparing for their game on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
The Rams are 6-2 — and their losses against the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles and the 49ers both resulted from problems in the kicking game that resurfaced without dire consequences in last Sunday’s rout of the New Orleans Saints.
Against the Saints, Karty missed a 39-yard field goal attempt and an extra-point attempt. Karty has made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts and 23 of 26 extra-point attempts.
McVay said after the game that the Rams would evaluate “all parts of where we go with this operation.”
On Tuesday, they turned to McQuaide, 37, who played for the Rams from 2011-2020 and was part of a special teams unit that also included kicker Greg Zuerlein and punter/holder Johnny Hekker.
“If all things go well with Jake, we expect him to be our long-snapper,” McVay said.
On Wednesday, they brought in Mevis, who made 89 of 106 field-goal attempts at Missouri, including one from 61 yards. In the United Football League this past season, he made 20 of 21 field-goal attempts.
So Karty and Mevis will duel during expanded special teams drills this week.
“We’ll implement more than we normally would on a Wednesday and a Thursday and truly be able to kind of use it as a competition,” McVay said.
Oct. 28 (UPI) — Tech mogul Elon Musk launched his own online encyclopedia with his company xAI, calling it Grokipedia as a rival to the non-profit Wikipedia.
Grokipedia, named for xAI’s chatbot Grok, uses Wikipedia as its source and it’s modeled like Wikipedia. But it has sanitized versions of pages about Musk, reporting nothing critical of him. The page says it has 885,279 pages.
The venture launched on Monday, with the site initially crashing then coming back online later. It has been reported by Musk as an improved and less biased version of Wikipedia.
Republican lawmakers and White House AI czar David Sacks have called Wikipedia “hopelessly biased.”
On X, Sacks said, “An army of left-wing activists maintain the bios and fight reasonable corrections. Magnifying the problem, Wikipedia often appears first in Google search results, and now it’s a trusted source for AI model training. This is a huge problem.”
The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, said in a statement last month, “Wikipedia informs; it does not persuade.”
“Unlike newer projects, Wikipedia’s strengths are clear: it has transparent policies, rigorous volunteer oversight, and a strong culture of continuous improvement. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, written to inform billions of readers without promoting a particular point of view,” Lauren Dickinson, a spokesperson for the Wikimedia Foundation, said in a statement.
“This human-created knowledge is what AI companies rely on to generate content; even Grokipedia needs Wikipedia to exist,” she added.
On Monday, Musk posted on X that the launch was “Grokipedia version 0.1,” but that “Version 1.0 will be 10X better, but even at 0.1 it’s better than Wikipedia imo.”
China is rolling out a new visa aimed at attracting foreign talent in the fields of science and technology.
The K visa comes into effect from Wednesday, following a proclamation last month by the State Council, China’s cabinet.
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The visa has attracted particular attention in light of United States President Donald Trump’s tightening of the eligibility rules for the H-1B, which Silicon Valley heavily relies on to recruit skilled labour from overseas.
What is the goal of the K visa, and how does it work?
The Chinese government has cast the visa as part of its efforts to attract foreign talent to boost the country’s competitiveness in science and technology.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun on Tuesday said the visa’s purpose was to “promote exchanges and cooperation” between science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent from China and other countries.
The visa is the latest in a series of recent reforms intended to make China more attractive to foreigners, including streamlined visa processing and the introduction of a redesigned permanent residency card.
“From the 1980s to the 2010s, China used to lose talent to developed countries such as the United States,” Zhigang Tao, a professor of strategy and economics at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing, told Al Jazeera.
“Now the task is to keep local talent and also attract some global talent.”
Chinese officials have said the K visa, which will be open to graduates of recognised universities and young professionals engaged in STEM-related fields, will offer more flexible conditions than existing options.
The main advantage of the visa is that, unlike previous skilled migrant programmes, it does not require sponsorship by an employer.
However, many key details of the visa remain unclear, including duration of stay and unspecified requirements related to age, educational background and work experience.
Is the K visa likely to attract foreign talent?
Edward Hu, immigration director at consultancy Newland Chase in Shanghai, said there has been strong interest in the visa, with inquiries up more than 30 percent since August.
Hu said there has been particularly strong interest from prospective applicants in India, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the US.
“The K visa fills a gap in China’s talent system by lowering entry barriers for younger STEM talents – complementing the existing R visa, which targets top-tier experts,” Hu told Al Jazeera, referring to the visa as a “strategic move” to position China as a top destination for early-career STEM talent.
The R visa, introduced in 2013, is aimed at “high-level and professional” foreigners who are “urgently needed” by the state, and requires sponsorship by an “inviting organisation”.
Still, China’s drive to expand its talent pool with the K visa faces challenges.
While China has made moves to open to foreigners, the country is still far less internationalised than the US.
Unlike the US, China rarely grants citizenship to foreigners.
While Chinese permanent residency is more feasible to obtain, it is still only granted to a tiny fraction compared with the roughly one million non-US citizens who receive green cards each year.
Chinese work environments also present a language barrier for English-speaking applicants when compared with their Silicon Valley counterparts.
Michael Feller, chief strategist at Sydney-based business consultancy Geopolitical Strategy, said Chinese companies would need to offer English-language roles and “international-style” work schedules to compete with US firms.
“I can’t imagine many foreign graduates interested in the ‘9-9-6’ work-life balance that many Chinese firms are known for,” Feller told Al Jazeera, referring to the 72-hour workweek famously endorsed by Alibaba founder Jack Ma.
A US flag and a H-1B visa application form are displayed together on September 22, 2025 [Dado Ruvic/Reuters]
What does the K visa have to do with the H-1B?
While China’s drive to recruit talent has cast Trump’s crackdown on immigration in sharp relief, there is no direct link between the introduction of the K visa and his moves to rein in access to the H-1B.
However, many observers have suggested that the US’s inward turn could be to the benefit of other countries seeking to attract talent, including China.
“The K visa is incredible timing from China’s perspective,” Feller said.
“It’s unlikely that Beijing knew that Washington was about to hike the fees for its own H-1B visa category, but it certainly gives the K visa added impetus in the global war for talent.”
Hu of Newland Chase said he expected the shift in policy around the H-1B to “significantly boost” the appeal of the K visa, “positioning it as a timely alternative for affected talent”.
“The K visa offers a low-cost, sponsor-free pathway – aligning with the global surge in STEM talent demand and making China a more accessible option,” he said.
Athletes will undergo checks to prove they do not actively support the war in Ukraine or have links with the army.
Published On 19 Sep 202519 Sep 2025
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Russians will compete as neutral independent athletes without a national flag or anthem at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, the International Olympic Committee has said, maintaining the same sanctions as the Paris Summer Games last year.
The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in October 2023 for recognising regional Olympic councils for Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine – Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, saying the move had violated the Olympic Charter.
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“We also spoke about the Independent Neutral Athletes (AINs). This will be nothing new,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry told a news conference. “The executive board will take the exact same approach that was done in Paris (2024 Olympics). Nothing has changed.”
Russian and Belarusian athletes who reach qualifying times will be first vetted for any links to the Russian military or support of the war in Ukraine, both of which will exclude them.
Russian teams are banned from the Games. Belarus has acted as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine.
A small number of individual Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to take part as AINs in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics after first passing rigorous vetting by the IOC.
They competed without the Russian or Belarusian flag and anthem. Instead, they took part as neutral athletes.
Four Russian figure skaters in men’s and women’s singles were recently approved by the International Skating Union to try to qualify for the Games, which start on February 6, 2026 in Italy, as neutral athletes.
Walmart will soon expand its streaming offerings to its subscription members, with the retail giant announcing a new partnership with NBCUniversal’s Peacock on Monday.
Starting Sept. 15, Walmart+ subscribers can choose to receive ad-supported versions of Peacock Premium or Paramount+ as part of their membership. Every 90 days, Walmart+ members can switch between the two services.
“The additional option of Peacock Premium adds even more value and more choice to our membership, without raising the price,” said Deepak Maini, senior vice president of Walmart+, in a statement. “This is just one of the many ways we’re evolving Walmart+ to meet the needs and wants of today’s consumer.”
The move could appeal to consumers who feel overwhelmed by the different streaming choices and give them a chance to sample what each platform offers without dealing with additional cost.
Walmart+, which charges $98 for an annual plan, includes free shipping, free same-day delivery on groceries and prescriptions, gas discounts and other benefits. Adding more streaming content could help Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart compete with Amazon Prime, though Walmart does not invest in original content, unlike the Seattle e-commerce behemoth.
Walmart declined to say how many people subscribe to Walmart+.
In 2020, Walmart launched Walmart+, which competes with Amazon’s $139 annual Prime membership. Prime offers perks such as free shipping and streaming series such as “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “Reacher,” action movie “The Pickup” and NFL football games.
Last week, Amazon announced that Peacock Premium Plus, the streaming service’s ad-free version, would be available on Prime Video for an additional fee, along with 100 other subscription options in the U.S. Amazon also said it had a multiyear deal for the Peacock app to be available on its Fire TV in the U.S.
Walmart has had a spotty track record on its own streaming efforts and currently does not have its own streaming service or produce its own originals. In 2010, Walmart purchased video-on-demand service Vudu and in 2018 partnered with MGM to create original programming for the platform. The retailer later sold Vudu to Fandango in 2020.
Before that, Walmart launched a web store to sell movie and TV show downloads but shut it down in less than a year after its partner, Hewlett-Packard Co., discontinued the technology for the site after it underperformed.
With a camera trailing his every move, Nathan Chen glides across the ice at the same training center that fueled his Olympic dreams. Four years after winning Olympic gold, Chen is still the picture of power and artistry as he picks up speed to round a turn and circles an arm around his head.
“Is this a comeback?” Jean-Luc Baker, a 2022 Olympic ice dancer, playfully asks.
The reigning Olympic champion has not skated competitively since Feb. 10, 2022, when Chen landed five clean quadruple jumps to become the seventh U.S. man to win a figure skating singles gold medal.
He doesn’t intend to change that soon.
Six months before the Milano Cortina Olympics, Chen confirmed he will not defend his Olympic title. The two-time Olympic gold medalist hasn’t officially retired, but is ready to embark on a new career in medicine.
“I just want to open doors to kind of see what’s the best sort of approach for me,” Chen told The Times. “And frankly, at this point in time in my life, I’ve already accomplished enough in skating that I’m quite satisfied with my career.”
A six-time national champion and three-time world champion, Chen put an exclamation point on his career with a dominant performance in Beijing. He set the world record in the short program. He conquered demons from a 2018 disaster in which he finished fifth to win his first individual Olympic medal. He became the first singles skater in Olympic history with two gold medals in the same Games after helping the United States to a victory in the team competition.
Then Chen slipped seamlessly back into life as a student, finishing his bachelor’s degree at Yale, where he started before the Games. He began applying to medical schools while helping launch Your True Step, a series of skating seminars with Baker, who placed 11th in the 2022 Olympic ice dance competition with partner Kaitlin Hawayek, and choreographer Sam Chouinard. After giving instruction on and off the ice to roughly two dozen young athletes, the first question Chen received Friday during a post-camp Q&A was about which medical school he was going to attend.
Whichever one wants him, Chen responded with a chuckle.
Chen, who said taking the medical college admission test was even more nerve-racking than competing at the Olympics, is interested in cardiology or oncology, specifically related to genetics. He’s curious about cardiothoracic surgery, but worried about the potential work-life balance sacrifices.
The concern isn’t that Chen is scared to dedicate himself completely to a particular job. He just wants his next project to be as fulfilling as skating was.
“The basis of being a doctor, I think, is to help people,” Chen said. “I think that’s something that I didn’t necessarily feel as an athlete, that I felt was a little bit lacking, and I get a little bit of that sense doing YTS.”
The skating camps, which began in 2024, have brought Chen and Baker to rinks in Irvine, Boston, Detroit and Seattle. They came up with the idea while attending a pre-Olympic camp in 2022 so the longtime friends could remain close to each other and to the sport. Baker, 31, knew the Beijing Games would likely be his last Olympics. Chen wasn’t sure at the time.
Nathan Chen listens to the national anthem while standing on the top step of the podium after winning gold in men’s figure skating at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Still only 26, Chen could be entering his physical prime. The sport has remained open to older competitors as technique has progressed. But the window of opportunity to realistically win is small, Chen acknowledged, as athletes push the limits toward jumps that were once unimaginable.
Leading up to the 2022 Olympics, Chen dabbled with a quadruple axel during practice, but stopped training it as the Games approached. While he came close to landing it, he was comfortable knowing no one else had the daring jump yet.
Only seven months after those Games, Ilia Malinin landed the world’s first quadruple axel in competition at 17 years old. Now the favorite for Olympic gold in 2026, the 20-year-old American has won consecutive world championships.
While Malinin, who also trains at Irvine’s Great Park Ice with Chen’s former coach Rafael Arutyunyan, landed six quadruple jumps at the 2025 world championships, Chen watched from afar.
The event took place in Boston, where Chen was completing a post-baccalaureate program. Instead of feeling like he was missing out, Chen was relieved he didn’t have to feel the stress of competition.
He’s content to enjoy what could be a golden era of U.S. skating from the sideline. The United States claimed three of four world championships in 2025, the most ever for the country in a single world championship. Alysa Liu made an improbable return from a two-year hiatus to become the first U.S. woman to win the world championship since 2006. Madison Chock and Evan Bates won their third consecutive ice dance world title. Malinin, known as “the Quad God,” became the first American man to win back-to-back singles world championships since Chen, who won three.
Chen, the one-time “Quad King,” is happy to pass his crown.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Randolph Bracy and LaVon Bracy Davis are taking sibling rivalry to a new level as the brother and sister run against each other in a race for a Florida state Senate seat on Tuesday.
Not only that, one of their opponents for the Democratic nomination in the district representing parts of metro Orlando is Alan Grayson, a combative former Democratic U.S. congressman who drew national attention in 2009 when he said in a House floor speech that the Republican health care plan was to “die quickly.”
The headline-grabbing candidates are running in the special primary election for the seat that had been held by Geraldine Thompson, a trailblazing veteran lawmaker who died earlier this year following complications from knee-replacement surgery. A fourth candidate also is running in the Democratic primary — personal injury attorney Coretta Anthony-Smith.
The winner will face Republican Willie Montague in September for the general election in the Democratic-dominant district. Black voters make up more than half registered Democrats in the district.
Florida Sen. Randolph Bracy, rear, makes a point during a Senate Committee on Reapportionment hearing in a legislative session, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla.
(Phelan M. Ebenhack / Associated Press)
Both siblings have experience in the state legislature. Bracy Davis was a state representative, and Bracy was a former state senator. Adding to the family dynamics was the fact that the siblings’ mother, civil rights activist Lavon Wright Bracy, was the maid of honor at Thompson’s wedding and was one of her oldest friends. She has endorsed her daughter over her son.
The siblings’ family has been active in Orlando’s civic life for decades. Their father, Randolph Bracy Jr., was a local NAACP president, a founder of a Baptist church in Orlando and director of the religion department at Bethune-Cookman University.
It wasn’t the first time the family has been caught up in competing endorsements. When Bracy and Thompson ran against each other for the Democratic primary in a state senate race last year, Bracy Davis endorsed Thompson over her brother. Campaign fliers sent out recently by a Republican political operative start with “Bracy Yourself!”
Bracy, 48, who one time played professional basketball in Turkey, told the Orlando Sentinel that it was “disappointing and hurtful” for his sister to run after he had announced his bid. But Bracy Davis, 45, an attorney by training, said she was running for the people in state senate District 15, not against any of the other candidates. She said that she intended to continue Thompson’s legacy of pushing for voters’ rights and increasing pay for public schoolteachers. Thompson’s family has endorsed Bracy Davis.
Grayson was elected to Congress in 2008 and voted out in 2010. Voters sent him back to Congress in 2012, but he gave up his seat for an unsuccessful 2016 Senate run.
DENTIST Matt Vogt is determined to extract as much joy as possible from his emotional homecoming, as he makes his US Open debut just a couple of months after losing his father to cancer.
The fact that the tournament is being played at Oakmont in Pennsylvania – where Vogt caddied for six years as a youngster before earning a college scholarship – makes the event even more poignant.
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Matt Vogt is a full-time dentistCredit: INSTAGRAM @thedentistsatgc
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He will tee it up at the US Open golf major for the first timeCredit: AP
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Vogt will go up against giants of the sport like Rory McIlroy and Scottie SchefflerCredit: Getty
Vogt, 34, was born and brought up a few miles from Oakmont.
So he is guaranteed plenty of support this week, especially as TV stations in the US have been portraying his story as a modern-day fairytale.
At 6ft 6in, the big-hitting amateur will not be hard to spot.
And he expects to experience an emotional roller-coaster over the next few days.
Back-to-back 68s at Wine Valley in Washington saw him finish ahead of plenty of seasoned PGA Tour players.
So he has plenty of game, despite the fact he has never even considered turning professional himself.
Vogt alternated between smiling broadly and fighting back tears, as he explained what it meant to be teeing off in a Major championship just a few yards away from where he used to hang out in the caddyshack.
He commented: “Oh, wow. Oh my goodness. I don’t know where to start.
“I just hope that what has happened to me will be an inspiration to anyone who is going through a tough time, wondering when the next good thing will happen.
Inside Bryson DeChambeau’s US Open preparation with ‘fun side quests’ on helicopter and racing Indy500 cars
“I think everyone knows about my dad’s passing, and it’s bound to be on my mind a lot this week, especially with it being Father’s Day on Sunday.
“Even walking up the ninth fairway today after signing some autographs for some little kids – which was pretty awesome, by the way – I kind of looked up and thought about it.
“Anyone who’s lost a parent, you feel these brief spurts of emotion, from time to time.
“He had colon cancer. I wear the blue ribbon for that, and I say a prayer every night for people who have been affected by cancer.
“It’s a horrible, horrible thing. He got that diagnosis last year, and it wasn’t good.
“Over the past few months before his passing, you could see it was starting to take a toll. So it’s emotional, but honestly, I know he’s in a better place.
“He was beginning to suffer, and that’s something no one ever wants to see.
“Although I wish he was still here with us, there’s a sense of peace among our family. And I hope he’s at peace as well, because it was hard.
“And for me, I have a 15-month-old daughter now, and the last few months, I feel like in a way I’ve gone from a boy to a man, and like matured as a person and as a dad.”
Vogt, who has played in the US Amateur and Mid-Amateur golf tournaments, has been inundated with good luck messages from his patients, fellow dentists, other players – and the local caddies, who are all rooting for him.
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Vogt knows he will have plenty of colleagues rooting for himCredit: INSTAGRAM @thedentistsatgc
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He admitted it will be an emotional week after losing his dad to cancerCredit: AP
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The biggest sports league in North America is coming to the biggest sporting event in the world.
NFL players will be allowed to participate in the 2028 L.A. Olympic flag football competition, league owners approved Tuesday.
The resolution, passed at the league owners meetings in Eagan, Minn., permits NFL players to try out for flag football, but limits only one player per NFL team to play for each national team in the Olympics. An exception was made for each NFL team’s designated international player, who is allowed to play for his home country.
“To have the greatest Games really requires you to have the greatest collection of athletes the world has ever seen,” LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman said, “and today puts us one step closer to that.”
Tuesday’s vote will lead to further negotiations with the NFL Players Assn., the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and national governing bodies to iron out more details about the sport’s safety measures and schedule. The resolution proposed that injury protections and salary-cap credit will cover any players who are injured during flag football activities, while Olympic flag football teams must implement minimum standards for medical staff and field surfaces to be eligible for NFL player participation and the schedule should take reasonable measures to limit conflicts with NFL commitments.
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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS
All Times Pacific
Conference finals
Western Conference
No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score) Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Saturday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ABC Monday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Wed., May 28 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ESPN* Friday, May 30 at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN* Sunday, June 1 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ESPN*
Eastern Conference
No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana Wednesday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT Friday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT Sunday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT Tuesday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT Thursday, May 29 at New York, 5 p.m., TNT* Saturday, May 31 at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT* Monday, June 2 at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*
*if necessary
DODGERS
From Jack Harris: Even as their pitching injuries have mounted in recent weeks, the Dodgers haven’t panicked.
On multiple occasions, team officials have noted how none of the seven pitchers who have gotten hurt since the end of spring camp suffered relatively serious injuries. In time, they promised, the staff would get back close to full health.
On Tuesday, signs of that optimism finally began to appear.
Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell (both out with shoulder inflammation) continued their throwing progressions, with Glasnow making some light pitches off a mound slope for the first time since going on the injured list last month, according to manager Dave Roberts.
Kirby Yates (hamstring strain) began playing catch just days after hitting the IL, raising his hopes of being back within the two-to-four week time frame the team has targeted. Blake Treinen (forearm sprain) also continued his catch play, while Michael Kopech (shoulder impingement) was set to make a rehab outing with triple-A Oklahoma City.
Most of all, though, Shohei Ohtani checked off another important box in his return from a 2023 Tommy John surgery, taking another step closer to resuming two-way duties for the first time as a Dodger.
But, by the time extra innings arrived on a nervy night at Dodger Stadium, the team was in a situation where they simply couldn’t afford to lose.
Not after entering the day with four consecutive losses, a season-long skid caused primarily by a banged-up pitching staff. Not after Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked like an ace, a stopper and a Cy Young candidate all wrapped in one, spinning seven scoreless innings in a nine-strikeout gem. And certainly not with his brilliance in danger of being wasted after closer Tanner Scott blew a one-run lead in the top of the ninth inning before yielding a two-run blast in the top of the 10th.
“I don’t know if it was a must-win,” manager Dave Roberts said, sidestepping such superlatives with the season still only two months old. “But certainly given Yoshi’s outing, you don’t wanna waste that … You just can’t lose on nights that Yamamoto throws [that well].”
Somehow, in a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers didn’t; flipping the script, changing the narrative and snapping their losing streak with the most dramatic of endings.
Logan O’Hoppe homered and had a tiebreaking RBI single as the Angels beat the Athletics 7-5 on Tuesday night for their fifth straight win.
Kenley Jansen gave up pinch-hitter Seth Brown’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth but struck out Tyler Soderstrom to get his 10th save and hand the Athletics their seventh straight loss.
Yoán Moncada had a tying three-run homer in the fifth to tie it 4-4 before O’Hoppe’s RBI single put the Angels ahead for good.
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The Chargers welcomed Arctos as a limited partner Tuesday as NFL owners approved a sale that transferred some the team’s shares to the Dallas-based private equity firm that already has ties to the Dodgers.
“Arctos’ track record in major professional sports speaks for itself,” Chargers owner Dean Spanos said in a statement, “and we are grateful for their alignment moving forward during this time of tremendous growth for our organization.”
According to a league memo The Times obtained last week, Arctos acquired 8% of the team’s shares. Spanos and his family will retain control of the Chargers organization with approximately 61% of the franchise.
From Kevin Baxter: Naomi Girma was called up to the women’s national soccer team Tuesday for the first time this year, joining 23 others for friendlies with China and Jamaica.
Girma, who was named to FIFA’s global Best XI last year, has been sidelined with calf injuries but recently returned to fitness, going 90 minutes in two of Chelsea’s last three games in the Women’s Super League. Her last appearance for the U.S. came in the gold medal final of the Paris Olympics in August.
Sisters Alyssa and Gisele Thompson, who started their second senior national team match together last month, were also called up but this time with Gisele, a defender, making the roster as a winger. Alyssa has four goals and two assists this season for Angel City, for whom her sister also plays.
The U.S. will play China at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minn., on May 31 and Jamaica on June 3 at Energizer Park in St. Louis. Here’s the roster:
Central 2 Dallas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton Wednesday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN Friday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN Sunday at Edmonton, noon, ABC Tuesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ESPN Thursday, May 29 at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN* Saturday, May 31 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ANC* Monday, June 2 at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN*
Eastern Conference
Metro 2 Carolina vs. Atlantic 3 Florida Florida 5, at Carolina 2 (summary) Thursday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT Saturday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Wed., May 28 at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT* Friday, May 30 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT* Sunday, June 1 at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT*
* If necessary
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1881 — A small group of tennis club members meets at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City to form the world’s first national governing body for tennis: the United States National Lawn Tennis Association. The new organization is created to standardize tennis rules and regulations and to encourage and develop the sport.
1891 — Australian boxer Peter Jackson and future world heavyweight champion Jim Corbett fight a No Contest in 61 rounds at California Athletic Club, San Francisco.
1932 — 1st Curtis Cup for Women’s team amateur golf: US wins, 5½-3½ at Wentworth Club (Wentworth, England).
1966 — Muhammad Ali TKOs Henry Cooper in 6 for heavyweight boxing title.
1966 — Kauai King, the Kentucky Derby winner ridden by Don Brumfield, wins the Preakness Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths over Stupendous.
1971 — Chelsea win 11th European Cup Winner’s Cup against Real Madrid 2-1 in Athens (replay).
1977 — Heavily favored Seattle Slew, ridden by Jean Cruguet, wins the Preakness Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths over Iron Constitution, a 31-1 shot.
1979 — The Montreal Canadiens win their 21st Stanley Cup by beating the New York Rangers 4-1 in Game 5.
1981 — The New York Islanders win the Stanley Cup in five games with a 5-1 triumph over the Minnesota North Stars.
1988 — Risen Star, ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye, spoils Winning Colors’ bid to become the first filly to win the Triple Crown by capturing the Preakness Stakes.
1989 — LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, Jack Nicklaus GC: Nancy Lopez wins her 3rd LPGA C’ship by 3 strokes from Ayako Okamoto of Japan.
1995 — The Penske Racing Team is shut out of the 33-car Indianapolis 500 field when two-time winners Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi fail to qualify. Unser is the first Indianapolis 500 winner to fail to qualify the next year.
2005 — Afleet Alex, ridden by Jeremy Rose, regains his footing and his drive after being cut off by Scrappy T in a frightening collision and breezes home to win the Preakness Stakes. Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo finishes third.
2005 — English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (71,876): Arsenal beats Manchester United, 5-4 on penalties after 0 – 0 (a.e.t.); Gunners’ 10th title.
2006 — Detroit holds Cleveland to the lowest point total in a Game 7 in NBA history and advances to its fourth straight Eastern Conference final with a 79-61 win over the Cavaliers.
2006 — The Swedish ice hockey team Tre Kronor takes gold in the World Championship, becoming the first nation to hold both the World and Olympic titles in the same year.
2008 — UEFA Champions League Final, Moscow: Manchester United beats Chelsea, 6-5 on penalties after scores tied at 1-1 after extra time; first all-English final in the competition’s history.
2009 — Evgeni Malkin scores three goals — two in the third period — for his first NHL playoff hat trick and leads Pittsburgh to a 7-4 win over Carolina and a 2-0 advantage in the NHL Eastern Conference finals. Teammate Sidney Crosby scores the first goal of the game for a record-tying sixth goal to start a playoff game. Bobby Hull of the Blackhawks (1962) and Edmonton’s Fernando Pisani in 2006 also had six game-opening goals in a playoff year.
2011 — Shackleford wins the Preakness, holding off a late charge from Animal Kingdom to win as a 12-1 underdog. Ridden by Jesus Lopez Castanon and trained by Dale Romans, Shackleford wins by three-quarters of a length in 1:56.21.
2011 — Bernard Hopkins, at age 46, becomes the oldest fighter to win a major world championship, taking the WBC light heavyweight title from Jean Pascal in Montreal. He takes the WBC, IBO and The Ring magazine titles from the 28-year-old Pascal (26-2-1), the Canadian fighter who was making his fifth defense. Hopkins (52-5-2) broke the age record set by George Foreman in a heavyweight title victory over Michael Moorer in 1994.
2016 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Manchester United beats Crystal Palace, 2-1 (a.e.t.); Jesse Lingard scores 110′ winner.
2016 — On same card, American boxer Jermell Charlo KOs John Jackson in 8th to claim vacant WBC super welterweight title, and Jermall Charlo beats Austin Trout on points to retain IBF version; first twins to hold world championships in same weight division.
2017 — The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, Greystone G&CC: Defending champion Berhard Langer wins by 5 strokes from Scott Parel & Scott McCarron.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1926 — Earl Sheely of the Chicago White Sox hit three doubles and a home run against the Boston Red Sox. Sheely doubled in each of his last three at-bats the previous day to give him seven consecutive extra-base hits, tying a major league record. The six doubles in the two games also tied a major league record.
1930 — Babe Ruth hits three consecutive home runs in the first game of a doubleheader against the A’s.
1943 — In the fastest nine-inning night game in American League history, the Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators 1-0, in 1 hour, 29 minutes.
1948 — Joe DiMaggio had two home runs, a triple, double and single to lead the New York Yankees to a 13-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
1952 — Duke Snider’s home run highlighted a 15-run first inning in the Dodgers’ 19-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds in Brooklyn. Snider, Pee Wee Reese and Billy Cox each made three plate appearances in the first inning.
1986 — Rafael Ramirez of Atlanta had four doubles in seven at-bats as the Braves beat the Chicago Cubs 9-8 in 13 innings.
1996 — Larry Walker drove in a career-high six runs, hitting a pair of two-run homers, a triple and a double in the Colorado Rockies’ 12-10 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. His 13 total bases set a club record.
1996 — At Fenway Park, Seattle pounds out 19 hits to beat Boston, 13-7. Ken Griffey, Jr. becomes the 7th-youngest player to collect 200 homers when he connects in the M’s six-run 4th inning. Jay Buhner hits a two-run shot in the inning, the 5th game in a row he’s connected, and Edgar Martinez adds four hits in the game.
1997 — Roger Clemens earned his 200th career victory, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-1 win over the New York Yankees.
2000 — For the first time in baseball history, there were six grand slams in a single day. Garret Anderson of the Angels hit the record-breaker off Kansas City’s Chris Fussell. J.T. Snow of San Francisco, Brian Hunter of Philadelphia, Jason Giambi of Oakland, and Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green of the Dodgers connected with the bases loaded before Anderson. The old mark of five was set in 1999.
2002 — The Diamondbacks set down the Giants, 9-4, behind Randy Johnson. Johnson notches the 3,500th strikeout of his big league career in the contest.
2004 — In his return to Texas, Alex Rodriguez is roundly booed by fans at the Ballpark in Arlington. The fans continue to show their displeasure as the Yankees third baseman drives a 2-1 pitch over the fence during his 1st-inning at-bat.
2004 — Jose Cruz Jr. went 4-for-4 with a homer and three doubles, leading Tampa Bay to a 5-3 victory over Cleveland.
2005 — The Texas Rangers set two club records in an 18-3 rout of the Houston Astros. Texas got home runs from Rod Barajas, Hank Blalock, Laynce Nix and Mark Teixeira in an eight-run, four-homer second inning. Texas slugged a team-record eight homers total on the day, also receiving blasts from Kevin Mench, Richard Hidalgo and two from David Dellucci.
2009 — Albert Pujols of St. Louis hit a homer in the first inning that knocked out the “I” on the Big Mac Land sign located in Busch Stadium’s left field. The Cardinals won 3-1.
2009 — Joe Mauer hit a grand slam, two doubles and drove in a career-high six runs as Minnesota routed the Chicago White Sox 20-1.
2010 — Dan Haren doubled twice, drove in three runs and pitched eight strong innings, offsetting Edwin Encarnacion’s three home runs for Toronto, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Blue Jays 8-6. Haren allowed four runs on nine hits and two of Encarnacion’s three homers.
2013 — Mike Trout hit for the cycle and drove in five runs to lead the Angels in a 12-0 rout of Seattle Mariners.
2015 — The Brewers’ Will Smith is ejected for having rosin and sunscreen on his forearm in the 7th inning of Milwaukee’s 10-1 loss to the Braves. Smith explains that he simply forgot to wipe off his arm before leaving the bullpen when called into the game. He will receive an eight-game suspension as well.
2018 — Baseball has a new phenom as 19-year-old Juan Soto of the Nationals, making his first start ever in the outfield after striking out as a pinch-hitter in his debut the day before, crushes the first pitch he sees from Robbie Erlin of the Padres for a three-run homer. He goes 2-for-4 in 10-2 win by Washington. He is the first teenager to homer since teammate Bryce Harper did so in his rookie year in 2012.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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Super Bowl champion and Olympic gold medalist? Some NFL players could be at the center of the venn diagram in 2028.
NFL team owners could vote next week at the league’s meetings on whether to allow NFL players to participate in Olympic flag football in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. A resolution, announced Thursday, included several possible guidelines as further negotiations continue between the NFL Players Assn., the league, national governing bodies and Olympic authorities.
The proposed resolution would permit players under an NFL contract to try out for a 2028 Olympic flag football team, but limit NFL player participation to no more than one from each NFL team for each national team. In addition, each NFL team’s designated international player can play for his home country.
With injuries a primary concern for the crossover, the proposal adds that any NFL player would have injury protection and salary-cap credit if they are injured while playing Olympic flag football. Olympic flag football teams would have to implement certain minimum standards for medical staff and field surfaces for eligible NFL players to participate.
The resolution also calls for a flag football schedule that does not unreasonably conflict with a player’s NFL commitments. The 2028 Olympics are scheduled for July 14, 2028-July 30, 2028. The timing could potentially conflict with the beginning of some training camps, but the flag football competition, which is scheduled to take place at BMO Stadium, will only span about a week of the Games.
Flag football is one of five new sports in the 2028 Olympic program and one of two sports, along with squash, making its Olympic debut. The U.S. men’s flag football team is five-time defending flag football world champions.
NFL owners are “committed to supporting the growth of flag football,” the resolution states.
“The membership believes that participation by NFL players in flag football during the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California will support such growth and advance several league interests,” the resolution continues, “including increasing fan and public interest in flag football, expanding the global reach of the NFL, and providing greater opportunities for fan engagement and for our league partners.”
