playoff game

Woman threatens to call ICE on Dodgers fan, a U.S. citizen, during game

What began as banter between fans during a contentious playoff game took a darker turn when a woman threatened to call ICE on a Southern California man during Tuesday’s National League Championship game between the Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers.

The exchange began when Dodgers fan Ricardo Fosado trash-talked nearby Brewers fans moments after third baseman Max Muncy clobbered a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning to give visiting Los Angeles a 3-1 lead.

Fosado repeatedly asked, “Why is everybody quiet?” to distraught Milwaukee fans in a social media clip that has since gone viral.

One fan, identified by Milwaukee media as an attorney named Shannon Kobylarczyk, responded by threatening to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Fosado.

“You know what?” she asked a nearby fan. “Let’s call ICE.”

Fosado, a former Bellflower City Council candidate, told Kobylarczyk to “call ICE.”

“ICE is not going to do anything to me,” said Fosado, who noted he was a war veteran and a U.S. citizen. “Good luck.”

On the video, the woman then uses a derogatory term to question Fosado’s masculinity, remarking, “real men drink beer.” Fosado was instead enjoying a fruity alcoholic beverage.

Fosado then told Kobylarczyk one last time to call ICE before calling her an idiot, punctuating the remark with an expletive.

An email to Fosado was not immediately returned Thursday.

Fosado told Milwaukee television station WISN 12 News that the incident “just shows the level where a person’s heart is and how she really feels as a human being.”

The station also confirmed that Kobylarczyk’s employment with the Milwaukee-based staffing firm Manpower had ended.

Kobylarczyk also reportedly stepped down from the board of Wisconsin’s Make-a-Wish chapter.

Fosado did not escape unscathed, however. He said he and a friend were ejected from the game shortly after the exchange.

The Dodgers ended up winning the game 5-1 and led the best-of-seven series, 2-0. The series now shifts to Dodger Stadium, with the first pitch of Game 3 is scheduled for 3:08 p.m. Thursday.



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Rams’ Kyren Williams refuses to be discouraged by costly fumble

Kyren Williams did not know if the questions would come, but if they did he was prepared.

The Rams running back was less than a week removed from fumbling at the one-yard line during a 26-23 overtime defeat by the San Francisco 49ers.

Now he is in Pacific Palisades, preparing to work with youth flag football players practicing for the first time since last January’s wildfires.

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Gary Klein breaks down what to expect from the Rams as they prepare to face the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday before flying to London ahead of their Week 7 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“If they ask me, ‘Man, why did you fumble?’” Williams said, raising the pitch of voice to resemble a child’s, “I’m going to tell them exactly why it happens — because it happens.

“They’re wondering more than anything. They’re not trying to knock you down. So for me, tell them how it was, be accountable. Be honest about it and tell them, ‘Man, mistakes happen. … I’m going to grow from this mistake and it’s not going to define who I am.’”

Williams, 25, is eager to get back onto the field on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens and show that he has moved on from his mistake.

The third-year pro, who received a $23-million extension before the season, is an integral part of an offense that features quarterback Matthew Stafford, the NFL’s leading passer, and receiver Puka Nacua, the league’s leading receiver.

Williams has rushed for 368 yards and a touchdown. He has 16 catches for 118 yards and three touchdowns.

In three-plus regular seasons and three playoff games, Williams has touched the ball as a running back or receiver 805 times. He has fumbled 11 times.

Williams was not the only running back to fumble against the 49ers. Backup Blake Corum dropped the ball on a pitch play.

But Williams’ miscue came at a more dramatic moment.

The Rams were trailing 23-20 when Stafford drove them to the three-yard line with just more than one minute left in the game. Williams took a handoff and plowed toward the goal line, but the 49ers knocked the ball from his grip and recovered the fumble.

Rams running back Kyren Williams, center, loses the ball on a fumble late in the fourth quarter against the 49ers on Oct. 2.

Rams running back Kyren Williams, center, loses the ball on a fumble late in the fourth quarter against the 49ers on Oct. 2.

(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

Williams also was stopped on a fourth-and-one play at the 11-yard line in overtime to end the game.

Afterward, he blamed himself for the fumble that he said cost the Rams the victory. The feeling lingered into the next week.

“Throughout the game, I had great ball security,” Williams said. “The one time that I saw pay dirt, I saw green, and I let up and I saw what happened.

“So for me the lesson I learned throughout the situation is, man, you can’t be comfortable until all double zeroes are on that clock.”

Coach Sean McVay said the Rams would take steps to improve ball security. But he stood by Williams.

“Love that guy.” McVay said. “I’m riding with him, and we have to figure out a way to improve, and he’ll be the first to take accountability, which is why you want to put your arm around him and be right there with him.”

As Williams moves forward, he anticipates sharing lessons learned from the situation during his charitable work.

Rams running back Kyren Williams instructs young flag football players in Pacific Palisades on Oct. 7.

Rams running back Kyren Williams instructs young flag football players in Pacific Palisades on Oct. 7.

(Gary Klein / Los Angeles Times)

Last Monday, Williams met with Molly Higgins, the Rams executive vice president of community impact and engagement, and told her that he wanted to commit to an event or an opportunity every Tuesday of the season.

“After a tough game on Thursday night, for him to want to sit down on Monday, I was fully prepared to say, ‘Hey, we can take a beat,’” Higgins said. “But he was like, ‘No, I want to sit down.”

Said Williams: “I know how when I was little, seeing people who I wanted to be like, how I was inspired and impacted and motivated. … So for me it’s remembering who I was and kind of trying to go above and beyond.”

Williams plans to do the same on the field when the Rams attempt to bounce back against the Ravens.

The fumble against the 49ers will not define him.

“I’m not happy that it happened the way that it did,” he said. “But I’m able to grow from the situation. I’m able to overcome it and show people that like, man, I’m so much better than what I put out there.

“So I can’t wait.”

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Sparks’ playoff hopes fading fast after another loss to Dream

The Sparks inched closer to playoff elimination on Friday night.

Rhyne Howard tied the WNBA record with nine 3-pointers and finished with 37 points, Atlanta tied the team record with 19 3s and the Dream beat the Sparks 104-85.

Howard had three attempts at the record, which she already shared with Kelsey Mitchell (2019), Jewell Loyd (2023) and Arike Ogunbowale (2024). She is the first two accomplish the feat twice, both this season.

Atlanta (28-14), which clinched home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs, tied the team record on Jordin Canada’s shot with 1:44 to play. New York hit 19 3-pointers twice this season and Las Vegas had 23 3s in a playoff game.

The Sparks' Dearica Hamby shoots the ball under pressure from the Dream's Brittney Griner.

The Sparks’ Dearica Hamby shoots the ball under pressure from the Dream’s Brittney Griner during the second quarter at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Ga., on Friday.

(Paras Griffin / Getty Images)

Maya Caldwell hit five 3s and scored 19 points for Atlanta and Brionna Jones added 12. The Dream were 19 for 39 from the arc. Howard was 9 for 17 and Caldwell 5 for 7.

Dearica Hamby scored 26 points on 11-for-15 shooting for the Sparks (19-22), who are 2 1/2 games behind Indiana in seventh place in the standings and Seattle in eighth. The Fever and Storm have an easier remaining schedules as they push to become one of the league’s eight playoff teams.

Kelsey Plum added 20 points and Rickea Jackson 17 for the Sparks.

The Sparks tied the score at 64 on Hamby’s layup in the middle of the third quarter but then the Dream reeled off 13 straight, which included back-to-back 3s by Caldwell and Howard’s eighth 3.

Howard’s record-tying 3, with 28.7 seconds left, made it 85-71. Caldwell had 11 points in the third quarter and Atlanta led 85-72.

Howard made five 3s in the first quarter, seven in the first half when she had 29 points and the Dream led 56-52.

The Sparks are home against Dallas on Sunday.

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Sports analysis: YULA, Shalhevet shouldn’t forfeit playoff games

The YULA and Shalhavet baseball teams have been banned from participating in next year’s Southern Section playoffs and placed on probation for pulling out in the middle of this year’s playoffs to participate in a Jewish baseball tournament in Ohio.

CIF rules do not allow schools to play in non-authorized events during the season of their sport.

Messages left for YULA have not been returned. A Shalhavet athletic representative said he was not allowed to comment.

The fact two Jewish schools decided a Jewish tournament was more important than the Southern Section baseball playoffs is fine — if they had not accepted playoff invitations. But they won their first-round playoff games, then forfeited to play in the Jewish tournament.

It provides clear evidence that whoever is in charge doesn’t take participating in CIF sports seriously and that should be a concerning message to parents and athletes at the two schools.

It’s tough enough for kids of Jewish faith to be taken seriously when they play sports and want to be the best. This episode perpetuates stereotypes and harms the progress made at the two schools by other coaches and other athletes.



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