There’s no Victor Wembanyama in the class headed to the NBA draft this week. There’s no Zaccharie Risacher, either. For the first time since 2022, the first pick in the draft will not be someone from France.
Wembanyama had that title in 2023. Risacher had it last year. This year, Duke’s Cooper Flagg is almost certain to go No. 1 to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday when the draft begins at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. That doesn’t mean there isn’t going to be a ton of international representation in these 59 picks. Far from it.
It’s not outside the realm of possibility that somewhere around one-third of the picks called on Wednesday and Thursday will be players who either originally or currently hail from outside the United States — from the Bahamas, South Sudan, Russia, Canada, China, Australia, Lithuania, Spain, Israel, France and possibly more.
Some went to college in the U.S., others will be looking to come play in this country (or Canada, if the Toronto Raptors come calling) for the first time.
“The guys who came before us, these are guys that kind of created a path, like prepared the NBA to welcome Europeans and to make life easier for us,” said Stanford center Maxime Raynaud, a draft prospect from France. “And I think the best way to pay respect to that is just coming in with the hungriest mentality and the best work ethic possible.”
The one-third estimate — if it works out that way over the draft nights — might sound like a lot, but it isn’t. It actually is consistent with where the game is now, considering that roughly 30% of the players in the NBA this past season were born somewhere other than the U.S.
Some are names that are known in the U.S. from playing in college: Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe hails from the Bahamas and almost certainly will be a top-five pick, and Duke center Khaman Maluach — originally from South Sudan, and someone still learning the game — is a top-10 candidate.
“If you told me three years ago, I didn’t think I would be sitting here,” Maluach said. “But I knew one day I would be sitting here.”
A few stories from the international perspective to watch on Wednesday and Thursday:
Noa Essengue, France
He is a 6-foot-10 power forward who plays for the German club Ratiopharm Ulm. He is going to be drafted and almost certainly as a lottery pick.
Whether he gets to the draft is anyone’s guess; his team is still playing in its league championship series, so getting to New York might be tough. His club could clinch Tuesday, so a Wednesday arrival isn’t entirely impossible.
Joan Beringer, France
At 6-11 with a wingspan of nearly 7-4, Beringer — who played professionally in Slovenia — is intriguing because of his combination of size, footwork and high-level knowledge of how to play defense. Expect him to go somewhere around the middle of the first round.
Hugo Gonzalez, Spain
He debuted with Real Madrid in 2023 and long has been considered someone who’ll lead the next wave of players on Spain’s national team. That is extremely high praise for the 6-6 wing.
Nolan Traoré, France
An intriguing but very slender point guard, the 6-3 teenager should be a first-rounder. It’s not going to be a surprise if he’s one of at least three Frenchmen in the first 20 or so picks.
Hansen Yang, China
The inevitable Yao Ming comparisons will follow Yang, but a solid showing at last month’s draft combine have the Chinese center — who stands 7-1 and might still be growing — listed by many as a first-round prospect. He has excellent footwork and passing ability.
Darrell Doucette didn’t mean any disrespect. All the U.S. flag football star wanted to do in an interview that went more viral than any of his numerous highlights was to fight for his sport.
So when he told TMZ in 2024 that he is “better than Patrick Mahomes” at flag football for his IQ of the sport, the generally soft-spoken Doucette wasn’t trying to issue any challenges. Watch the two-time world champion throw touchdowns, catch them, snap the ball and play defense all in the same game and it’s clear he prefers to let his game speak.
“It wasn’t about me vs. them,” said Doucette, who is known in the flag football world by his nickname “Housh.” “It was about flag football, putting eyes on this game.”
With preparations ramping up for the 2028 Olympics, flag football just wants its respect.
Respect for the sport that is no longer just a child’s stepping stone to tackle football.
Respect for its established players who have already won every tournament there is and have eyes for more.
U.S. wide receiver Isabella “Izzy” Geraci runs with the ball during a game against Australia at the USA Football Summer Series at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s not your mom’s flag football anymore,” said Callie Brownson, USA Football’s senior director of high performance and national team operations.
Flag football has graduated out of backyards and into the Olympics, where the sport will debut in L.A. More than 750 athletes from 10 countries from the youth level to senior national teams gathered at Dignity Health Sports Park last weekend to preview the Olympic future at USA Football’s Summer Series, where the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams played friendlies against Canada, Australia, Germany and Japan.
The sport’s growth domestically and internationally came in part through major investment from the NFL, and the league could play a major role in the Olympics: NFL players are allowed to participate in Olympic competition. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was among the NFL stars who immediately took notice as the NFL most valuable player said he would “absolutely love” to play if given the opportunity.
“So it’s not us vs. them or them vs. us. It’s us together as one teaching each other.”
— Darrell Doucette, flag football star, about NFL players potentially competing in the sport at the 2028 L.A. Olympics
Doucette loved hearing the conversation. The New Orleans native grew up playing the sport when seemingly no one else bothered to care. To hear NFL players taking an interest now? It feels like all he ever wanted.
“We’re welcoming those guys,” Doucette said. “We don’t have no issue with it. We just want a fair opportunity. We want those guys to come out and learn because there’s things that we’re going to need to teach them … and there’s things that they can teach us. They can teach us how to run routes and how to cover and do other different things. So it’s not us vs. them or them vs. us. It’s us together as one teaching each other.”
U.S. wide receiver Ja’Deion High evades an Australian defender during the USA Football “Summer Series” at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Olympic flag football is played with five players per side on a 50-by-25-yard field. Teams have four downs to reach midfield and four more to score from inside midfield. The basic tenants of offensive football remain the same from its tackle counterpart: throw, catch, run.
But players don’t juke the same way their tackle counterparts can, wide receiver Ja’Deion High said. When the former Texas Tech receiver was learning the sport, he was stunned when defenders still pulled his flag after what he believed were his best moves. He had to learn flag football’s unique hip dips and flips to keep his flags away from defenders.
The adjustment on defense could be even more difficult. Defenders cannot hinder an opposing player’s forward progress. The NFL’s most mundane hand-check would draw a penalty in flag football.
“The athletic ability [of an NFL player], I’m not questioning,” said defensive back Mike Daniels, a former cornerback at West Virginia. “But the IQ aspect, the speed of the game is completely different.”
USA Football, the governing body of U.S. flag football responsible for selecting the national team, has not outlined how NFL players will fit into the tryout process for the 2028 Olympic cycle. But with the Games scheduled for July 14 to July 30, the one-week flag competition could overlap with the beginning of NFL training camps. Even preparations to learn the new sport and practice its unique schemes would take valuable offseason time away from NFL players.
U.S. wide receiver Laval Davis, left, attempts to catch a pass as an Australian player defends during the USA Football Summer Series on Sunday.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley was ready to burst into patriotic song at the mention of representing the United States in the Olympics, but when reminded that he might have to miss part of training camp for it, he backed off immediately. He spoke directly into a video camera to assure Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh that the job that pays him $5.4 million on a four-year rookie contract is all he needs.
USA Football has remained in contact with the NFL about how to integrate professionals, said Brownson, who worked for the Cleveland Browns for five seasons, including three as the assistant wide receivers coach. With the Games still three years away, USA Football is focused on keeping doors open to all prospects and offering educational opportunities for potential players to become familiar with flag football.
“The cool thing about our process is when you come out to trials, there is no name on the back of your jersey,” Brownson said. “You get a number and you have the same opportunity to try out as the person next to you. … We’ll just be excited to have the best team that we could but I always do and will always stand up for who we currently field.
“They’re the best flag football players in the world, both men and women, and they deserve their flowers, too.”
The U.S. men’s national team is the five-time defending International Federation of American Football (IFAF) world champions. Since Doucette made his national team debut in 2020, the U.S. men are undefeated in international tournaments with gold medals at two world championships (2021, 2024), the 2022 World Games and the 2023 continental championship.
U.S. wide receiver Amber Clark-Robinson scores a touchdown against Australia at the USA Football Summer Series at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday.
(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)
Led by quarterback Vanita Krouch, the women’s team is 33-1 in the last six years. The U.S. women have won three consecutive IFAF world championships and the 2023 continental title while finishing second at the 2022 World Games.
Krouch has become an international flag football star after a four-year basketball career at Southern Methodist. Examining talent transfers from other sports has helped strengthen the USA Football athlete pipeline as the organization researches the best qualities for flag football.
Baseball and softball players who can whip passes from odd arm angles can thrive in a game that features multiple quarterbacks. The U.S. national teams have former basketball, soccer and track and field stars.
The sport values agility and elusiveness. While the NFL’s 40-yard dash is the premier test for speed, it may be less valuable in flag football, Brownson said. The perfect flag football player combines that straight-line speed with quickness.
“There’s such an art and a craft and a different style of dance that we do,” Krouch said. “I say tackle football is like hip hop, krump dancing. … We ballet dance. It’s finesse, it’s clean, it’s creative.”
The quarterback served as an offensive coordinator in the 2023 NFL Pro Bowl, the first version of the All-Star game to feature a flag football format. Leading the NFC team to victory, Krouch loved sharing flag football’s unique route combinations. She noticed how the NFL’s best showed their respect for her sport by enthusiastically learning the different nuances.
The Pro Bowl experience was one of many surreal moments for Krouch in her nearly two-decade career of playing flag football. From playing in a local league, the 44-year-old has become a multi-time gold medalist. She never thought this sport she sometimes teaches in her elementary physical education classes could become this big.
U.S. defensive back Laneah Bryan, left, tries to pull a flag off an Australian player during the USA Football Summer Series on Sunday.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
The announcement that flag football would officially debut in the 2028 Olympics brought it to even greater heights. No question Krouch wants to play in the Games.
But the competition at tryouts every year gets 10 times harder, two-time national team member Ashlea Klam said. The 19-year-old plays flag football on a scholarship for NAIA-level Keiser University and recognizes no one is guaranteed a spot each year as the talent pool grows. It will be even more difficult to make the 10-person Olympic roster.
As each year’s tryouts get more competitive, Doucette sees his hope for the sport coming true. He knows the better prospects are a sign that more people are paying attention to flag football. If in three years at BMO Stadium, the eyes are fixated on another quarterback leading the United States at the Olympics, Doucette will consider that still mission accomplished.
“No matter if I’m a part of the team or not, I will still be around the game,” Doucette said. “That’s my goal is still to be there, in general, no matter if I’m playing or watching.”
That was the prevailing feeling among the Rams this week as they ended their off season with a “Mauicamp,” a low-key event heavy on bonding and light on drills for a team expected to contend for a championship.
Star quarterback Matthew Stafford is under contract for another potential Super Bowl run.
The Rams also added star receiver Davante Adams, drafted tight end Terrance Ferguson and bolstered depth to an ascending defensive front.
The Rams, however, have areas of concern as they head into a break before reporting to training camp at Loyola Marymount in July.
Offensive tackle and cornerback could be vulnerabilities for a team aiming to improve upon last season’s 10-7 record and an NFC divisional round loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Here’s how confident the Rams were in those positions going into free agency and the draft: They did not sign or select a player at either spot.
Whether that was wise is another matter.
Stafford, 37, remains the Rams’ most important player and — other than coach Sean McVay — their most valuable asset. So the tackles must foil edge rushers hellbent on hitting the quarterback while playing perhaps the most pressure-packed position other than Stafford’s.
With his play last season, Alaric Jackson convinced the Rams he was their longtime solution at left tackle. They awarded him a three-year contract that included $35 million in guarantees.
But uncertainty now reigns. Jackson sat out the final week of offseason workouts because he is dealing with blood-clot issues for the second time in his career. If, or when, he will be able to practice and play is unknown.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford passes during organized team activities on June 3.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The Rams hurriedly signed D.J. Humphries, but the veteran is of late something of an unknown quantity. He played only two games last season for the Kansas City Chiefs after returning from major 2023 knee surgery and then suffering a hamstring injury.
Right tackle Rob Havenstein, 33, is entering his 11th season and the final year of his contract. He is coming off two shoulder surgeries.
Swing tackle Warren McClendon Jr. started five games last season, but he has not established himself as a frontline player. The Rams also recently signed eight-year pro David Quessenberry, who made 17 of his career 30 starts in 2021.
The Rams are confident in the secondary — in large part because of the defensive front.
A rush led by rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske helped the Rams rank 20th among 32 teams in pass defense last season. That rush is expected to improve with the addition of tackle Poona Ford and rookie edge rusher Josaiah Stewart.
So the Rams stood pat with the same defensive backs from last season.
Cornerback Darious Williams, 32, does not have salary guarantees beyond this season, according to Overthecap.com. Ahkello Witherspoon, 30, is playing on a one-year deal for the third consecutive season but was signed early enough this time to participate in offseason workouts.
Cobie Durant is in the final year of his rookie contract, and Emmanuel Forbes Jr. is trying to prove that the Washington Commanders erred by releasing the 2023 first-round pick last season.
Derion Kendrick, coming off a knee injury that forced him to sit out the 2024 season, was waived last week in a cost-cutting move and then re-signed with the Rams for a veteran-minimum contract. Josh Wallace and Charles Woods, undrafted free agents in 2024, also are on the roster.
Two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander was recently released by the Green Bay Packers, but McVay said last week that was “not a direction” the Rams would go. Alexander signed with the Baltimore Ravens, the Rams’ Week 6 opponent.
While the NFL largely shuts down until the start of training camp, general manager Les Snead in the past has added players before it opens and after it begins.
But for now, with their Hawaiian excursion behind them, the Rams appear ready to go with what they’ve got.
Members of the Italian soccer team Juventus visited with President Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon.
Exactly why the gathering took place remains largely a mystery.
Six of the team’s players (Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah, Manuel Locatelli, Federico Gatti, Teun Koopmeiners and Dusan Vlahovic), their coach Igor Tudor, a handful of team executives and FIFA president Gianni Infantino stopped by hours before Juventus’ FIFA Club World Cup game against United Arab Emirates’ Al Ain that night at Audi Field.
Trump was presented with a Juventus jersey and one for next year’s World Cup, which the United States will be co-host with Canada and Mexico. But as Trump took questions from the media for about 15 minutes during the event, very little soccer was discussed.
Later that night, speaking to a different group of reporters after his team’s 5-0 victory over Al Ain, Weah called the White House experience “a bit weird” and implied he and the other players weren’t given the option of declining the visit.
“They told us that we have to go and I had no choice but to go,” said Weah, a U.S. men’s national team member whose father George is a past winner of the prestigious France Football Ballon d’Or award and was the president of Liberia from 2018-2024. “So [I] showed up.”
FIFA declined to comment. The White House and Juventus did not respond to requests for comment from The Times.
While Weah said he thought his first White House visit “was a cool experience,” he added that “I’m not one for the politics, so it wasn’t that exciting.”
“When [Trump] started talking about all the politics with Iran and everything, it’s kind of like, I just want to play football, man,” Weah said.
Juventus players Weston McKennie, left, and Tim Weah take a selfie outside the White House after they and other team members met with President Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
(Alex Brandon / Associated Press)
“I don’t think that Trump is the right one for the job as the president,” McKennie said at the time. “I think he’s ignorant. I don’t support him a bit. I don’t think he’s a man to stand by his word. In my eyes, you can call him racist.”
Still, during his introductory comments, Trump briefly singled out Weah and McKennie as “my American players” when he mentioned that night’s game.
“Good luck,” he said while shaking both of their hands in what had the potential to be an awkward moment. “I hope you guys are the two best players on the field.”
That’s not to say, however, that there weren’t any awkward moments. Because there were — none more so than when Trump brought up “men playing in women’s sports,” then looked over his right shoulder and asked: “Could a woman make your team, fellas? Tell me. You think?”
When no players answered, Trump said, “You’re being nice,” then turned to face the other direction and asked the same question.
“We have a very good women’s team,” Juventus general manager Damien Comolli replied.
Trump asked, “But they should be playing with women, right?”
When he got no response, Trump smiled and turned back toward the reporters.
“See, they’re very diplomatic,” he said.
Trump made a couple of other attempts to involve the soccer contingent in the discussion. At one point, the president used the word “stealth” when discussing U.S. military planes, then turned around and remarked, “You guys want to be stealthy tonight. You can be stealthy — you’ll never lose, right?”
The players did not seem to respond.
For the final question of the session, a reporter favorably compared Trump’s border policy to that of former President Biden and asked, “What do you attribute that success to?”
Trump looked behind him and stated, “See, that’s what I call a good question, fellas.”
Once again, the players did not appear to respond.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says he has yet to speak to Mykhailo Mudryk since the forward was charged with violating the Football Association’s anti-doping rules but insists the player retains the club’s support.
Ukraine international Mudryk, 24, was provisionally suspended by the FA in December after an “adverse finding in a routine urine test” and now faces a potential four-year ban.
Mudryk, who at the time of his suspension said he was in “complete shock” and had “never knowingly used any banned substances”, last played for Chelsea in November but attended the Blues’ Uefa Conference League final win in Poland last month in a private capacity.
“Mischa is a Chelsea player and – as a Chelsea player – I trust all the Chelsea players,” said Maresca.
“I spoke with Mischa at the Conference League final in Poland but I haven’t spoken to him since.
“When I spoke to him he was quite good, I didn’t see him worried or not good, he was good and okay but I haven’t spoken to him since that day so I don’t know how he is now.”
Chelsea signed Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023 in a deal worth up to £89m, and he is under contract at the club until June 2031.
Mudryk, who cannot currently train with the club, has scored 10 goals in 73 appearances in all competitions for the Blues.
Chelsea striker Liam Delap and Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly are among six nominees for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
Bournemouth full-back Milos Kerkez, former Cherries defender Dean Huijsen, Arsenal winger Ethan Nwaneri and Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers make up the shortlist.
Delap, who joined Chelsea from Ipswich in a £30m deal earlier this month, scored 12 goals in the Premier League last season as the Tractor Boys were relegated to the Championship.
Lewis-Skelly enjoyed a breakthrough campaign for Arsenal and scored on his England debut earlier this year against Albania.
Team-mate Nwaneri, 17, scored nine times in 37 appearances for the Gunners last term.
Spain international defender Huijsen earned a move to Real Madrid for his stellar performances for Bournemouth last season, while Hungarian full-back Kerkez is attracting attention from Premier League champions Liverpool after his fine performances for the Cherries.
Rogers contributed 14 goals and 15 assists as Aston Villa narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification.
The winner of the award will be announced on 19 August at a ceremony in Manchester.
Better at attacking than defending has been one of the most common ways to describe Alexander-Arnold’s career to date.
A full-back who bombed forward, and sometimes in a hybrid right-back/midfield role.
For a while, then England boss Gareth Southgate even tried him as a regular midfielder.
He left Anfield with 23 goals and 86 assists as he almost changed what the idea of a full-back can be.
So all eyes were on how he would fare with a new team.
“We know Trent Alexander-Arnold’s quality on the ball,” said former Newcastle and Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given on Dazn.
“He is a phenomenal player.
“Real Madrid in the Spanish league will have a lot of possession and Trent will play higher up the pitch.
“He will be questioned in this tournament defensively as they come up against stronger opposition. Can he step up?
“He said he wanted to go there and win the Ballon d’Or. That’s a big statement in itself.”
Alonso lined up with a standard back four in Miami – as opposed to the wing-back system he enjoyed great success with at Bayer Leverkusen.
Alexander-Arnold played at right-back and did get involved in midfield too.
But as the graphics above show he did not get as involved as much centrally as he did in his last start for Liverpool, a 3-1 loss at Chelsea on 4 May.
And he got involved in deeper positions too, to the right side of the penalty box, which is a place he was not seen as often in that game at Stamford Bridge.
But he attempted more crossfield balls than he did at Chelsea (as evidenced by the graphics below).
However – and it is something he might have to get used to until he settles in – he did not take any set-pieces for Real.
Newcastle striker Callum Wilson, who has been in England squads with the defender, said: “I have not seen as many people strike a ball as cleanly as him. Free-kicks, corners, set-pieces, he is going to add that to their game.
“He is going to be showing his qualities and won’t be getting challenged defensively as much.”
A trio of Angel City players were called up to the women’s national team Wednesday for a pair of friendlies against Ireland and one with Canada.
Sisters Gisele and Alyssa Thompson will be reporting to their fourth training camp together when they arrive Monday in Commerce City, Colo., alongside teammate Angelina Anderson. A goalkeeper, Anderson is one of six players still looking for her first cap with the senior national team, making this 25-women roster one of the most inexperienced in recent USWNT history.
Four players will be training with the national team for the first time.
The U.S. will play Ireland on June 26 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City and again on June 29 at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati before finishing the FIFA competition window against Canada at Audi Field in Washington on July 2.
“We want to continue to improve our understanding of how we want to play and widen the player pool, and those are some of the key goals of this three-game window,” U.S. coach Emma Hayes said in a statement. “On this roster, we have players with a varied amount of experience, and my priority is to deepen the exposures required for international soccer.
“These are three challenging matches and as always, we want to win, but also to make sure we are ready for the next steps.”
In 13 months, Hayes has given 27 players their first call-up to the senior national team.
Returning to the roster this month will be World Cup and Olympic champion midfielder Rose Lavelle, whose 110 caps and 24 international goals are both tops among players called up this month. Lavelle is returning to the national team after losing more than six months following ankle surgery.
Missing, however, are most of the team’s Europe-based players, among them defenders Emily Fox and Crystal Dunn, midfielders Lindsey Heaps and Korbin Albert, and forward Catarina Macario. Hayes said those players would get the FIFA window off to recuperate after a long club season. Defender Naomi Girma, who missed much of Chelsea’s schedule because of injury, is the only player on the camp roster from outside the NWSL.
Anderson, 24, has played every minute for Angel City this season, allowing 21 goals and making 37 saves. Gisele Thompson, 19, leads the team with four assists while Alyssa, 20, is second with five goals. All three players will be with Angel City (4-5-3) for Friday’s game in Kansas City. The NWSL will then take nearly seven weeks off to allow players to compete for their countries in international competitions such as the Women’s Euro and the Copa América Femenina.
Midfielders: Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current), Rose Lavelle (Gotham), Sam Meza (Seattle Reign), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns)
Forwards: Lynn Biyendolo (Seattle Reign), Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City)
It’s been just 18 days since Inter Milan played its last game, losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final. But a lot has happened since then.
The team parted ways with manager Simone Inzaghi, who led it to two European finals in three seasons, and replaced him with Cristian Chivu. It temporarily lost the services of forward Mehdi Taremi, who had returned to his native Iran earlier this month and became stranded there when Israeli attacks closed the airspace over much of the Mideast.
Then the rest of the second-best club in Europe traveled 6,000 miles from Milan to Los Angeles, where it opened the FIFA Club World Cup on Tuesday in a 1-1 draw with Mexican club Monterrey before an announced crowd of 40,311 at the Rose Bowl.
“We’re trying to focus. And it’s not easy every day, I’m not going to lie,” said forward Marcus Thuram, whose 18 goals in all competition was second on the team this season. “But it’s part of what we do, we love what we do and we’ll continue doing what we do.”
Only doing what they do has become far more complicated and exhausting in recent years as the competition schedule for both club and country has expanded.
Thuram’s father, Lilian, was widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his era during an 18-year career that saw him win two Serie A titles, a European championship and play in two World Cup finals, winning one. But he appeared in 46 or more club matches in a season just four times before retiring in 2008.
His 27-year-old son has done that in each of the past two seasons. And if Inter makes it to the final of the Club World Cup, he’ll wind up playing 55 games in 11 months. That doesn’t count his 10 appearances for the French national team since last June.
Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram stands on the field during a loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final on May 31.
(Luca Bruno / Associated Press)
“We were prepared for that at the beginning of the season. It’s not like they announced that at the end of the season,” Thuram, who came off the bench early in the second half Tuesday, said of the Club World Cup. “We knew it was going to be a long season.”
But how long is too long? In their ravenous quest for revenue, soccer clubs, leagues and governing bodies have crowded the calendar with invented competitions that have drained both fans’ bank accounts and players’ energy levels.
The Club World Cup is a perfect example. Although the tournament has been around since 2000, before this summer it never had more than eight teams and was held at one site during a 10-day break in the European season. This year it’s expanded into a 32-team, monthlong competition that will be played in 11 cities spread across a continent.
“The goal is to tell the American public who we are and what values have always guided us. It’s not about proving how good we are.”
— Giuseppe Marotta, CEO of Inter Milan, on the team’s participation in the Club World Cup
If Inter Milan makes it to next month’s final, its players will have just a couple of weeks off before reporting to training camp for the next Serie A season, which opens Aug. 23. With the World Cup also expanding next summer, national team players such as Thuram could play more than 70 games in 44 weeks and more than 120 games over two seasons.
That’s clearly unsustainable.
“A serious dialogue is needed between FIFA, UEFA, leagues, clubs and players to redesign an international calendar that protects the health of players and maintains the quality of games,” said Giuseppe Marotta, chairman and chief executive officer of Inter Milan. “With the introduction of the new Champions League format and the new Club World Cup, the workload on teams and players has clearly increased significantly.”
Yet clubs such as Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain (which played 58 games this season) and Manchester City (57 games) are drawn to the extra competitions for the same reason as the organizers who put them on: the money. The Club World Cup, now the largest and most ambitious global club tournament in history, is also the most lucrative, with a prize-money purse of $1 billion. The winner could take home $125 million, more than PSG got for winning the Champions League.
But it was forced into a gap in the schedule that really didn’t exist before.
“It’s undeniable that this event, positioned between two different seasons, is forcing us to do extra work and rethink what the traditional summer periods looks like for a football club,” Marotta said. “However these competitions also represent a huge opportunity in terms of visibility and revenue, often exceeding that of traditional competitions.”
The Club World Cup allows teams to face rivals from other continents, expanding their international following and generating additional revenue streams by planting the team’s flag in new markets and introducing its players to new fans.
“The goal is to tell the American public who we are and what values have always guided us,” Marotta said.
“It’s not about proving how good we are,” he added of the tournament. “It’s about contributing to the development of global football.”
To accommodate it, Marotta said, changes will have to be made. For example Italy’s Serie A could compact from 20 to 18 teams, the same as in the German Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1. That would mean four fewer league games per year; not a dramatic reduction, but a start.
Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez, left, and Monterrey’s Victor Guzman battle for control of the ball during Tuesday’s FIFA Club World Cup match at the Rose Bowl.
(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)
Until that happens, Thuram said the players will continue doing what they do for as long as they can do it.
“It’s about doing everything every day to prepare your body for these extreme games and extreme competition. Because soccer at the highest level is extreme for the body. It’s tough,” he said. “But we have a lot of coaches, we have chefs, we have everything that is set up for us perfectly.”
As for the game, Milan dominated statistically, controlling the ball for more than 55 of the 90 minutes and outshooting Monterrey 15-9. But it couldn’t make that advantage count.
All the scoring came in a 20-minute span of the first half with the ageless Sergio Ramos putting Monterrey in front with a header in the 25th minute and Lautaro Martinez pulling that back for Milan three minutes before the intermission.
Longtime NFL executive Brian Rolapp has been introduced as the PGA Tour’s first chief executive officer.
While news of that move had leaked last week, another tidbit emerged on Tuesday from the official announcement, as the tour revealed that Commissioner Jay Monahan will step down at the end of next year after transferring his day-to-day responsibilities to Rolapp.
“A year ago, I informed our Boards that upon completing a decade as Commissioner, I would step down from my role at the end of 2026,” Monahan said in a statement released by the PGA Tour. “Since then, we’ve worked together to identify a leader who can build on our momentum and develop a process that ensures a smooth transition. We’ve found exactly the right leader in Brian Rolapp, and I’m excited to support him as he transitions from the NFL into his new role leading the PGA TOUR.”
Monahan, who was named the organization’s fourth commissioner in January 2017, will shift his focus to his roles on the Tour’s policy and enterprises boards during the remainder of his time with the group.
“Commissioner Monahan is an incredible leader, and it has been a pleasure getting to know him throughout the interview process,” Rolapp said in the PGA Tour’s statement. “I greatly appreciate his commitment to making me successful in the role and look forward to working with him in partnership throughout this transition.”
Rolapp has been with the NFL since 2003, most recently serving as its chief media and business officer. Multiple media outlets reported last week that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had sent out a company memo regarding Rolapp’s upcoming departure.
“Brian’s appointment is a win for players and fans,” 15-time major championship winner Tiger Woods, a member of the Tour’s search committee that unanimously recommended Rolapp for the job, said in the same statement.“He has a clear respect for the game and our players and brings a fresh perspective from his experience in the NFL. I’m excited about what’s ahead — and confident that with Brian’s leadership, we’ll continue to grow the TOUR in ways that benefit everyone who loves this sport.”
That’s a rhetorical question, of course. But it’s one that has a basis in fact because girl power is real.
From Joan of Arc to Cassidy Hutchinson, whenever men have proven too cautious, cowardly or complacent to act, women have had the courage to do the right thing. The latest example of this feminine fearlessness came last Saturday, after federal immigration agents launched a series of raids throughout the Southland targeting everyone from schoolchildren to elderly churchgoers.
Within hours of the first arrests, Angel City, a women’s soccer club, became the first local sports franchise to issue a statement, recognizing the “fear and uncertainty” the raids had provoked. A day later LAFC, Angel City’s roommate at BMO Stadium, released a statement of its own.
That was a week and a half ago. But Angel City didn’t stop there. While the collective silence from the Dodgers, the Galaxy, the Lakers, Kings and other teams has been deafening, Angel City has grown defiant, dressing its players and new coach Alexander Straus in T-shirts that renamed the team “Immigrant City Football Club.” On the back the slogan “Los Angeles Is For Everyone /Los Angeles Es Para Todos” was repeated six times.
“The statement was the beginning,” said Chris Fajardo, Angel City’s vice-president of community. “The statement was our way of making sure that our fans, our players, our staff felt seen in that moment.
“The next piece was, I think, true to Angel City. Not just talking the talk but walking the walk.”
Angel City, the most valuable franchise in women’s sports history, has been walking that walk since it launched five years ago with the help of A-list Hollywood investors, including Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera and Jennifer Garner.
Angel City coach Alexander Straus wears a shirt with the words, “Immigrant City Football Club” before Saturday’s match.
(Jen Flores / Angel City FC)
It has used its riches and its unique platform to provide more than 2.3 million meals and more than 33,000 hours for youth and adult education throughout Southern California; to provide equipment and staff for soccer camps for the children of migrants trapped at the U.S.-Mexico border; and to funnel $4.1 million into other community programs in Los Angeles.
But while much of that has happened quietly, last Saturday’s actions were provocative, boldly and publicly taking place in a city still under siege from thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of U.S. Marines.
“We always talk about how we wanted to build a club that was representative of our community. But we built a club where we are part of the community,” said Julie Uhrman, who co-founded the team she now leads as president.
“In moments like this it’s how do we use our platform to drive attention for what’s happening, to create a sense of community and tell our community that we’re there for them.
“Our supporters wanted to do more,” Uhrman added. “And we wanted to support them.”
Angel City’s Sydney Leroux poses for photo before a match against North Carolina on Saturday.
(Ian Maule / NWSL via Getty Images)
So Fajardo reached out to the team’s staff and supporters. What would that next step look like this time?
“We knew we wanted to do shirts but like, is this the right move?” Fajardo said. “Also, let’s talk about language. It had to resonate and it had to be something they felt was true.
“And so it was through conversation that we landed on the Immigrant City Football Club and everybody belongs in L.A.”
That was late Wednesday afternoon. Fajardo needed more than 10,000 shirts to hand out to players and fans by Saturday morning. That led him to Andrew Leigh, president of Jerry Leigh of California, a family-owned clothing manufacturer based in Los Angeles.
“We wanted to be a part of it,” Leigh said. “These were definitely a priority as we believe in the cause and what Angel City stands for.”
That first run of T-shirts was just the start, though. Leigh’s company has made thousands more for the team to sell on its website, with the net proceeds going to Camino Immigration Services, helping fund what the team feels is a pressing need.
The campaign has resounded with the players, many of whom were drawn to Angel City by the club’s commitment to community service and many of whom see this moment as especially personal.
“My mom’s parents came here from China, and it wasn’t easy for them,” captain Ali Riley told the team website. “They had to find a way to make a life here. My dad is first-generation American. Being from Los Angeles, everything we do, everything we play, everything we eat, this is a city of immigrants.”
“It feels so uncertain right now,” she continued, “but to look around the stadium and see these shirts everywhere, it’s like we’re saying, ‘this is our home, we know who we are, and we know what we believe in.”
It has resonated with the supporters as well.
“It is great that they showed support and put it into action,” said Lauren Stribling, a playwright from Santa Clarita and an Angel City season-ticket holder from the club’s inception. “They really showed an empathy for the community they serve.
Shirts with the words “Los Angeles Is For Everyone” in English and Spanish were handed out to fans before Angel City’s game against North Carolina at BMO Stadium on Saturday.
(Jen Flores / Angel City FC)
“They stand up. It makes me proud of the team and makes me a bigger fan.”
And it makes the Dodgers, the Galaxy and the other Southern California franchises who have remained silent look smaller. On the same night Angel City was stepping up, seven miles away the Dodgers were once again stepping back, warning singer Nezza, the daughter of Dominican immigrants, to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in English, not Spanish.
“I didn’t think I would be met with any sort of like, ‘no,’ especially because we’re in L.A. and with everything happening,” said Nezza, whose real name is Vanessa Hernández. “I just felt like I needed to do it.”
So she sang in Spanish. Of course she sang in Spanish.
⚽ 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.
British number two Katie Boulter says she’s had “hundreds of messages” containing “love” and “appreciation” since BBC Sport published an article where she shared the abusive messages she receives on social media.
Boulter agreed to sit down with BBC Sport to provide unprecedented insight into the volume and nature of abuse received by players, including sharing screenshots of her private inbox.
Two men showed up at Adrien Frier’s Beverly Hills home Thursday afternoon and carried an unusual package onto the backyard patio, where a white-clothed table waited.
Frier, France’s consul general in Los Angeles, was preparing to host a party and the 25-pound sterling silver objet d’art was the guest of honor. Standing next to the replica of the UEFA Champions League trophy, the second-most prestigious prize in the sport and one which bestows upon its owner the title of best club team in the world, was the closest Frier had come to such soccer greatness.
“What I really want to do right now,” Frier whispered, “is take it and bring it upstairs.”
That wasn’t going to happen. Paris Saint-Germain, the French club that owns both the real and replica Champions League trophies for the next year, had made winning them a quintessential quest. Now that they have the trophies, they intend to make good use of them.
After an evening with the consul general, the trophy was carried a couple of miles east to a PSG pop-up store on Melrose, where it posed for more selfies than Taylor Swift. Later it will follow the team to Seattle, then perhaps Philadelphia or Atlanta.
Only five clubs in the world sold more jerseys than PSG last year. Touring the U.S. with the Champions League trophy during the monthlong FIFA Club World Cup this summer figures to give those sales a boost while raising the team’s profile in one of the world’s fastest-growing soccer markets.
“Now it’s all about capitalizing,” said Jerry Newman, PSG’s chief digital and innovation officer. “It just accelerates our growth in terms of where we go, in terms of growing the club.”
Paris Saint-Germain returned to the field Sunday, beating Spain’s Atlético Madrid 4-0 before a sun-baked Rose Bowl crowd of 80,619 in a first-round game of the Club World Cup. It was PSG’s first game since routing Inter Milan in last month’s Champions League final.
“It’s difficult to win it,” said Victoriano Melero, PSG’s chief executive officer, as the Champions League trophy peeked over his shoulder from its perch on Frier’s patio. “To stay at the top, that’s the most difficult.”
Winning the trophy once, Melero said was not “the ultimate goal. It was the first goal.”
That’s a bit of revisionist history because one of the first things Nasser Al-Khelaifi did after taking over the club in 2011 was put together a five-year plan that was supposed to end with PSG hoisting the Champions League prize.
At first he threw money at the problem, signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic. When Ibrahimovic moved on, Al-Khelaifi replaced him with Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and finally Lionel Messi, spending nearly a third of an unsustainable $842-million payroll on those three alone in 2021-22. Yet for all that spending, the team made it to the Champions League final just once.
So when Mbappe followed Neymar and Messi out of Paris last summer, the team doubled down on a plan to develop players rather than simply buying them. The centerpiece of that plan was a $385-million training base in the western suburbs of Paris that included training, education and accommodation facilities for 140 academy players.
PSG is still spending; it’s wage bill last season was estimated at more than $600 million by the Football Business Journal. And the Athletic reported the team has spent more than $2.6 billion on new players in 14 years under Al-Khelaifi.
The emphasis now, however, is on the team and not on any individuals. And it appears to be working. With a roster that averaged less than 24 years of age, PSG won every competition it entered this season, rolled through the knockout stages of the Champions League, then beat Inter Milan 5-0 in the most one-sided final in history, becoming the second-youngest European champion ever.
Paris Saint-Germain celebrates its Champions League title victory over Inter Milan last month.
(Martin Meissner / Associated Press)
“The change the chairman made, saying the star needs to be the club and not the players, that’s what happened on the pitch,” said Fabien Allègre, the club’s chief brand officer.
Four players — three of them French — scored at least 15 goals in all competition last season; only one was older than 23. Five players finished in double digits for assists; the top two were under 22. And the philosophy of egalite and fraternite wasn’t just reserved for the people in uniform. When PSG made the Champions League final, Al-Khelaifi flew all 600 team employees to Munich and bought them tickets to the game.
“We all contribute to the success of the club,” Melero said. “The French mentality, they don’t very much like when it’s bling-bling, when it’s shine. But when it’s solidarity, it’s collective, they love it.
“We’re really a family.”
But PSG is also a business, one that has to profit off its success. For years Allègre has partnered with fashion, music and sportswear companies in an effort to make PSG a lifestyle brand connected to a soccer club rather than the other way around. The team’s new emphasis on youth will help with that.
“Our focus is really to stand for being the club of the new generation, to understand the code of the new generation of fans or sport, not only football,” Allègre said. “We built our brand. Now we have the statement when it comes to the pitch.”
“The brand itself is already attractive,” Melero added. But being the best club team in the world “is like a launch pad. It’s just incredible the exposure you’ve got.”
Fabián Ruiz gave PSG the only goal it would need Sunday, beating Atlético keeper Jan Oblak from the top of the box in the 20th minute. Vitinha doubled the lead in first-half stoppage time with a low right-footed shot between two defenders from the center of the penalty area.
Teenager Senny Mayulu, who scored the final goal in the Champions League final, made it 3-0 in the 87th minute, 11 minutes after Clement Lenglet’s second yellow card left Atlético to finish the game short-handed. Kang-in Lee closed out the scoring on the final touch of the game, converting a penalty kick seven minutes into stoppage time.
Across town, fans who had gathered for a watch party at PSG House on Melrose celebrated with all the hardware PSG won this season, including a Champions League trophy that is only beginning to show its shine.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. It’s awards time for high school baseball and softball.
All-star teams
Quentin Young of Oaks Christian sends a slider over the fence in left field at Cleveland High on Monday. Oaks Christian won 5-3.
(Craig Weston)
Pitcher Seth Hernandez of Corona is The Times’ baseball player of the year for the second consecutive season. He improved on his performance and put together a two-year run in which he went 18-1. Here’s a profile on the impact he made.
The Times’ All-Star baseball team includes Quentin Young of Oaks Christian. He moved to shortstop and hit 14 home runs. Here’s a look at the All-Star team.
Second-year coach Andy Rojo has St. John Bosco in the Division 1 final.
(Nick Koza)
The coach of the year is St. John Bosco’s Andy Rojo, who guided the Braves to their first Southern Section Division 1 championship along with the Southern California Division 1 regional championship and their first Trinity League title since 2017. Here’s the report.
The Times’ coach of the year is Rick Robinson of Norco. He put together a team of young and old and guided the Cougars to the Southern Section Division 1 championship. Here’s the report.
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Dorsey football coach Stafon Johnson with son Deuce, a junior receiver.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Dorsey football coach Stafon Johnson used to be a star running back for the Dons and USC. He knows all about running the ball, so there was a little comedy seeing the Dons playing in a seven on seven passing tournament at Western High. Except Johnson has embraced the passing game with the arrival of quarterback Elijah McDaniel, a sophomore transfer from Warren. And Johnson’s son, Deuce, is a standout junior receiver.
So the Dons will be active this summer in passing tournaments. Not that Johnson wouldn’t prefer to run the football. He’ll never lose his love for seeing running backs gain yards.
City Section coaches had their annual meeting at the Rams’ locker room at SoFi Stadium to discuss changes and updates for the fall season.
It was announced that View Park Prep won’t have a football team this season, leaving Metro League teams scrambling to fill games.
Former L.A. Jordan quarterback James Boyd, who was the City Section player of the year, is the new head coach for the Bulldogs. He’s 33 years old.
La Serna won the Los Altos passing tournament. Orange Lutheran won the Chargers tournament using three quarterbacks. Schurr won the SGV tournament.
Notes . . .
Offensive lineman Sam Utu of Orange Lutheran has committed to Alabama. . . .
Defensive back Derrick Johnson of Murrieta Valley has committed to Oklahoma. . . .
Safety Logan Hirou of Santa Margarita has committed to UCLA. . . .
Offensive lineman Cooper Javorsky of San Juan Hills has committed to UCLA. . . .
Tight end Beckham Hofland of Los Alamitos has committed to Boise State. . . .
Former Gardena Serra defensive lineman Robert James has changed his commitment from Fresno State to UCLA and will play for the Bruins this fall. . . .
Former Orange Lutheran linebacker Talanoa Ili, now at Kahuku, has committed to USC. . . .
Defensive lineman Kingston Schirmer of Corona Centennial has commited to Cal. . . .
Tyler Lee of El Camino Real was chosen the City Section player of the year in boys volleyball. Here are the complete All-City teams. . . .
Sophomore Shalen Sheppard of Brentwood is returning home with a gold medal playing for the USA U16 national team. One of the great basketball players in SoCal next season. pic.twitter.com/pfOIbP6sZc
Shalen Sheppard of Brentwood won a gold medal representing the USA U16 national basketball team. He’ll be a sophomore. . . .
Luke Howe of El Camino Real.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Luke Howe of El Camino Real is the City Section player of the year in baseball. Here’s the complete All-City team.
Addison Moorman of Granada Hills is the City Section player of the year in softball. Here’s the complete All-City team.
DeAndre Cole is the new boys basketball coach at Compton Centennial. . . .
Jake Tatch of JSerra has been selected the Gatorade state player of the year in boys soccer. He’s headed to Michigan. . . .
Oaks Christian water polo coach Jack Kocur is the head coach for the USA Junior National team at the World Aquatics U20 Water Polo championships this summer. . . .
Deon Green is the new girls basketball coach at Chino. . . .
Chaminade has decided to add a flag football team. . . .
St. John Bosco closer Jack Champlin has committed to Washington. . . .
Former Servite star Max Thomas of USC finished second in the 100 meters at the NCAA track and field championships and helped the Trojans, coached by former Taft great Quincy Watts, win the NCAA title. . . .
The Fairfax basketball tournament originally scheduled to be held this week at Fairfax High has been changed to Pan Pacific Park.
From the archives: Max Muncy
Former Thousand Oaks High School shortstop Max Muncy celebrates following a home run during a game in 2021.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
Thousand Oaks grad Max Muncy, the “other” Max Muncy, is getting hot in his return to playing for the Athletics.
He got recalled from the minor leagues and started showing power. He’s playing third base while his former Thousand Oaks teammate, Jacob Wilson, is the shortstop. Muncy graduated in 2021 and Wilson in 2020.
From the Washington Post, a story on an adaptive tennis program making a difference.
From NFHS.org, a story on how to start archery as a P.E. program.
From the Los Angeles Times, a look back at the life of former Verbum Dei star David Greenwood.
Tweets you might have missed
UCLA’s John Savage showing you can get to College World Series with local talent. Among high schools with players making major contributions: Servite, Mater Dei, SO Notre Dame, Palos Verdes, Calabasas, Ocean View, Granada Hills, Glendora, Santa Margarita, Harvard-Westlake.
It’s different coaching in City Section. I overheard a football coach saying they had scheduled a seven on seven game but the QB had to work. Others didn’t know who would play this fall because of grades. So many challenges. And yet, they keep coaching trying to make a difference
The Dunlaps are on the move. Former Harvard-Westlake forward Brady Dunlap is now at St. Louis after being at St. John’s. His father, Jeff, is now an assistant coach at Georgia State. Good luck to both.
— Crescenta Valley Football (@cvhsfalconsfb) June 11, 2025
Until next time….
Prep Rally will take the next two weeks off and return on July 7.
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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The Boston Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday in a blockbuster deal.
Devers’ agent, Nelson Montes de Oca, confirmed that the slugger had been traded to San Francisco. ESPN reported that the package of players going back to the Red Sox includes starter Jordan Hicks and left-hander Kyle Harrison.
Devers, 28, is one of baseball’s most feared hitters. He is batting .272 with 15 homers and 58 RBIs in 73 games after he connected for a solo drive in Boston’s 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday.
Devers, a three-time All-Star, agreed to a $313.5 million, 10-year contract in January 2023, but his relationship with the Red Sox began to deteriorate when the team signed third baseman Alex Bregman during spring training.
Devers insisted he was the team’s third baseman before switching to designated hitter. When Triston Casas was sidelined by a season-ending knee injury, the Red Sox approached Devers about filling in at first base. He declined, and suggested the front office “should do their jobs” and look for another player.
A day after Devers’ comments to the media about playing first, Red Sox owner John Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora.
Bregman has been out since May 23 with strained right quadriceps, similar to his left quad strain that cost him 58 games for the Houston Astros in 2021.
The Red Sox improved to 37-36 with their three-game sweep against New York. But they are fourth in the AL East, trailing the division-leading Yankees by 6½ games.
Devers first signed with Boston as an international free agent in August 2013. He was 20 when he made his major league debut with the Red Sox on July 25, 2017.
He helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series and led the team in RBIs for five consecutive seasons from 2020-24. He has finished in the top 20 in voting for AL MVP five times.
Devers is not the first Red Sox All-Star to be traded away: The team sent Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2020 season — just a year after he won the AL MVP award and led Boston to a franchise-record 108 wins and its fourth World Series title since 2004.
Four years ago, after seeing freshman outfielder Kai Minor for the first time during the first softball practice, Orange Lutheran High coach Steve Miklos remembers arriving at home and telling his wife, “This girl is special.” And she was.
Minor, headed to Oklahoma after four spectacular seasons at Orange Lutheran, saved her best for her senior season, exceeding even the highest of expectations with 44 hits, a .500 batting average, 34 RBIs and 17 doubles for the Trinity League championship team. Defensively, she was a wizard with her glove.
“She makes plays routine that others wouldn’t make,” Miklos said.
Kai Minor when she was a 15-year-old freshman.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
For a season of exceptional performances, Minor has been selected The Times’ player of the year in softball.
“It was a joy to see her develop not only as a great player but as a mentor to younger players,” Miklos said.
He called Minor “the best player” in his 28 seasons of coaching.
Her speed was used on the bases and on defense. Opposing coaches who had never seen her play always came away impressed.
“People watch her and they’re amazed,” Miklos said. “They go, ‘Who’s that?’”
She’s a five-tool player in the world of softball.
“She hits for power, she’s a line-drive hitter, a great baserunner. She’s complete,” Miklos said.
Years from now, when Seth Hernandez is pitching in the major leagues and pro baseball commentators are debating just how good he might become, those who saw him throw during his two years of high school baseball at Corona High will gladly offer their fondest memories.
The statistics are impressive enough: In 53 1/3 innings this season, he struck out 105, gave up 19 hits and three earned runs for an ERA of 0.39. The most impressive statistic was walking only seven batters while using a 99-mph fastball. It showed his pinpoint control and how much he had improved over his junior season, when he walked 15 in 56 innings.
“That was his goal,” coach Andy Wise said. “What are we going to do to get better?”
His pitching mechanics became more consistent, generating the kind of power and accuracy to cause people to repeatedly use the word “special” in describing him on the mound. There also was the time he hit two three-run homers in the Panthers’ Southern Section Division 1 playoff victory over Los Osos.
Seth Hernandez of Corona.
(Nick Koza)
He wasn’t perfect, though, losing 2-0 to St. John Bosco in the Division 1 semifinals, finishing his high school career with an 18-1 pitching record for two seasons. He didn’t mope. He didn’t make excuses afterward. He knew there would be more challenges ahead.
“I’m still a kid,” he said.
For a season of excellence, Hernandez has been named The Times’ baseball player of the year for the second consecutive season. He’s expected to be a high pick in next month’s amateur draft. He also was named the Gatorade national player of the year.
One of his strengths for years has been his ability to perform while being watched by scouts, fans and opponents. He’s comfortable in his environment, used to the attention and is particularly ready to begin his pro career and keep on a path toward pitching in the big leagues.
With Southern California having produced first-round draft picks such as Paul Skenes (El Toro), Gerrit Cole (Orange Lutheran), Trevor Bauer (Hart), Max Fried (Harvard-Westlake) and Jack Flaherty (Harvard-Westlake) in recent years, it’s pretty clear that Hernandez’s resume fits in well and offers confidence in his abilities.
He’s also glad he decided to play high school baseball after being home-schooled.
“At the end of the day, I have brothers for life and I’ll never forget the memories I spent with them,” he said of his high school days.
The grandiose castle on “The Traitors” is an apt setting for the conniving game show, immersing players in a historic location in the Scottish Highlands. Both the U.S. and U.K. versions of the series use Ardross Castle, a 19th century structure once owned by the grandson of the creator of Worcestershire sauce. It’s now owned by the McTaggart family, who graciously allow “The Traitors” to take over multiple rooms and the vast grounds during filming.
“There’s something about coming to a place that’s so steeped in history and playing a game there,” says executive producer Rosie Franks. “The castle has contributed so much to the identity of the show. We’d struggle to make the same show without it. It is a gift of a location because you don’t need any TV trickery.”
“If it wasn’t for that environment, I don’t think the players would get so invested,” adds executive producer Mike Cotton. “That feeling of being somewhere special in the middle of an isolated place allows us to create this very three-dimensional world they can inhabit.”
Here, Cotton and Franks answer all of your burning questions about “The Traitors” castle.
How was Ardross Castle selected?
The producers looked at more than 40 castles. Scotland was always a draw, as was something with fantastical flourishes. “It’s like a Disney castle that’s got Gothic and dark undertones to it,” Cotton says. “We wanted something that had that feeling but also had a great hall where we could house the round table. We needed a really big room for that.”
One of the refurbished castle rooms where “Traitors” contestants roam freely.
(Euan Cherry / Peacock)
Do we see all of the castle on the show?
Not even close. When “The Traitors” first arrived, the team discovered that areas of the building were desolate. “There’s huge parts of that castle that we don’t use within our show because they’re not renovated or haven’t been touched for a long time,” Franks says. “Plus, to rig an entire 19th century castle with cameras would be a big job.”
“What you see onscreen is a majority of the downstairs of the castle,” Cotton adds. “The cast can roam free in our space, but obviously we can’t have them roaming free over the entire castle because it would be impossible to cover it.”
The castle’s size has led to new discoveries during the series’ run. “It wasn’t until Season 2 that we discovered it had this space that felt like a dungeon,” Cotton recalls. “When Phaedra asked Kate to become a traitor, she was in this dungeon. It was a discovery we didn’t realize was underground. We’d walked over it for a whole year.”
How many cameras are in the house?
There are about 50 cameras in the castle, most of which are hidden. In the great hall, the cameras are behind wood paneling that was built inside the room to surround the round table. There are also cameras in the pillars throughout the house in addition to actual camera operators. “A lot of the pillars look like they’ve been there for 50 or 100 years, but they’ve actually been built specifically for us,” Cotton says.
Not all of the cameras are recording at once. “We’ve got a gallery of screens where we can see all of them, and then we choose a certain number that we’re recording,” Franks says. “We’re located separately in a production village in the castle’s stable block, and we’re very hands off with the game.”
Does the set change from the U.K. to the U.S. editions?
The sets are mostly the same, but the art does change. For the U.S. show, there are pictures of Alan Cumming and Andy Cohen added to the walls. Occasionally, small trinkets will be swapped out.
A secret room, hidden behind a bookcase, was transformed into a wine cellar for Season 3.
(Euan Cherry / Peacock)
Does the set evolve between seasons?
Yes. The producers make “small alterations,” Franks explains. “We like to freshen up little bits each time,” she says. “We did create a little secret room, which has been through different iterations. Last season, it was a wine cellar you access through the bookcase.”
“It feels like it’s a real place,” Cotton adds. “Yes, we fill it with some slightly eccentric decor at times, but we want it to be its own thing. With all these big Scottish castles, they don’t redecorate every single year, so we don’t either.”
What was the inspiration for the round table?
The round table is 14 feet in diameter to accommodate all the players. Season 1 production designer Mathieu Weekes looked at the table on the original Dutch show, “De Verraders,” which featured a compass, and added the phases of the moon. It houses a few cameras and is as hefty as it looks. “The top is a really big, solid piece of wood that’s got some light slightly embedded in it,” Cotton says.
Are there Easter eggs in the decor?
Of course there are. The producers hide tongue-in-cheek details in the rooms each season. For example, the book that opened the wine cellar in Season 3 was titled “The Seer,” a nod to the big finale twist. “The artwork sometimes alludes to the tones of the show or things that are going on in the castle or missions,” Franks says. “We like to drip-feed viewers throughout so that the whole thing feels like a joined-up experience.”
“The Traitors’” round table.
(Euan Cherry / Peacock)
Do the players sleep in the castle during filming?
The producers refuse to answer this definitively because it could affect future games. “The success of ‘The Traitors’ really does rely on us maintaining the integrity of the game, and that includes us keeping the details of what happens behind the scenes a secret,” Franks says.
“Keeping the traitors’ identities secret is the No. 1 thing for us,” Cotton adds. “For everyone to go to their rooms and go to bed, and then for us to get the traitors back out is a military operation. As soon as we start to talk about exactly where they sleep and how it works, we’re really worried that might unpick it all. The players are desperate to find out who the traitors are and they’ll go to any means possible to do it.”
Does the show film all of the outdoor challenges on the actual castle grounds?
Cotton says about 90% of them are filmed on site. The other 10% are done at a nearby loch. But one of the main attractions to Ardross was its 2,000 acres of land. “It’s got a river that runs through it. It’s got its own hills, it’s got fields, it’s got forest, it’s got marshland,” Cotton says. “And we use all of that. Part of the appeal was that it has a huge natural playground around it that we could use for missions.” Are there any restrictions on using real fire when filming?
None. “The Traitors” even has its own fire team to light the medieval-looking torches around the castle. “We love fire,” Cotton says. “There’s nothing like when you go in somewhere and you can smell a wood fire. We always say that the game plays really psychological because they’re immersed. So much of that is down to the castle and the set and the smells.”
“The shoe has had a life of its own,” said Stan Smith, 78, whose eponymous Adidas kicks, with their timeless lines and leather uppers, are the king of all tennis sneakers with more than 100 million sold. “People from all walks of life have embraced them.”
Not surprisingly, Smith has a head for business to match his feet for tennis.
With that in mind, he and longtime business partner Gary Niebur wrote the just-released “Winning Trust: How to Create Moments that Matter,” aimed at helping businesses develop stronger relationships with their clients, with tips that readers can apply to their personal relationships and to sports.
“The book is about developing relationships that can elevate the element of trust, which is a depreciating asset in today’s world,” Smith said this week in a call from the French Open.
Stan Smith and Gary Niebur’s book, “Winning Trust,” was released earlier this year.
(Courtesy of Stan Smith)
When it comes to building and maintaining high-stakes relationships, Smith and Niebur have distilled their process into five key elements they call SERVE, a recurring theme throughout the book. That’s an acronym for Strategize, Engage, Recreate, Volley and Elevate.
For instance, recreate — as in recreation — means to build bonds through fun shared experiences, and volley means to trade ideas back and forth to find solutions.
“When people realize that you care more about the relationship than the transaction,” Niebur said, “trust follows.”
A onetime standout at Pasadena High and USC, Smith was a close friend of the late Arthur Ashe, the UCLA legend whose name graces the main stadium court at Flushing Meadows, N.Y., home of the U.S. Open.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Ashe’s victory at Wimbledon, when he beat the heavily favored Jimmy Connors in the 1975 final. Ashe remains the only Black man to win the singles title at that storied tournament.
“Arthur was a good friend,” Smith said. “He made a huge impact, and much more of an impact in the last few years of his life when he was fighting AIDS and the heart fund, and obviously for equal rights.”
Arthur Ashe celebrates after winning the Wimbledon men’s singles title in 1975.
(Associated Press)
Ashe, who contracted HIV from a blood transfusion he received during heart-bypass surgery, died in 1993. Although he was four years older than Smith, the two developed a close friendship when they traveled the globe as Davis Cup teammates and rising professionals.
Smith has vivid memories of traveling with him, Ashe in his “Citizen of the World” T-shirt with his nose forever buried in a newspaper or magazine. Smith was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. at the time, two spots ahead of his pal, yet the wildly popular Ashe always got top billing.
“When we went to Africa, I was the other guy who played against him in all these exhibitions,” Smith told The Times in 2018. “They would introduce him as Arthur Ashe, No. 1 player in the U.S., No. 1 in the world, one of the greatest players to ever play the game … and Stan Smith, his opponent.”
Smith laughs about that now, but it used to chafe him. Finally, he raised the issue with his buddy.
Recalled Smith in that 2018 interview: “Arthur came up to me and said, ‘I’m sorry about that. If we do a tour of Alabama, I’ll carry your rackets for you.’ He was in tune with everything.
“Arthur was a quiet leader walking a tightrope between a traditionally white sport and the black community.”
Smith will be at Wimbledon next month, where his UCLA friend will be honored.
As for his shoes, they’re everywhere, and have been since the 1970s. Adidas originally developed the shoe for French player Robert Haillet in the mid-1960s, and the sneakers were known as the “Haillet.”
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Tennis great Stan Smith talks about some of the ideas he hopes his new book will convey to readers.
In 1972, the company switched to Smith, naming the shoes in his honor and printing a tiny picture of his mustachioed face on them. There were subtle changes to the Haillet, including a notch in the tongue for laces to pass through and a heel better shaped to protect the Achilles tendon.
They sold like crazy. In 1988, Stan Smiths made the “Guinness Book of World Records” for the most pairs sold at 22 million. Yet that was only the beginning as sales surged with the release of the Stan Smith II and retro Stan Smith 80s. The most common ones were solid white with touch of green on the back.
“Hugh Grant turned around last year in the [Wimbledon] royal box and said, `First girl I ever kissed, I was wearing your shoes,’” Smith told The Times in 2022. “Another guy said he met this girl when he was wearing my shoes. It was so meaningful that they both wore the shoes for their wedding seven years later.
“It started off as a tennis shoe. Now it’s a fashion shoe.”
Tennis great Stan Smith with his namesake Adidas shoe.
(Sam Farmer / Los Angeles Times)
Smith’s personal collection has climbed to more than 100 size 13s in all sorts of colors, including his favorite pair in cardinal and black, an homage to his USC roots.
In 2022, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Smith’s Wimbledon singles title, Adidas gave all of its sponsored players a pair of shoes with SW19 on the tongue — Wimbledon’s postcode — with the date of that match against Ilie Nastase inside the right shoe and the score of the match inside the left.
At Wimbledon this year, the spotlight swings to the other side of Los Angeles, to an unforgettable Bruin, a sports hero who impacted so many lives.
For Smith, his friendship with Ashe was an early example in his career of a relationship forged with trust.
The book, incidentally, is affixed with a unique and fitting page marker.
“Super surprised,” he said after a presentation in which he was told by coach Andy Wise that he’d be taking a team photo and instead found former major leaguer Dexter Fowler greeting him with the player of the year trophy while family, friends and teammates were cheering him on.
The Gatorade national baseball player of the year award that was presented to Corona pitcher Seth Hernandez.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Hernandez joined Corona last season after two years of being home schooled. He has developed into the top high school pitching prospect available in next month’s MLB amateur draft.
“At the end of the day, I have brothers for life and I’ll never forget the memories I spent with them,” he said of his high school days.
He went 9-1 this season with an 0.39 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings with only seven walks.
