Joe

Almost every day, quarterback and left-handed ace pitcher Joe Bell looks out on the La Cañada High football field and sees faces so familiar he might as well be taken back in time to the days of playing in the sandbox, in the street, in the backyard or at the local park.

It’s so fun as a high school senior to know the person at your side has been your friend and teammate for years. It’s the magic of going to your neighborhood school and being a multi-sport athlete.

There’s his younger brother, Jake, a sophomore middle linebacker and his catcher since birth. There’s Brandon Mohaghegh, a receiver and outfielder; Chase Regan, a running back and second baseman; Ross Piken, a receiver and pitcher; Ethan Wong, a right offensive tackle and designated hitter; and Caythan Kim, a left offensive tackle and.outfielder.

They know each other from Little League days and earlier.

Yes, the group likes to go take batting practice together before football practice, and everyone agrees it’s the coolest thing.

“It’s crazy,” said Bell, who’s 21 of 29 passing for the 2-0 Spartans and was the Rio Hondo League baseball player of the year with an 11-2 record and 1.71 ERA last season. “It’s impressive. We go to the locker room, change our stuff and leave our gear. Playing multiple sports is the best thing you can do as a kid. It’s completely doable to do both. And if you don’t you’re missing out.”

Said football coach David Avramovich: “It’s very common for them playing long toss or being in the cage once or twice a week. They’re walking by with their bats.”

Thanks to Avramovich and baseball coach Nathan Bernstein each being multiple-sports advocates, everyone is on the same page supporting each other. Avramovich sits in the parent section for baseball games; Bernstein stands on the sideline during football games.

“It’s really good for them to take a break,” Avramovich said of his football and baseball players.

The Bells are a family of three siblings with great grades and great parents. Jake has a twin sophomore sister who plays volleyball and softball.

“I need 30 Bells,” Avramovich said. “They’re all awesome.”

Quarterback Joe Bell of La Canada runs for yardage. He’s also a standout left-handed pitcher in baseball.

(Lisa Mattmann)

Joe Bell, with a 4.1 grade-point average, is living the life of someone ready to be a Division I college athlete but comfortable and thriving in his neighborhood setting while going from one sport to the next.

“I’ve always played as many sports as I can,” he said. “I played soccer, pick-up basketball, baseball. I actually credit my success in sports keeping it fun. I go to the park to throw a football with my friends, then go play hoops in some backyard.”

Bell is 6 feet 1, 185 pounds and loves being left-handed.

“It’s pretty nice,” he said. “It’s like being an anomaly. I would go to these football and baseball camps, ‘Is anyone a lefty?’ It was great being in that special group.”

For the first time, his brother, Jake, will be his catcher on varsity.

“Jake’s a Dawg,” Joe said. “It’s like playing catch in the backyard mound we built. I’ve been playing with him since the beginning. I’d say, ‘Jake, do you want to catch a bullpen?’’’

If Jake says no, it will be the first time.

If anyone is not inspired by the Bells and their friends, then you need to think back to the way high school sports used to be with the focus on having fun and winning with your neighborhood friends.

At La Cañada with this group, it’s Back to the Future and a return to the 1980s.

Contains spoilers! Recent Emmerdale rumours teased an exit for Dawn Taylor amid a dramatic stunt week that saw one character dead and Joe Tate injured, but will Dawn stay on the show?

Amid rumours Dawn is leaving Emmerdale, fans feared another character would die this week.

With Jimmy King dead, Joe Tate was caught up in an explosion leaving fans wondering if he would be killed off too. Thursday’s cliffhanger saw Dawn Taylor and Nicola King escaping the wedding marquee, that was meant to host pregnant Dawn’s wedding with Joe.

Dawn jilted Joe, and then changed her mind, but before they could reconcile, tragedy struck. Jimmy’s car went speeding into the marquee, injuring himself, Dawn and Joe.

Jimmy eventually died, and Nicola and Dawn were fine, leaving Joe’s fate unknown. As the marquee exploded, it was teased villain Joe had been killed off, as his loved ones watched on in shock.

But is Dawn leaving the show? It was reported earlier this year that actress Olivia Bromley had been written out of the ITV soap after eight years.

Nothing has been confirmed, but reports suggested Dawn would be leaving. It left some fans wondering if Joe would die, causing a grief-stricken Dawn to flee the village.

So while nothing has been confirmed by Emmerdale, scenes this week did tease an exit, when Dawn planned to run off with Billy Fletcher. She changed her mind, so could the exit rumours have been a mistake?

Might the escape plan have led some to think she would leave, but actually Dawn will stay? It’s these reports that sparked the exit claims in the first place, and as we say, they have not been backed up by the show or actress Olivia.

Perhaps the latest episode on Friday could add more to this, with Joe’s fate confirmed. Warning, the rest of this article contains spoilers from Friday’s episode now available on ITVX.

If you haven’t watched the episode yet, look away now! Friday’s visit to the Dales follows the immediate fallout of the explosion, as Graham Foster desperately tries to save Joe.

Joe is rescued and taken to hospital where it is revealed whether he lives or dies. We’ll leave that, and any other twists that air, for your own viewing.

The episode is now on ITVX and will air this evening at 8PM on ITV1. Producer Laura Shaw had teased Joe’s fate with the Mirror in a recent chat, where she appeared to confirm a big new storyline.

Laura hinted that Joe’s feud with his uncle Caleb Miligan would escalate after the wedding week, and would continue into 2027. We’re also expecting a “gothic and dark” autumn for the Tates.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

Match of the Day’s Joe Hart discusses Manchester City’s Marc Guehi and his performance in midfield, with plenty of praise for the centre half in a different position against Bournemouth.

READ MORE: Premier League on BBC Sport

Available to UK users only.

Rugby star Joe Marler will soon be seen on screen, and in Lycra, as one of the formidable athletes taking on the challengers of the BBC gameshow Gladiators – where he will be known as Mauler

Rugby star Joe Marler has revealed his one request following his surprise casting as one of the resident champions on the BBC gameshow Gladiators. The 36-year-old rugby ace has seen his star power rise since appearing as a contestant on the first season of The Celebrity Traitors which aired on the Beeb last year.

And now Joe is to become a more permanent prime time star as one of the intimidating athletes on Gladiators – taking on the mantle of Mauler; a pun on his last name. Gladiators originally ran from 1992 until 2000 on ITV and was revived by the BBC in 2024 with Bradley Walsh and his son Barney as hosts.

The show is due to return for a fourth season in early 2027 – with cameras expected to start rolling before the end of this year. While Joe’s involvement was revealed last month and now he has explained that he feels he needs a bit more time to get fighting fit before squeezing into his Lycra outfit – and asked for a less revealing look.

He told The Sunday People’s Love Sunday magazine: “My kids love it, particularly my youngest boy. [I was at Soccer Aid with my family.] We walked past Nitro and he says, ‘Daddy, it’s Nitro!’

“He walked over like, ‘Hi, Nitro.’ And I’m like, ‘What? Who is this? You barely say hello to family members, but you’ve gone straight up to Nitro.’ So when the call came in to say, ‘We’d like you to be a Gladiator if you fancy it,’ it was a definite yes.”

The Rugby legend revealed he requested to be the first Gladiator to wear baggy clothes- which will contradict with the tight outfits Gladiators are known to wear and the show creators quickly shut him down.

He then added: “I’m going to need a little bit of time to get as close to Gladiator-ready as possible.”

His involvement was announced by the BBC earlier this month as they prepare to begin filming the 2027 season. A statement declared: “Trading the rugby pitch for the iconic Gladiators arena, Marler will join the epic Gladiators in battle, introducing fans and audiences alike to his new identity – Mauler.

“Mauler, the Gladiator, will make his debut across series 4, where he’ll go head-to-head with some of the Contenders in special appearances packed with power, personality and plenty of surprises.”

And the bulletin added: “Known for his uncompromising style of play and larger-than-life sense of humour, Joe has built a reputation as one of the UK’s most entertaining sporting personalities. Now, he’s taking on an entirely new challenge as he joins the ranks of the Gladiators, bringing his trademark physicality and competitive spirit to one of television’s toughest arenas.”

As well as being a star of rugby, Celebrity Traitors, and now Gladiators, Joe is also the host of a popular podcast titled Joe Marler Will See You Now. A recent guest was Prince Harry – which drew chuckles as the host and Prince discussed their daily grooming routines.

Joe, however, later revealed he suffered a backlash for inviting the Prince onto his podcast – which he co-hosts with comedian Jake Bhardwaj. He told The Mirror+: “We put some prep in but it crept up on us and I was nervous, thinking about the whole thing and also the polarising public opinion of it.

“Jake just said, ‘Calm down and think about what we want to achieve from having him as a guest.’ I knew I liked him. I was Team Harry, if there were teams or whatever.”

He added: “I knew that there would be some level of backlash to whatever question or whatever answer he gave.

“But I didn’t want that to stop me and Jake from being genuine and in the moment. I wanted him and us to be present and to have the experience. I didn’t want to overthink things or not ask a particular question because of how it might be received. But the level of vitriol that comes with him, the social media backlash… What is the matter with some people?”

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After taking a wicket with the first ball of the Test, England dominated Pakistan across two and a half rain-affected days.

They appeared more measured in their approach than during the ultra-aggressive Stokes-McCullum regime, but still scored at 4.55 runs per over – albeit against a poor Pakistan side.

“We played to the fashion that we wanted to,” Trescothick said.

“We wanted to be able to be clever and smart. There’s moments within the game we’ve done that brilliantly.

“We still have that mantra of applying pressure because that’s the best way of being dominant over teams, if you can put them under pressure.

“I did enjoy the fact we were still scoring quite quickly especially when the ball was new.”

New Zealander Stephen Fleming has been appointed as McCullum’s replacement but will not take charge until the winter tour of South Africa, leaving Trescothick as interim.

Fleming was in contact with Root and Trescothick “every day” during the win over Pakistan.

“He was adamant me and Joe take it on and just run with what we feel is right, to try and get the group back in shape, with a few pointers on what he wanted and how he could see his style being implemented within the group,” Trescothick said.

Trescothick has worked with England as a batting and assistant coach since 2021, but former Australia coach Mike Hussey has been approached by Fleming to be batting coach when he takes over.

Hussey worked with England under Michael Mott during their 2022 T20 World Cup win and with Fleming at Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.

Trescothick could move to a white-ball only role, where McCullum remains England coach, but said he would “love” to stay on with the Test side.

“I want to be involved in all formats of the game because it’s a wonderful place to be,” he said.

“Working with the best and seeing England cricketers do well.

“That’s not really for me to judge so I’ll wait and see what happens.”

For Root, the innings victory sealed inside three days against Pakistan was the ideal start to his second spell as captain.

It also extended England’s run of wins at Headingley, which began in 2018. Their longest winning streak at another ground is six at Chester-le-Street.

The decision for Headingley and Old Trafford to miss out on the 2027 Ashes roster was announced in 2023.

But the match allocation has once again come into focus after the schedule for next year’s series was confirmed in July.

Nottingham’s Trent Bridge will be the most northerly ground to host a men’s Ashes Test, with Southampton given an England-Australia Test for the first time. Headingley will instead play host to a women’s Ashes Test.

Headingley staged a men’s Ashes Test in 2019 and 2023, both matches England won. The 2019 win, inspired by Ben Stokes, was one of the most legendary contests in Ashes history, ranking alongside Ian Botham’s heroics of 1981 on the same ground.

Overall, England’s record of nine home Ashes wins in Leeds is bettered only by their 17 at The Oval, and The Oval has hosted 36 Ashes Tests compared to Headingley’s 26.

“I would love to play as many games as possible here,” said Root. “It’s a great Test-match venue, a surface that provides brilliant Test cricket, and one we’ve had quite a lot of success on recently.

“It’s a shame we don’t get to play here next year, but I’m sure we will see many, many more brilliant Test matches here.”

Headingley will next host a men’s Ashes Test in 2031, from when the England and Wales Cricket has said it will keep at least one Test in Leeds or Manchester in the allocation for every home Ashes series. Southampton will get a Test in alternate men’s home Ashes.

Root, England’s greatest batter and a veteran of 166 Tests, said he hoped his “natural persona” is suited to bringing a sense of calm to the men’s national team.

Off-field issues dominated last winter’s tours, including an incident involving Harry Brook being punched by a nightclub bouncer in Wellington and the team’s drinking during a mid-Ashes trip to Noosa, culminating in a heavy 4-1 defeat by Australia.

The issues continued into the summer when Stokes broke a team curfew, setting in motion a chaotic six weeks that resulted in a 2-1 series defeat by New Zealand, Stokes’ retirement and the sacking of McCullum.

Fellow New Zealander Stephen Fleming has been appointed as McCullum’s replacement, but batting coach Marcus Trescothick will take interim charge of the Test side for the three-match series against Pakistan.

Root, who has already led England in 65 Tests having held the role between 2017 and 2022, said one of his “big challenges” is “trying not to be Ben Stokes”.

“He is a very unique player with unbelievable qualities that I don’t think are easy to replicate,” Root said. “I don’t think there is any point trying to.

“It is going to have a slightly different look to it but that is OK.

“There has been a lot of good stuff that has happened in the past four years that will serve us really well.

“It is about not ripping it up, just fine tuning and evolving that and taking that to the next level. We have got to find a way of evolving the team without him.”

More to follow

STACEY Solomon has given an insight into her family holiday in ‘paradise’ with Joe Swash and her sister Jemma.

The TV presenter, 36, is currently enjoying a holiday in Turkey and has shared snaps and videos of their amazing experience.

The TV star looked incredible in a baby pink bikini while enjoying time with daughter Belle in a leafy swimming pool.

She also shared rare snaps of the family all together – but said she looked like a mole in them.

Stacey also enjoyed having fun in the stunning swimming pool with her sister as a bemused stranger looked on at their antics.

The TV presenter also shared a sweet snap of her cuddling her daughters on the golden sand in front of rows of luxurious sun loungers.

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Stacey also shared a super sweet clip of her family trying out a viral trend and captioned it: “Thought I’d share this for anyone who sees the cutest family video trends but this is what you’re dealing with.

“Take my hat off to those families who can get everyone to comply.”

Fans flocked to comment and one wrote: “You are all so cute”!

Another added: “We love this sister love.”

A third said: “I have loved this holiday I felt like I was there with you all.”

While a fourth wrote: “Beautiful family and beautiful holiday.”

Jemma and her husband Lee marked their 21 year anniversary while on holiday – after their recent business woes.

It came after Jemma’s home organising company was taken over by Lord Alan Sugar after she tearfully closed down the firm earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Stacey gave birth to Belle, her third child with former EastEnders star Joe, back in February 2023.

The couple had previously welcomed son Rex and daughter Rose, in 2019 and 2021 respectively.

Stacey already had older sons Zachary and Leighton from prior relationships, while Joe had son Harry.

“Bachelorette” alum Joe Amabile is home following brain surgery.

“They got it all!” wrote Amabile, who uploaded an Instagram carousel with pictures of himself post-surgery on Aug. 6.

His wife Serena Pitt — whom he met in 2021 while filming Season 7 of “Bachelor in Paradise” — also updated fans on his recovery, uploading an Instagram carousel with pictures from NYU Langone Health, where the surgery took place.

“A few peaceful moments from the hospital,” Pitt wrote in the caption. “Joe is home recovering and we’re so grateful to have been in such good hands.”

In July, Amabile revealed on Instagram that MRI testing found a “blueberry-sized” brain tumor, which would need to be removed for further examination.

The couple would elaborate further on the health issue on their July 16 podcast “Not Married to This With Serena & Joe,” saying that they both underwent a preventative whole-body MRI scan with Prenuvo (the same private diagnostic company that showed “Extra” and “E!” host Maria Menounos had a full mass on her pancreas, which was later confirmed to be a cancerous Stage 2 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor).

Pitt’s scan revealed two small, innocuous nodules. Amabile’s results indicated that he had a lesion in his brain the size of a marble, prompting him to get an additional MRI with and without contrast.

“We got the good news that it wasn’t enhancing and we got the concerning news that it still was something. It wasn’t nothing,” Pitt said on the podcast.

“There’s no other way around it. There’s something there and you don’t want anything in your brain,” added Amabile.

Before surgery, Amabile shared that he would undergo a craniotomy, a surgery in which a neurosurgeon temporarily removes a piece of the skull to reach the brain and remove the tumor. According to the medical professionals he consulted, the likelihood that the low-grade glioma would turn into something aggressive was high and he was encouraged to treat the lesion while in its early stages.

“We will actually have so much more information once the tumor is removed and they test it and then we can actually create a plan of next steps,” Pitt said on the podcast.

Amabile first came into the spotlight in 2018 after appearing on Season 14 of “The Bachelorette,” featuring Becca Kufrin. While he was eliminated on the first night, he was a beloved participant for his charming, down-to-earth personality as a grocery store owner from Chicago, earning him the nickname “Grocery Store Joe.”

Later that same year, Amabile would participate in Season 5 of “Bachelor in Paradise” and compete in Season 27 of “Dancing With the Stars,” making it to the semifinal round. In 2021, he returned for Season 7 of “Bachelor in Paradise,” proposing to Pitt in the finale.

Now it seems that Amabile is bringing people along on his healing journey, having documented his anxieties before surgery.

“This is my journey, I’m telling it. This is what it is. You can take what you want away from it,” Amabile said on the podcast.

Sir Alastair Cook believes Joe Root is not the long-term solution to be England’s Test cricket captain, but is confident of his ability to lead the side for the next year and help take England forward with the home Ashes coming up in 2027.

READ MORE: Root in ‘very different place’ over Test captaincy

On Fleming, who, like Root, holds national records for matches and wins as Test captain, he added: “I’ve admired him from afar, first as a player and recently as a coach. To get the chance to work together is going to be great fun.

“Once I’d spoken to Stephen about it and saw his energy and excitement for it and saw we’re very aligned on it, I got excited very quickly.”

Root and Fleming inherit a side in disarray, with series defeats in Australia and at home by New Zealand – which brought criticism of England’s carefree playing style – coupled with a run of off-field disciplinary issues bringing the Bazball era to a disappointing conclusion when captain Stokes retired in June and coach Brendon McCullum was sacked a fortnight later.

The duo had previously overseen a resurgence in the Test side, winning 10 of their first 11 matches, and Root hopes he and Fleming can take inspiration from their tenure, rather than starting from scratch.

“Hopefully we can work and build on a lot of the good things that have happened over the last four years,” Root said.

“I think Brendon and Ben did a brilliant job, in many ways, of turning things around and getting us in a position where hopefully now we can carry that forward in a slightly different way.”

Expanding on his approach to his second captaincy in an in-house interview with the England & Wales Cricket Board, Root said: “The last four years have been the most fun I’ve had in professional cricket and a big part of that was down to the way they [McCullum and Stokes] got me to see the game.

“Clearly, the last little while is probably what’s fresh in everyone’s mind but you’re looking at a four-year period where we did a lot of amazing things. I’ve taken a lot from that and I feel it will be a big part of how I want to approach things moving forward as a leader of this team.

“The thing that stands out the most for me is the shift in mindset that was created around how we want to play the game – trying to strip the fear away from things, make sure guys feel that they can really just allow their talent to come out as frequently as possible and in big moments in games. The more that can happen, the better.

“If we can do that alongside recognising when the right time is to put pressure back on teams, or when the right time is to soak it up and to maybe play situations slightly differently, become a little bit smarter in certain areas, then I think we’ll be a very formidable team and a very difficult team to break down and to beat.”

EXCLUSIVE Emmerdale’s Joe Tate actor Ned Porteous has told The Mirror all about whether his character is capable of trying to kill someone after Billy Fletcher’s attack

Who attacked Billy in Emmerdale might have been revealed, or at least someone may have been ruled out.

Amid theories from viewers about who was to blame, Billy’s fate remains unknown. He’s in a coma, fighting for his life after being brutally attacked and left with a serious head injury.

Billy sustained a bleed on the brain, after Kerry Wyatt found her colleague lifeless on the floor of the depot where they work. He was lying with his head in a pool of blood, with his loved ones warned he’s in a bad way.

Kerry and boss Caleb Miligan were quick to point out to the police that Joe Tate may have attacked Billy. After all he had threatened Billy to Caleb, after Caleb told Joe about Billy and Dawn’s apparent kiss.

Of course it’s not the first time Joe has caused someone to be injured or killed, while it’s not like him to get his hands dirty. But has he taken a brutal revenge on Billy, or is he being framed?

Fans have mixed ideas on the truth, and now speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Joe actor Ned Porteous has had his say. He addressed whether Joe is capable of hurting Billy in this way, while he also teased whether his character is the real attacker.

With some fans saying it’s too obvious to be Joe, Ned discussed this and pointed out Joe did have it in him to commit the crime. That said, something he told us could hint that Joe is not to blame.

Asked if Joe could be at fault, he replied: “I think Joe has it in him to do a whole bunch of things. Yeah. I think the beauty of this character, and the fun I’ve been having with the character, is the duality between his capabilities for great good and great evil.

“I think as a thematic tool, Joe, and characters like Joe, are extremely useful for the screenwriters, because we can see that he is a good dude, but he has no practice at it. He’s volatile, he has a complete lack of control of his emotions.

“So, if you were to get to him, he’ll get you back sevenfold.” We then questioned whether if Joe was innocent, will he struggle to prove that innocence given Joe’s dark ways in the past.

He told us: “Absolutely. I think everything that Joe does in this village is guilty until proven innocent, because why on earth wouldn’t it be? We’ve only ever seen Joe do bad things to people, apart from the one or two people that he’s let close to himself and his heart that know that he’s not completely evil.”

So does this comment about not being completely evil and being “guilty until proven innocent” suggest Joe isn’t the one to blame? After all, some fans are suspecting Joe’s nemesis Caleb Miligan may have attacked Billy, not Joe.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

If there’s a day of uncontaminated enthusiasm on the NFL calendar it’s the first day of training camp. Everyone’s healthy, everyone’s hopeful, and the Super Bowl is seemingly in reach for everyone.

A few thousand Chargers fans were at the team facility Wednesday to watch the inaugural practice, and afterward coach Jim Harbaugh and many of the players stuck around to sign autographs, pose for selfies and make small talk. It was the kind of scene unfolding all around the NFL.

“It was amazing,” said All-Pro safety Derwin James of the practice. “Kind of like the first day of school.”

Were they to receive a grade for their first two seasons under Harbaugh, the Chargers might get an incomplete. They played well enough to make the playoffs in both seasons — overcoming a dizzying array of injuries on the offensive line a year ago — yet failed to show up in the postseason, suffering lopsided losses at Houston and New England.

Harbaugh said the first day of camp feels like “Christmas morning” to him. When asked whether the entire team was full speed and ready to go, he made the analogy of an airplane gathering speed down a runway before achieving flight. There’s a deliberate ramp-up to the intensity of training camp, he said.

So now it begins again, and with a rebooted offensive line with two of the most promising bookend tackles in the game, first-round picks Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, both of whom were sidelined for most or all of last fall.

Slater suffered a season-ending knee injury in training camp. Alt missed three games with a high-ankle sprain in Week 4, then suffered a more severe injury to the same ankle upon his return.

For those players in particular, each medically cleared to return, every day off crutches is a good day.

That said, Slater is determined not to dwell on what happened a year ago.

Chargers fan Christian Cavanias cheers while attending the team’s training camp in El Segundo on Wednesday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“I’ve been injured before in the NFL, and I learned a lot from that experience,” he said. “I don’t think analyzing it any deeper than what it was is really worthwhile. I attacked the rehab and moved on, didn’t really give any thought to it. Trying to set the tone for the season, show up and be the best version of myself I can be.”

A healthy offensive line isn’t the only big change for the Chargers. They have a new offensive coordinator in former Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, and a new defensive coordinator in Chris O’Leary, who is replacing his mentor, Jesse Minter, new coach of the Baltimore Ravens.

McDaniel began making small adjustments to Justin Herbert’s footwork during organized team activities, and those changes have become second nature for the Chargers quarterback.

“I’ve had a few weeks as well to work on it when I was back home,” Herbert said. “I thought it was a great time to be able to master my footwork, and then to come back out and just play fast and not have to worry about it.”

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert speaks during a news conference at training camp on Wednesday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Like Harbaugh, McDaniel has the kind of boundless energy that almost has him looking like a player when the team is running drills.

“He’s all hands on,” James said of McDaniel. “I feel like he’s almost out there running the route, how close he is to the receiver sometimes.”

McDaniel needles the other side of the ball too, James said, warning defenders to be ready for a deep pass before hitting them with a quick out.

“He’s playing some mind games,” James said with a smile. “It’s cool, though.”

Chargers free safety Derwin James speaks to reporters at training camp on Wednesday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

There was a bit of buzz at camp about Herbert getting engaged to girlfriend Madison Beer, with the couple posting photos Tuesday of the proposal, complete with the quarterback dropping to a knee to pop the question.

Harbaugh called the development “awesome” and said the coaching staff didn’t know in advance. He said Herbert had mentioned earlier in the summer that a proposal was coming, but didn’t let the coaching staff know about the particulars until after it happened.

For his part, Herbert conceded that he was more nervous about proposing than he was before the first start of his NFL career. Then again, he had a lot more time to dwell on asking his girlfriend than he had to prepare for playing, as he was immediately pressed into action on the Sunday of his NFL debut.

Some people don’t need an introduction.

Joe Torre, for one.

You know him. Baseball icon. Hall of Famer. The only big leaguer with 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 wins as a manager, he steered the New York Yankees to four World Series championships — and the Dodgers to consecutive National League West crowns and NLCS appearances in 2008 and 2009.

So you’re well-versed on Torre’s baseball bonafides, but you might not be aware of the most meaningful part of his legacy: He’s spent the past 24 years helping people who actually would need to be introduced to him.

Kids who are too young to know Torre the player, manager, color commentator — but who can, unfortunately, relate with what he went through when he was their age. Kids who, like him, are growing up afraid and anxious because of domestic violence at home, and who need what Torre didn’t have — somewhere safe to go to for help.

Since 2002, Torre and his wife, Ali, have been behind the expanding the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation. Across the nation, they’ve set up safe spaces in schools, specialized classrooms that feel more like living rooms and that are manned by professional counselors trained in domestic violence intervention.

San Francisco Giants assistant manager Ron Washington hugs Joe Torre before a game at Dodger Stadium on May 14.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

They’re at schools in New York, Cincinnati, Tahiti and in L.A., at Bellflower Middle/High School and John Adams Middle School, John H. Glenn High and McKinley Elementary School, Palisades Charter High, Santa Monica High, Waite Middle School and Washington Preparatory High.

And they’re open to all, whether you’re a kid experiencing violence or you want to be able to help peers who are.

This past year, the foundation says it reached more than 28,000 students. And since it began, more than 425,000 young people, families, schools, and communities.

These Safe at Home spaces are all named “Margaret’s Place,” in honor of Joe’s mom, who was for years the victim of his father’s violent ire.

“It’s a tough subject to talk about,” Joe Torre said. “But you can’t run away from it.”

He did, though. He’s 85 now, but until he was 54, Torre didn’t reveal that baseball had been his refuge when he was growing up. He didn’t tell anyone that when he was a kid, if he saw his dad’s car in front of his house, Joe would go to a friend’s house and wait until he left for his job as a New York police detective. Joe didn’t share memories like he would later, of seeing his big sister, armed with a knife, standing between their mother and their father, who was going for his pistol.

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Joe Torre poses swinging a bat prior to a game in 1971.

(Dave Pickoff / Associated Press)

He didn’t recognize what those traumatic experiences he’d tried to bury did to him, not until he started to talk about them.

“I thought I was born with this shyness and this nervousness,” Torre said before a Dodgers game in May, when the club introduced him and Ali and players and coaches wore T-shirts during batting practice that read: “Everyone deserves to be safe at home.”

“During my playing career,” Torre continued, “if we lost a game and I didn’t get any hits, I’d beat myself up. I was fortunate, I had a good career, but there was always something missing. I really probably could have enjoyed it a lot more than I did.”

That didn’t change until 1995, when he started talking about the domestic violence he experienced. He was surprised, he said, to find himself sharing his story, opening up for the first time at a “Life Success” seminar in Cincinnati, Ali’s hometown.

“Ali, she says, ‘You want to go to this Life Success symposium with me?’” Joe said. “And she’s eight months pregnant with our daughter and I’m not about to say no to anything she asks me to go. So we go in and they separate you, and they put you in groups of six strangers — and I’d just been named manager of the Yankees, so I’m very self-conscious.

“But after a day or so, you’re in it, you know? And then we went home and I called my sisters and asked them questions. Because they always tried to protect me, so I had to drag it out of them … ‘Did dad hit mom?’

“The biggest thing for me was knowing that my dad bringing fear down on the home was what caused my feelings that I was embarrassed to have. Once I went through that, I was able to go deeper.”

Yankees manager Joe Torre bumps fists with catcher Jorge Posada after a win in April 2004.

(Brian Kersey / Associated Press)

Speaking about what was previously unspeakable helped him cope with his trauma. He said it made him a more empathetic manager and a more confident man. It also made him want to speak out publicly and to encourage others to do the same, to break the cycle of silence.

So they’re getting the word out at — where else? — ballparks. There was the stop at Dodger Stadium in May, and before that, in 2025, seven major league teams had activations at games, as did 63 minor league clubs who hosted a “Safe At Home Awareness Game.”

Because often we do need an introduction, to connect kids with people who can keep them safe, who can assure them they’re not the only ones in their position.

“He’s talked about this many times: If he had access to a program like Margaret’s Place, he wouldn’t have felt like he had to carry this burden alone,” said Rose Robles, the foundation’s senior director of programs. “That was one thing he’s really stressed, he felt he was the only one that was going through this.

“And he would have had some options, some choices for how to respond to what he was experiencing and how to understand it. One thing that we say is that violence thrives in silence, and that is basically what he was experiencing.”

Forty-four percent of the kids Margaret’s Place counselors helped in 2024-25 were dealing with some form of violence at home. Twenty-seven percent have experienced some form of relationship or dating violence. They also help kids who’ve been exposed to community violence or other traumatic events, or who are grieving a traumatic loss.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre pauses for a moment while answering questions in August 2010.

(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

At Bellflower Middle and High School, Principal Jessica Cummings said a Teen Dating Violence Awareness Week and parent workshops focused on fostering healthy relationships increased awareness on her campus.

“We are grateful,” she wrote in an email, “for this partnership and the positive impact it has had.”

Of the students surveyed after receiving services, Safe at Home indicated that 99% reported feeling safer and 93% said they used the tools they learned in counseling.

Torre has absorbed decades of anecdotal feedback too — the knowing nods he sees in the crowd when he’s talked to groups of kids about this, the cameraman who slipped him $20 to put toward the foundation, the interviewer who shared his account of having grown up in a violent household.

“Anyone can become a victim,” Ali Torre said, “Our goal is to intervene and prevent. There are little boys we can have conversations with: ‘You don’t have to repeat the cycle.’ To little girls, ‘There’s an option for you…’

“And Joe has opened a lot of doors for us.”

When you think of Joe Torre, it’s as a former Dodgers skipper. A nine-time All-Star and the 1971 National League Most Valuable Player.

You should also think of him as a champion of children who now know that they aren’t alone, and that they have people who will go to bat for them.

Joe Biden said Sunday that he would pick a woman to run as his vice president.

“I commit that I will, in fact, pick a woman to be vice president,” Biden said at the Democratic presidential debate in Washington. “There are a number of women who are qualified to be president tomorrow. I would pick a woman to be my vice president.”

Sanders did not make the same commitment when pressed by a moderator.

“In all likelihood, I will” select a woman as running mate, Sanders said.

“For me, it’s not just nominating a woman, it is making sure we have a progressive woman, and there are progressive women out there,” Sanders said.

Biden also committed to nominating a black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, which would be a first in the nation’s history.

Joe Root says some England players are having to “learn on the job” in 50-over cricket because of a lack of exposure to the format.

Root was a class apart in the second one-day international at Cardiff with a chanceless 99 that led England to a four-wicket win in tricky conditions.

In domestic cricket, the One-Day Cup is played in the same window as The Hundred and has therefore become more of a developmental tournament.

Collectively, England’s top six batters on Thursday had played more than 400 matches fewer than their India counterparts in List A cricket (which combines one-day internationals with major domestic white-ball competitions).

“I think that’s one of the biggest challenges for this team and the young guys coming through,” Root, 35, said after England’s win.

“Not just now, but in the next little while, anyone coming into this team does not have the wealth of experience and understanding of 50-over cricket because we are not exposed to it any more.

“There is not that element of grounding that happens before you get to this level, which happens elsewhere around the world, so it’s understanding that there are going to be times where guys have to learn on the job and they have to learn quickly.”

England reached their target of 234 in the 45th over in a game which resembled a more traditional ODI, where Root’s knock – alongside Virat Kohli’s 65 in India’s innings – was based on strike rotation, playing the ball late and punishing anything loose.

Due to the conditions, it was a stark contrast to some of the batting produced by England’s World Cup-winning squad of 2019, but Root highlighted the importance of being able to adapt.

“You’ve got to be brave and know that you can absorb pressure, because you have always got more time than you think and you can really make things up,” Root added.

“The more gears you can have, then it’ll make you a better player in the long run.

“Some guys will get out their tricks, sometimes you’ll be on a pitch where 400 is a par score which can happen.

“But you have got to have range and the hardest bit for guys coming through in English cricket is that everyone who plays T20 cricket can manipulate the field and take the game on – but when you find yourself in a situation like that, a wicket like that, can you find a way of doing it ugly and just getting over the line?”

Joe Joyce’s comeback fight ended in bizarre fashion as the veteran British heavyweight lost to Artem Suslenkov in Moscow.

The 40-year-old was facing undefeated Russian Suslenkov in his first fight since losing to Filip Hrgovic in April 2025.

But after looking lethargic and lacking power throughout, Joyce appeared to signal that he no longer wanted to fight in the 11th round and stepped backwards.

Joyce offered little defence as Suslenkov, 30, landed a few more blows before the referee stepped in to stop the fight.

Joyce, a silver medallist at the 2016 Olympics, now has a professional record of 16 wins and five losses, with all of those defeats coming in his last six fights.

The highlight of Joyce’s professional career came in 2022, when he beat Joseph Parker to win the vacant WBO interim heavyweight title.

Joyce then faced Zhilei Zhang twice in 2023, but lost his unbeaten record in the first meeting and was stopped in the rematch.

After losing to Hrgovic, Joyce’s promoter Frank Warren said his man needed to have a “real serious think about the future”.

Despite Joyce having said he spent 12 months preparing to fight again and that he was “excited for the opportunity” to face Suslenkov, who improved his record to 15-0, some now fear this could be the end of his boxing career.

Anthony Fowler, a Great Britain team-mate at Rio 2016, said on X: “What a sad end to Joe’s career. It’s a shame to see him go out like that.”

Joyce’s fight was on the undercard of Russian Murat Gassiev’s first defence of the WBA heavyweight title.

Gassiev, who was elevated to WBA champion after Oleksandr Usyk vacated his three heavyweight belts last month, was scheduled to face Tony Yoka.

Joyce was touted as a possible stand-in after the Frenchman pulled out with injury, but Peter Kadiru was confirmed last week and Gassiev stopped the German in the sixth round to improve to 34 wins and two losses.

STACEY Solomon made it a real, er, family affair on Sunday as she headed to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix with her husband Joe Swash and her ex, Dean Cox.

The TV personality shares eldest son Zachary, 18, with Dean, whom she had a romance with as a teenager.

Before heading to the F1 event, Stacey told fans she was going on a ‘special date day’ with husband Joe.

And when they arrived to Silverstone, the star filmed herself walking in as she explained that the couple had also brought along her dad – a big racing fan – for the fun.

“It’s not a date day without bringing your dad,” laughed Stacey as she dubbed Joe a ‘third wheel’.

She then revealed that it wasn’t just her dad who was there, but her ex Dean, too.

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“Do you know who is really important to bring on a date day with your husband? Your last baby daddy and his wife,” said Stacey as she filmed herself with Dean.

Laughing, she panned the camera through the group and said: “Zach’s dad, Zach’s stepmum, my dad are all on this date with us.”

“Gooseberry,” said Joe as he interjected while laughing.

As well as Zach, Stacey is a mum to son Leighton from another previous relationship, and shares three children with Joe.

She has maintained a strong co-parenting relationship with Dean since they welcomed Zach as teenagers.

He even appeared on her TV show, Stacey & Joe, for a one-off as they discussed her teen pregnancy.

The racing reunion comes just days after Stacey revealed their son Zach has headed off to America for the summer.

The teenager has moved stateside to take part in Camp America, with his famous mum admitting it ‘hurt her heart’ to drop him off at the airport.

She said in an Instagram post: “It hurt my heart to drop you off this morning but I know you’re going to have the best time ever, and that camp is so lucky to have our Zachary in their lives for the summer.

“Good luck my darling boy. To the moon and stars and back again.

“Please tell me why I really wanted him to do this experience & I am so happy for him but also so my gut is in knots??”

Corona High baseball coach Andy Wise has pulled off the most intriguing acquisition of the summer season.

Former Dodgers relief pitcher Joe Kelly, a Corona graduate, is joining the program as an assistant coach to help guide pitchers.

Known for his quirky personality and ability to thrive under pressure, Kelly has followed the program in recent years after retiring as a player and jumped at the chance to help the pitchers, Wise said.

“My conversations with him over the years have been incredible,” Wise said. “What an asset for the pitching staff and the whole program. He’s got the time and he’s got a lot of kids. He’s not going to be here six days a week. He’s excited.”

The plan came together after Wise went up to Northern California to speak with a group of players with Kelly.

“No stress, no pressure, anything you might help us with would be awesome,” Wise said he told him.

Wise said Kelly has been following the team in person and on GameChanger and offering ideas.

Just having around a 13-year former MLB pitcher should be inspiring to players next season.

“Joe is Joe and I expect him to be Joe,” Wise said.

TELLY favourites Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash are set to upgrade their Pickle Cottage home for a sprawling mansion set in 30 acres.

The couple have set their sights on an impressive eight-bedroom Victorian mansion, which is said to be central to DIY influencer Stacey’s next renovation project.

A source said the pair “fell in love” with the Essex property after viewing it as a potential new home for their family of eight.

And the news should help quash rumours that their relationship is on the rocks.

Stacey, 36, will have her work cut out transforming the already-impressive gaff, which costs almost double the £1.3million price of their current home and is more than 7,500 sq ft — complete with a pool and a lake.

Our source said the couple would be sad to leave Pickle Cottage, but are grateful to have the chance to make “new memories” with their brood.

They said: “They viewed the house and fell in love with it. It’s got extra space for the kids.

“Pickle Cottage only has five bedrooms. They have six children and then they need a room for themselves. It gives Stacey a chance to do more of her amazing DIY work as well.

“She has a great eye for interiors. This house needs a bit of love and work to make it the absolute dream home where they can make new memories.”

The family’s current Tudor-style Pickle Cottage, also in Essex, is the setting for their reality TV show, which launched to 4.2million viewers in April last year, with a second series last September.

The BBC has commissioned a third series of the show, despite scrutiny after The Sun’s revelation that the couple’s lavish 2022 wedding was never made legal.

Following the news, Stacey took to social media to tell her six million followers the pair had always been clear it was a “religious ceremony and blessing” in their garden.

She added that the couple plan to get “legally married at a later point”.

Stacey and Joe, 44, have three kids together — Rex, seven, Rose, four, and three-year-old Belle — while Stacey also has teenage sons Zachary, 18, and Leighton, 14, and Joe has son Harry, 19.

In March, after being pictured multiple times with and without her wedding ring, Stacey addressed speculation about “issues going on” in her marriage on ITV’s This Morning.

She told presenter Ben ­Shephard: “There’s a new rumour each week. Have I not been wearing my ring? I probably took it off to go to the toilet or something.”

Stacey and ex-EastEnders star Joe have built lucrative careers on their family image after first meeting on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity show in 2010.

For a long time, the lifestyles and foibles of the modest bourgeoisie were a mainstay of art-house cinema, with urbane, upscale audiences happy to turn out to see versions of their own lives depicted on the screen. But more recently, as ideas about what middle age looks like have shifted, along with the changing demographics of viewers, these films have largely disappeared. Which is what makes the seriocomic “The Invite” feel both fresh and something of a throwback — a movie for those who worry about losing their edge.

Directed by Olivia Wilde, “The Invite” was a clear standout when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and now arrives in theaters as one of the best dramas of the year so far. It feels daring for how it wants to actually examine the emotional costs of contemporary grown-up life, bringing wincing laughs of recognition.

The film begins with married couple Angela and Joe, played by Wilde and Seth Rogen, checking back in at their home in San Francisco at the end of the day. He has been at the teaching job he resents and she has been frantically preparing for the dinner party she may not have told him about. Their daughter is away at a sleepover for the evening and it seems they no longer fully know how to relate to each other. As they bicker and jab, their quiet dissatisfaction with their lives stops being so quiet.

Angela has invited over their neighbors from the apartment upstairs, who they do not know well and who often have loud sex. That couple, Piña and Hawk, played by Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton, seems more assured, self-possessed and adventurous, the kind of people you can absent-mindedly invent stories about, assuming their lives are much cooler than your own.

Things go in ways both expected and unexpected, the two couples warily feeling each other out as they wait to spring their own private agendas. Over the course of the evening, things will be alternately tense, flirty, vulnerable and revelatory as surprisingly little food is eaten. (Other substances get ingested instead.)

An adaptation of Cesc Gay’s 2020 Spanish film “Sentimental,” the screenplay is credited to Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. In an unusual step, the script was further workshopped and developed with the cast during rehearsals. Rogen came up with some of the biggest laugh lines and Norton wrote the deeply earnest monologue he delivers late in the film. (The popular Belgian psychotherapist Esther Perel is also credited as a consultant.)

This American version expands upon the characters more than Gay’s original film while consistently returning to the disappointment of Angela and Joe’s lives in terms both big and small. Neither of them are the people they once thought they might become. Whether two people who are each unhappy can make it as a couple becomes the overriding theme of the film.

This is Wilde’s third movie as a director and it is, by far, her most cohesive and accomplished, both contained and expansive. Her debut, 2019’s charming end-of-high-school tale “Booksmart,” had a throw-everything-at-the-wall quality, as if she wanted to get out every idea and try every trick in case she never got another chance to direct. Wilde’s follow-up, the 2022 psychodrama “Don’t Worry Darling,” became mired in behind-the-scenes gossip and tabloid speculation that overshadowed what was intended as a stylized portrait of female rage and discontent.

Her latest fulfills and exceeds the promise of those earlier movies. Shot on 35mm film by cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra, the action of “The Invite” is almost entirely confined to Angela and Joe’s apartment, which thanks to a recent renovation has plenty of rooms to explore. All four players are exceptional in their roles, playing smartly off their screen personas while exploring the nuances of the characters and their intersecting dynamics.

Wilde’s Angela is expressive and antic; Rogen’s Joe is sullen and snarky. Cruz is alluring and watchful, while Norton turns out to be the film’s secret weapon. He has a low-key comic energy and helps guide the story through a few of its trickier emotional turns. At one point he simply rises from behind a couch and it plays like a punchline.

Skip the next two paragraphs if you want to hold onto the film’s purest pleasures. Those noises from upstairs have been Piña and Hawk hosting group sex parties and they are now cruising Angela and Joe for some extramarital couples’ fun. Here, the movie pivots from passive-aggressive party conversation into farce, as Angela and Joe try to process the idea anyone else might find them desirable, as they have long since given up on seeing themselves in that way.

Wilde in particular lights up during this section, Angela’s mind racing at possibilities she never considered for herself while fumbling over the practicalities of protocols and just how this would work. Before pushing the film into its final forlorn section, the excitement that something sexy might happen charges the actors. It is very likely that streams of Sade’s seductive “By Your Side” will skyrocket.

But the focus stays very much on the struggles of married life. One of the biggest strengths of “The Invite” is the way it keeps evolving as the night progresses so it never feels claustrophobic or repetitive. There is a sense of visual invention and imagination to the film that continues all the way through, such as a moment when Wilde crouches down to check on a doomed soufflé in the oven and addresses the camera directly, looking up as if talking to Rogen. The viewer is frequently placed in an adjacent POV to the different characters, as if you are there in the room too.

The film has a propulsive rhythm to it, a relentlessness, even as Wilde and editors Yorgos Mavropsaridis and Anthony Boys know when to ease off the throttle and take it easy for a bit. The film breathes in a dynamic way, the last few beats taking a startling turn toward a somber wistfulness. The ending is just enigmatic enough to have audiences talking it through as they make their way out of the theater.

The end credits include a handwritten dedication, “For Diane,” a nod to Diane Keaton. The live-wire wit and idiosyncratic verve that she embodied in “Reds” and “Something’s Gotta Give” are very much on display here. Early in the story, Norton dryly notes, “We love a contentious environment.” Thanks to Wilde’s confident direction and the ensemble’s unpredictable performances, audiences will too.

Joe Cordina faces a court appearance in July after being charged “with assault and threatening a person with an offensive weapon in a public place”.

The 34-year-old Welshman is a former super-featherweight world champion and had been due to fight for the WBO lightweight title in the United States on 4 July.

South Wales Police (SWP) has confirmed Cordina and another man have been charged in connection with an incident that took place outside a petrol station in the Cardiff suburb of Pentwyn last February.

SWP stated: “Joseph Cordina, 34, from Pontprennau, has been charged with assault and threatening a person with an offensive weapon in a public place. He is due to appear at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on July 7.

“Jamie O’Brien, 32, from Pentwyn, has been charged with assault and is due to appear at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on July 28.”

Cordina was due to fight American Abdullah Mason in Cleveland on Saturday, 4 July, but said on Wednesday the United States embassy in London turned down his visa application.

Cordina revealed in a social media post on Wednesday that he had been denied a US visa, saying: “I was due to fly to the United States this week. A couple of days back I went to the US embassy in London and they basically denied me a visa.

“I tried to explain certain things, and had all the paperwork to back it up, and they wasn’t having it.

“They just sort of basically told me you ain’t getting in.”