Fans watching the new series of SNL UK were floored by the very first sketch
The show began with a sketch about Harry and Meghan(Image: Sky)
Comedy fans had the same response to a new season of SNL UK.
Viewers tuning into the new series hailed the show’s ‘genius move’ for the show’s return. It comes as the sketch show UK version of the hit American series, returned following an impressive stint earlier in the year.
There was initial cynicism over whether or not it would actually work, let alone be a success. However, it was renewed for a follow up ahead of its season finale.
This week saw Academy Award‑nominated actor and global icon Jeff Goldblum take on duties of the guest host. Goldblum is instantly recognisable for performances in Jurassic Park and Wicked. He was joined by acclaimed Irish singer‑songwriter and Brit Award nominee CMAT as the musical guest.
The show takes on a number of well known features from its American counterparts. This includes an opening monologue, topical sketches and the Weekend Update feature.
Season two’s premiere began with a cold open about the Royals. In particular, the show poked fun about Harry and Meghan, following the news of their move back to the UK.
Star Jack Shep, who wowed fans by taking on the role of Princess Diana in the previous season, appeared this time playing Harry. They also poked fun at Meghan’s Netflix series, as she told the King that she had brought some ice that she ‘made herself’.
Shep as Harry replied: “She hires the best cooks.” And later he tells his ‘father’ that his money has run out saying “it was only $60 million.”
But what really impressed viewers watching along at home was when cast member George Fouracres entered as Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Last time out, the actor also appeared as the PM, which back then was Sir Keir Starmer.
Fouracres joked that he was “better than the last one” and would not stop until there was a “Number 10 in every street in the UK”. Fans absolutely loved Fouracres performance with many sharing their reactions on social media.
One person admitted: “I’m weeping for joy at how good Fouracres as Burnham is: channelling John Simm.” Someone else replied: “So happy #SNLUK ‘s Andy Burnham is George Fouracres, he was a perfect Starmer and he’s a perfect Mr Normal too!”
Another added: “George Fouracres as Burnham is incredible.” While one fan claimed: “George Fouracres playing Starmer and now Burnham is a genius move.”
Sharing a similar view, someone else replied: “I’ve been waiting patiently for this George Fouracres Andy Burnham impression and I’m not disappointed.”
SNL UK airs Saturdays at 10pm on Sky One and streaming on NOW.
Daisy Chain Fields arrived on a sweltering summer Saturday, plopped in the middle of Irvine’s suede hills, inside Orange County lines. The festival, hosted by Olivia Rodrigo at the Great Park, was a spiritual successor to Sarah McLachlan’s Lilith Fair of the late ‘90s, born out of frustration with promoters and radio stations that refused to play two female artists in a row.
Like McLachlan’s event, Daisy Chain Fields boasted an all-female lineup, featuring some of the most coveted names in the contemporary music scene. The festival also gave a nod to some of the industry’s women pioneers, such as Bikini Kill and Garbage.
Anticipation for the festival was high after Rodrigo unveiled it in late June, with tickets selling out just 30 minutes after release. This translated directly onto the grounds, which were swarmed by 45,000 attendees, comprising teenage girls, moms, dads and everyone in between.
The event raised $10 million to benefit 10 girl- and women-focused nonprofit organizations, all of which made an appearance on stage before each artist’s set. Each musician on the lineup performed for free.
Festivalgoers walk past the Great Park Balloon.
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1.Festival goers pose for pictures in front of a daisy backdrop.2.Nara Brown from Costa Mesa ties together a flower headpiece.
As the sun went down and Rodrigo took the stage, she announced that proceeds had been 100% matched by billionaire and philanthropist Melinda French Gates, bringing total donations to $20 million.
The Times was on site to witness the festival in all its glory, amid astounding 94 degree heat and an unwavering, tangible electricity among fans. Here is our recap of the best moments from the festival. —Julius Miller
Livies get loud on the Metrolink The 2 p.m. Metrolink train from Union Station in L.A. to Orange County was absolutely mobbed with Livies (a.k.a. Olivia Rodrigo fans) on Saturday. For such a car-brained region, it was sweet to see public transit packed with young fans in festival regalia, making the grind to Irvine more sane and green. Let’s have this vibe for every major SoCal festival (including the car-free Ocean Way next month). Yet, for new train fans, a gentle reminder: one spirited round of singing “Get Him Back!” as you’re climbing onboard? Endearing, a delight for all. Keeping it up for an hour, next to civilian commuters who looked ready to climb onto the tracks themselves by Buena Park? Maybe save that for the pit. —August Brown
Festivalgoers sing as Olivia Rodrigo performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
Devon Again performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
Devon Again felt so lucky that she gets to know you
25-year-old alt-pop princess Devon Again was a last-minute addition to the Daisy Chain Fields bill, replacing global girl group Katseye, who pulled out of the festival on Thursday due to a member’s ankle injury. Luckily, Devon Again, a personal friend of Rodrigo who will open for her tour starting in November, was there to answer Rodrigo’s call with a resounding “Duh, b—! Obviously I want to do it!” as she relayed to the Saturday afternoon crowd. Though Katseye’s presence was felt — members Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel and Yoonchae Jeong took the stage to introduce nonprofit partner Baby2Baby before the set, and Devon Again’s drummer wore a Katseye shirt in tribute — Devon Again’s self-confessed impostor syndrome was misplaced. With a rollicking mix of high-energy country twang, twisty ballads and production-heavy pop hits bolstered by her crisp belt, she made the stage her own. —Eloise Rollins-Fife
Die Spitz dives into a great early set
The set began with a five-minute delay due to technical issues, during which bassist Kate Halter — impressively — performed several handstands to pass the time. By 1:45 p.m., the band was ready to go, with frontwoman Ellie Livingston kicking off the performance. Draped in a torn white skirt and black fishnet gloves to complement, she wailed “I hate when girls die.”
Die Spitz’s set felt like the epitome of what Daisy Chain was all about. The band members took turns strutting around stage and acknowledging, “I know it’s f— hot!” But that didn’t stop the crowd from forming mosh pits on the left and right side of the yellow Marigold stage. At one point, Livingston even jumped in herself, to the despair of security and the delight of fans. —JM
Eleanor “Ellie” Livingston of Die Spitz performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
Santigold’s set was worth fighting for
Santigold’s eclectic, genre-defying sound may be a hallmark of the “indie sleaze” era, but her standout midday Daisy Chain set proved she has plenty of staying power in 2026. Dressed in all white and flanked by a pair of straight-faced dancers in futuristic sunglasses, the 49-year-old artist performed back-to-back hits like “Run the Road” and “L.E.S. Artistes” to a crowd ready to dance the pain away. She even brought a handful of fans onstage — mostly, adorably, children — for a follow-along dance contest during “Unstoppable,” with a winner determined by cheers. Wrapping up the set with “Disparate Youth,” Santigold reminded the audience to keep believing in “a life worth fighting for.” –ERF
Santigold transports the crowd to the early aughts era of indie sleaze during Daisy Chain Fields.
Bikini Kill double dares Daisy Chain crowd to keep fighting the power
“This government hates us and wants us dead,” proclaimed punk icon and Bikini Kill frontwoman Kathleen Hanna: a critical guiding light for Olivia Rodrigo’s feminist consciousness, as well as that of thousands of Daisy Chain attendees on Saturday. Since the band’s inception in 1990, the OG riot grrrls of Bikini Kill made social justice the centripetal force of their furor — long before Daisy Chain Fields, and even its late ‘90s predecessor Lilith Fair. Powered by Tobi Vail on drums (and occasional vocals), Kathy Wilcox on bass and Sara Landeau on guitar, the electric Hanna buffered classic songs like “Double Dare Ya” and “Feels Blind” with parables from her own revolutionary life — much of which she spent fighting back against objectification from men. Dudes in Saturday’s crowd got a special directive: “You guys gotta talk to your friends [about misogyny],” said Hanna. “[Women] are not gonna stop this on our own!” Sealed with a kiss and delivered with a snarl, the band closed its rip-roaring set with the anthemic battle cry of “Rebel Girl,” and were flanked onstage by a few lucky young fans. —Suzy Exposito
Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna preaches a message of anti-misogyny to the crowd during Daisy Chain Fields.
Mitski brought melodrama and musical magic
Whether you’ve been rocking with Mitski since the “Lush” days or discovered her music via pandemic-era Tik Tok, when industrial ballads like “Washing Machine Heart” unexpectedly popped off, there’s no denying her captivating stage presence — not to mention her stunning vocals. Longtime fans may have wished for a few more of the hits (no “Your Best American Girl” after the recent “Puberty 2” 10th anniversary re-release was a surprise), but indie music’s favorite sad-woman still brought her A-game to the Dandelion Stage, incorporating her signature “Butoh” performance style — a form of avant-garde Japanese dance-theatre — underscored by a backdrop of 1940s melodramas. During her set she implored Rodrigo to make the festival an annual tradition. “When do you get to be the first anything anymore?” she said. “For the rest of our lives, we could be like, ‘I’m OG DCF.” – ERF
Mitski performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
The Breeders deliver ‘Last Splash’ classics
Hand it to Kim Deal: As one of the OGs on the bill at Daisy Chain Fields, the Breeders frontwoman used her band’s performance to shout out an even earlier pathbreaker by wearing an old Shirley Chisholm campaign T-shirt featuring the first Black congresswoman’s slogan of “Unbought and unbossed.” Deal and her bandmates (including her twin sister Kelley) drew deeply from their classic 1993 “Last Splash” LP, loping through the country-ish “Drivin’ on 9,” chugging on a fuzzed-out “Saints” and pricking up Gen Z ears with the perennially TikTok’d “Cannonball.” — Mikael Wood
The Breeders play songs from their 1993 classic album “Last Splash” during Daisy Chain Fields.
Doechii does it for the girls
Under the hot afternoon sun, Grammy award-winning rapper Doechii celebrated all things girls in her typical over-the-top fashion. She and her dancers arrived onstage painted in hot pink, the swamp princess’ hair fashioned into high pigtails. A dance breakdown to a hardcore take on Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls)” introduced the set, and though she fed fans by performing some of her most popular singles — a version of “Anxiety” that morphed into a cover of the original sample “Somebody I Used to Know” by Goyte, “Alter Ego” and tracks like “Nissan Altima” and “Boiled Peanuts” from her 2024 album “Alligator Bites Never Heal” — she also reminded festivalgoers of the influential Black women artists who came before her — Lauryn Hill, Queen Latifah, Beyoncé — by mixing their iconic songs into hers. Glowing magenta, she twirled above what looked to be a rising river, a physical representation of the swirling, engulfing thoughts that anxiety can provoke as she performed the song by the same name. And just to ensure there was zero confusion, the Florida rapper ended her set by simply stating: “We do this for the girls, we do this for the gays and we do this for trans women.” —Danielle Dorsey
Doechii performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
Doechii
Garbage gives grunge power to Gen Z
With its blend of serrated alt-rock guitars and sleek machine rhythms, Garbage always sounded a little ahead of its time when the band broke out in the post-grunge mid-’90s. But as frontwoman Shirley Manson evoked an age of digital surveillance and pharmacological dependence in “I Think I’m Paranoid” — one of the era’s great snarling pop singles — what you realized is that history had finally caught up with the band. — MW
Shirley Manson, lead singer of Garbage, performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
Chappell Roan reigns with a hit-heavy set
It’s funny to think that Chappell Roan has only really been in the American music scene for the past six years, with just one studio album to her name.
Roan appeared from the back of stage, revealing her leather, periwinkle stewardess outfit and red mod bob — an apparent nod to Luc Besson’s 1997 film “The Fifth Element.” Naturally, the crowd roared as she dove bob-first into “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl.” She’d occasionally crouch down to take a sip from her water bottle, which matched her ensemble.
Roan looked especially happy to be there, happily performing for free and her set did not disappoint.
“Only the hits today,” she said, smiling. “Only the hits.” —JM
Festivalgoers dance in the “MicroRave.”
Not for Radio crank up the volume
Just after sundown, the Marías’ enigmatic leading lady, María Zardoya, emerged to perform songs from her nocturne solo project, Not for Radio. Circled by a verdant reproduction of an enchanted forest, and dressed in a black swan-like two-piece by Ann Demeulemeester, Zardoya held the audience captive with her purring soprano and vampy stare. But make no mistake: by dialing up their otherwise elegant chamber pop with a little extra crunch and distortion, the players of Not for Radio came ready to rock out with the Daisy Chain crowd. It was during a performance of the new track “Comet,” which has only been recorded live thus far, that Zardoya bewitched fans into head-banging along with her. —SE
Olivia Rodrigo does duets with her idols
Sarah McLachlan, left, and Olivia Rodrigo perform during Daisy Chain Fields.
Rodrigo’s enduring virtue as a pop star is being a great fan first. The job requires commanding attention and devotion for yourself, but she’s never been shy about situating herself in the long arc of women who came before (and after) her, or just being moon-eyed to live inside her favorite songs with her heroes onstage. For her Daisy Chain Fields closing set, she dueted with generations of women that shaped her sense of what’s possible in music — Stevie Nicks for a gorgeous “Landslide,” and a surprise Alanis Morissette cameo for “Ironic” that felt like girl-gang karaoke night at its finest. She joined Lilith Fair founder Sarah McLachlan — a specific inspiration for this festival — for “Building a Mystery” and a deeply tender “Angel.” Even Rodrigo’s backing band, full of absolutely shredding women instrumentalists, played beside her on equal footing for exquisitely tasteful, post-punky revisions of songs across her three albums. The boys in the crowd got a brief chance to growl in the lead on “Expectations,” but here they were just allies — the headline act was Rodrigo’s talent framed as a gift received from other women, and given again to the young fans on the field. —AB
BBC Breakfast viewers were left distracted from the headlines by a major new format change.
Ben Thompson and Sally Nugent hosted Monday’s BBC Breakfast (Image: BBC)
BBC Breakfast viewers noticed a major change moments into the programme.
BBC Breakfast returned on Monday, August 24, with Ben Thompson joining Sally Nugent as he stepped in for Jon Kay.
Headlines of the day focused on the Middlesbrough crash on Saturday that left seven people, including two police officers, dead, as well as the return of the Premier League, with a tribute to Kevin Keegan during Newcastle’s match against Liverpool.
However, viewers were left distracted by a BBC Breakfast format change, with the graphics on screen given a major revamp.
Instead of the red timebox and headlines running at the bottom of the screen, the studio background graphics are in blue, while the taglines at the bottom of the screen are now also in a red to blue gradient, and highlighting what is coming up in the show.
“Can’t the producers decide on ONE colour for graphics?” one person fumed. Another said: “These captions are annoying, get rid, if I want captions I will turn the subtitles on.”
“Why have they tried to make the graphics look like a mobile phone? They look ridiculous,” a third seethed. Another replied: “That’s what I thought. And I don’t like it.”
Someone else said: “I can’t concentrate on two things at once so I’m either trying to read that extremely small text or watching the news report.”
“Someone been at the crayons.. what’s with the colour scheme?” yet another said, as someone else wrote: “So weird.”
Another viewer said they “hated” the change, as one person added: “Might just as well watch ITV now they’ve put this s**t on the screen and dumb down completely.”
Someone else called it “really rubbish”, as another fumed: “Ffs – get rid of these annoying captions! They are very distracting & totally unnecessary!”
One added: “#bbcbreakfast have obviously misjudged the demographic of their early morning viewers with this new format.”
This comes after the BBC Breakfast team celebrated National Television Award nominations, during an edition of the show last week.
As two nominations include heartfelt documentaries from the BBC Breakfast team, Jon shared how “honoured” they were.
Meanwhile, BBC Breakfast’s rivals Good Morning Britain have been nominated in the Daytime category alongside James Martin’s Saturday Morning, Loose Women, Scam Interceptors and This Morning.
BBC Breakfast airs daily from 6am on BBC One and iPlayer.
This is my 50th year covering high school sports in Southern California. Here are my most memorable moments since 1976.
Former Crespi quarterback Captain Randy Redell (left) and sportswriter Eric Sondheimer (right) prepare to board an F–16 fighter jet for their 82-minute flight at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C., in 1998.
(Freelance)
1: It’s 1998. I’m in Sumter, S.C., invited to fly in an F-16 with former Crespi quarterback Randy Redell, an Air Force graduate, captain and pilot. To get cleared, I have to pass a pre-flight instruction class how to use a parachute and an explanation what to do with the barf bag. Randy, apparently at the egging on by his father, Bill, the football coach at St. Francis, takes the F-16 straight up. The G force is like a roller-coaster ride on steroids. Later he tells me to take control of the plane with the stick as I wear my helmet and oxygen mask and hear his instructions on the radio. Yes, it’s like riding a magic carpet. How can anything top an F-16 ride?
I’m going to have some fun this summer looking back on some memorable moments over nearly 50 years of covering high school sports in Southern California. Here is my most unique experience _ flying in an F-16 flown by former Crespi QB Randy Redell. pic.twitter.com/KZLPZtSSgr
Bret Saberhagen pitched a no-hitter for Cleveland High School during a 13-0 win over Palisades for the City Section championship at Dodger Stadium in 1982.
(Courtesy of Linda Saberhagen)
2: It’s June 14,1982. The City Section championship baseball game is at Dodger Stadium, where Bret Saberhagen of Cleveland High pitches the first and only no-hitter in championship game history. He retired 21 of 22 batters in a 13-0 win over a Palisades team that included an infielder named Steve Kerr. Saberhagen would go on to win two Cy Young Awards.
Associated Press Sports Editors award in 1988 for Eric Sondheimer story on Kentucky basketball recruit.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
3.: The lead story on ESPN’s 11:30 p.m. SportsCenter on April 13, 1988, was a report from the Los Angeles Daily News detailing a package that accidentally opened at an air freight service containing 20 $50 bills addressed to a high school basketball star at Fairfax and sent from the University of Kentucky. It led to NCAA sanctions against Kentucky and lots of resignations. My work gave me a lesson on the impact dedicated local journalism can have with a single story.
In 2001, Marcedes Lewis tries to get past De La Salle defenders.
(David Kawashima)
4: The game of the century that changed high school football forever was Long Beach Poly vs. Concord De La Salle in 2001 before 17,321 fans at Veterans Stadium and a national TV audience. It was 11 days after the 9/11 terrorist attack. It was No. 1 De La Salle, coached by Bob Ladouceur, with a 116-game winning streak and running back Maurice Drew. No. 2 Poly had coach Raul Lara, tight end Marcedes Lewis and many other future college players. De La Salle won 29-15. From that game on, TV games featuring high school football multiplied and schools began to travel around the country for marquee matchups.
Dorsey coach Paul Knox celebrates miracle win in 2001 City championship game at Coliseum.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
5: Never has there been an ending quite like the 2001 City Section football final at the Coliseum. Taft leads Dorsey 14-13 with seven seconds left. A fourth-down punt from the 32-yard line will run out the clock. But Dorsey’s Jesus Jimenez blocks the punt and Henry Badge picks up the bouncing ball in the end zone with no time left for a 19-14 win. “The ending was the craziest I’ve ever had,” Dorsey Hall of Fame coach Paul Knox said.
.The Northridge Little League All-Star team from 1994 was honored with a ticker-tape parade down Disneyland’s Main Street.
(Kari Rene Hall/The Los Angeles Times)
6.: The Earthquake Kids from Northridge Little League made it to the championship game of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., after the destructive 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Some of these 11- and 12-year-olds had unbelievable personalities, like a player named Matt Cassel. I got to see what a Northeast thunderstorm was like and see the big hill that kids slide down.
Former Granada Hills quarterback John Elway from the 1979 yearbook.
(Los Angeles Times)
7: It’s a 1977 City Section football playoff game that has gone into overtime. John Elway is the quarterback for Granada Hills. Jay Schroeder is the quarterback for Palisades. Both would become Super Bowl quarterbacks. But on this day, they had to try to deliver victory in a California tiebreaker, with the ball placed on the 50-yard and the team that advanced the ball farthest after alternating plays wins. On the seventh of eight plays, Elway completed a 28-yard pass to Scott Marshall to clinch victory.
Crespi’s Russell White carries the ball during a game against St. John Bosco on Nov. 7, 1986.
(John McCoy / Los Angeles Times)
8: In 1986, a sophomore running back with stunning skills, Russell White, leads Crespi to the San Fernando Valley’s first and only Southern Section Division 1 football championship with a 49-14 win over St. John Bosco. He goes on to star at Cal and gets drafted by the Rams. He becomes the commissioner of the Oakland Section, then football coach at Flintridge Prep. Forty years later, his son, Zachary, was a star basketball player at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
Five years ago I shot this video of Roybal coach Danny O’Fallon collapsing after his team won City title. He would die of cancer. Beloved coach. pic.twitter.com/JO8eLhUo8j
9: I rarely go to City Section Division III championship basketball games — unless my alma mater, Sun Valley Poly, is involved. It was 2019, and right before the start, I learned that Roybal coach Danny O’Fallon was dying of cancer. As the buzzer sounded and Roybal won, 51-47, O’Fallon collasped onto the gym floor in tears. Players came back to form a huddle around him and comfort him. It’s the most emotional, gut-wrenching scene. I get tears each and every time I watch video of the moment. He’d die a year later in 2020 at the age of 49. Bill Plaschke wrote a heart-warming column.
Anaheim Canyon players celebrate after winning the 2015 Division 2AA championship with a 28-point comeback win over Lawndale.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
10: The 2015 Southern Section Division 2AA championship basketball game at Honda Center produced the greatest comeback I’ve witnessed, with Anaheim Canyon rallying from a 28-point deficit in the third quarter and 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Lawndale 103-98 in double overtime. Nick Anderson scored 37 points. Canyon coach Nate Harrison was exhausted and exhilarated afterward.
Harry Welch, the only football coach to win three state titles at three different schools _ Canyon Country Canyon, Santa Margarita and St. Margaret’s.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
11: When it comes to upsets, few were bigger than Canyon Country Canyon beating the nation’s No. 1-ranked football team, De La Salle, 27-13, in the inaugural CIF Division I state championship bowl game in Carson in 2006. Coach Harry Welch, on his way to a Hall of Fame career, orchestrated everything with a little help and belief from his players.
Brisket, ribs and mac and cheese at Pecan Lodge in Dallas.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
12: I always wanted to see what Texas high school football was like after reading the book, “Friday Night Lights,” and experience Texas barbecue. It happened in 2021 when Mater Dei played Duncanville. I spent two days traveling around, seeing Allen High’s $62-million stadium, watching a game at AT&T Stadium and tasting BBQ. All the reports were true _ Texas is one of a kind.
You know what keeps me coming back year after year: Talking to high school athletes who show resilience and determination and don’t care what people think. It’s inspiring. They plug ahead and keep getting back up off the floor. Never doubt what a teenager can accomplish.
Harvard-Westlake’s twin towers Jarron (left) and Jason Collins in 1994.
(For the Times)
14: In the 1990s, the Collins twins, 7-foot Jason and 6-11 Jarron, arrived at Harvard-Westlake, and the rest is history. They’d win state championships, star at Stanford and play in the NBA. In 1999, while they were at Stanford, I wrote a story about their special bond. Former UCLA coach John Wooden said of their progress, “I think they’ve improved. I’m sorry [UCLA] didn’t get them. It’s nice to get twins who are talented and good students.” Jarron’s two daughters are playing for Harvard-Westlake and a son is in eighth grade. Jason died May 12, 2026, of brain cancer. He was 47.
Masaki Matsumoto coaching at Bernstein High in 2013.
(Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)
15: People were telling me in 2013 about an innovative, creative football coach named Masaki Matsumoto at Bernstein High in Hollywood. I found out the coach sent home letters to parents asking them to write a letter to their son and say something positive while expressing their love. Reading the letters myself and seeing players read out loud with tears in their eyes provided a powerful example what can happen when parents express their true feelings. It led to a story that became an ESPN documentary. Matsumoto now coaches at Lincoln High in Tacoma, Wash.
In 2014, Caleb Wilson of Gardena Serra tries to make a catch in a playoff game won by Corona Centennial 68-64.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
16: Trying to keep statistics when Corona Centennial is using its no-huddle offense is challenging, but doing it in a wild 2014 playoff game against another no-huddle offense run by Gardena Serra was mind-boggling. Centennial won 68-64 in a game that had 15 lead changes and 12 touchdown passes.
Birmingham’s Peyton Waters, center, tries to outjump Del Norte defenders for a Hail Mary pass in the final seconds of the Division 3-AA regional bowl game. It went off his hands and was caught by teammate Devyn Taylor with no time left for the win.
(Craig Weston)
17: It’s not every night you get to see a miracle play work. In a 2023 regional playoff game in San Diego, Birmingham trailed Del Norte 28-24. Birmingham had one final play from its 48-yard line. Quarterback Kingston Tisdell avoided the rush and threw the ball down the middle. It went off the hands of Peyton Waters and landed in the hands of Devyn Jackson for a game-winning touchdown.
18: The pandemic was about to shut down high school sports in 2020. The final high school basketball game turned out to be a memorable Open Division regional final between Sierra Canyon and Etiwanda at Cal State Northridge. Sierra Canyon rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to win 63-61 on a shot at the buzzer by future NBA player Ziaire Williams. The state championships were canceled.
Former Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School basketball teammates, from left, LeBron James, Dru Joyce III, and Willie McGee, appear in their high school gym on Friday, Aug. 21, 2009.
(Amy Sancetta / Associated Press)
19: On Jan. 4, 2003, Los Angeles got its first look at a teenage basketball player everyone said was destined for greatness. The hype was so big he sold out Pauley Pavilion. LeBron James scored 21 points to help St. Vincent-St. Mary’s defeat Mater Dei 64-58. I was not impressed with his three-point shooting, but his work ethic changed that. He’d be drafted No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s entering his 24th NBA season and is the all-time NBA scoring leader. But my biggest memory was the family sending someone to get him food from Burger King instead of Lawry’s at a media event that week.
Chino Hills guard LaMelo Ball pulls up for a shot over Mater Dei’s Michael Wang and Matthew Weyand (21).
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
20: In 2017, a sold-out crowd of more than 10,000 showed up at USC’s Galen Center to witness an astounding basketball doubleheader featuring a playoff semifinal matching Chino Hills against Mater Dei and Bishop Montgomery against Sierra Canyon. It was an electric atmosphere and the games lived up to expectations. Mater Dei, led by future NBA player Bol Bol, beat Chino Hills and LaMelo Ball in overtime. Bishop Montgomery upset No. 1-seeded Sierra Canyon and future NBA first-round draft pick Marvin Bagley Jr. Anyone who attended will say it was the best two games of high school playoff basketball they’ve seen.
Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Jered Weaver throws to the plate during the second inning of his no-hitter against the Twins in 2012.
(Uncredited/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
21: Major League Baseball beat writers need occasional breaks during the season, so on May 2, 2012, I was recruited to fill in for Mike DiGiovanna to report on the Angels-Twins game from Angel Stadium. I was excited to get to see former Simi Valley pitcher Jered Weaver on the mound. I’m also the good-luck writer. Whenever I cover a pro game, strange things happen. Sure enough, Weaver threw a no-hitter in my only Angel game of the year. Maybe Shohei Ohtani should invite me to his next start for the Dodgers.
: Right–hand pitcher Lucas Giolito (right) and left–hander Max Fried (left) of Harvard–Westlake in 2012.
(Los Angeles Times)
22: I’m sitting in the Harvard-Westlake dugout in January 2012 interviewing Max Fried and Lucas Giolito, two future first-round draft picks. Fried arrived after Montclair Prep canceled its sports program. They’d go on to be major league pitchers after each endured arm surgeries. Somehow, they got placed in the same classes, starting a friendship that will last a lifetime. Here’s video of that moment.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame baseball coach Tom Dill with his former pupil, Giancarlo Stanton.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
25: I never thought I’d run into a better all-around athlete than John Elway. Then Mike Stanton, now known as Giancarlo Stanton, showed up at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and by his senior year in 2007, he was All-CIF in football, basketball and baseball. As baseball coach Tom Dill said, “He’s a highlight reel every three or four games.” The only thing he couldn’t do was make free throws. He would lose a contest to Shaquille O’Neal.
Jon Garland pitching for Kennedy High.
(Los Angeles Times)
26: The reason I like baseball best among all the sports in Southern California is because it produces the most pro prospects every year, and it’s not even close. There’s so many top pitchers I’ve seen before they were household names. Paul Skenes. Gerrit Cole. Jack McDowell. Bret Saberhagen. Max Fried. It goes on and on. Here’s a story from 2024 looking at the best pitchers through the years.
Hall of Fame basketball player Gail Goodrich returned to Sun Valley Poly High for a ceremony to name the gym after him in 2025.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Anges Times)
Gail Goodrich scored 29 points in 1961 City final for Poly High. He scored 42 points for UCLA in 1965 NCAA final. He led the Lakers in scoring during the NBA championship year of 1971-72. Los Angeles sports legend. 82 years old and humble as ever. pic.twitter.com/zr8ddI3O9e
Nine months after brain surgery for a football injury, Nathan Santa Cruz of Venice ran the anchor leg in the 4×400 relay and helped the Gondoliers finish second at the City Section championships and earn spot in state championships.
(Craig Weston)
29: On the opening night of the 2022 high school football season, 15-year-old sophomore Nathan Santa Cruz of Venice suffered a head injury that resulted in emergency brain surgery to save his life. Thanks to the fast action of medical personnel at the game and at the hospital, he was back running track nine months later. It took months of being patient waiting for people to be willing to talk about the emotional scene to explain how his life was saved. He returned to play football in 2023 and 2024.
Long Beach Poly coach Sharrief Metoyer throws his hands up in an act of exasperation along the sidline.
(Los Angeles Times)
30: The frustration with CIF transfer rules reached an unprecedented moment in a 2013 state basketball playoff game between Long Beach Poly and Mater Dei. Poly coach Sharrief Metoyer chose to put into the game an ineligible player in protest. I watched in horror knowing the consequences. He’d never coach another game for Poly. It was sad that a young, promising coach had made a terrible mistake. He was suspended for a year and then resigned.
End of 3, Sierra Canyon 35, San Marino 14. This game is pretty much done. Start warming up the bus to Sacramento for Sierra Canyon.
31: In 2015, I learned a valuable lesson: Don’t tweet that a game is over until it’s really over. With San Marino down 21 points in the fourth quarter to Sierra Canyon in a state football playoff game I tweeted, “Start warming up the bus to Sacramento for Sierra Canyon.” Well, San Marino rallied for a 36-35 victory. I don’t think Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse will ever forgive me for the jinx.
Servite coach Troy Thomas, in 2009, is congratulated by assistant coach Ken Foersch, now the president of Crespi.
(Christine Cotter/Los Angeles Times)
32: I still think Edison had the best football team in 2009. Unfortunately, it rained and rained and Angel Stadium became a soggy field more suitable for ducks. The surfer team couldn’t handle it, with Servite beating the Chargers 16-6 in the Pac-5 championship game. It was Edison’s only loss of the season and the Chargers had beaten Servite in the regular season. I remember walking on the field afterward and ruining my shoes and seeing Servite players love every moment of playing in the rain.
With downtown Los Angeles in the background, Contreras football coach Manuel Guevara prepares for another obstacle this season — ICE raids that strike fear among his players and their parents.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
33: In the summer of 2025, immigration agents, dressed in tactical gear and riding on horses and in armored vehicles, made a show of force through MacArthur Park trying to strike fear into the immigrant community. And they did. More than 20 players skipped football practice at Contreras in downtown Los Angeles. I went there and saw the fear on the faces of players wondering if their parents would even show up to games in the fall. It resulted in an important story how teenagers were being affected by ICE.
34: The Wolf brothers, Jim and Randy, from El Camino Real, were destined to do what they loved best — umpire and pitch, respectively, in the major leagues. Their dreams came true. In 1997, as each was doing the hard preparation work to fulfill their goals, I wrote a story, “Brothers of Summer.” “It’s like trying to get on the Supreme Court,” Randy said of his brother’s umpire journey. “It’s just sticking it out and not giving up,” Jimmy said.
Quarterback Josh Rosen, in a 2013 photo, celebrating St. John Bosco going 16-0.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
35: St. John Bosco finished 16-0 in 2013 with a 20-14 win over De La Salle before a record crowd of 16,791 in Carson to win the Open Division state championship bowl game. The game had drama and excitement but what really stayed in my memory was quarterback Josh Rosen jumping into the stands and getting his photo taken with St. John Bosco fans and students.
In 1992, Eric Sondheimer presents Taft High grad Quincy Watts a gift from winning the 400 meters at the Olympic Games.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
36: It’s 1992, and Taft High graduate Quincy Watts won the 400 meters at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. He came home with two gold medals and his alma mater honored him. I got to present him a framed newspaper copy of his achievement. Twenty years later, I wrote a story with the headline: Quincy Watts is a role model for what is possible.
Former Taft standout Steve Smith had his No. 2 jersey number retired in 2023 and brought his three sons, Jordan (left), Theo and Carter.
(Craig Weston)
37: Steve Smith was a prodigy at Taft High in football and basketball. He made amazing receptions and dunked against anybody. He had his football jersey retired in 2023. He joined the City Section Hall of Fame in 2025. He became a standout receiver for USC and a Super Bowl champion with the New York Giants. He and his brother, Malcolm, a linebacker and another Super Bowl winner, were examples of all the good that can happen when raised by parents to be respectful and humble.
Serra High School receiver Robert Woods in 2008.
(Los Angeles Times)
38: In 2008, I met a promising receiver at Gardena Serra, Robert Woods, and learned what his motivation would be for years — make his older sister, Olivia, proud after she had died of cancer in the spring at the age 17. He’d become an All-American at USC and Super Bowl winner with the Rams.
39: Rodrick Pleasant of Gardena Serra was fast. He was so fast that in 2022, I was there at Moorpark High to see him run the fastest wind-legal 100 meters time in state history, 10.14 seconds, as he let out a primal scream.
Windward freshman Juju Watkins could be a trendsetter in women’s basketball. She’s averaging 21 points as a 14-year-old.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
40: First there was Cheryl Miller, then Lisa Leslie. They were the faces of high school girls’ basketball in Southern California. Along came JuJu Watkins, a 14-year-old freshman at Windward who her coach, Vanessa Nygaard, told me in 2020, “Her potential is unknown.” She became The Times’ player of the year as a freshman. Her skills were off the charts, as was her personality. Her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins, was a revered leader in Watts in the 1960s. In the era of NIL, she got an agent, signed a shoe deal, transferred to Sierra Canyon and became the No. 1 player in the country before signing with USC and becoming a national figure.
Jim Toring, then a Harvard-Westlake High School senior, is photographed in the campus pool in Studio City on May 25, 1993.
(Brian Vander Brug/For The Times)
41: It’s May 3, 1998, and I have tears at the celebration of life for Jim Toring, one of America’s greatest athletes in the sport of water polo. I met him when he was a freshman at Harvard-Westlake. His coach, Rich Corso, told me how great he’d become. He led UCLA to two NCAA titles and was destined to be a star for the U.S. Olympic water polo team in 2000. He was killed at the age of 23 in a bus accident in Paris. `
Former Campbell Hall and Northridge Little Leaguer Michael Frost.
(Los Angeles Times)
42: In 2000, Michael Frost was a senior at Campbell Hall and asked to look back at what happened to him as a 12-year-old. He struck out to end Northridge Little League’s 4-3 loss to Venezuela in the 1994 Little League World Series. I wrote: “He was only 12, too young to think his life was ruined but old enough to understand he had gone through a life-changing experience.” Six years later: “It was very hard to get over that. I learned how to deal with it and it became one of the best life experiences I’ve ever had, to come back from a failure and strive to be better.” The power of moving forward. He ended up pitching in college.
Carson coach Elijah Asante addressing players in the locker room in 2010 before 14-10 upset of Mater Dei.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
43: It was the first football game of the 2010 season, and Carson coach Elijah Asante invited me to be a passenger on the bus to and from Santa Ana Stadium for a game against Mater Dei. He wore a microphone in the locker room and allowed me to give readers a behind-the-scenes look. Incredibly, Carson defeated Mater Dei 14-10 and it was my favorite video ever shot.
Riding in a jeep on a muddy road in Kenya, sportswriter Eric Sondheimer and former North Hollywood basketball coach Steve Miller do a podcast in 2018.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
44: Before Zoom, before podcasts became big, I was taping a weekly show for YouTube with former North Hollywood basketball coach Steve Miller entitled, “Sondy and the Coach.” In 2018, one episode was taped in a jeep while driving on a muddy road in Kenya and shaking back and forth. It was safari time.
Brothers, Jrue and Justin Holiday of the Campbell Hall basketball team in 2005.
(Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times)
45: In 2014, Jrue Holiday of Campbell Hall acted like he was a most normal high school student even though everyone predicted NBA stardom was ahead. The lead of a column was: “Standing at the entrance to the gymnasium at North Hollywood Campbell Hall and wearing a Disneyland hat with the name ‘Grumpy’ emblazoned on its front, a smiling and playful Jrue Holiday hardly fit the profile of an All-American high school basketball player who, in a couple of years, could be playing with or against Kobe Bryant.” He was the manager for the girls’ tennis team and did the dishes at home.
Jack McDowell sent a signed plaque of his 1993 Cy Young Award to Eric Sondheimer, who covered him in 1984 at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
46: Jack McDowell was one of the best and most competitive high school athletes ever. In 1984, he helped pitch Sherman Oaks Notre Dame to a 27-1 record. He became an All-American at Stanford and Cy Young Award winner with the Chicago White Sox. His battle with umpires was legendary. “There were umpires in the Valley who trembled at the thought of being behind home plate with McDowell on the mound,” I wrote. “He might have been only a teenager, but he wasn’t afraid to bark out an expletive if he didn’t like a pitch call.” He sent me a framed and autographed plaque of his 1993 Cy Young Award. It showed me that a journalist can be fair and critical at the same time and earn an athlete’s respect.
This is still one of my favorite moments. Neil Diamond showing up to sing “Sweet Caroline” for the opening of Notre Dame High’s $3 million baseball field in 2014. https://t.co/f658Y0tsw9
47: Sherman Oaks Notre Dame opened its new $3-million baseball field in 2014, and the highlight besides unveiling the field was Neil Diamond showing up to sing, “Sweet Caroline,” with Larry King and Pete Rose watching.
Pablo Suarez, a former Chaminade athlete, owned 30 thoroughbreds in 2006.
(Myung J Chun / Los Angeles Times)
48: It was one of the strangest stories told in 1986. Chaminade student Pablo Suarez pulled off the charade of the year. His mother refused to sign a permission slip for him to play football. His father agreed to sign, and for nine months they kept the secret he was playing quarterback. One time his mother went to clean his closet. “We had a long hallway, and I sprinted down the hallway and opened the window,” he said. “I think I busted the screen to throw the [football] stuff out.” The secret was discovered when a courtesy phone call was made telling his mom about an injury. “My dad spent a couple days sleeping on the couch,” Suarez said.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, formerly of Harvard-Westlake, is now a star player for the Chicago Cubs.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
49: It’s the spring of 2020. The pandemic has shut down all high school sports. I’m sitting at home frustrated and bored. Then-sports editor Chris Stone suggests doing a video series using the new Zoom technology to interview seniors about how they are dealing with the pandemic. It was entitled, “Season Interrupted.” Suddenly, I’m fired up and interviewing athletes every day. The first was future major leaguer Pete Crow-Armstong. It helped save my sanity and re-charge my enthusiasm while keeping high school sports going at a time of uncertainty.
50: It’s late into the night at Dodger Stadium in the 1985 City Section final. Neither Kennedy nor Banning is budging. It’s the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied at 9-9. Up comes sophomore Kevin Farlow of Kennedy with two outs. He hits a game-winning home run down the left-field line. It’s bedlam for the fans who stayed. It’s stunning to see a high school kid hit a walk-off home run in a major league park.
Eric Sondheimer interviews Dominic Dent during his days at Corona Centennial.
(/Nick Koza)
It’s been a great run. Thank you to the many photographers, some of them freelancers who worked for no pay, just wanting to be part of the high school sports experience. And thank you to those who still read newspapers. They may one day go away unless community members, young and old, provide support. There’s many more stories to tell. And I’m not retiring anytime soon.
Eric Sondheimer plays golf in the 1990s with Simi Valley and UCLA star Don MacLean and legendary sportswriter Pete Kokon, who gave Eric his first job at $15 a story for the San Fernando Sun.
Clare Fitzsimons took a trip on the Hurtigruten cruise ship MS Trollfjord, sailing up into the Arctic Circle on a voyage that had her eating seaweed and scaling mountains
08:26, 21 Aug 2026Updated 08:26, 21 Aug 2026
Clare Fitzsimons travelled far into the North with Hurtigruten
As someone with only a passing grasp of balance, tottering across a rocky shoreline doesn’t seem the best idea. Add in pools of water, crashing waves, and very slippery seaweed underfoot, and it’s tantamount to a disaster in the offing. So what could be worth all this peril?
Truffles. Well, sort of. “It tastes like truffle,” says Angelina Eriksen, handing me a sprig of what looks like purply-red moss. Eyeing it dubiously, I nibble a bit. And it does taste like truffle, even though it is in fact… seaweed.
Having grown up near the north-east coastline and spending many a day sliding over seaweed-covered rocks, I’ll admit it had never occurred to me to start eating it. But here in remote Lofoten, one of the most northerly areas of Norway, somehow chomping seaweed straight from the water doesn’t feel so odd.
Of course, most of us have tried seaweed in Asian and Japanese food, but having it directly from the sea is a very different experience, and one that Angelina and her business partner, Tamara Singer, who run Lofoten Seaweed, are celebrating.
Seaweed has been eaten for hundreds of years. The Vikings even used it to avoid getting scurvy and it thrives in the light — something it’s definitely not short of during my visit in May as Norway transforms into the famous Land of the Midnight Sun.
Instead of darkness, the sun appears to bounce off the horizon and begin to rise again. All in all, it’s an odd but incredible sight, looking out over the glistening blue water as the next day already begins in daylight.
Then again, a trip along the Norwegian coast aboard the Hurtigruten cruise ship MS Trollfjord feels like a constant stream of once-in-a-lifetime moments.
Spinning 360 degrees just a few feet from towering cliffs of a fjord in the ship’s namesake Trollfjord. Tick. Sailing by a huge mountain, Torghatten, with a hole right through the middle of it. Tick. Crossing into the Arctic Circle. Tick. Visiting the city that has the most rainy days in Norway. Tick.
Ok, the last one might not be top of your list, but Bergen is beautiful even through the showers and was where I began my voyage north.
Known as the city of the seven mountains, Bergen is surrounded by those peaks with a funicular taking visitors, commuters and even a kindergarten, to the top of Mount Fløyen.
Norway’s second largest city feels easy to navigate with its bustling fish market, delightfully wonky houses and array of restaurants. I tried the reindeer on our first night at Bryggeloftet, the oldest restaurant in Bergen, before collapsing into bed at the wonderfully comfy Clarion Admiral hotel ahead of the cruise sailing the next morning.
Many people think of a cruise and immediately envisage thousands of people and 20 decks of entertainment. For some, that’s heaven. But for those looking for a calmer, slower and altogether more intimate sailing experience, Hurtigruten is perfect.
MS Trollfjord first worked as a coastal transport ship, the equivalent of the local bus or train service for the remote coastal communities littering the shores. A four-year-old refurbishment saw it return to the waves as part of the company’s Signature Voyage range.
Unlike colossal cruise ships, it allows access to much smaller ports and fjords. With a maximum capacity of around 500 people, the ship feels cosy.
My Arctic Superior room delivered good night’s sleep — with an excellent blackout blind on the porthole for that midnight sun — before exploring our first port of Åndalsnes.
The quaint town sits under the imposing Romsdal mountain range, 5,510ft up. There is a walking path to the summit, but there’s also a gondola for the less energetic among us. It’s stunning, especially when the clouds parted, revealing the most incredible rainbow between the peaks.
Not all of the ports are big towns either; in fact, Træna is the absolute opposite. Home to around 500 people, its year-round resident population has hardly changed since the Stone Age. Our guide — and local resident — Ramona Remmen took us round their ‘open village’, a real working town sharing the reality of life for normal Norwegians.
While most of the cruise’s stops are only a few hours, it’s enough time to take in the local area and spectacular views. There are plenty of those aboard the ship, too, as it can hug the coastline and capture the incredible scenery along the way, including a special moment as you cross into the Arctic Circle for the first time.
Less time in the deeper ocean is much better for seasickness as well, so that means you can take full advantage of the variety of great food on board from the three restaurants available and their Norway’s Coastal Kitchen concept, celebrating ingredients sourced from the farms, fisheries and fjords along the route.
The main dining area, Flora, is inspired by seasonal produce, while Brasserie Árran (named after the Sámi word for the fire at the heart of their lavvo tent) offers a traditional offering.
Røst is the ship’s fine-dining option, with a focus on fish on a three- to five-course rotating menu. I was lucky enough to have mine paired with a Havets Bobler tasting. Meaning ‘bubbles of the sea’ in Norwegian, it’s quite literally what it says on the tin. Well, the bottle.
The sparkling wine, from the Rathfinny vineyard in Sussex, is stored 34m deep in the 6.5C sea to speed up its maturation time. The bottles come with sand still covering them, and it only adds to the interest of what is a delicious glass of bubbly.
The exact location they’re stored underwater is a closely guarded secret.
It’s far from the only link to the sea on board. The restaurants try to feature seaweed in at least one dish per day. They’ve even got seaweed beer, with a slightly salty tang that just makes it taste even better.
Aurora Spirits, the world’s northernmost distillery, is great for a day trip from our last stop in Tromsø and created a special seaweed gin to be served on board.
You can also smell like seaweed (in a good way) as the soaps and beauty products on the ship are sourced from Lofoten Seaweed which I visited from the picturesque fishing village of Reine before a final leg to the unofficial capital of the Arctic, Tromsø. There, with a heavy heart, I waved farewell to what’s likely the closest I’ll ever get to the North Pole.
It was an unforgettable experience, and maybe next time I’m wandering along the coastline at home, I’ll keep an eye out for some stray truffle seaweed to add to my G&T. Well, if it was good enough for the Vikings.
Book it
Hurtigruten’s Svalbard Line (Northbound) travels from Bergen to Longyearbyen over eight days. There are 14 departures between May 2027 and September 2027, on MS Trollfjord and MS Midnatsol .
All-inclusive meals and unlimited selected drinks are included, with prices starting from £2,466pp, based on two people sharing a Polar Inside cabin onboard MS Trollfjord, departing on 30 August 2027. Flights and transfer options start from £250pp per route.
Ninth and final in a series of stories profiling top high school football players by position. Today, Gabriel Goroyan, Westlake kicker.
Gabriel Goroyan, a senior kicker at Westlake High with a 4.77 grade-point average, revealed stunning news during an interview.
“I’m OK with being normal,” he said.
That goes against everything previously known about kickers. They’re almost always surfer dudes with the fearless spirit of a pole vaulter and the willingness to experiment. If anyone were going to volunteer for a mission to Mars, it would be a kicker.
“I would like to think I’m not one of the weirder personalities,” Goroyan said.
He is like most kickers — a former soccer player. He began in eighth grade when he was still playing soccer but beginning to like kicking.
For the first time I have found a kicker who says he’s normal. Gabriel Goroyan of Westlake. But he does use his left foot to kick. Starts summer No. 1. pic.twitter.com/wz0d6CB9YF
At a camp, when he made a 54-yard field goal in a competition, that’s the moment he realized, “I can do this.”
“I started taking it more serious,” he said. “I was hungry for that No. 1 spot.”
He enters his senior season as No. 1 at his position in the Southland and committed to Stanford. The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder makes booming kickoffs, was 50 of 51 on PATs last season and made seven field goals. He also averaged 40.3 yards on punts. He kicks balls with his left foot, which requires long snappers to make an adjustment and change blocking schemes because most kickers use their right foot.
He’s never received a grade other than A on his report card at Westlake. His father is Armenian and his mother Bulgarian. He has an 8 handicap in golf and can drive a ball 300 yards from the tee, so if you need a ringer for a charity tournament, Goroyan will play the role.
He has figured out the mental requirements needed to deal with the highs and lows of being a kicker.
“A lot of it is staying calm and not getting too hyped up and too energized,” he said. “l feel a good kicker is able to come back from a miss and a lot of it is being yourself. You have to know not to overthink things and be able to go back to your normal mental state and not get trapped in a cycle of you’re not good enough. A lot of it is trusting yourself.”
He stands on the sideline waiting for his moment. You’ll never see him asking coach Rick Clausen to put him in for a field goal.
“I let them tell me,” he said.
It’s all about preparation and routine. His soccer background has provided him the tools to succeed.
“Train like a sprinter,” he said. ”That’s where the leg speed comes from. It’s not about having to squat 500 pounds but more being able to run and have fast legs. That’s where the power comes.”
As for dealing with pressure, Goroyan said camp competitions such as “last man standing,” where you have to make a kick to stay in the competition, provides preparation for a game-winning field-goal attempt that he has yet to experience.
He’s already demonstrated that he’s different — otherwise known as normal. When he made that 54-yard field goal, the longest of his career, in eighth grade, he did not scream.
“I gave a quiet clap and ran to get my ball,” he said.
Kickers to watch
Noah Ahari, Chino Hills, 6-2, 155, Sr. Made nine of 10 field goals last season
Peter Batsaras, Cypress, 5-10, 170, Sr. A summer of success sets the stage for big senior season
Ayden Brannum, Fontana, 6-3, 190, Sr. Averaged 48 yards on punts and made 47-yard field goal
Colin Elia, Temecula Valley, 6-0, 160, Sr. Made 10 of 11 field goals as a junior
Gabriel Goroyan, Westlake, 5-11, 180, Sr. Stanford commit has worked relentlessly on mastering his technique
Jackson Hauducoeur, Upland, 5-6, 140, Sr. All-CIF kicker made eight of 10 field goals
Ethan Miller, San Clemente, 6-2, 175, Jr. Made nine fields, cool under pressure
Jerry Shifman, Mater Dei, 5-10, 165, Jr. Had nine field goals, with a long of 43 yards
Carter Sobel, Sierra Canyon, 5-9, 160, Sr. Strong on kickoffs and made nine field goals
Caleb Sylvia, Mission Viejo, 5-10, 190, Sr. Had 49-yard field goal last season
Put away the trumpets. Pack them up, put them in the attic, let them collect some dust.
Nobody wants to hear them.
Nobody wants to be subjected to one more triggering, off-key note of an Edwin Díaz dirge. Not anytime soon, not in any high-leverage moments for the foreseeable future.
Not after another Díaz disaster class. This time, after he trotted in to Timmy Trumpet’s “Narco” as usual, he gave up four consecutive hits and coughed up a two-run lead before getting yanked in a 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium. It spoiled Max Muncy’s pinch-hit home run in the sixth inning that staked Díaz to a 4-2 lead.
Díaz was the high-profile free agent the Dodgers signed to lock down the ninth inning for the next three seasons, inking him to a $69-million deal to do it, a record for relievers.
He has an ERA of 11.57 for the season. And in the 5⅔ innings since returning from a procedure to remove “loose bodies” in his right elbow, he has given up 12 hits and three walks. On Thursday, he left everybody in the stands rooting for the Dodgers up in arms, booing.
Those folks might still be booing when they hear what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said saltily postgame: “Give me another option … I can’t just say change him to low-leverage. I have to have options.”
So plan a search party, do it by committee.
Or give the ball back to Tanner Scott. He isn’t perfect, but has 16 saves and was serviceable filling in for Díaz before he was activated off the injured list on July 29.
Just don’t give the ball to Díaz.
Not while the 32-year-old right-hander is flailing. Not while he’s flustered and frustrated — which you can’t spell without rust, though even Roberts admitted, “I don’t know how long you can use the rust thing, which I’ve certainly used.”
Go with anyone but Díaz, who has been the biggest disappointment of this Dodgers’ trek toward what they hope is a three-peat.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, center, pulls closer Edwin Díaz from the game in the ninth inning Thursday against Milwaukee.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
He’s not the only disappointment: Mookie Betts is hitting worse than ever before in his career while another newcomer, $240-million man Kyle Tucker, is hitting just .239 with 11 home runs. Fittingly, he flew out for the final out and went 0 for 4 on Thursday.
But Díaz was heralded as the best reliever on the free-agent market when the Dodgers signed him.
Instead, he’s making a run at Worst Reliever in the Game.
His slider hasn’t been sliding. He’s been consistently inconsistent. His location has been spotty — or right down the middle, and as he showed and told Thursday: “I was throwing my fastball right in the middle. When you miss in the middle, you pay.”
And, like Roberts, Díaz doesn’t know the answer, just that “I just gotta sit down with the pitching coaches to see what I’m missing and what they say to see if we can fix it and keep working hard.”
In a short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts, he stood with his hands on his hips and faced the music — and the facts, saying he’s ready to relinquish his closer role if Roberts wants to try another option.
“I just gotta see what they wanna do,” Díaz said. “I wanna do the best thing for the team. At the end of the day, if they give me the ball in the ninth I will try to do my job. If they give me the ball in another inning, I will try to do my job.”
Roberts would prefer he do the job for which he’s being paid so richly: “Everyone’s got a role, they all have jobs to do, and they all have to do their job. That’s it.”
But Díaz hasn’t been up to the job. He had a 10.50 ERA in seven shaky appearances before he went on the IL on April 20.
It can seem like the Dodgers print money with all their high-priced players, but they might as well be lighting it on fire with the relievers they’ve brought in.
For them, the concept of the high-priced reliever should be an oxymoron. Because being fooled once is a shame; being fooled twice — that’s moronic.
In 2025, they signed Scott — then considered perhaps the best relief pitcher on the free-agent market — to a four-year, $72-million contract.
And he blew his opportunities like a trumpet too, ending last season with a 4.74 ERA (second-worst of his career) and 1.263 WHIP with 60 strikeouts through 57 innings. He didn’t pitch for the Dodgers in the playoffs.
Now they’ve got the Díaz debacle to deal with before the postseason, when it looks like the Dodgers, if they don’t have their big-name closer to rely on, will again be forced to find other options.
