lot

Wales fans were looking for a statement performance against Japan. A marker to put down as the World Cup looms in under a year.

They were not provided with that but did witness a victory, however scratchy.

So Wales woke up on a Sunday morning with a Test victory to mark. That has not happened often in recent times.

Some of these Wales players will still remember the record-breaking 18-Test losing sequence between 2023 and 2025. If Wales players can take any positives this weekend, it will be victory.

As Tandy said afterwards, it is always easier to debrief a bonus-point victory.

Among the disjointed team performance, there were notable impressive individual displays from the usual suspects.

Back-row duo Aaron Wainwright and Jac Morgan excelled in attack and defence, full-back Blair Murray was a constant attacking threat and wing Josh Adams popped up with two tries.

Centre Eddie James showed glimpses of his power game in a new-look midfield partnership with Max Llewellyn.

While the centre combination did not set the world alight, it warrants further opportunites.

Tandy will not be content with Wales spending long periods defending and only having 40% in territory and possession.

This was emphasised in the tackle count as the hosts made 227 compared to Japan’s 115, with Wales finishing with the top eight tacklers in the game.

He will be encouraged by the resolve with Morgan topping the official Nations Championship charts with 24, followed by lock Dafydd Jenkins (23) and Wainwright (20).

Wales also forced 10 turnovers with Alex Mann gaining three, while there were crucial interventions from Lake, Adams and prop Nicky Smith when Japan seemed destined to score.

As well as great military triumphs, I studied defeats too – they are as much a part of football management as victories, after all – and you can compare the organisational brilliance of Napoleon to the disaster of the Battle of Balaclava and the Charge of the Light Brigade.

One summer, I travelled out to Crimea to witness the scene of that tragic charge by the bravest of brave men.

Lord Raglan, the British commander-in-chief, was based on the high ground and could see everything in the Russian positions and the brigades.

His order to attack was ambiguous and although Lord Cardigan, who led the charge, questioned it, he still followed it through – leading to one of the most infamous military disasters in history.

It should never have happened but, just as in football, leadership and communication from the top was key. The instructions were passed down from Raglan to Lord Lucan to Cardigan and became garbled – too many cooks, in my opinion!

The last book which really stuck with me, in terms of inspiring me as a leader, was the story of HMS Endurance – disaster strikes during a journey through the ice fields of the southern hemisphere when the ship becomes stuck.

I cannot do justice to the deeds of Sir Ernest Shackleton in this column but his leadership of his men, along with his number two Frank Worsley, was extraordinary.

Both dovetailed in a way that gave their men the energy, desire and determination to believe and follow instructions in the most appalling conditions, never once questioning their leaders’ abilities to help them survive.

Over the years, I’ve never stopped reading about, or watching, great leaders like that – there is so much that young coaches can learn from other sports or history that will benefit then, the same way it did me.

Going to games was still the most important thing when I was between jobs, because I would always believe my own eyes when watching players.

There were times when that became more of a challenge, especially at the back end of my career, but times change and if you are not in tune with what is happening in the game then you can get dropped very quickly.

But I am sure that most of my managerial compatriots would also agree with me that experience in all walks of life can be invaluable.

I learned so much when I was out of work, about all aspects of leadership, individually and collectively.

My advice to managers out of work now is the same that I received from Jim, all those years ago – pick yourselves up and get off the sofa to get back in work as quickly as possible.

You should never be afraid of dropping down a level the way I did, too. It is better to get a job, any job, than be out of football full-stop. That hasn’t changed since my day, either.

Tony Pulis was speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.

California is about to enter the “Becerra era,” though the governor-elect who coined that phrase has dropped few hints about what will define it.

After a decisive Tuesday night victory in the race to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, Xavier Becerra will take the helm with a slate of potential economic opportunities: luring back Hollywood production, drawing international visitors to the 2028 Olympic Games, implementing voter-approved housing bonds and responsibly growing the artificial intelligence industry.

But a long list of challenges awaits: grappling with worst-in-the-nation unemployment, solving the housing crisis, and preparing for and responding to seemingly endless fires, floods and other natural disasters.

The optimistic 68-year-old told supporters gathered for his campaign party in West Sacramento that his mission is to “deliver a California we can afford and defend a California we can’t afford to lose.”

“Here’s the good news,” Becerra, a Democrat, told the packed and cheering crowd. “Californians don’t expect a miracle from government; they just want government that works. A government that can build things. A government that keeps our streets clean and schools safe. Basic services delivered on time and on budget.”

Easier said than done.

“With billion-dollar deficits on the horizon … he’s going to be limited in his ability to break new ground,” said Steven Maviglio, a Democratic strategist who worked for former Gov. Gray Davis. “He’d be playing catchup on a lot of things.”

Becerra’s victory arrived during a monumental night for Democrats, who won control of the U.S. Senate and House in a stunning rebuke of the Trump administration.

California’s first directly elected Latino governor joined a wave of historic gubernatorial firsts, including Georgia Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, who will become the nation’s first Black female governor, and New Mexico Democrat Deb Haaland, the first Native American woman elected to lead a state. Voters in Florida, Nevada and Wisconsin also picked their first Black governors while Texans selected their first Latina.

After a surprising emergence from a brutal top-two primary in June, and with Republican Steve Hilton placing second, Becerra sailed to election as Newsom’s successor. In a state where registered Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans, the matchup nearly guaranteed the former congressman, state attorney general and Biden Cabinet secretary would win.

By the time former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race following sexual assault allegations (which he has denied), many of California’s liberal kingmakers had already made their picks in the governor’s race — and they weren’t Becerra, who was not even included in a four-way endorsement from the California Federation of Labor Unions.

Newsom won his 2018 gubernatorial primary with the help of the California Nurses Assn. He also secured backing from the powerful California Teachers Assn. after pledging to pause new charter schools and strengthen oversight.

Though Democrats flocked to support Becerra as he rapidly ascended in the primary election polls, he won largely without help from unions or influential organizations such as the California Medical Assn.

“A lot of those constituencies didn’t support him until he looked inevitable,” said Republican strategist Rob Stutzman, an alumnus of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration. “So he doesn’t owe a lot of people anything for any role they played in his campaign.”

Still, Becerra, who grew up in a working-class immigrant family, has shown a personal interest in allying with organized labor. He gave shout-outs to union locals at campaign events and has credited his father’s union construction job for giving his family of six access to healthcare while he was growing up in Sacramento.

Governors can’t please everyone, particularly when state funding is limited. Lobbyists, lawmakers and special-interest leaders will watch closely how the affable Becerra prioritizes his first budget proposal — due days after he takes office on Jan. 4 — for hints about his agenda.

California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton concedes the race Tuesday evening to Xavier Becerra at the Hyatt Regency Orange County in Garden Grove.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Though light on specifics, Becerra made his priorities clear during his campaign. He plans to declare a housing emergency and speed up construction. He will take the baton from Newsom on the thorny question of who is financially responsible when megafires burn. And he wants to ensure there are no disruptions to Medi-Cal coverage, a herculean task with as much as $30 billion in federal cuts looming.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), a Becerra ally, said he has had “ongoing conversations” throughout the campaign about the incoming governor’s agenda, though he declined to elaborate.

“He certainly asked a lot of questions. He’s come to the Assembly Democratic Caucus already, engaged with members to begin that conversation and build those relations,” Rivas said. “We’ve been laser-focused on affordability and we’re going to continue to do more work in that space.”

Becerra said he would look closely at regulatory reform to lower housing and business costs.

It could be a small needle for the governor-elect to thread. Regulatory reform could mean easing some environmental protections.

Environmentalists flex considerable muscle in the state and found an ally in Newsom, though the outgoing governor’s aggressive climate agenda ran into affordability and federal challenges in recent years.

Becerra may also be sympathetic to environmental justice communities — poorer neighborhoods, often of color — that have experienced disproportionately negative effects from extraction industries such as oil drilling and mining.

He vigorously defended the state’s environmental rules as attorney general and has credited them with improving air quality and the coasts. During the only debate of the general election, Becerra criticized Hilton for proposing to unleash new oil drilling in the state.

“He wants to, he said it himself, ‘Drill, baby, drill,’” he said during a September CNN debate. “Steve, you weren’t living here in California at the time. You weren’t living in America at the time. We went through that experience. We don’t want to see our coastline damaged.”

“For it to be meaningful, there would have to be substantial regulatory resets, recalculating — I would say even updating and modernizing — some of the climate policies to make sure that they’re affordable,” said Stutzman. Schwarzenegger, his former boss, ushered in the state’s landmark cap-and-invest program, which aims to reduce planet-warming emissions.

Hilton conceded the race to Becerra but told supporters gathered at his party that he would work to break the Legislature’s Democratic supermajority in 2028. His team issued this statement in advance of a news conference scheduled for Thursday: “The election is over, but the desire for change is not.”

Becerra is expected to bring a much different governing style than Newsom. In an interview with KQED days before his election, Becerra named Govs. Pat and Jerry Brown as inspirations, citing the younger Brown’s fiscal expertise and the elder’s work to build infrastructure and grow the University of California.

“After eight years of showmanship, it will be refreshing to have a governor who actually focuses on the issues facing the state instead of his own ambition,” Maviglio said.

There are many metrics by which to measure the success of “Oh, Mary!,” the Tony Award-winning play that has taken the stage by storm. And here’s a new one: Effusive hype and high ticket demand has resulted in Center Theatre Group booking the show for its 2028 60th anniversary season even before its national touring production hits the Ahmanson Theatre on Nov. 10.

As evidenced by Tuesday’s announcement, the current tour, starring drag queen Alaska Thunderf— is set to arrive in L.A. next week with sky-high expectations. Ironically, director Sam Pinkleton originally resisted the idea of a tour, feeling the show might lose some of its charm on the road.

“I was convinced it was a bad idea,” Pinkleton said with a laugh during a recent interview. “But when we went to Broadway, I also thought that was a terrible idea, and I was absolutely wrong.” The director was originally concerned the scrappy little show with a cast of five wouldn’t play as well in larger houses. “But seeing how well it works on Broadway, I think it’s actually better than in the small room. It’s not a play I would call subtle; it really fills a room. So that gave me a lot of confidence about a national tour.”

Written by and originally starring Cole Escola, “Oh, Mary!” is a revisionist take on former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln’s life in the days leading to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Historical accuracy be damned, the show presents Mary as a wannabe star repressed by her closeted husband. Premiering off-Broadway in February 2024 and set to run six weeks, the show was given multiple extensions before transferring to Broadway, where it won Tony Awards for Escola’s performance and Pinkleton’s directing. Escola was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in drama that same year.

Cole Escola and James Scully in “Oh, Mary!” on Broadway. Many actors have since taken on the role of Mary Todd Lincoln.

(Emilio Madrid)

But “Oh, Mary!” has achieved much more than gold statues and box office receipts — it’s a genuine pop-culture phenomenon, a familiar meme and a show beloved by seemingly all demographics.

“I think a turning point was early in the run when Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner and Sally Field all came together,” Pinkleton said. “We were all like, ‘What is happening?’”

Other notable audience members, including Madonna and Michelle Obama, followed, while actors such as Maya Rudolph, Bowen Yang and Tituss Burgess signed up to don Mary’s ringlet wig as the Broadway run stretched on. “It’s wild to think that tonight, you can see it in three different places,” says Pinkleton, referring to the productions in New York, London and the national tour.

If the tour’s leading lady is feeling any pressure, she’s not showing it. Alaska admits that even she was skeptical of the show’s advance hype. “I kept hearing, ‘Oh, you have to see this play, this play is so good,’” she recalled during a Zoom interview from the show’s San Francisco stop. “And I thought, ‘How good can a play be? What is everyone talking about?’”

But the moment she saw it, she understood. “I was immediately enamored, I was hooked.”

“Oh, Mary!” star Alaska says the show feels written for her, even thought she knows it’s not.

(Gabriela Hasbun / For The Times)

When it came time to cast the tour, Pinkleton immediately thought of Alaska, known to most audiences as the winner of the second season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.” Pinkleton had worked with her before, most notably in the 2021 production of the Go-Go’s musical “Head Over Heels” at the Pasadena Playhouse. “I knew for a fact that Alaska could do this in her sleep,” he said. “As the kids say, I have receipts. She’s the real thing and she was made for this.”

Following an early Zoom work session, Alaska was on board. “I feel like it was written for me, but I know it wasn’t,” she said. “And that’s a testament to Cole writing something very true and anchored in real emotion. I think anyone who has ever felt underestimated or misunderstood or overlooked can really identify with this role.”

In many ways, the joy of playing Mary is that different actors bring different aspects and personality nuances to the role. “It’s a big, juicy part that works in the hands of radically different people,” Pinkleton said.

Asked what she feels she brings to the role, Alaska said she didn’t go in thinking about how to make it her own. “I really just approached it truthfully,” she said, noting that while the show is a comedy, the circumstances Mary finds herself in are genuinely tragic, and she wanted to be true to that. “This isn’t jokey to me — it’s really serious, intense and high-stakes. I wanted to do it like an Ibsen play or Shakespeare.”

The show doesn’t play like a tragedy, however. It’s a roller coaster ride from the start, and Pinkleton said he always wants the audience to have a great time.

“Oh, Mary!” star Alaska puts on makeup backstage at the Curran Theatre during the San Francisco stop of the show’s national tour.

(Gabriela Hasbun / For The Times)

“I know there’s a lot of amazing theater being made about various traumas, but I can only control my corner of things and I just feel that most of us have had a bad day in one way or another,” he said. “And it would be awesome if our time at the theater was joyous. And I take that really, really seriously.”

Both director and star are well aware of the expectations that come with a show so beloved and discussed. “I try not to think about it,” said Alaska. “I just trust in the show being so beautifully constructed and it truly has something for everyone, whoever you are.”

For his part, Pinkleton said with a laugh, “There’s definitely some element for me of, ‘Like, it’s just a play, calm down.’” But part of maintaining its heart and charm is remembering that at its core, “it’s kind of a small operation.”

“It was made with a really hands-on approach by a very small group of people who cared a lot and that spirit has remained even as we’ve scaled it up,” Pinkleton said. It hasn’t been easy work; Pinkleton credits several people for their contributions, particularly the tour’s associate director Sunny Min-Sook Hitt, who occupied the same role during the original production. “It’s taken a lot of worthwhile work to keep it what it is. There’s just not a world where ‘Oh, Mary!’ can turn into ‘Jersey Boys,’” Pinkleton said. The national tour is already selling out houses across the country and receiving a rapturous response. “Every night has a different energy and the audience is definitely a part of the show,” Alaska said. “In San Diego, we were in a 3,000-person theater, we’ve never played one that size. It felt like the stadium version of ‘Oh, Mary!’”

Pinkleton said he makes “a lot of big, gay shows” and people have asked him how he thinks “Oh, Mary!” will play in smaller cities. “Honestly, I was a weird, loud, gay kid in Richmond, Virginia, and I’m excited to bring it to places that might not get this kind of thing,” he noted. And sometimes silly comedies can be the most meaningful, particularly to marginalized communities. “It’s meaningful that there will be some people for whom ‘Oh, Mary!’ is also a kind of a life raft.”

The stakes in Tuesday’s midterm elections are so high that Shane Dunn voted for the first time in his life, at age 65.

After a career as a cook up and down the East Coast, Dunn moved to the Philadelphia suburbs and voted last week in Levittown. “I was always a busy man,” he said outside his polling place. But now, “I’m learning what’s going on within our country, and this is actually what brought me out.”

Democrats got his vote. “It feels great, to put my word in,” he said, patting the “I Voted” sticker on his black hoodie.

Voters across the United States are getting their word in, too, as they determine which party controls the Senate and the House and takes charge of governors’ offices, legislatures and state leadership posts in the final two years of Republican Trump’s presidency.

What many of them see is that the America they’ve known is slipping away.

They see lawlessness coming from those who create the laws. They see hate stirred by politicians among neighbors, corruption at every turn, billionaires ruling the roost and a culture that doesn’t speak to how they live — in short, American bedrock at risk of crumbling. Not to mention those crazy gas prices.

In dozens of Associated Press interviews with people who cast ballots at advance polling places or drop boxes across the country, the angst was palpable, most sharply from those who oppose Trump but also from many who support him.

A vote is cast to stop the ‘madness’

“I saw my vote today as trying to put the brakes on just the madness,” said Arthur Horner, 59, who runs a food importing and marketing company that has been hurt by tariffs, after dropping his mail ballot at Dauphin County’s election bureau in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He voted for Democrats.

In Sioux City, Iowa, cattle rancher Elizabeth Marlett, 61, voted in Woodbury County’s historic Prairie-style courthouse and walked out stewing about a variety of things — the chemicals in processed food, her son’s struggles to get his veterans’ benefits and, perhaps most of all, what she sees as society’s leftward lurch. Things seem broken to her, too.

“Family values are going by the wayside, and they need to be brought back,” she said. “Our liberties have been stomped all over. Religion has been stomped all over. And I believe we in the majority need to step up and stop being silent.” She voted Republican.

Voters despair at the stoking of anger by Trump and allies

The anger in the air, stirred by a cursing president who abides no slights, is too much for some people.

“He’s just destroying us,” Democrat Linda Markle, 72, said of the president. She spoke outside the Warminster Township library in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

“I am so afraid for this country,” she said. “People used to look out for each other. Not anymore.”

“All people do now is just hate each other,” she said, and Trump “seems to have given them the courage to go ahead and be like that. … The division is horrible, absolutely horrible, and I can’t wait to see the back of him.”

Republican Chris Smith, 27, a Harrisburg software engineer who voted for Trump in 2024, sympathizes with Markle’s sentiment, to a point.

“A lot of people hate him for various reasons, and I can understand why,” he said, noting that ”I think he’s kind of going a bit crazy on a lot of things.” But he likes Trump’s effort to return manufacturing to the U.S. along with the goals of his tariffs, and he voted Republican because he still thinks that party is more fiscally responsible than Democrats.

In Ohio, Lori Wilkinson, a retired home health worker from New Pittsburg, and her husband, David, a janitor, consider themselves independents. David recently wrote to their Republican governor, Mike DeWine, to tell him what a good job he’s doing, and they voted for Republican George W. Bush for president in the past.

Trump? “He’s the worst president in United States history,” David said from the Wayne County election center. “You get up every day, and you’re like, ‘What’s he going to do now?’” Said Lori: “He’s got the hate just so bad, it’s just out of hand. It’s just out of control.” She fears that if Democrats win widely Tuesday, Trump will “go fricking berserk.”

Trump supporter Therese Mennell gets it. “There’s that kind of arrogant vibe about him that people don’t like, and sometimes I shut him off because of the way he talks,” the retiree said from the Wayne County center. “But, I mean, he’s doing the right thing. He is saving our country.”

Some pretend Trump is on the ballot

Despite his striking unpopularity in polls, Trump repeatedly asked supporters to pretend he’s on the midterm ballot, betting that would motivate fans to vote who otherwise might not. But that cuts both ways.

Samontae Mwangi, 20, and his brother, Gathenya Mwangi, 19, voted for the first time, casting early ballots Tuesday at their election center in Topeka, Kansas. Both work at a plant that manufactures trackside buildings for railroads.

They went with their grandfather, Lynn Henderson, 68, a retired Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. worker and a former Marine lance corporal who wore a Marine’s cap. Henderson said he took his grandsons to vote because his own mother died recently and he wanted them to have an event to remember him when he’s gone.

All three are hoping that the election produces Democratic victories and political change. Gathenya said the economy and discontent with Trump could motivate people who’ve voted in the past to show up, as well as those who never have. “It really could change, make a difference, I feel, if a lot of people vote,” he said.

Denise Wunder, a retired sandwich shop manager, pulled up to the center in a van featuring a decorative license plate with an American eagle. The strong Trump supporter is the daughter of Democrats. Illegal immigration is her top issue.

“I think Trump is kind of our last hope, because otherwise this world’s going to go to hell in a handbasket,” she said. “Yeah, he says stupid stuff, but, you know, so do we.”

In the Richmond, Virginia, suburb of Henrico County, voters arrived at a steady clip on a crisp fall afternoon a week from Election Day. The moment of decision found one conservative couple, Joan and Frank Bark, lamenting the country’s direction.

“I’m afraid Trump has gotten so egotistical, it’s affecting his ability to make intelligent or more favorable decisions,” Frank said. But, he said, “I don’t want the decisions that would be generated from that far left side, either.”

Joan, a retiree like her husband, said of Democrats: “I haven’t found very much that they want to change or work with. It’s just mostly, ‘I hate Trump.’” But Trump really isn’t on the ballot. They voted for Republican candidates.

In Nanuet, New York, people streamed into the small room of a community center to vote; some were in Halloween costumes. Primrose D. Sullivan, a nurse, is an independent. She scoffed at Trump’s wish that voters act as if he’s running.

“No, because he’s not,” she said. “When a patient comes into the hospital, you want me dealing in facts, not in, ‘Hmm, let me act like you might have cancer.’ No. Do you or do you not have cancer? We need to proceed based on facts.” She voted for Democrats.

Yet some see a cancer on politics, if not the presidency

Sullivan was among a number of voters who singled out the billionaires Trump has made common cause with and how that might feed into American decline.

“I don’t begrudge any of our wealthy people, Jeff Bezos or, you know, Elon Musk,” she said. “But I do have a certain problem with them wanting more and more and doing things that really don’t help humanity.”

“If we keep going the way these guys are going,” she went on, meaning both the political and CEO classes, “we’re not going to have anything like what we had in the past.” Theirs is a “self-destructive attitude,” she added, “because, honestly, if the whole planet destroys itself, the wealthy go with us.”

Outside the polling station at the YMCA in Fort Mill, South Carolina, Benjamin Updegraft offered a piercing denunciation of the elite as he traced his evolution from a “full-throated young Republican” who voted for Trump as a young man in 2016 to a “lifetime Democrat,” after casting his ballot in the Senate race.

He cited Musk’s throttling of his Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, which disrupted a key defense against Russian attacks, and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad in the Ohio governor’s race featuring the estranged mother of Democratic rival Amy Acton among the reasons powerful men must be brought to heel.

“That needs to be cut out from this country like a cancer,” Updegraft said. “We have an incredible responsibility to take back the stranglehold that the worst people in this country have on the reins of power and to inflict punishment on them for their actions.”

In Scottsdale, Arizona, David Lee described his conservative upbringing, his past voting for Republicans and now his decision to turn against that party and vote Democratic in the contested races for governors and the House. He considers Trump’s heavy-handed immigration enforcement to be lawless.

“Nobody wants open borders, but you’re treating these people without due process, sending people to countries they don’t even belong to,” said Lee, 63. “There’s no more rules.”

Then there are those prices. And that war

The Trump supporters interviewed by the AP at the polls signaled their tolerance of the surge of gas prices from the Iran war, in some cases blaming factors other than the actual cause. Nor did they break with him on the war itself.

Among them was David Stouffer, 59, branch manager for a mortgage bank and three-time Trump voter, who spoke outside the Harrisburg elections office. “Iran has been killing Americans for 50 freaking years,” he said. “Yeah, I’ll suffer with some higher gas prices in the interim until they get that nonsense figured out.”

Does that put a crunch on your household budget, Stouffer was asked. “Of course it does.” How to cope with that? “I just keep driving.”

“He’s made the tax cuts real,” Stouffer said. “He has secured the borders. That, to me, is a very, very big deal.”

By the dozens, Democrats, independents and Republicans outside the core of Trump’s support differed with that assessment, even as some of them granted the president his achievements on taxes and immigration.

Horner, the food importer, is going “bonkers” with the tariffs and all the other moves bouncing between the Trump administration and the courts while a “feckless” and now electorally endangered Republican Congress largely stands aside.

“You can’t do business when every month you have to readjust your pricing because the president gets a wild hair on something that he’s not even constitutionally allowed to do,” Horner said. He added, “He’s just playing out the clock on all of this stuff — where you just know he knows it’s wrong.

“And what do we have? Higher healthcare, higher food, higher gas, a business environment that is complete chaos.”

But Jerry Casner, 74, of Mechanicsburg, a suburb of Harrisburg, wants as much of Trump as he can get. Alas, “he can’t run again,” Casner noted.

“Well, technically,” Casner said, “he can’t run again.”

Levy, Catalini, Hanna and Woodward write for the Associated Press. Hanna reported from Topeka, Kan.; Levy from Harrisburg, Pa.; Catalini from Levittown, Pa.; and Woodward from Washington. AP journalists Julie Carr Smyth in Wooster, Ohio; Erik Verduzco in Fort Mill, S.C.; Thomas Beaumont in Sioux City, Iowa; Joseph Frederick in Nanuet, N.Y.; Tassanee Vejpongsa in Warminster, Pa.; Mikella Schuettler in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Sarah Rankin in Henrico, Va., contributed to this report.

Late one afternoon, at the intersection of South La Brea Avenue and Obama Boulevard, Shirley Dace cold-called fellow Angelenos and encouraged them to give L.A. Mayor Karen Bass a second term.

“I love Karen Bass because of all the experience she has,” Dace, a retired flight attendant, told me between phone calls. “Karen Bass was raised here. She knows the city. … I’ve seen her around at different events.”

Meanwhile, roughly 10 miles to the northeast, Christian Perez and Marium Mohiuddin organized a night of door-knocking for Bass challenger Nithya Raman in Boyle Heights.

“I think she’s incredibly intelligent and I want to give her an opportunity,” said Perez.

Given the ICE raids and general denunciations of immigrants, Mohiuddin, a Muslim and Canadian immigrant, said he’s been impressed by Raman’s outreach to minority communities. And Raman is an immigrant, too.

“I want a mayor that’s going to protect me,” said Mohiuddin, who speaks out against Islamophobia and antisemitism, “and I really feel like Nithya would go to bat for us.”

You may have noticed a pattern here. Lots of positivity.

I figured that with just hours to go before election day, you’ve heard plenty from me and others about City Hall dysfunction, about each mayoral candidate’s flaws, and about undecided and uninspired voters here in the land of budget-busting rent, broken sidewalks and blue tarps.

It appeared for a while as if Raman wouldn’t even make it out of the primary, and then it looked as though she had a comfortable lead over Bass in the runoff. But if the latest poll can be trusted, it’s hard to pick a winner. So today I’m going to shed every cynical bone in my body — only temporarily, I promise — and hand the megaphone over to people who unabashedly like either Bass or Raman.

And to be honest, in connecting with these folks on the phone, by text and in person, I was inspired by their interest in civic affairs (if only there were more like them), and their belief that their vote matters.

So here goes, and I’ll start with the incumbent.

::

Shirley Dace, as she worked the phones at Bass headquarters, referred to a five-page list of personal achievements and positive developments during the mayor’s first term. Violent crime is down, solar street lights have been installed by the thousands, Metro rides are free for students, thousands of affordable housing units are on the way and thousands of homeless people have been brought indoors.

“We have a homeless problem, and I realize that,” Dace said, but she believes there’s been progress. “It takes a while to solve these problems.”

One day I happened upon a social media post by Christian Green, who said he was driving by Bass headquarters and popped in to volunteer. I reached him by phone, and the West L.A. College professor told me he volunteered for Bass four years ago, too. Green said he was once in the foster care system, and said Bass has supported foster youth initiatives dating back to her time in Congress.

Bass is the first Black woman, and first female, to be elected mayor of Los Angeles. Given the history of the city’s power structure, economy and racial makeup, Green said, “that is not something we should take lightly.”

One of Green’s students in African American studies, 23-year-old Kioi Shropshire-Maina, also works as a Bass volunteer.

“I’ve heard about her since I was a kid,” said Shropshire-Maina, a communications major.

One of the things he likes about Bass is that her career has followed a long and varied public service trajectory. She first worked in healthcare as a physician assistant at County-USC, then became a social justice activist and co-founder of the Community Coalition, followed by a leadership role in the California Assembly and 12 years in Congress.

“She’s always been kind of like the standard of public service,” said Shropshire-Maina.

He pushed back when I mentioned that Raman seems to be the candidate with more backing among younger and more progressive voters.

“I definitely think Miss Bass has a lot of youth support. I’ve seen it myself. We organize events all the time, and people turn out,” said Shropshire-Maina.

“She’s the most progressive mayor Los Angeles has ever had,” he added, saying he thinks that has played out in her approach to homelessness. She inherited a huge challenge, Shropshire-Maina said, but moved away from policies that criminalized homelessness. “It started with her executive directive … which made government be more proactive and work across departments, and not just rely on police.”

Volunteers work a phone bank for Mayor Karen Bass’ reelection campaign on Oct. 25.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

At Bass headquarters, Shropshire-Maina worked at one phone bank table while Philip Rosen of Hollywood and Christina Schiepe of Westchester worked another table. Rosen said Bass is a pragmatic Democrat who has been dealt a lot, with homelessness and the Palisades fire, “but she’s taken accountability,” and he believes Raman will be accountable primarily to the Democratic Socialists of America.

Schiepe, who had been to Bass headquarters twice previously, is 16.

“I can’t vote, but you know, at least I can do something that could help the cause,” Schiepe said, telling me her parents also support Bass, and one issue in particular stands out for her.

“We really are not happy with the ICE raids going on at the moment,” she said, and Bass “has done a lot to kind of combat that … and try to get them out of Los Angeles.”

Schiepe said she wants to study political science in college, so who knows. Maybe she and Shropshire-Maina will run for office one day, and I can volunteer for them.

Now on to Raman.

Jane Demian, an Eagle Rock retiree and longtime activist and volunteer, said she would have voted for Bass if the opponent were Pratt, but Raman will get her vote.

Demian thought there were some bumps in the rollout of the mayor’s homelessness plan, but she thinks Raman did a good job as head of the council’s homelessness committee. She noted that Raman was one of the founders of the SELAH neighborhood homeless coalition, which steers people in the direction of housing and case management.

“I’m not put off as others are by her DSA connection. DSA is made up of people who want to provide economic support to working people,” Damian said. The “main focus is affordable housing, healthcare, and good wages for working people.”

Just as the Bass volunteers had their scripts to work with, Raman supporters touted the candidate’s work on renter protections, cleared encampments and a reduction in homelessness in her council district. I met with Mid-City residents Perez and Mohiuddin at La Monarca in Boyle Heights, where they were distributing literature to volunteer door-knockers.

Perez, who works in post-production, and Mohiuddin, who works in communications, both like the specificity they hear in Raman’s comments about homelessness, City Hall accountability and greater urgency in problem-solving.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who is challenging Mayor Karen Bass, speaks at an Oct. 19 news conference in North Hollywood.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

“When I see Nithya Raman speak, I see someone who’s sincere, who’s kind of a wonk,” and isn’t afraid to dive into policy minutiae, said Perez, or to forge a path independent of the political establishment or dependent on endorsements from fellow council members.

Perez and Mohiuddin voted for Bass four years ago, but don’t think she’s earned a second term.

“It’s very hard to find an Angeleno who’s happy with government,” Perez said.

The change Mohiuddin wants to see, she told me, is simple. She wants for a candidate “to say something’s going to happen, and then stick to it.”

As Perez sees it, Bass has attempted to position herself as the candidate of the people.

“But in canvassing and speaking to people throughout the city … there’s a lot of people who are disappointed with the status quo and perhaps not enough has happened in the last four years to justify them giving [her] another shot,” he said. “So I do think there is an aspect of [voters being hungry for] fresh blood and energy in order to confront the emergencies the city is facing.”

Whatever the outcome on election day, Mohiuddin said, there will be a victory of sorts.

“We’re still going to have a woman leading the city.”

steve.lopez@latimes.com

Lakers scoring phenom Luka Doncic missed his first game of the young season with back tightness, leaving a giant hole in their offense with the NBA’s leading scorer (36 points per game) sitting out.

Lakers defensive star Ziaire Williams also missed his first game with left foot soreness, leaving them even more depleted with two starters unable to play.

The Lakers added a lot of depth over the summer in case of injury situations and now it was going to be tested against the Clippers at Intuit Dome.

Collin Sexton is one of the players the Lakers acquired for a moment like Wednesday, and he delivered in a big way, coming off the bench to provide energy and effort in helping the Lakers take a 103-87 victory over the Clippers.

“Sometimes it’s hard to get his attention because he gets locked in, he gets in the zone,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said about Sexton. “I love the competitive fire.”

Sexton was at his best in the third quarter, scoring 11 of his 21 points, flexing and pounding his chest after a made basket. His play helped the Lakers open a 22-point lead they never lost.

He was four for five from the field in the third, six for 11 for the game. He was two for three from three-point range in the third, four for seven for the game. He also had four rebounds and two assists.

His intensity was on display during a moment when Sexton glared and snared at Clippers guard Cam Christie.

“Honestly, I would say when I step between those lines, it’s us against them,” Sexton said. “I’m going to do whatever my team needs for me. I feel like I turn into a different person when it’s time to go. And I think my teammates know that, so they try to talk to me a little bit, but they know I’m in the zone and ready to go to war. And that’s how I look at it. Whenever I step between those lines, it’s war time. So, that’s how I look at it, for sure.”

Quentin Grimes (23 points), Matisse Thybulle (15) and Austin Reaves (16 points) did their part to help the Lakers improve to 4-1.

Doncic and Williams played against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, but they couldn’t go in the back-to-back game.

“Both those guys woke up with some soreness and tightness today — tightness for Luka, soreness for Ziaire,” Redick said. “We have a tough stretch of games. Not a lot of time between [games so] just being overly cautious.”

The Lakers next play at the Golden State Warriors on Friday, their fourth game in six days.

Redick was asked if Doncic and Williams would be available for that game.

“That’s the hope,” he said.

Redick turned to Jarred Vanderbilt, who didn’t play in the first four games, and Jaden Hardy, who played in the first game of the season, to help the shorthanded Lakers in their time of need. Vanderbilt played 21 minutes and had seven rebounds. Hardy played nine minutes and had two points.

“Vando’s always going to play hard,” Redick said. “He’s always going to impact the game with just his effort, and I thought he did that tonight.

The Clippers, however, have their own injuries to worry about.

Clippers forward Rui Hachimura (left quad soreness) missed his first game of the season, joining Bradley Beal (right knee injury management), Brandon Ingram (right heel surgery), Jordan Miller (left rotator cuff surgery), Yanic Konan Niederhauser (right lisfranc surgery) and Max Strus (right plantar fascia partial tear) on the injury report.

The Lakers signed center Lawson Lovering to a two-way contract Wednesday and waived two-way forward AK Okereke.

Reality star Savannah Chrisley on Tuesday announced her pregnancy and engagement to her mystery fiancé, finally revealing that his name is Jason after months of secrecy.

“The past few years have taken me through fires I never imagined I’d have to walk through,” the “Chrisley Knows Best” star captioned an Instagram post with a video announcing the news. “Right in the middle of the heartbreak. Before all the pieces were put back together. And somehow, he began healing parts of me he never broke.

“And just when I thought my heart couldn’t hold any more love,” Chrisley continued, “God gave us our sweetest blessing yet… we’re having a BABY!”

The news comes after years of fighting on behalf of her parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were jailed in 2023 for tax evasion and bank fraud. Savannah’s efforts paid off when President Trump issued pardons for them in 2025, despite their conviction for conspiring to defraud Atlanta-area banks of more than $30 million in loans by submitting false documents.

“I’m finally in my happy era. And it’s taken a lot for me to get here,” Savannah said in her podcast “Unlocked.”

“I have really struggled [with] like, ‘When’s it going to happen for me?’” she continued. “I see so many people getting married and having kids and living this picturesque lifestyle and white picket fence and all of these things. And for so long I thought like, ‘It’s just not going to happen…Mom and Dad aren’t going to be here for these moments and those moments, and maybe I’m just not going to find the right person.”

In the episode, she describes her courtship with Jason and his proposal during their visit to the Cayman Islands.

“In all the silence that I’ve been giving, I’ve been living a lot of life, and I’ve been enjoying it for myself,” she said, acknowledging there is a “huge” age gap. “That’s probably part of the reason I kept a lot of it quiet, because I know how brutal the public can be.

“It’s just such an amazing, fulfilling feeling to finally find your person, and I’m there,” she continued. “So, yes, the age difference. So what? I don’t care. Let me tell you, he does not look his age, nor does he act his age. His body is great. His mind is even sharper. So, I really don’t care. OK? This person is the love of my life, and it made all the heartbreak that I’ve gone through worth it.”

No one in Angel City history has played in more games or worn the captain’s armband more often than Sarah Gorden. So it’s unlikely any player has enjoyed this season, Angel City’s fifth in the NWSL, more than her.

With Saturday’s 2-0 win over Bay FC, the team extended its franchise record for wins (14) and points (49) with one game to play. It has averaged more goals scored (1.7) and fewer goals allowed (1.07) than any team in franchise history, has the best goal differential (plus-19) in the league and has qualified for the postseason for just the second time.

If Angel City (14-8-7) beats Boston in its regular-season finale Sunday, it could play host to a playoff game for the first time. For Gorden, none of that success is surprising. What is surprising is that it took so long to achieve.

“Did I think we’d get here? Yeah,” she said. “I always felt like we take two steps forward, one step back. Maybe two steps forward, three steps back. But I always felt like strategically, at some point, the right pieces would be here and we’d be doing the right things at the right time.

“The backing was always there, the passion was always there, the vision was always there. For a long time it was just about getting the right pieces together.”

That was the part that took a bit of trial and error, with the team going through 64 players, five coaches, three general managers/sporting directors and two controlling ownership groups since its founding. And Gorden, who became the second player in team history when she was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Red Stars in December 2021 — five months before Angel City’s first game — has been with the team for all of it.

Gorden missed Angel City’s inaugural season after tearing her left anterior cruciate ligament in preseason training. But she’s missed just three games and four starts since then, which gives her a unique take on the team’s journey, from losing records in three of its first four seasons to the possibility of hosting a playoff game.

“This is my job and my life,” said Gorden, 34, who is finishing her 11th NWSL season. “If I’m not believing in the plan and the vision of what the people ahead of me are saying, then I wouldn’t be able to put my heart and my passion into it.

“Maybe blind faith, maybe not. But you have to believe or how are you going to continue to grow?”

Angel City finally found its stride this summer when it fired manager Alexander Straus and replaced him with assistant Leif Gunnar Smerud. Under the interim coach, Angel City has lost just twice in 18 matches and is unbeaten since Aug. 26. Smerud, however, declines to take credit for the turnaround.

“A lot of players have stepped up,” he said. “It’s the details. It’s part[ly] how we organize, especially in the defensive part.”

Since Smerud took over, Angel City keeper Angelina Anderson has had eight shutouts and given up just a goal five other times — a hot streak that coincides with the July hiring of goalkeeper coach Louis Hunt.

“We managed to build momentum,” Smerud continued. “If we can sustain that, we have proven we are not easy to beat. I don’t think a lot of teams want to play us.”

Smerud, 49, had a 12-year playing career in Norway that included 24 appearances for the country’s youth national teams before he turned to coaching, where he lost more often than he won before taking over for Straus. But his biggest strength as a manager isn’t something he learned on the soccer field. It’s something he learned in school, where he earned a psychology degree.

“The mental part of the game is big,” said Smerud, who has a license to practice psychology as well as a UEFA Pro coaching license. “I’m a big believer in building a culture, building a mentality in a group, and we have done quite a bit of work on that.

“How do you compete in training? How do you prepare? How do you get that calmness and that focus that you need in the key moments? So of course that informs a lot of my decision-making and the work I do.”

That philosophy fits in well with Angel City, which, under sporting director Mark Parsons and majority owners Willow Bay and Bob Iger, has expanded its support staff to include a psychologist and a mental performance coach.

Angel City’s Sveindis Jonsdottir passes during a match against Portland at BMO Stadium in April.

(Jessie Alcheh / Getty Images)

It’s also been helpful that the league’s youngest team has gotten nine goals each from Sveindis Jónsdottir, 25, and Maiara Niehues, 22, and eight assists from Evelyn Shores, 21.

Everything resets going into the postseason, however. But if Angel City manages at least a draw with Boston on Sunday, it will enter those playoffs riding a franchise-best 10-game unbeaten streak; no other NWSL team has been as hot over the past two months.

Moreover, if Angel City wins and Kansas City does not win its finale in Louisville, Angel City would jump to fourth in the table, earning the right to open the playoffs at home. One win in the postseason would mark another franchise record while two would get Angel City into the NWSL Championship at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.

But wherever the playoffs end, it’s likely to be a bittersweet finish for Gorden and Smerud. Both will see their Angel City contracts expire when the season does, and both appear ready, if not eager, to move on.

“This has been, of all my experiences in 11 years, my favorite locker room by far,” Gorden said. “But the job is bigger than just the locker room and you have to be where you’re valued and people want you and people see you for the future.

“Wherever that is for me, I’m still figuring it out.”

“The focus was on doing the job now and then take it from there,” added Smerud, whose family remains in Norway. “I was asked to do a job and my focus has been on doing that. And then I’ll take it from there.

“It’s not really for me to answer.”

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

Pat McAfee, a co-host of ESPN’s “College GameDay,” doubled down on his criticism of the University of Utah on his sports talk show Monday, referring to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and suggesting he would call in sick if “GameDay” returned to Utah.

“I’ll hopefully never go to that place,” McAfee said. “I think I’ll have COVID whenever ‘GameDay’ goes back, if I’m still a part of ‘GameDay.’ I did not enjoy the morning there.”

Utah issued an apology even as an avalanche of social media reaction was mainly critical of McAfee. The dominant meme theme focused on his perceived softness in reacting so strongly to a short video the university released Saturday ahead of the “GameDay” show from Utah’s Salt Lake City campus that preceded the Utes’ game against Houston.

The video posted on the university’s official social media accounts asked students to do an impression of McAfee. A microphone was handed to a handful of male students who roared while saying that although they were fans of the irreverent, theatrical analyst, he should stop his weekly “GameDay” routine of taking his shirt off while college students cheer and jeer behind him.

Another student called his antics “corny.” McAfee, apparently already reeling from a column in the Athletic that opined that “College GameDay” has become overwhelmed by McAfee’s “frat-rock prankster” personality, appeared deeply offended.

“The University puts that out as I’m about to go out and do an infomercial for the place?,” McAfee said. “And I’m walking in front of thousands of these people? This is how the university feels about it? It’s an uncomfortable feeling.

“I’m getting a lot of shrapnel from a lot of places. The university is putting this out? That’s something I just had never experienced, really in my entire life. So it kind of set me off a little bit. Made me feel a little bit weird.”

McAfee alluded to the shooting death of Kirk, the conservative activist who was killed in September 2025 during a speaking event on Utah Valley University, about 40 miles from the Utah campus.

“And I thought to myself, ‘Has anything, like, really scary happened at a college gathering in the state of Utah recently?,’” he said. “Do we think we should be amplifying reasons for why people hate my guts, as a university? I don’t know. There were a lot of mixed feelings for me going out there.

“It’s like, all right, I hate this place. I hate this place. They’ve got a good football team, though…. But I’ve never been more uncomfortable, honestly, in my life, walking in front of a group of people after watching their university put out a post, basically dogging me just moments before.”

The video was removed from Utah’s social media accounts and the university issued a statement Monday night saying the goal “was to create lighthearted engagement regarding Pat being back on campus,” but that the video “missed the mark.”

“University staff are responsible for reviewing and posting content on official social media accounts and we take full accountability for that decision,” the school said. “University officials have reached out to Pat to express appreciation and regret. We sincerely apologize for creating any perception that Pat was unsafe or unwelcome on our campus. Nothing could be further from the truth”

Social media was soon littered with memes of McAfee accompanied by rolls of a soft brand of bathroom tissue. But ESPN defended his concern about safety in a statement.

“The safety and security of our on-air team, crew and fans is paramount at ‘College GameDay.’ We are committed to ensuring a safe environment, and given the very real threats that members of our team face, we take issues involving their safety seriously. We support Pat and recognize the very real and valid concerns he has around safety and security.”

Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where it’s beginning to feel like we’ve reached the point of no return for Lincoln Riley. USC’s 24-7 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday was objectively one of the worst of Riley’s tenure as a head coach.

That it came after a bye week only made it a more damning indictment of Riley and the culture he’s built at USC.

The reality is, another loss over USC’s next four games would eliminate the Trojans from College Football Playoff contention for the fifth straight season under Riley. And with three top-10 teams still on the schedule, it feels all but inevitable that USC will fall short of expectations once again this season, a half decade into Riley’s tenure as the Trojans coach.

USC fans, safe to say, are fed up. Many of them, it seems, want Riley fired right now. But the Trojans are technically still in the race, even if they’re just barely limping along, and aside from the brief hit of dopamine and schadenfreude that such a swift firing might provide, cutting ties with a coach before the end of the season is almost always a dangerous idea. It makes even less sense, in this case, for USC — a school that should know by now how sideways a midseason move can go.

Each of the last three Trojan football coaches preceding Riley were fired midseason. And the ripple effects of those firings, you could argue, ended up setting USC back even further.

When USC fired Lane Kiffin in the middle of the night at LAX after a 3-2 start to the season, then-athletic director Pat Haden not only turned the Trojans into a national punchline, but also painted himself into a corner. Interim coach Ed Orgeron ended up turning the season around and earning the endorsement of USC’s entire locker room. (Which you can hear more about on this week’s new episode of House of Troy.) But Haden had no intention of hiring Orgeron, and the decision to move on ended up being a disaster, on multiple levels.

With Steve Sarkisian, Haden had no choice but to cut ties. But this time, he actually did end up hiring the interim coach, Clay Helton, after seeing how Helton had shepherded the program through a difficult season. And of course, that hire ended up being a huge failure.

I’ll never forget the chaos of USC’s 2021 season, after Helton was fired. Interim coach Donte Williams had no idea how to usher a team through a season. The locker room was in disarray. It all felt unfair to the players. The subsequent search did end up yielding Riley — a move that, at the time, looked like a major coup — but because USC was in such a desperate position, it had to offer Riley a huge deal that he couldn’t possibly refuse.

Firing Riley now would leave athletic director Jen Cohen in a similarly tough position, with months of speculation surrounding a high-pressure search. The players, as far as we know, are still behind Riley. Meanwhile, many of the coaches Cohen would probably consider in his stead will have their teams in the playoff hunt through December and even January. One need only look at what’s happened to Penn State to see how that could go awry.

There’s also the matter of Riley’s contract. If USC does fire him, it will be on the hook for his estimated $70-million buyout, plus whatever millions it would owe to the rest of his staff. But there is one way that the school could soften the blow of what would otherwise be a serious expenditure.

If Cohen makes a move, she could wait until the end of the season, when a full picture of the open coaching jobs has come into focus and Riley’s agent has had a chance to take a lay of the land. Maybe then a job would emerge that both Riley and the school agree would be a better fit.

In that case, USC could significantly offset the cost of Riley’s buyout, according to a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak on the matter. That would make the move much more palatable to the people already shelling out millions for a state-of-the-art facility, as well as a $40-million NIL budget.

The dots are easy to connect. The Baylor job already opened Sunday, and the school, according to On3, is looking for a coach with Texas roots. It’s possible, too, that the Texas Christian job opens up by the end of the year if Sonny Dykes, who has ties to Riley, can’t turn things around. Other jobs will surely open up that we’re not even anticipating.

Until a donor waving around a $70-million check starts making demands, it makes more sense to weather the next month with Riley, whatever it may hold. Maybe it won’t be as bad as you’re thinking.

But for the moment, it’s the rational thing to do.

JuJu Watkins, pictured earlier this year, was back on court for USC on Sunday.

(Luke Hales / Getty Images)

—USC rushed for negative-17 yards against Wisconsin. Seriously. On the Trojans’ first carry Saturday, King Miller ran straight into a brick wall of the Badger defensive front. And it never really got better from there. Jayden Maiava lost 57 yards on five sacks, which made the rushing numbers look much worse. But it’s not like USC’s other rushers found any room. Miller had eight yards in 11 carries. Freshman Shahn Alston was the leading rusher with 28 yards. And Waymond Jordan, who had been USC’s No. 2, was conspicuously absent. We’ll find out more about that ahead of Saturday. But right now, USC’s rushing attack looks completely out of sorts.

—What was Lincoln Riley thinking on that 58-yard field goal attempt? Riley was asked about that fourth-quarter sequence, which began with a delay of game penalty that moved the Trojans out of field goal range. Riley said that USC was strangely called for the delay because it ran in a player later, then snapped the ball before the referee had given the OK, not after the clock had run out, like a usual delay. Nonetheless, after that, Riley should’ve punted on fourth and 17. Instead, he decided to send out kicker Caden Chittenden to attempt a career long … in the rain. “We knew points were at a premium at that point,” Riley explained. “We just felt like — obviously, a 58-yarder is never going to be crazy high percentages, but we needed points, and to punt it down there didn’t feel like it was the right choice at the time.” Well, they ended up making the wrong choice. Wisconsin scored on the ensuing drive and put the game away.

—USC’s offensive line might’ve been the game’s biggest disappointment. USC boasted some of the best pass protection in college football through the season’s first half, then completely collapsed against Wisconsin. Quarterback Maiava was affected throughout by the Badgers’ pressure. There was barely any room for the run game, either, as Wisconsin simply overpowered USC at the point of attack. Needless to say, not a great week to have written about how great the offensive line was looking!

—USC’s defense held Wisconsin to 58 passing yards. That’s the fewest the Trojans have given up in a game since holding Michigan to 32 in their Big Ten debut, and in an alternate timeline, it might’ve been seen as a big moment for USC’s secondary. But Badger quarterback Colton Joseph didn’t have an incompletion in the second half, completing his final 10 passes. The most critical of which came on fourth down, when Wisconsin went five wide, with four receivers bunched on one side. The subsequent screen went for a 16-yard touchdown, which was Joseph’s only pass of more than 10 yards all game. Turns out, it’s all he needed.

—Defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart is still limited by an injured foot. The injury continues to linger, and Stewart continues to fight through it. At one point Saturday, he went to the locker room before returning to the game. There’s no questioning Stewart’s toughness, and clearly he’s capable of gutting it out through games. But it doesn’t appear that he’ll be fully healthy again this season without some serious time away from the field.

—USC’s women’s hoops gave a first glimpse of a potential title-winning team on Sunday. The Women of Troy took on Cal in an exhibition matchup that marked JuJu Watkins’ return in front of fans at Galen Center, and Watkins wasted no time making her presence felt, as she went to the hoop 14 seconds into the exhibition. The trio of Watkins, Jazzy Davidson and top freshman Saniyah Hall shot a combined 22 of 45 for 59 of USC’s 78 points. Still, USC barely snuck past Cal.

Notable quotable

“Gritty ain’t pretty. We played the harder football game, brought it to them, and they can’t really do nothing with us. It’s just two different types of football.”

—Former USC running back Bryan Jackson, who scored Saturday’s first touchdown for Wisconsin

Olympic sports spotlight

USC men’s water polo ripped off nine straight wins to start the season, then went 4-3 after that, with two losses to Stanford and one to UCLA, both of which sit just ahead of the Trojans in the national rankings.

The Trojans looked back on track in their final match of the season at home, rolling past Air Force, 21-8. And they still have road matchups against UCLA, Stanford and California that should tell us whether the Trojans are true contenders for a national title.

What I’m watching this week

Olivia Wilde, from left, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton in “The Invite.”

(A24 via Associated Press)

Some of the smartest movies are also the simplest. I kept thinking about that while watching “The Invite” recently. Directed by Olivia Wilde, the story takes place entirely in one couple’s apartment, during one evening spent with their upstairs neighbors.

It ended up being one of my favorite films of 2026 to date, with stellar performances from all the actors involved: Wilde, Seth Rogen, Ed Norton and, especially, Penélope Cruz. Maybe not the best flick to watch if you’re fighting with your significant other. But “The Invite” made me feel all sorts of feelings, which is generally what I’m looking for in a movie.

In case you missed it

Listen now: Podcast ‘House of Troy’ features inside look at highs, lows of USC Athletics

‘I’m disappointed.’ Lincoln Riley laments USC’s struggles in loss to Wisconsin

USC offensive line transforms into one of 6-1 Trojans’ biggest assets

Until next time …

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email Ryan at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Still a lot of games left.

No one is panicking.

Been in this position before.

Those are affirmations Rams players and coaches have utilized during a season of great expectations mired in major underachievement.

The Rams, who opened the season as the Super Bowl favorite, will arrive in Las Vegas for Sunday’s game against the Raiders with a 2-4 record and a two-game losing streak.

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Gary Klein breaks down what to watch for when the Rams face the Las Vegas Raiders on the road Sunday.

And they will be without several key players counted on to reverse their fortunes.

Star receiver Davante Adams is out — and is expected to be sidelined five to nine more weeks because of a hamstring injury. Star receiver Puka Nacua, who suffered a calf injury this week in practice, will be a game-time decision.

Defensive lineman Kobie Turner was placed on injured reserve this week because of a groin injury, joining edge rusher Myles Garrett, who has been sidelined since the season-opening defeat by the San Francisco 49ers following knee surgery. Defensive tackle Poona Ford this week was declared out for the season because of a triceps injury.

Linebacker Nate Landman won’t play against the Raiders because of a concussion, and All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie is questionable because of a groin injury.

Meantime, the NFC West-rival San Francisco 49ers are 6-0, and the Rams are last in the division.

The Rams and coach Sean McVay have turned around seasons before. In 2023 and 2024 they overcame slow starts to win 10 games and make the playoffs.

“You can’t sit there and go, ‘Because we did X, we’re going to do Y,’ but we obviously know what it takes to win football games,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “We can’t sit there and look at the big picture and go, ‘OK, we have X amount of games left. These guys are doing that,’ or whatever.

“That’s not the mindset at all around here.”

The Rams have their own concerns, most notably a receiving corps that will be without Adams and possibly Nacua.

Adams, 33, is a three-time All-Pro and probable future Hall of Famer.

“You’re not going to one-for-one sub in a guy that’s going to be wearing a gold jacket one day, in Davante,” Stafford said. “It’s a team effort.”

It became an even more urgent one Thursday when Nacua was unable to finish practice.

Tutu Atwell, Konata Mumpfield, Jordan Whittington, rookie CJ Daniels and Alex Bachman are other receivers on the roster.

“Whether you’re talking about Davante, whether you’re talking about Puka, you don’t ever ask anybody to replace those guys,” McVay said, adding, “I want those players to be their best selves. … It’s a great opportunity for other guys to step up if that’s the situation that we’re dealing with.”

Rams wide receiver Konata Mumpfield catches a pass in front of Denver Broncos cornerback Riley Moss on Sept. 27.

(Justin Tafoya / Getty Images)

Atwell, Mumpfield and Whittington have combined for only 13 receptions. This could be the first game Daniels will be active.

“We’re all held to a certain standard,” Whittington said. “When you are held to that standard, I think the drop-off shouldn’t be that big. We all have a culture we abide by and everybody displays and embodies that. And I think it will work how it needs to work.”

McVay also could rely more heavily on running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, and tight ends Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson and Davis Allen.

“It’s not any more pressure to anyone on the team,” Williams said.

With Turner and Ford sidelined, the Rams’ interior defensive front will include Aaron Donald, Braden Fiske, Tyler Davis, Larrell Murchison and Ty Hamilton.

Donald, who ended a two-year retirement to rejoin the Rams, is averaging just over 38 snaps a game.

Will that role grow?

“We have a general snap count that he’s always going to have going into the game,” defensive coordinator Chris Shula said. “I don’t think we would go crazily past that, but it’s going to be hard if it’s a tight game and he’s at that number.

“Just like one of those pitchers in the ninth inning, you’re probably going to leave him in for a few extra snaps.”

Said Donald: “If it’s 30 plays, 40 plays, 50 plays, 60 plays, that’s what it’s going to be.”

The Rams have 11 games remaining, including Sunday’s against the Raiders, a home game against the Chargers and road games at Washington and Arizona before their bye week.

“It’s not over,” Donald said. “Is there a sense of urgency? For sure, because we want to win.

“But as far as curling up and panicking like this is the end of the world, it’s not that. We have a lot of ball to play, a lot of games left.”

LAS VEGAS — The Strip is broiling on a recent afternoon, but it’s cool and dark inside Mary J. Blige’s dressing room at the Park MGM.

As a humidifier moistens the dry desert air, the 55-year-old R&B star sits on a sofa wearing a brown jumpsuit and matching gaucho hat; through the walls we can hear Blige’s band sound-checking for her My Life, My Story residency, which launched in May and will pick up again Friday night for shows through Oct. 31.

In some ways, Las Vegas is a funny fit for the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, who’s been transforming pain into music since her 1992 debut, “What’s the 411?” Yet her stay in this glittering showbiz mecca comes amid a season of flower-getting for Blige: Two years ago, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; two years before that, she played the Super Bowl halftime show and landed a nomination for album of the year at the Grammy Awards.

“It definitely feels like people are taking notice of the fact that Mary J. Blige is one of the most important performers in R&B history,” she says. “I opened up a lane that hasn’t been closed yet. Female after female after female after female continue to do what Mary J. Blige has done and still does.”

Who opened that lane with you?
Back in the ’90s, when we first came out, it was myself and SWV that were really, really strong. Then there was 702, then Jazmine Sullivan and SZA and Beyoncé, and now right down to Summer Walker, who’s singing her truth.

That’s how you define what you do.
I’m not a great singer because I can sing better than everyone — I’m a great singer because I sing from my heart. Bono gave me that jewel. When Hurricane Katrina happened, we were doing [U2’s] “One,” and Bono was like, “Don’t worry about singing on key — people aren’t moved by you singing on key. What makes you a great singer is how you make them feel.” Not all of us are like the eighth wonders of the world — Aretha Franklin or Chaka Khan or Whitney Houston. They have pitch-perfect and they have emotion.

I saw Chaka Khan the other night and was thinking about how, even now, you never know where her voice is about to go.
She’s Chaka Khan — there’s nothing else you could say, really.

Why’d you cover “Sweet Thing” on “What’s the 411?”
First of all, when I was growing up, my mother played “Sweet Thing” all the time — it was our favorite song. So when I got to Uptown Records, Andre Harrell, the CEO, he was like, “You should do ‘Sweet Thing.’” I was like, “I don’t wanna do ‘Sweet Thing’! Chaka Khan could really sing — I can’t sing like that.” But he said I could do it, so I went and did the song and they all went crazy over it. My fans who didn’t know Chaka Khan, they thought it was my song. Same with Rose Royce’s “I’m Going Down” — to this day, a lot of people don’t know that’s a remake. I was afraid of both those songs. But I wanted to sing “I’m Going Down” all my life because I heard the song when I was 5 years old from the “Car Wash” soundtrack.

Tell me about your routine in Vegas. You stay on the Strip or you have a house somewhere?
I have a house out here. I’m not staying here — this is a lot. So I go home after I finish my performance, and I get ready for my performance tomorrow: I rest, I drink water, I do whatever I need to do. Then it’s the same thing: I come here, go into glam, do my meet and greet.

Get the humidifier going.
I got a steamer that I actually pull on over my mouth. Then I do my warmups, relax, keep my mind clear of any nonsense.

How do you think about doing your thing in a town built on glitz?
Mary is not the slickest Vegas person. But you can let people see that you’ve evolved — that you wear gowns now.

Would 19-year-old Mary be surprised to see her future self in a gown?
Hundred percent. Nineteen-year-old Mary was all tomboy — all baggy everything. Right now, I barely want to wear a gown, this Mary right here. But I’ve actually grown to like some of it when it looks good.

Did you look at anyone else’s residency when you were putting yours together?
I saw two people’s shows, and I said, “That’s not it.”

Shows in Vegas tend to be on the shorter side. The casino wants people back out there gambling.
I got 90 minutes — it’s a lot of time. People are very happy, but they’re standing there like they want more. I’m like, “I did 90 minutes! I don’t know how much more y’all want from me.”

Silk Sonic’s residency here was a no-phones show, which Bruno Mars told me was his attempt to preserve the freedom to make mistakes. Does it bum you out as a performer to know that everything winds up on the internet?
I don’t care about that at all. Social media, it’s bull—. You know what’s gonna happen — you know they’re gonna say, “Oh, her jaw is swollen.” Whatever. As long as you live truthfully, what they’re recording doesn’t matter.

In a recent interview with Fat Joe and Jadakiss, you talked about keeping your romantic partner a “mystery man” to the world. I wondered how you came to the decision not to make everything available to the public.
Because for so many years it has all been available. What you know already is what you know — I’ll elaborate on that. But what you don’t know, you will never know. I think I’ve given a lot, and it’s important to have something for myself. Nowadays, people just take things and ruin it for you. So if you have something beautiful, hold onto it, keep it to yourself. You have to protect the person that you’re with as well, because they don’t deserve to get beat up for something someone else did. I protect the ones I love — I’m not having anybody speaking ill about my family or the man that I love. I’m too old for that. Early in my life, if social media was around in 1991, I’d have been on that s— all day, cursing and going nuts on people.

Mary J. Blige performs during halftime of Super Bowl LVI at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium in 2022.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

We were talking before about your accolades. Did the Rock Hall mean anything in particular to you?
It was important to me because those things don’t happen to us.

To Black women.
Yes. It happens to rock ’n’ roll stars every day, and they’re in their grave — there were people in their grave that they were honoring when I went. So when it happens to Mary J. Blige or Chaka Khan or Aretha Franklin, we have to honor that and raise it up. That’s a big deal.

Did Las Vegas feel like a place open to Black women?
I’m trying to think of what Black females I’ve seen do Vegas.

Mariah Carey was here. Toni Braxton had a show.
Yeah, but like me? But you know what I love? It’s time. And how I know it’s time is because my fans went up. When I made the announcement, they was going crazy — they still going crazy. I’m probably the first to open this door, and next it’ll be somebody else. You better believe they on their way. “Oh, Mary doing Vegas? I’m doing Vegas too.” That’s how it goes: “Mary did her hair blonde? I’m dying my hair blonde too.” That’s how my whole life has been, even actually before the music business.

Nosy question, but what’s an aspect of financial comfort that you especially enjoy?
Flying private — that’s the best one for me.

Getting to bypass the grind of travel.
That’s what I love about Vegas, because it’s not like tour. Tour, it’s a lot.

Are you soft now?
Probably a little spoiled.

Last one: Name an artist that meant a lot to you when you were young that might surprise people.
There were so many. I mean, Earth, Wind & Fire —

Everybody loves Earth, Wind & Fire.
But that “Way of the World” song — that really does something to me. We loved George Michael — George Michael was always one of our favorite artists. Duran Duran, come on. Oh, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” — Tears for Fears. And Hall & Oates! [Sings] “Private eyes, they’re watching you.” Ambrosia. The Eagles. I could keep going.

I didn’t expect you to hit me with Ambrosia.
They were so soulful — I just got goosebumps. And Queen. That’s one of my favorite movies — “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Who should play you in a movie about Mary J. Blige?
She wasn’t born yet.

Marshall Faulk is an extraordinarily active 53-year-old. The first-ballot NFL Hall of Fame running back is the head football coach at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. He runs a foundation in his name that assists underprivileged youth. He works out. He plays a lot of golf.

And he has Parkinson’s disease.

Faulk revealed his diagnosis on The Caring Neurologist podcast this week, saying he noticed Parkinson’s symptoms on the golf course.

“The rigidity in my hand, just sometimes after I play a lot or I practice a lot,” he said. “I just thought it was normal nerves when putting and stuff like that. But it started to be times where I was playing, but I wasn’t in a match, and it would still do that. I was like, ‘Wow, is that normal?’”

Faulk said he was diagnosed about 18 months ago. An unfailing optimist in his social media dispatches and a fiery truth-teller when addressing his team, the former Rams Super Bowl champion described himself on the podcast as “one of the lucky ones” because he caught the disease early.

“The doctor was like, ‘You need to go get checked,’” he said. “You need to go have X, Y and Z done. You’re at an age, it’s possible; it’s likely that it’s not, but you need to go get checked.’”

He jumped on the phone to speak with other former NFL players who share the diagnosis.

“They told me about some of the symptoms and things they had that they thought [were] just football-related, that it didn’t relate to Parkinson’s in any manner,” Faulk said. “They wish, in those early stages, if they had maybe just known a little earlier, they would be in better shape.”

Former Green Bay Packers greats Brett Favre and Ahman Green currently live with Parkinson’s. So does former quarterback Bernie Kosar.

St. Louis Rams’ Marshall Faulk, left, straight-arms Lofa Tatupu of the Seattle Seahawks during a 2005 NFL game.

(Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)

Perhaps the most noteworthy sports figure to battle Parkinson’s was boxing great Muhammad Ali, who died in 2016. Faulk met Ali at a dinner and said on the podcast that he is comforted by the memory.

“He leaned over to me and he whispered, ‘You a bad boy,’” Faulk said. “And then he made a couple other comments. I was like, ‘He’s all there.’ So knowing that, I didn’t look at it like life is going to end.”

Faulk was seemingly indestructible as a player. An All-American at San Diego State, he was drafted second overall by the Indianapolis Colts in 1994 and immediately made an impact, rushing for more than 1,000 yards for the first of seven times and being named NFL rookie of the year.

Faulk was traded to the then St. Louis Rams ahead of the 1999 season and led their “Greatest Show on Turf” offense to a Super Bowl XXXIV victory in January 2000. The following season, Faulk was named NFL MVP. He transitioned to the NFL Network broadcast booth after retiring in 2005 having rushed for 12,279 yards and 100 touchdowns while also catching 767 passes for another 36 touchdowns.

He got into coaching in 2025, joining Deion Sanders’ staff at Colorado. When the opportunity arose to become the head coach at Southern, Faulk didn’t hesitate even though he already had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

“I could have stayed at Colorado. I was comfortable. But I’ve never done well in life when comfortable,” he said at his introductory news conference at Southern. “And I’m not gonna lie to you. This is uncomfortable, and I like it.”

The Jaguars, an HBCU school competing in the FCS, are 3-4 in Faulk’s first season after going 2-10 in 2025. Faulk’s messages to his players go beyond football. On Thursday he posted this on Instagram: “Protecting your game goes far beyond avoiding injury.⁠ Protect your body.⁠ Protect your mind.⁠ Protect your circle.⁠ Protect your future.

“The decisions you make away from the field can have just as much impact on your future as what happens between the lines,” he continued. “Choose the people, habits, and environments that move you closer to where you want to go.⁠ Send this to a young athlete who needs this reminder today.⁠”

Helping others is why he decided to open up about his Parkinson’s diagnosis, he told host Dr. Sandeep Thakkar on the podcast.

“I want to help as many people as I can,” he said. “What you want to do with that information is pass it on to the next generation to make sure that they have it better, that they know more. And you’re doing it to leave this world a better place than it was when I got here.”

When William Jackson Harper moved to Los Angeles to star in NBC’s “The Good Place” a decade ago, he himself felt out of place.

“As an actor, I was like I don’t know if this is where I’m supposed to be,” says Harper, who earned an Emmy nomination for his role as Chidi Anagonye, the show’s endearingly panicked and indecisive professor.

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

“People felt more finished there,” he says of L.A. “I felt like people had sort of come into their appearance, they knew what they were selling. And I was like, you know, I’m much more of a theater guy, New York is probably where I’m going to land.”

He adds, “So I had this idea that I was going to get to L.A. and everyone was just going to laugh at me.”

Quite the opposite happened. Harper leaned into the L.A. experience, exploring the sprawling city, particularly its nature, and connecting with old friends on a deeper level. He soon grew to appreciate it — so much that he continues to split his time between L.A. and New York alongside his wife, Ali Ahn, who is also an actor.

Harper now stars in the dramatic anthology series “American Hostage,” which re-creates the true story of Tony Kiritsis, an Indianapolis man who, in 1977, kidnapped a mortgage broker whose family Kiritsis blamed for his own financial hardships. During a 63-hour standoff, Kiritsis demands that Fred Heckman, a beloved radio reporter played by Jon Hamm, interview him live on air.

“When that script came across my desk, I was like ‘This is insane,’” Harper says of the show, now streaming on MGM+. He was excited to portray Ben Hairston, a reporter and Heckman’s mentee, who attempts to help him navigate the challenging situation.

Harper says he’d been interested in being part of the show set in the late 1970s. Another draw? “I was looking forward to just rocking a mustache,” he says with a laugh. “I was looking forward to just looking like my uncles.”

Here’s how Harper would spend his perfect Sunday in L.A., from a morning hike at Griffith Park to shopping for more French tour jackets at a vintage store in Silver Lake.

7 a.m.: Start with an intense workout

Even though I typically don’t work out on Sundays, sometimes I get a wild hair and do it anyway because I enjoy it. I’ll go to a class around 7 or 8 a.m. I go to Training Mate a lot because the instructors are fun. They’re all, like, beautiful people, but they are dorks, which I find really endearing. They’re really sweet and encouraging. So we’ll do a really tough 45-minute workout an I’ll probably want to go for a hike after that. Griffith Park is one of my favorite places anywhere, so I’d kind of march around there for a couple of hours. I don’t always do the hard [route], I’m already kind of cooked. I just want to be in nature a little bit.

11 a.m.: Bond with friends over breakfast

Then it would be time to eat. I have this tradition whenever I’m in L.A. of meeting with a couple of friends of ours at Fred 62 on Vermont [Avenue]. I’ll get a tofu breakfast enchilada and then we’ll just sit there and talk for a couple of hours. The waiters remember my order even if it’s been months. Or my friends and I will go to some place like All Time, which is really good. There’s always a line and everyone is very done up and I feel really dirty and underdressed when I go, but f— it. It’s like deal with it. I’m old. I can’t be out here flexing.

2 p.m.: Nap to recharge for a shopping spree

All those things make for a powerful wave of sleepiness, so I’ll take a nap. Usually when I have days off like this, I have a shopping addiction, so there’s a few stores that I’ll probably wind up hitting. One of them is this place called Golden Age that has all these old French tour jackets. I have so many [laughs]. I rock those a lot. So I’ll go there, look around and abuse my bank account a little bit. Then there’s this other place on La Brea called General Quarters. It’s got a bunch of work wear stuff.

6 p.m.: Watch a movie at an old-school theater

After that, I might go see a movie at Los Feliz 3. It just reminds me of the movie theaters I grew up going to. I love an old-school, no frills theater that shows cool stuff.

8:30 p.m.: Have a delicious pescatarian dinner

If we are not cooking, we’re going out to eat somewhere. There’s this place in Eagle Rock that we like a lot called Little Beast. One of my favorite restaurants is Bavel. Every time I go there, I’m just like I don’t deserve this meal. I don’t deserve these cocktails. I’ve ordered something different every time. My wife and I are both pescatarian, so we usually load up on the veggies and pick whatever fish dish they have.

10:30 p.m.: Time for bed

After that, we’ll go back home, give our dog Chico another walk and watch Netflix until we fall asleep. My wife falls asleep first. When we are together, I’ll fall asleep earlier between like 11 p.m. and midnight. When I’m by myself, I’m up till 2 or 3 in the morning. I’m just up.

On the balcony of a pink dockside building in San Pedro, a neon sign reading “Saturday Morning Fish Market” glows in the darkness. There’s a quiet stillness in the harbor — the only sounds are of the occasional gull and car whirring by. That is, until 1 a.m. rolls around.

Doors open at 1:30 a.m. at the Saturday Morning Fish Market.

This is when people begin to gather outside the roll-up door, some carrying backpacks ready to be filled.

At 1:30 a.m., a man in an orange apron lifts the door, releasing rays of white light onto the customers. They file inside, stepping onto the wet floor, eager to see the night’s beauties: freshly caught fish, filleted, deboned, washed and thrown onto thick mountains of crushed ice.

Shellfish, sardines, squid, mackerel and a market favorite, glowing salmon filets, sit on display. One employee pulls out crabs with a small net before letting a customer take their pick of the lot. Machines whir in an adjacent room, where fish are processed. Out back, sea lions bark, hoping for scraps.

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The Saturday Morning Fish Market, more formally known as J Deluca Fish Co., has existed for some time — owner John DeLuca claims a variation of the business began operating as early as the late ‘60s. As a child, DeLuca would greet his grandfather when he’d return to the San Pedro port with his catch, perhaps a fresh tuna or a bass to sell. For decades, the wholesale seafood distributor would open its market to the public just once a week — from 1:30 to 7:30 a.m. on Saturdays — usually seeing a smattering of mostly locals, the seafaring type, who might be shopping around after a late-night shift.

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1. Harikrishnan Babuchandran holds up his fresh fish. 2. Customers can watch their fish be processed. 3. The fish that’s for sale changes from week to week. (Linnea Stephan / For The Times)

The Saturday Morning Fish Market in San Pedro has existed in some form since the late ‘60s but thanks to social media, flocks of new customers are wanting in on the late-night seafood-buying adventure.

Neither DeLuca nor his son and co-owner, Chris, could have predicted the San Pedro institution would experience the boom in popularity it’s seeing now, especially in an industry that’s struggled over the past two decades.

Thanks to social media, the market is witnessing an unprecedented revival. At its pre-pandemic peak, it would get around 800 to 1,000 customers on a typical Saturday morning. Nowadays, up to 2,000 people walk through the doors, according to Chris, many of whom are visiting for the first time.

Owners John and Chris DeLuca.

Regarding Instagram and TikTok, where posts giving a glimpse of the late-night fish market have gone viral, John, 73, says, “I know absolutely zero.”

To his credit, he does exhibit some understanding of its effect. And he’s glad for it. “People that live within walking distance never knew we existed. Now they do, and it’s got nothing to do with me,” he says, grinning.

What’s most notable is the number of young people roaming around the market well before the crack of dawn, Chris says. The business has changed a lot since his “father’s generation,” and social media unlocked access to a new audience.

“I think people like those hidden gems and people like that fresh seafood experience,” he says.

Between rows of sea bass and salmon, the energy is buzzing. Abdul Fahwami, dressed in jeans and flip-flops, visits the fish market at least once or twice a month, depending on how many people he‘s having over at his house that week.

“Every time we come here, we buy a minimum of between 100 and 200 pounds,” he says. “Red snapper is one of the best fish.”

Branzino is a favorite among customers and employees.

He smiles as he watches employees process his fish on a long table. First, blades run against the fish scales, removing them in quick fashion. Then, there’s a swift slice across its belly, starting at a hole near the tail and ending up near the gill plate. Finally, the guts are removed and filets are cut, skin optional.

Prices change week in and week out, and depend on supply. While prices are typically 10% to 40% less than at stores, market representative Joe Castelao says the team values the “quality of our products” over “trying to cater to bargain finders.” Another advantage for customers is the ability to buy seafood in bulk, which often isn’t possible at your standard, local grocer.

On this day, there wasn’t much branzino, the fish Fahwami came early to look for. “I found only 11 pieces,” he says. “I took all of it!”

Not far away, a man named Terry Jackson waits in line; he’s wearing black overalls and swaying side to side, eager to advance.

Customer Terry Jackson at the Saturday Morning Fish Market.

“It’s definitely worth waking up a little late — or a little early, you could say,” he says. “The quality of the fish is good, plus the pricing.”

His fish of choice? “Tuna, my new favorite is tuna!” he says, proudly raising a plastic bag full of bright red filets.

Briskly pacing across the market floor are team members Mike and George Stahl, a father-son duo both wearing orange aprons and gloves.

Mike got into the seafood business about two decades ago. At the time, he lived in Florida and often purchased products from J Deluca Fish Co. By 2018, he’d moved his family out to California and started working at the market.

He says his favorite part is the variety of duties. “No two days are the same,” he says. “One day I could be selling a couple containers of squid, the next day I could be meeting face to face with someone at a conference on the other side of the country.”

Staff member George Stahl helps a patron.

He brought in his son George during the pandemic. As George explains, “We were bored and didn’t have anything to do at home so my dad said, ‘Why don’t you come down and put some boots on and start working?’”

George has become somewhat of a micro-celebrity around the market, frequently appearing in its Instagram posts. However, his time with the company might be temporary — he’s currently in school and plans to be a physical therapist at some point.

While the market is riding a wave of success, John doesn’t gloss over the grim outlook of the fishing and seafood industry as a whole. He says the industry has taken a hit over the years, between restrictions, overfishing and changing regulations.

“It’s a dying business,” John says, bleakly. “There’s very few seiners down here because it’s very difficult to make a living [fishing].

But for now, they’re able to survive. They watch as customers walk out of the market into the wee hours of the morning, proudly grasping their bags of the day’s freshest catch.

“A lot of things have gone the opposite direction,” John says. “But we’re still here.”

The fish market’s blue neon sign shines through the night.

Dodger Stadium was eerily quiet on Wednesday, as a light rain fell over the already-yellowing grass. A crow perched on an empty seat. Scattered lights flickered in mostly-dark hallways.

Before the World Series had begun, the stadium was closed down for the season, hosting just one last event before officially wrapping up the 2026 slate.

In the interview room, tucked away at the entrance to the clubhouse, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes took their seats at the podium for their end-of-season press conference.

There was the usual end-of-season checklist. Are you expecting any changes to the coaching staff or front office? “I expect status quo,” Friedman said. Is Shohei Ohtani going to undergo offseason surgery? “That’s not on the table,” Friedman said.

But from that emerged a persistent throughline.

The Dodgers had fallen short of their goal of a three-peat. But considering the age of the position-player core, the scrutiny owner Mark Walter is under, and MLB owners’ insistence on a salary cap in their early CBA proposals, was the Dodgers’ dynasty over?

“I welcome it,” Friedman said of such claims. “For us, and we’ve talked about this a lot, even after successes and we winning a World Series and then winning back to back, everything we do is for our fans. And there’s a lot of noise around us in general. We don’t really pay much attention to it. It’s a partnership we feel with our fans, and so people saying that we’re done and we’re on the downside of this run — it’s just more noise to us because everything for us is about the motivation we have to have a parade in the streets of Los Angeles next November.”

Friedman also didn’t seem to anticipate any trickle down from Walter’s outside ventures — Walter’s insurance companies are under federal investigation and face several lawsuits — affecting the Dodgers’ offseason budget.

“It’s been business as usual for us,” Friedman said. “We talked to Mark after we lost, and he was obviously really disappointed. But so much of his focus was on, ‘OK, what can we do? What are our plans? What are our thoughts for the off season?’ And our brains weren’t quite there yet, but so much of his focus was how do we put ourselves in the best position to win in ‘27?”

How will the Dodgers go about picking themselves up from their NLCS exit?

The Dodgers’ 2026 season wasn’t exactly a failure. They won 100 games in the regular season and lost in the playoffs to the only team that won more than that — the Brewers. But the Dodgers, with their star power and payroll, aren’t in the business of accepting moral victories.

Though plenty went wrong in the postseason, from Ohtani’s struggles following hisinjured list stint, to stalwart Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s surprising short start in Game 2 of the NLCS, the overarching theme in the Dodgers’ four straight losses to the Brewers was a lack of offensive execution, especially with runners in scoring position.

“Obviously throughout the latter part of the year, it was stuff we were talking about and trying to put our finger on,” Friedman said of the offense. “And in a lot of ways, it’s a little bit of a game of whack-a-mole, where it can be one thing for some period of time, and then it’s something else, and then it’s something else. Sometimes it’s noise, and sometimes it’s real. And what’s important for us is to be able to sift out the noise and isolate what’s real and what things we can improve upon. We’ll spend a lot of time really focusing on that in the off season.”

Asked if the age of the lineup could be a contributing factor, Friedman pointed to the strong finishes of some of the more veteran players on the roster.

“I don’t think it’s as easy as to paint it with that broad of a stroke,” he said.

Friedman, in an effort to continue to extend the Dodgers’ run of success, has kept in mind the cliff that successful veteran teams can fall off of, if the roster isn’t properly backfilled.

“This isn’t something that we just woke up and were like, ‘Oh wow, the age of our position player group,’” Friedman said. “We knew what things were going to look like in ‘26, ‘27, but also how talented these guys are, the way they prepare. And so much of our long-term contract bats are betting on the human — betting on the person, betting on the work ethic, betting on them doing everything they can to keep themselves in the best position to have success. But when you couple the core talent that we have at the major league level with the position-player strengths that we have in our farm system, that’s what makes us excited, is the art of how to onboard some of these young, talented minor league players.”

The Dodgers had the No. 1 ranked farm system as of mid-August, according to MLB Pipeline. But many of those prospects, including the three outfielders who the Dodgers’ Top 3 (Josue De Paula, Eduardo Quintero and Mike Sirota), are blocked by veteran players.

“For us, it’s just about having as many many talented players as we can, and things tend to sort themselves out,” Friedman said.

This offseason, the Dodgers will also have to figure out what to do about their soon-to-be free agents, a group headlined by left-hander Tarik Skubal. The two-time Cy Young winner was not only the best pitcher available on the trade market when the Dodgers acquired him from the Tigers at the trade deadline, but he’s in line to be the best pitcher available this offseason as well.

“It’s not easy for a guy to get traded in the middle of a season to come to a new city, new clubhouse,” Friedman said. “You have set routines, and you have to make those adjustments. It’s not easy. The way he was able to seamlessly transition, not just in terms of on the field, but in the clubhouse, I can’t say enough good things about the impact that he made in such a short period of time.

“We have a tremendous amount of respect for him on and off the field. … He’s put himself in this position to go out and be a free agent. And for us, it’s, continue to talk to [his agent, Scott Boras]. But he and his family have to make a choice over where they want to spend the next X number of years, and obviously we wish him nothing but the best.”

When asked about negotiations, however, Friedman spoke generally, saying the Dodgers were still “wrapping [their] arms around” their offseason strategy.

The impending lockout, which is expected to go into effect on Dec. 1 as soon as the current CBA expires, and uncertainty over changes in the next CBA, will certainly affect the free agent and trade markets this offseason. And though MLB navigated a lockout just five years ago, the owners’ push for a salary cap has many around the industry bracing for a longer work stoppage and murkier landscape on the other side.

“I never have any feel for how a market’s going to play out,” Friedman said. “We’ve kidded ourselves in the past that, like, ‘Hey, we think this is going to happen,’ and it just takes on its own life form. So for us, it’s just about being as prepared as we possibly can be, and pouncing on opportunities.”

It’s the third afternoon in another string of sweltering days in Los Angeles. A recent Friday offers no salvation for the weekend ahead besides sitting in front of a fan or turning up the air conditioning.

Thankfully, standing inside the climate-controlled walls of the Line hotel’s lobby and behind a cup of joe from its Alfred Coffee, there’s a smidgen of comfort.

The bell to the ground floor elevator rings and out steps a tall figure, wearing an all-black ensemble. His shorts hang just below his knees, his hair is a bit messy and his boots climb up his calf.

Grian Chatten looks remarkably cool for someone who’s just rolled out of bed, even more so for someone who has a performance at Hollywood Forever Cemetery later that night. He’s the leading man behind Fontaines D.C., a Dublin-born rock quintet that’s become one of the most exciting acts to grace a stage today.

And how couldn’t they be?

Their 2019 debut, “Dogrel,” was met with critical acclaim, a masterful album with references to James Joyce and a teeming garage-style production. Fast-forward five years later and their fourth effort, “Romance,” became their first to chart in the United States, reaching No. 97 on the Billboard 200.

Nowadays, they’re kicking up dust again with the release of “Dopamine Chamber,” which came out last Friday via XL Recordings. Its a continuation of the precedent they’ve set in terms of lyrical and sonic quality, but simultaneously is far more melancholic and synthesized than their previous work.

“Dopamine Chamber” is the band’s fifth release, following the success of “Romance” back in 2024.

(Ewen Spencer)

However, its rollout was rocky as the debut music video “Marianne” was criticized for its use of artificial intelligence. When the psychedelic, entrancing recording first hit YouTube, it listed a credit for AI “artists” in its description, sounding alarms among the band’s loyal fan base.

After all, it was widely viewed as contradictory of the group, which has been vehemently outspoken on various contemporary issues, including what the U.N. Human Rights Council has officially concluded to be genocide in Gaza.

We sat down with Chatten to discuss the new album, as well as some of the backlash the band has recently faced.

Tell me about this album title. Is it a literal happiness chamber?

It was me [who came up with it] because it originated as a line in a song, and the song never made it onto the album. We kept the pairing of words “dopamine chamber.”

I wanted to make it a bit more literary. Turns out that the dopamine chamber … it’s where they put rats to test different chemicals or in order to check their dopamine levels. We found that out after.

So it’s fake happiness.

It’s almost like nonconsensual happiness. I mean, if that exists.

Do you ever feel like that in life? Like you’re like forced to be happy with everything bleak that’s going on?

I think we force ourselves to feel a certain happiness every now and then, just so we can compartmentalize things and go about our day. I think that’s a survival mechanism, anyway. But to lose that is dangerous.

This album is a lot more synthesized than your previous work. “Six Short Morning” and “Mimesis” definitely stand out there.

It made sense, thematically. I felt that those textures signaled … I hate using the word “dystopian,” but the dystopian future. I wanted the album to feel more like an advanced version of “Romance,” where the body of the record had become more bionic. There’s a reason that there are so many strings and cinematic stuff, that’s the organic world that I wanted to draw on — people like Mina, the ‘60s singer from Italy.

The acoustic sounds are, of course, still present.

They’re supposed to be kind of like fighting for space, a little bit.

One track that stuck out to me was “Happy for You,” because of it’s insincere flattery. Who or what do you have in mind when you write songs like that?

It’s a bit like [R.E.M.’s] “Shiny Happy People,” it’s a similar function. That song is a jealousy of other people’s happiness or well-adjustedness.

I noticed those internal struggles show up a lot on this album. On “One Man,” are you singing about feeling the weight of many?

I think that’s more about the general existential feeling of helplessness in the face of things that are happening in the world. I’ve got a really good friend called Nikolaj Schultz, do you know him?

No idea.

He’s a sociologist and philosopher, and he writes mostly about the environment, the Anthropocene, and he’s written a couple of books with the French philosopher Bruno Latour, who passed away [in 2022]. He’s someone who’s strapped to their bed and feels away the world from morning to night.

That was a profound influence on “Romance” and on this album. So I think “One Man” pertains to that, maybe even to him.

It seems like you are heavily inspired by literature, more so than other artists would be by just general music and listening.

I think in literature, I can understand sometimes what the point is in what they’re writing. For example, this Schultz book “Land Sickness,” the style of it is to render the audience sensitive to this issue just by the osmosis of showing how much it affects you. Like, my mom got me into music by showing me how much it affected her.

How did the feature with Rosalía come about for “Where Is Gone?”

Well, this is our first feature. Carlos [O’Connell], our guitarist, grew up in Spain and had been listening to her first couple of records. Then we got into “Motomami” together and it became a fixture to listen to it backstage before our shows. When “Lux” came out, we were all quite obsessed with it.

We were four days out from mixing or from mastering the album, and Carlos rang me. He was like, “I think we’d be mistaken to not just send Rosalía something and see if she’d be interested.”

We sent her four tracks. We sent her “Where Is Gone?,” “One Man,” “Tongue,” and I can’t remember what the other one was. She got back within 48 hours with a full vocal of “Where Is Gone?”

You weren’t in the studio together?

She was on tour. She was in Miami at the time.

What happened with “Marianne?” There was a moment where it was credited to AI “artists.” Then it was corrected to be effects artists.

I woke up at like 5:30 a.m. the day after the video came out, and I saw an article that said there was AI used in the video, and I called our management, and I was like, “What the f—, is this true?” and it turned out that there was some AI used in like the workflow or the postproduction.

So all those main scenes and main effects and stuff were VFX and prosthetics, like the cheeks and everything. Over 110 people worked on the thing. It was a real huge human effort. But then somewhere in the process, someone from the VFX team I guess used some kind of AI in the workflow. And none of us were told about it. Apparently, not even our label or our management were told about it and it was a real shock.

Yeah, it seemed like you guys didn’t know.

Of course. I mean, we’re gonna have it written into our contracts going forward that like it can’t be in our music videos. You know what I mean? I don’t condone it.

I think a lot of people were shocked just because you guys are so active in contemporary issues, which AI certainly is.

It’s so f— ironic. No, very contradictory. The themes of the f— album as well. I was hoping to talk about how I felt about AI in interviews at some point anyway, and then this kind of pulled the rug from under that conversation a little bit.

It just f— sucked.

Well, how do you feel about AI?

I think it’s f— terrifying. I was watching a Robin Williams scene from “Dead Poets Society” when he talks about poetry, literature. These are the things that we stay alive for, and well, that’s exactly what AI threatens to rob from the human race.

I’ve seen those articles about those guys who are leaving AI companies because they said that the human race is going to be dead within 10 years. AI is literally rendering our souls obsolete and I think that is true death.

A lot of people say, “It’s here, we have to deal with it.”

We should just shut it off.

It always ends here. Every conversation [about AI] just ends grim. This is like every conversation with my dad over the last three years about it. It makes it tough to be alive, doesn’t it?

National treasure and musical icon “Weird Al” Yankovic may have once titled an album “Straight Outta Lynwood” to pay homage to the Los Angeles suburb where he was raised, but he’s lived in the same Hollywood Hills home since 2001, the year he married his wife Suzanne.

Though he says the two are “homebodies,” they do enjoy getting out and exploring L.A. When he was bored during the pandemic, Yankovic made it his mission to find the city’s best culinary offerings for categories like doughnuts and chocolate chip cookies. What else would you expect from the guy who made “Eat It”?

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

Yankovic gets most of his food recommendations by either word of mouth or scrolling Instagram reels. “I’ll see something that looks delicious and I’ll go, ‘Oh, where’s that?’” he says. “Sometimes it’s in Tokyo, but if it’s in L.A., I’ll make a note and maybe check it out sometime.”

When Yankovic spoke to us, he was wrapping up his Bigger & Weirder tour, which spanned two years and included 165 concerts. His last appearance of the year takes place on Halloween at the Greek Theatre. The one-time event will feature a showing of “UHF,” the 1989 cult classic film that he co-wrote and starred in, along with a live orchestral performance of its score conducted by John Du Prez, a Q&A session and surprise guests.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.

8 a.m.: Planning ahead for breakfast

I wake up, fall out of bed, drag a comb across my head. Then I find my way to the kitchen for a little breakfast.

My favorite breakfast treat is Courage Bagels. I wouldn’t actually go to Courage Bagels on a Sunday morning, so the standard protocol is every six to eight weeks I drive out there and just get a big bag full of assorted loosies, as we call them. Then I immediately go home and slice them in half and wrap them in cling wrap and put them in an airtight Ziploc baggie and throw them in the freezer.

Then whenever I want one, I just take it out, I sprinkle a little water on it, toast it, cover it with Violife vegan cream cheese, a little slice of tomato, a little onion, some fresh ground pepper, some Maldon salt, a little Graza drizzle and maybe a little lemon twist.

A lot of New Yorkers might say, ‘Oh, that’s not a real bagel’ — because it’s not a real New York bagel, they call it a Montreal-style bagel — but it’s what I like.

10 a.m.: Sunday service

I go to church. I don’t manage to go to church when I’m on the road, but when I’m at home, I do.

Noon: Old and newer favorites

After church, since I’m already out and about, I pick up a little lunch to go. If I’m in the mood for Indian, I’d probably go with Curry Kingdom on Santa Monica. It’s a really small hole-in-the-wall place with great food.

If I want Thai, I’d probably do Toi on Sunset, which is one of my old standbys. I’ve been going there for decades. I love the food. I love the funky rock ‘n’ roll vibe. We probably eat in more than we take out there. If I’m dining with the family, we try to get the low table in the back where you can sit on the floor. You’re not allowed to take off your shoes, they make that very clear.

1 p.m.: Members only

There’s honestly nothing better than a Sunday afternoon nap, so that would be a big attraction for me. But if there’s something cool playing at the Directors Guild or the Writers Guild, my wife and I love doing that. The DGA is maybe the best place in L.A. to actually watch a movie. I’ve had both of the movies that I’ve done in my life screened at the DGA and I’ve never seen them look better or sound better.

I am a member of the Directors Guild and the Writers Guild. I pay my dues, so I want to take advantage of that and see as many movies there as possible. And honestly, my wife and I will go there even if it’s a bad movie because we’re just entertained by seeing the illusion of motion created by a rapidly projected series of still images.

3 p.m.: All who wander

We might do a little of what we call tumbleweeding. That’s what we call rolling around town with no set destination in mind, just going wherever the wind blows us. We just get in the car and see where we wind up.

A lot of times we’ll wind up in Silver Lake or Little Tokyo. We love to stop there and grab a little mochi candy or matcha ice cream to keep us awake.

6 p.m.: Pizza or Postmates

By that point, we’re probably ready for dinner. I hesitate to plug them because it’s already virtually impossible to get reservations there, but Pizzeria Sei has absolutely the best pizza you can get west of New York City. Their Special Margherita’s my go-to. It’s Neopolitan-style with a bit of Japanese flair. My wife and I always comment after dinner that you can eat there until you’re absolutely stuffed and you never feel gross afterwards.

But again, reservations are hard to come by, so another good option is our favorite Mexican food place, which is the Gardens of Taxco. It was off of Santa Monica Boulevard for forever. Sadly it closed down a few years ago, but you can still order their food from Postmates. The only difference is now Jaime won’t be serenading you with “Bésame Mucho” while you’re eating your quesadilla.

8 p.m.: Choose your own post-dinner adventure

My wife and I just love staying home. We celebrate whenever plans get canceled, that kind of thing. So if we’re staying at home, sometimes we’ll just grab a blanket and go into the den and get cozy on the couch and binge something on our big TV. I’ve seen a lot of shows on the road and my wife will get jealous that I watched without her, so I’ll watch the whole series again at home with her.

If we feel more energetic, because I’m not really a gym guy, I do like to walk. My wife and I are trying to stay healthy together. We never really feel like exercising, but we force ourselves, so we will drive to Beverly Hills and do the walking path along Santa Monica Boulevard, which is quite lovely. It goes through a cactus garden. It’s also fun to FaceTime our daughter while we’re walking. She’s living on the Lower East Side in New York, but we talk to her pretty much every day, and that’s a nice time to touch base with her.

We’ll walk for a couple hours, and if we’re in the mood for a drink or a treat, we’ll head across the street to heytea or Go Greek. Go Greek is a big favorite of ours, and it’s crazy busy in the evenings, but it’s definitely worth waiting for.

And if we’re feeling social, something we absolutely love is doing a ding dong. Maybe that only makes sense to a small handful of people, but it’s basically a musical dinner party, and the one that we go to is full of really cool and talented people like Eric Idle, Peter Asher, Mike Geier (who’s Puddle’s Pity Party, who I’m touring with currently), and a bunch of other amazingly talented musicians. We all just bring our instruments and have a potluck dinner, and then we’ll just sit around in someone’s living room singing old Beatles songs all night long. It’s the absolute best. It’s one of those things I can’t believe I get to do.

Late night: Rock ‘n’ roll hours

Right now, I’m sort of on my rock ‘n’ roll schedule, I tend to stay up pretty late at night anyway, and my wife has got a more normal schedule. If we can go to bed at the same time, that’s great, but if not, my wife will head to the bedroom and I’ll stay in the den with my headphones on and I’ll play video games until the wee morning hours. When I finally get tired of shooting people in the face, then I’ll snuggle in next to her and fall asleep.

The Clippers will have their hands full when the season opens trying to contend in the always tough Western Conference after being slapped with the harshest penalties in league history for violating salary cap circumvention rules.

With Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Ivica Zubac gone from last season’s team, they’ll focus on developing a new core of stars, including rookie Keaton Wagler, when they open play Wednesday by hosing the Sacramento Kings at Intuit Dome.

Another positive for the team: Tyronn Lue is a proven asset as coach and he’ll be tasked with developing and blending in the younger players. Wagler spent the summer building up his body and has potential to be a strong defender.

The league’s year-long investigation is over and the Clippers have a clear path, albeit rocky, to move on and again become competitive in the West. They finished ninth in the conference last season and were eliminated by the Warriors in a play-in game.

Now fully recovered from a foot injury, two-time All-Star guard Darius Garland will be counted on to provide floor leadership. Also returning are former All-Star guard Bradley Beal, guard Kris Dunn, forward Derrick Jones Jr. and center Brook Lopez.

“I think we can surprise a lot of people,” Garland said.

Garland is fully recovered from toe and foot ligament injuries. In 19 games last season, he averaged 19.9 points with 6.4 assists. With a full offseason and training camp, Garland is expected to be one of the team’s top players.

Other young players to watch are guard Kobe Sanders, who had a productive rookie season when averaging 7.3 points and nearly 20 minutes a game as part of the rotation, and center Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who had his rookie season end early because of a foot injury but he showed promise over 41 games.

Forward Brandon Ingram, driving against Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr. last season, is now a teammate after the Kawhi Leonard trade was completed following the salary cap circumvention investigation.

(Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

Additions include All-Star forward Brandon Ingram and guard Gradey Dick, who were part of the Leonard trade to Toronto, wing Max Strus, guard Jalen Pickett, forward Baba Miller, forward Isaiah Jackson and forward Nick Martinelli.

“I know [there are] little to no expectations for us this year,” said Ingram, who will miss the start of the season while recovering from May surgery for a partially torn Achilles. “We have enough in the building to compete. This is what we love to do. So, we’ll go out and compete every single night, learn, go on to the next game and get better and better.”

Strus also will be out for a while after injuring his right foot during training camp.

Departed from the team are forward John Collins, guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, forward Nicolas Batum and wing Bennedict Mathurin.

Also noteworthy: owner Steve Ballmer won’t be sitting courtside after being banned by the NBA for a year as part of the team’s steep punishment for circumventing salary-cap rules. Top basketball executive Lawrence Frank has been banned for six months. The penalties included the loss of five first-round draft picks.

“I give our players a lot of credit … the leadership is great [and] the morale is great, even in these tough situations,” Lue said at the start of training camp. “That’s good to see, when you have your players coming in every day, giving everything they have; a lot of teams don’t have that.”

Staff reports contributed to this story.

Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where I am thrilled to be writing to you today after a harrowing couple of weeks at the Kartje household. But after a bout with stomach ulcers — don’t recommend it! — and a brief hospital stay, I’m now back and ready for the home stretch of USC’s football season, which has gotten a lot more intriguing since we last spoke.

Not only did Lincoln Riley secure a critical road win at Penn State, but the rest of college football’s top tier also collapsed in the week since. The teams ranked Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 all lost on Saturday. At 3-1 in the Big Ten, USC is now tied for second place, while the three other teams at the top of the conference — UCLA, Indiana and Ohio State — are all still on the Trojans’ schedule. Two of those teams will face USC with a backup quarterback.

The Playoff picture certainly looks brighter for USC than it did before that trip to State College. But it’s still up to Riley to prove his team can actually deliver on that promise for more than one night.

That starts Saturday, in Madison, Wis., for my money, one of the best college towns in America. But since we’re roughly at the midway point of the football season, let’s look back at the first half for USC, with an eye on where the team could be headed in the second.

Quarterbacks: B

Jayden Maiava is coming off one of his better games as USC’s starting quarterback, having guided the Trojans to victory in State College. And maybe that performance was what Maiava needed to snap out of whatever funk he seemed to be in. Because for a few weeks, his timing and mechanics were a bit out of whack.

He’s still been putting up numbers — seventh in passing yards per game, in spite of my nitpicking. But if he is back to slinging it like he was against Penn State for the rest of the season, USC can keep up with anyone, including Indiana and Ohio State. But through the first half, I would say Maiava was good, not great.

Running backs: B-

King Miller has been a workhorse for USC this season.

(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

I had high hopes for Waymond Jordan this season, but since his ankle surgeries, he simply hasn’t been the same player through the first half that he was a year ago. Fortunately for USC, that hasn’t been a huge problem. King Miller’s added muscle has given him some added durability, and in turn, USC has used him like a workhorse, with more carries per game so far than basically any other back in the Riley era. But he hasn’t been quite as explosive as he was last season, and that absence of explosion has been noticeable in USC’s offense. The Trojans have just five runs of 20-plus yards in seven games.

Wide receivers/tight ends: A

It’s pretty rare that a team entrusts its entire passing attack to a fleet of freshmen right from the jump. And it’s even more extraordinary to see that trust pay immediate dividends. But that’s been the case for USC so far this season. Trent Mosley has been the most dynamic freshman pass-catcher in the country when healthy. Kayden Dixon-Wyatt leads all Power Four freshmen wideouts in receiving yards (400). And Mark Bowman’s absence has been felt since he’s been out of the lineup. I’ve been blown away by what we’ve seen out of this group, given all it had lost. The last two weeks, we’ve also seen Tanook Hines return to the level on which he left off last year.

Offensive line: A

It’s a credit to what offensive line coach Zach Hanson has been able to accomplish with his group’s development that true freshman Vlad Dyakonov could step in to start at left tackle in the most brutal of circumstances at Penn State and more than hold his own. USC has been able to navigate injuries up front with ease so far this season, after actually losing its starting center before the season even started. The unit has only given up seven sacks in seven games, and their run blocking has been mostly strong as well.

Defensive line: B

USC’s defense looks entirely different when it can effectively pressure opposing quarterbacks. Over the last two weeks, it has managed to rack up seven sacks, one fewer than USC had over its previous five games. That’s a major step forward, and it starts with Luke Wafle and Kameryn Crawford getting more pressure off the edges. If Jide Abasiri and Jahkeem Stewart can use the bye week to get healthier, then suddenly this group looks very dangerous ahead of the second half.

Linebackers: C

I like what I saw out of Ta’Mere Robinson and Elijah Newby in recent weeks, and it’s certainly possible that the linebacker room looks decidedly different coming out of the bye week, with either stepping into a bigger role. It feels like a fork-in-the-road moment for Desman Stephens, given what happened with Oregon and how he’s played outside of that one bad decision. It’s Year 3, and he’s not always in the right place. There’s a lot to work out here still.

Secondary: D+

Through seven games, USC ranks 128th in the nation in pass yards allowed per attempt. Which means I’m probably being kind giving this group the benefit of the doubt inherent to a D-plus. In some sense, this group is what it is. The personnel at safety has not appeared to fit whatever Gary Patterson wants at the position. But the healthy return of Alex Graham at slot corner has helped matters, and Jontez Williams has been solid, albeit unspectacular. Otherwise, well … yeesh. Best-case scenario is Patterson figures out something in the bye week to get the best out of this group.

Injuries shape start of men’s basketball season

We already knew that 7-footer Eric Reibe will miss at least all of USC’s non-conference slate after foot surgery. But according to a person familiar with USC’s roster situation but not authorized to speak publicly told The Times that the Trojans may also be without five-star freshman Christian Collins when they open the season on Nov. 2 against Milwaukee. Collins has been out for several weeks of the preseason with an undisclosed injury, but he’s expected to return sometime in early November. Assuming he continues to progress, he won’t miss much more time.

The earliest Reibe could return, I’m told, is the first week of January, when USC opens conference play. But even that would be an optimistic outlook, considering when Reibe had his surgery. He’d sat out for almost two months, hoping to let the foot heal on its own, before opting for the operation.

A note on House of Troy, Chapter 5

Given my recent health situation, we’ll be taking a one-week break from “House of Troy.” But we’ll be back the following Tuesday, Oct. 27, when Chapter 5 will ready for you wherever you get your podcasts!

Notable quotable

“We have one loss. We just had a terrific win on the road at Penn State. And we’re gonna continue to get things done for the rest of the season. Then, we’ll see what happens.”

—USC president Beong-Soo Kim, when asked about the potential of moving on from Lincoln Riley

Olympic sports spotlight

It’s been a tough season for USC women’s soccer. Entering the weekend, the Trojans had just one win in 14 matches this season … and that lone win came in late August.

But that changed at Northwestern, as USC scored in the first minute of the game and never looked back, delivering a 3-0 win over the Wildcats.

The win won’t change what’s frankly been an unacceptable campaign for a program that was 18-1-4 just two seasons ago. USC is now 2-8-5, with three matches remaining. The time to save this subpar season is already past.

What I’m watching this week

Samantha Sloyan and Summer H. Howell in “Carrie.”

(Liane Hentscher / Prime)

While I was doubled over on the couch for the better part of two weeks, I did happen to stumble onto one of my favorite shows of the year to date. I have a deep respect and love for Stephen King, so I was wary of Amazon’s new adaptation of “Carrie.” But it honestly shattered my expectations.

Adapted by writer and director Mike Flanagan, this modernized version of the classic King story is born out of social media and an Instagram account, “CarrieRed,” which starts terrorizing other students and teachers alike. Meanwhile, Carrie White, the titular character, is thrust into this brutal world of modern high school having spent her life to that point shut in with her strict mother and father. It could’ve been a caricature of high school today, but I thought it was really well done. And it kept me guessing throughout.

In case you missed it

Listen now: Podcast ‘House of Troy’ features inside look at highs, lows of USC Athletics

USC and UCLA could benefit as College Football Playoff nears 24-team expansion

New USC president Beong-Soo Kim faces high stakes: Trust, Trump and Trojan football

After getting breakout star Trent Mosley back, USC hopes bye week helps others return

Mark Sanchez reaches settlement in civil lawsuit filed by truck driver he allegedly assaulted

Until next time …

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email Ryan at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

UCLA football fans are accustomed to watching the Bruins struggle, so it took some time to believe new coach Bob Chesney really could back up his inspirational messages.

After a big road win against longtime nemesis Oregon, video posted online showed Chesney delivering a fiery speech to his team in the tunnel before facing the Ducks. He relayed the story of Hernán Cortes telling his crew to burn boats behind them so that there was no way out but forward. The Bruins, he said, had to burn the boats and fight through the Ducks.

“His speech before the Oregon game — where he talked about burning boats — that just fires you up. It makes me want to run through a wall,” said Brian Jacobsen, a 1987 UCLA graduate.

Jacobsen, 62, brought his family to Eugene to watch UCLA defeat Oregon for the first time since 2004 because he felt this team was special.

A fan with a UCLA themed Star Wars storm trooper mask dances during the Bruins’ win over Wisconsin at Rose Bowl on Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

UCLA fan Luis Flores, 54, grew up watching the Bruins and said he can’t recall feeling this excited about the team.

“It’s the culture and the way the coaches have these kids going the right direction. Where they are disciplined, they believe in [Bob] and they believe in the Bruins,” Flores said.

Jacobsen and Flores were among the 36,045 fans at the Rose Bowl Saturday during UCLA’s 17-7 win over Wisconsin. The Chesney train is picking up steam, but the Rose Bowl was still far from sold out Saturday.

Joel Fierberg, music director of the UCLA Alumni Band, has seen the football program’s highs and lows during his 30 years leading the band.

“There have been some up-and-down years, but I am excited for what’s been happening,” Fierberg said.

Fierberg values fans who have stayed with the Bruins through thick and thin, especially now that the program has given them wins to celebrate.

“There are a lot of fans, including a lot of my band [members], who are here every week regardless,” Fierberg said. “It’s always exciting for them, having lived through the difficult times, to have something to be excited about.”

UCLA fans haven’t seen this kind of dominance since the Bruins opened the 2022 season 6-0.

Jeremiah Calvillo, 15, said he remembers the Chip Kelly era, but he couldn’t be more excited about what this UCLA team has done for him.

“[Chesney] is a very good coach who is leading this program to better things,” Calvillo said.

UCLA running back Anthony Woods and quarterback Ty Dieffenbach celebrate after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

UCLA alum Garry Sakson enjoys seeing all the praise the Bruins have received on social media after beating Oregon in Eugene. Sakson attended as many games as possible during the Kelly era at UCLA.

“The mindset this team has is different,” Sakson said. “With Chesney, it’s the way he acts and carries himself.”

Fans are cautious about discussing UCLA’s chances of making the College Football Playoff, despite the Bruins becoming the last undefeated team in the Big Ten and SEC. That superstitious approach shows how quickly Chesney has raised expectations.

“I’m very optimistic about Chesney in his first year, but talking about the playoffs already is wild. Still, it’s amazing that we’re even in this position,” said 2009 UCLA alum Tim Dawson.

Dawson was a freshman when the Bruins started the 2005 season 8-0 and finished 10-2, during coach Karl Dorrell’s third year.

That season, the Bruins were known for their high-scoring offense and their ability to pull wins out, until they fell to Arizona in Week 9.

This season, the Bruins have a potent rushing game, a dynamic new starting quarterback and defense that has delivered explosive plays. Dawson said this feels different than the 2005 team because the defense is strong.

The players are proud of how quickly they shifted from going 3-9 last season to a 6-0 start.

Fans watch UCLA face Wisconsin at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

“Think the progress that we made from January, when we all arrived, till now is just out of this world,“ UCLA wide receiver Landon Ellis said. “It’ll be hard to look back into history and find teams that have turned it around this fast. So if you’re not all the way in, I don’t know what you are doing,”

Chesney said a bruising win over Wisconsin that shows UCLA can hold its own against brawny Big Ten terms should win over more fans unaccustomed to success.

“I think this win changes things a little bit,” Chesney said. “We won games in different ways, whether it be the offense or defense, but I think [Saturday] was a tough, physical game of football that you got to have a lot of pride in. And I think this should be the one that gives them a lot of confidence to understand just exactly what we are doing.”