Hawkins

It was football media day for six West Valley League teams on Saturday at Granada Hills, and as a unit, the coaches and players are convinced they have a chance to be the best league in the City Section in terms of competition.

While defending league champion Birmingham has an overall 49-game winning streak against City Section opponents, Cleveland, Granada Hills, Chatsworth, Taft and El Camino Real hope to be factors in the playoffs.

Cleveland is making strides to challenge for second place with a group of talented juniors, including two Nigerian-born players, running back Moyosoreoluwa Odebunmi and linebacker Oluwafemi Okeola.

Odebunmi, in his first varsity carry in a scrimmage against Van Nuys on Thursday, ran for a touchdown.

“When I scored, I was like, ‘Oh wow,’” he said. “But I know it’s not going to be easy.”

Birmingham has an offensive line filled with 300 pounders, and when 6-foot-5, 260-pound quarterback Kevin Hawkins plays tight end, the Patriots are truly giants up front. Coach Jim Rose said of Hawkins running the ball: “It’s like tackling a lineman. He’s a huge guy out there.”

Birmingham held a pizza eating contest this past week, and the winner was lineman Pablo Granados, who ate 10 slices in seven minutes. Hawkins was runner-up with seven.

Chatsworth offensive lineman Pablo Escobedo is known for riding his horse in his Chatsworth neighborhood. “It’s pretty cool,” he said.

Chatsworth should have one of the league’s best running backs in junior Devin Del Toro, who has been playing running back and linebacker since his freshman season. Coach Shawn Johnson said he has made “a huge jump.”

There are two players in the league who are outstanding two-sport athletes in football and baseball. That’s Taft quarterback/catcher Nathan Swinson and El Camino Real defensive back/center fielder Shane Bogacz.

Both try to find time to hit the batting cages to stay sharp during football season.

Granada Hills will continue to run the double-wing attack, focusing on running the ball, but the midseason availability of transfer quarterback Taiyo Dorio from Crescenta Valley could cause coach Bucky Brooks to try a pass or two.

Wingback Myles Cross drew laughter when he said, “I caught a pass.”

Brooks offered praise to all coaches and players in the City Section.

“I applaud all those who opted to stay in the neighborhood and play for neighborhood schools,” he said. “I want to salute everyone. I love the competitiveness.”

Foo Fighters are celebrating the anniversary of an old album with the release of a new song.

Nearly 30 years to the day after Dave Grohl’s stadium-filling rock band dropped its self-titled debut on July 4, 1995, the group on Wednesday revealed “Today’s Song,” its first piece of original material since 2023’s “But Here We Are” LP, which itself followed the death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022.

“I woke today screaming for change / I knew that I must,” Grohl sings over a subdued organ part, “So here lies the shadow / Ashes to ashes, dust into dust.” Later, the frontman sings about “waiting for someone to repair you” as the song explodes with the band’s signature guitar theatrics and bludgeoning drums.

In a statement, Grohl, 56, said, “Over the years, we’ve had moments of unbridled joy, and moments of devastating heartbreak. Moments of beautiful victory, and moments of painful defeat. We have mended broken bones and broken hearts. But we have followed this road together, with each other, for each other, no matter what. Because in life, you just can’t go it alone.”

Referring to former members of the band, he added, “It should go without saying that without the boundless energy of William Goldsmith, the seasoned wisdom of Franz Stahl, and the thunderous wizardry of Josh Freese, this story would be incomplete, so we extend our heartfelt gratitude for the time, music, and memories that we shared with each of them over the years. Thank you, gentlemen.” (Freese, who took over as drummer following Hawkins’ death, was fired from the band in May for reasons he’s said remain unknown to him.)

“And… Taylor,” Grohl continued. “Your name is spoken every day, sometimes with tears, sometimes with a smile, but you are still in everything we do, everywhere we go, forever. The enormity of your beautiful soul is only rivaled by the infinite longing we feel in your absence. We all miss you beyond words. Foo Fighters will forever include Taylor Hawkins in every note that we play, until we do finally reach our destination.”

A spokesperson for Foo Fighters declined to specify who played drums on “Today’s Song,” though the playing recalls Grohl’s work on the band’s debut, which he recorded as a one-man band, and as the drummer of Nirvana. Earlier this week, Foo Fighters released a cover of Minor Threat’s early-’80s hardcore classic “I Don’t Wanna Hear It,” which the band said combined music recorded in 1995 with vocals recorded in 2025.

“Today’s Song” comes less than a year after Grohl — who has three daughters with his wife, Jordyn Blum — wrote in an Instagram post that he’d fathered a daughter with a woman outside of his marriage.

“I plan to be a loving and supportive parent to her,” he wrote. “I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness.” Grohl’s oldest daughter, 19-year-old Violet, performed Nirvana’s “All Apologies” with Nirvana’s surviving members at January’s FireAid concert; his second-oldest daughter, Harper, designed the single artwork for “Today’s Song.”

Foo Fighters are scheduled to play a series of concerts in Asia in October before headlining Mexico City’s Corona Capital festival in November.

The rock band Foo Fighters has let go of drummer Josh Freese, according to a note from the veteran percussionist.

“The Foo Fighters called me Monday night to let me know they’ve decided ‘to go in a different direction with their drummer,’” Freese wrote on Instagram. “No reason was given. … Regardless, I enjoyed the past two years with them, both on and off stage, and I support whatever they feel is best for the band. In my 40 years of drumming professionally, I’ve never been let go from a band, so while I’m not angry — just a bit shocked and disappointed. But as most of you know I’ve always worked freelance and bounced between bands so, I’m fine.”

“Stay tuned for my ‘Top 10 possible reasons Josh got booted from the Foo Fighters’ list,” he joked.

A representative for the band confirmed the departure but declined to comment.

Freese is a session veteran who first came to prominence in the SoCal punk band the Vandals, and later went on to play in Guns N’ Roses, A Perfect Circle and Devo before joining Foo Fighters in 2023. He won the high-profile job after the death of beloved Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

The band previously celebrated Hawkins in a moving tribute concert in 2022, which included Hawkins’ then-16-year-old son Shane drumming in his dad’s place on “My Hero.” More recently, singer Dave Grohl appeared with his former Nirvana bandmate, bassist Krist Novoselic, to perform at the FireAid benefit concert in Inglewood this year.

The group has not announced a new drummer. Its next scheduled performance is in Singapore on Oct. 4.