sport

Fake is the operative word. Tom Brady’s beef with Logan Paul, Paul’s beef with Rob Gronkowski and Brady’s beef with World Wrestling Entertainment all are as fake as plant-based meat.

It’s also so much fun.

That’s the consensus opinion of fans and participants alike to the promotional shenanigans ahead of this weekend’s Fanatics Flag Football Classic at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles and next month’s WWE WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Brady used the word himself, calling wrestling “fake B.S.” Wednesday night at the Flag Football Classic draft at a Beverly Hills hotel. The comments came shortly after Brady went on Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast and told the WWE star in no uncertain terms that he was not on the same athletic level as NFL players.

Paul took exception, pointing out that he played linebacker in high school. He is on the flag football roster of Team Wildcats alongside NFL quarterbacks and captains Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels, so inquiring minds can evaluate Paul’s gridiron bona fides during the three-team flag fun televised at 1 p.m. PDT Sunday on Fox Sports.

In addition to Team Wildcats, the inaugural flag football event features a team led by Brady and Jalen Hurts called Founders and another consisting of the U.S. men’s national flag football roster.

In promoting the venture, Brady poked the enormously popular WWE organization, telling Paul, “You know, I love WWE. It’s very cute. But honestly, this is like real football. This is just real competition.

“I’m glad you’re going to be there and finally participate in a competition that matters.”

Brady upped the ante after Sports Illustrated playfully asked how many WWE wrestlers it would take to sack him.

“They wouldn’t even get near me,” he replied. “Plus, if I had a good offensive line, they’d punch those guys right in the throat and they’d probably be crying.”

All a deft segue to WrestleMania 42, which many followers suspect is positioning Brady to be some sort of scripted villain during the WWE’s annual five-day extravaganza. Last year WrestleMania 41 attracted more than 100,000 fans to Allegiant Stadium, generating roughly $65 million in ticket revenue and reaching a global audience with more than a billion social media views.

Adding the greatest quarterback of all time would only boost those numbers. Introducing a surprise antagonist has long been a key ingredient of the WWE recipe, and at this point Brady surfacing is all but expected.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion has morphed into a glue guy, whose employment as a Fox Sports NFL television analyst, part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders and key partner with Fanatics binds him with almost every major stakeholder in the Flag Football Classic and WrestleMania 42. Every stakeholder except the WWE.

That gives Brady license to take good-natured shots at wrestling for now and positions him to become a high-profile heel at WrestleMania 42.

It’s no coincidence that both events are in partnership with Fanatics, the outfit that has grown from designing and manufacturing licensed fan gear into a ubiquitous global digital sports platform and e-commerce company.

That leaves only the feigned feud between Paul and Gronkowski — Brady’s longtime pal and New England Patriots teammate. It started when Gronkowski labeled Paul a “flake” on a podcast a few days ago after Paul made a $1-million boxing challenge to NFL players and subsequently backed out of a fight with former running back Le’Veon Bell.

The tongue-in-cheek beef culminated in a verbal volley at the flag football draft with Gronkowski jawing at Paul while balancing a paper plate stacked with hors d’oeuvres and Paul shouting back over the head of 5-foot-5 comedian Kevin Hart, who somehow found himself in the role of peacemaker.

“No one can tackle me. So if Logan Paul wants a piece of me, I’m down to throw it down on the field and even throw my fist and just go at it, an all-out brawl on the flag football field,” Gronkowski said with an impish grin.

Crazy how Fanatics posted a video of the exchange so quickly. It had racked up 250,000 views as of Friday morning. Just Gronkowski and Paul following Brady’s lead, knowing their job descriptions include promotion as well as performance.

Antonin Kinsky is set to return at Tottenham‘s goalkeeper once first-choice Guglielmo Vicario has hernia surgery following the Premier League game against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

Spurs interim boss Igor Tudor controversially replaced Kinsky with Vicario in the 17th minute of their Champions League last-16 tie at Atletico Madrid on 10 March – which they lost 5-2 – after he conceded three goals.

The 23-year-old was consoled by several team-mates, including Vicario, as he made his way off the field.

Vicario has been dealing with the hernia problem for several matches but remains in contention to start in the crucial game at home against Forest.

The other option for Tudor is third-choice goalkeeper Brandon Austin, 27, who came through the club’s youth system and has made three senior appearances.

Tottenham said Italy international Vicario will undergo “a minor procedure” next week and hope to have him fit again by April.

The club said the operation had been “timed” for the international break in order to “have as minimal impact as possible”.

“Guglielmo will commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff immediately, and it is hoped that he could return to action within the next month,” added a statement from Spurs.

Kinsky and Austin have both been on the Tottenham bench for their past two games – a 1-1 draw at Liverpool in the Premier League and a 3-2 win over Atletico in the second leg of their Champions League tie.

Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley has left the team with immediate effect.

The development comes a day after news broke that the 58-year-old Englishman had been approached by Aston Martin to be their team principal.

A statement from Audi said Wheatley was leaving for “personal reasons”.

Mattia Binotto will take over the responsibilities of team principal in addition to his role as head of the Audi F1 project while the company takes its time to consider its next steps.

The move comes after an Audi board meeting on Friday with Wheatley and Binotto in attendance.

Wheatley had been under contract with Audi for at least the remainder of this year but a decision was made that he should leave immediately. It is the third management restructure in less than two years at Audi.

He will have to serve a period of ‘gardening leave’ before joining another team, the length of which will have to be negotiated between himself, Audi and potentially a future employer.

Key among Wheatley’s reasons for leaving were a desire to return to the UK by the end of this year.

Audi are not expected to look for a direct replacement for Wheatley, and are more likely to appoint someone to a role that is in charge of running the race team while Binotto retains overall control.

Aston Martin have not confirmed their interest in Wheatley but owner Lawrence Stroll has made him an offer to run the team under managing technical partner Adrian Newey.

Newey, who joined Aston Martin in March last year, has been acting as team principal since the position’s former occupant Andy Cowell was moved into a different position.

Cowell is now focusing on helping engine partner Honda resolve its problems with its new engine, which has started the 2026 season lacking performance and reliability.

In a statement on Friday, Stroll re-emphasised his commitment to and relationship with Newey, who is regarded as the greatest F1 designer in history.

Stroll said: “I would like to reaffirm that Adrian Newey is my partner and an important shareholder. He is AMR’s managing technical partner, and he and I have a true partnership built on a shared vision of success for the company.

“We do things differently here, and while we don’t currently adopt the traditional team principal role that you see elsewhere – it is by design.

“As the most successful engineer in the history of the sport, Adrian’s primary focus is on the strategic and technical leadership where he excels. He is supported by a highly skilled senior leadership team to deliver on all aspects of the business, both at the campus and trackside.”

Stroll met with former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner again this week, but Newey is said by sources to be opposed his former colleague joining Aston Martin.

Newey left Red Bull in April 2024 because his relationship with Horner had soured after nearly 20 years together.

If Stroll and Wheatley finalise their agreement, the new arrangement would free up Newey to focus on the key areas where he can make a difference without the distractions of other responsibilities.

Aston Martin are last in the championship after two races this season, with a car that is behind on development compared to its rivals and an engine that is beset by major vibration problems and is short on internal combustion power and energy recovery and deployment.

England manager Thomas Tuchel explains his decisions for selecting Manchester United players Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo for his upcoming camp.

He also says it was a “tough decision” to not include Trent Alexander-Arnold in the expanded 35-man squad.

The Three Lions continue their World Cup preparations with friendlies at Wembley Stadium against Uruguay on 27 March and Japan on 31 March.

Teams must submit their final World Cup squads by Saturday, 30 May.

READ MORE: ‘Last opportunity to impress’ – Tuchel names 35-man England squad

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Today we continue our series looking at the NL West, position by position.

NL West, the third basemen

Let’s look at the third basemen and shorstops, ranked from best to worst. Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page.

San Diego
Manny Machado
Last season: .275/.335/.460, 33 doubles, 27 homers, 95 RBIs, 118 OPS+
Career: .279/.338/.486, 94 OPS+, 124 OPS+

Though, as Yogi Berra famously said, “Nobody likes Manny Machado,” you have to give the devil his due. Machado is one of the best third basemen in the game, not just the NL West. He hits for average and power and is a defensive stalwart at third. It has already been eight years since he was with the Dodgers.

San Francisco
Matt Chapman
Last season: .231/.340/.430, 23 doubles, 21 homers, 61 RBIs, 120 OPS+
Career: .240/.330/.458, 119 OPS+

Similar to Max Muncy offensively, Chapman gets the nod because he is a five-time Gold Glove winner at third and stays in the lineup more consistently.

Dodgers
Max Muncy
Last season: .243/.376/.470, 10 doubles, 19 homers, 67 RBIs, 136 OPS+
Career: .229/.354/.474, 124 OPS+

There will come a time this season when Muncy will go on one of his notorious cold streaks. Some will say the Dodgers should dump him. Nonsense. He is one of the 10 best third basemen in the league and is a steal at only $10 million this season.

Arizona
Nolan Arenado
Last season: .237/.289/.377, 18 doubles, 12 homers, 52 RBIs, 87 OPS+
Career: .282/.338/.507, 119 OPS+

He finished third in MVP voting in 2022, but has been in decline since then. Can a new team help him recapture some former glory?

Colorado
Kyle Karros
Last season: .226/.308/.377, 4 doubles, 1 homer, 9 RBIs, 58 OPS+
Career: .226/.308/.377, 58 OPS+

Yes, he’s the son of former Dodger Eric Karros. Don’t let those offensive numbers fool you, they were in limited playing time. He is one of the Rockies’ top prospects and has a bright future. He is only 23.

Shortstop

Dodgers
Mookie Betts
Last season: .258/.326/.406, 23 doubles, 20 homers, 82 RBIs, 104 OPS+
Career: .290/.369/.512, 135 OPS+

I’ve been writing this newsletter for 12 seasons now, and sometimes I get things very, very wrong. I was against moving Betts to short. But I was wrong. He’s already Gold Glove level there, and here’s guessing his bat rebounds to elite levels this season, because one thing I have learned is to not bet against Mookie Betts.

Arizona
Geraldo Perdomo
Last season: .290/.389/.462, 33 doubles, 20 homers, 100 RBIs, 136 OPS+
Career: .253/.348/.374, 101 OPS+

If his new level of offense reached last season is for real (his previous high in homers was six), then he could easily move up to No. 1 on this list.

San Francisco
Willy Adames
Last season: .225/.318/.421, 22 doubles, 30 homers, 87 RBIs, 111 OPS+
Career: .244/.321/.440, 109 OPS+

He signed a seven-year, $182-million deal with the Giants before last season, then got off to a horrible start, dampening his overall numbers, which were pretty good despite that. There are a lot of good shortstops in the NL West.

San Diego
Xander Bogaerts
Last season: .263/.328/.391, 30 doubles, 11 homers, 53 RBIs, 99 OPS+
Career: .287/.350/.446, 114 OPS+

Still a good fielder, but his offense has regressed, as he has been below average the last two seasons.

Colorado
Ezequiel Tovar
Last season: .253/.294/.400, 18 doubles, 9 homers, 33 RBIs, 83 OPS+
Career: .258/.291/.429, 88 OPS+

Tovar has never met a pitch he wouldn’t swing at, but when he does connect he hits it hard. He won the Gold Glove in 2024, but last season was a setback for him, in part due to injuries.

In case you missed it

Andrew Friedman on team culture, the upcoming season and ‘noise’ around the Dodgers

Shohei Ohtani pitches effectively in first spring training start. ‘He expects perfection’

‘It wasn’t just my name.’ Why Miguel Rojas was bothered by erroneous suspension report

And finally

Max Muncy hits an important home run in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series. Watch and listen here.

Until next time….

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Henderson’s rink – Lisa Davie, Hailey Duff, Katie McMillan and Watt – are competing in their first World Championships after their recent national championship win in Dumfries. Sophie Jackson’s rink, who represented Great Britain at the Winter Olympics, were absent from that competition.

“This week maybe wasn’t about making play-offs for us, it was more about gaining the experience and enjoying the week as a whole, so we will want to finish out strong against Norway and are just out to try our best and enjoy our last game,” added Watt.

Having beaten Australia so comfortably earlier in the day, the Scots looked to be heading for another victory when they led Italy 4-1 after five ends.

But Stefania Constantini’s rink struck back with a three at the sixth end and, although the Scots took a single to lead 5-4, the Italians scored at the final two ends to secure a victory that keeps them in the running for a play-off place.

Switzerland, who lead the way with nine wins and one defeat, hosts Canada, Japan and Sweden have secured their places in the play-offs.

South Korea, China, Turkey and Italy are vying for the two remaining places.

Intelligence briefings have warned of the potential for extremists and criminals to target ⁠the FIFA World Cup 2026 at a time when hundreds of ⁠millions of dollars of approved security funds have been delayed, causing United States preparations to fall behind.

The previously unreported briefings from US federal and state officials and FIFA, the international federation overseeing the World Cup, outlined the risk of extremist attacks, including attacks on transportation infrastructure and civil unrest related to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The football World Cup, one of the ⁠globe’s biggest sporting events, will be held in June and July this year across three countries – the United States, Canada and Mexico.

While security at such events is always intense, US law enforcement officials have been on especially heightened alert since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, and have raised concerns over retaliatory threats.

Officials working to prepare for the World Cup in the US have increasingly sounded alarms in recent weeks over a stalled $625m in ⁠federal security grants for the event that were part of a Republican-backed spending bill passed in July 2025.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, tasked with distributing the money, said in November that it was expecting to allocate the funds no later than January 30.

Following inquiries by Reuters this month after officials and organisers complained that they had still received nothing, FEMA announced on Wednesday that it had awarded the grants, saying the money would “bolster security preparations”.

With the first matches kicking off in Mexico on June 11 and then the US and Canada the next day, states and cities hosting the events are deep into planning, including how to safeguard from possible attacks. The delayed funding and threat warnings have compounded ‌an already complex process, multiple officials involved told Reuters.

The grant money distribution process normally takes months, and efforts to buy technology and equipment can take even longer, according to Mike Sena, president of the National Fusion Center Association, which represents a network of 80 information centres across the US that facilitate federal, state and local intelligence sharing.

“It will be extremely tight,” he said.

A December 2025 intelligence report from New Jersey looking at potential threats to matches in the state – which will include the final – flagged recent domestic attacks, disrupted terror plots and a proliferation of extremist propaganda. The report also noted the possibility of spontaneous gatherings related to tensions between countries.

Another intelligence report, dated September 2025, described an online post appearing to encourage attacks on railroad infrastructure during the World Cup that said there were “plenty of opportunities for us to knock it off the tracks” and highlighted matches on the West Coast of the US and Canada. The documents were obtained through open records requests by the transparency nonprofit Property of the People.

Delayed funding risks lead to growing concerns, while ICE worries mount

Democrats have blamed outgoing US Department ⁠of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for delaying the release of the money. Under Noem’s leadership, the DHS also withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in homeland security funds last ⁠year from a dozen Democratic-led states and Washington, DC, while pressing them to increase immigration enforcement.

In response to a request for comment, White House spokesman Davis Ingle faulted Democrats for the delayed funding, citing disagreements over immigration enforcement tactics.

“The president is focused on making this the greatest World Cup ever while ensuring it is the safest and most secure in history,” Ingle said in a statement. “The Democrats need to stop playing games.”

Trump’s immigration crackdown has already cast a pall over the event and raised concerns about the presence of US ⁠Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Since Trump took office in January 2025, masked immigration agents have rounded up suspected immigration offenders in US cities and detained some tourists at airports.

That has coincided with a Trump-era dropoff in overall international visitors, according to US Commerce Department data. Early signs have, however, indicated still strong appetite for flight bookings ⁠and ticket sales for the tournament.

In a FIFA weekly intelligence briefing dated January 28, analysts warned that anti-ICE activism in US cities in response ⁠to immigration enforcement could lower the barriers “to hostile actions by lone actors or extremist elements”.

Trump has also placed full or partial travel bans on nationals of more than three dozen countries, including Iran, which is in talks with FIFA to move its matches to Mexico due to its current conflict with the United States. Three other countries whose fans face Trump travel bans – Haiti, Ivory Coast and Senegal – have also qualified for the tournament.

Security concerns extend to FIFA World Cup 2026 fan events

Several World Cup and state officials have said “FIFA Fan Festival” events are of particular concern. The events ‌allow large numbers of people to watch matches together on open-air screens.

A Fan Festival event that had been planned in Liberty State Park in Jersey City for the duration of the tournament was cancelled unexpectedly last month and replaced with smaller gatherings.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said at the time that many smaller events would allow more people in the area to enjoy the experience. Security concerns also factored in the decision, a person familiar with ‌the ‌planning said.

US Representative Nellie Pou, a Democrat representing a district in New Jersey that includes MetLife Stadium, one of the sites where games will be played, said that each of the World Cup’s 104 matches would be equivalent to a Super Bowl.

“Local government, local law enforcement, will certainly have their hands full,” Pou said. “They need every single dollar that they are eligible to receive, and they need it now.”

Luka scores 60, LeBron ties record

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: On the same night he tied Robert Parish for the NBA record in regular-season games played, ageless wonder LeBron James had a 19-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in Thursday’s 134-126 win over the Miami Heat. The 41-year-old playing in his 1,611th game helped the Lakers (45-25) win their season-best eighth consecutive game while star guard Luka Doncic poured in a season-best 60 points, including 20 points in the final quarter.

James became the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double, besting the mark he set last month.

“He’s a psycho,” coach JJ Redick said with affection, awe and respect.

James, Doncic and guard Austin Reaves were all questionable to play in their second game in as many nights. Doncic was dealing with right hip soreness and Reaves was battling a right forearm contusion after Wednesday’s physical win over Houston. James, who took a hard spill in the fourth quarter and banged his right elbow, was officially nursing left foot arthritis. Earlier this season, James characterized his ailments as being simply “old.”

But before Redick could even check on the status of his stars Thursday afternoon, he learned they already decided on their availability. The players huddled in the locker room after Wednesday’s game before the coaches entered and decided they would all play against Miami (38-32).

“When he said he was playing, I was like, I can’t let a 41-year-old play and I not play,” said Reaves, who battled through a bruise on his shooting wrist to finish with 18 points. “So [I] signed up to play and so did Luka and we went and grinded the win out.”

Continue reading here

Lakers box score

NBA standings

Clippers lose to Pelicans again

Trey Murphy III scored 27 points and the New Orleans Pelicans extended their home winning streak to seven games with a 105-99 victory over the Clippers on Thursday night.

Saddiq Bey had 20 points and Zion Williamson added 15 for the Pelicans, who swept the two-game set against the Clippers after a 124-109 win, also at home, on Wednesday night.

Dejounte Murray was held out to rest as part of his comeback from a ruptured Achilles tendon. He had 17 points and a season-high 11 assists Wednesday night in his ninth game since making his season debut last month.

Derrick Jones Jr. scored 22 points, John Collins had 18 and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 for the Clippers, who lost their fourth in a row.

Continue reading here

Clippers box score

NBA standings

Kings lose to Flyers

Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov scored in a shootout to give the Philadelphia Flyers their fourth victory in five games, 4-3 over the Kings on Thursday night.

Noah Cates had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 22 saves. The Flyers remained six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.

On Wednesday night against the Ducks, Cates scored in overtime in the Flyers’ 3-2 victory.

Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin failed on their shootout attempts for Los Angeles, though the Kings still moved into the second wild-card in the Western Conference.

Continue reading here

Kings summary

NHL standings

USC reaches settlement

From Ryan Kartje: USC has settled a lawsuit with a former high-ranking athletic department official who alleged the university allowed former athletic director Mike Bohn to racially harass and discriminate against her, then fired her when she voiced concerns about Bohn’s behavior.

Joyce Bell Limbrick was the highest-ranking Black and female official in USC’s athletic department when she was fired by the university in September 2023, four months after Bohn resigned amid an internal investigation into his conduct and the culture of the department. Bell Limbrick filed suit early last year, accusing USC of wrongful termination.

That dispute was settled out of court this week. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1897 — Yale beats Penn 32-10 in New Haven, Conn., in the first men’s intercollegiate basketball game.

1918 — The Toronto Arenas (who would become the Maple Leafs) are the first NHL team to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Toronto’s Reg Noble scores two goals with an assist in the first period of a 5-3 win over Vancouver of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association.

1939 — In a game of unbeaten teams, Long Island U. defeats Loyola of Chicago 44-32 to win the National Invitation Tournament title.

1954 — In the first televised NCAA championship game, La Salle defeats Bradley 92-76 and sets a record for most points in the title game.

1965 — Gail Goodrich’s 42 points lead UCLA to a 91-80 victory over Michigan in the NCAA basketball championship.

1965 — St. John’s sends Joe Lapchick out a winner, as the Redmen beat Villanova 55-51 to win their fifth National Invitation Tournament championship.

1965 — Bill Bradley scores 58 points to lead Princeton to a 118-82 rout of Wichita State in the NCAA third-place game. UCLA beats Michigan 91-80 to win its second National championship.

1968 — Dave Bing of the Detroit Pistons finishes the season with a league-leading 27.1 average, becoming the first guard in 20 years to lead the NBA in scoring.

1969 — Less than two months after she becomes the first woman to ride in a pari-mutuel race in America, Diane Crump rides her first winner at Gulfstream Park.

1976 — Boston’s John Havlicek becomes the first NBA player to score more than 1,000 points per season for 14 consecutive years.

1988 — Mike Tyson knocks out Tony Tubbs in the second round to retain his world heavyweight title in Tokyo.

2005 — Liz Johnson becomes the first woman to advance to the championship match of a Professional Bowlers Assn. tour event, but loses by 27 pins to Tommy Jones in the final of the PBA Banquet Open.

2005 — LeBron James, 20, becomes the youngest player to score 50 points in an NBA game, when he scores 56 in the Cavaliers’ 105-98 loss to the Raptors.

2006 — Japan beats Cuba 10-6 in the title game of the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

2010 — Northern Iowa pulls off one of the biggest NCAA upsets in years by knocking No. 1 overall seed Kansas with a 69-67 win. Ali Farokhmanesh buries an open three-pointer with the shot clock still in the 30s to give the Panthers a four-point lead with 35 seconds left.

2014 — Bernard Tomic loses the shortest completed ATP match on record, lasting only 28 minutes at the Sony Open in his first tournament since having surgery on both hips. Ending a two-month layoff, Tomic wins just 13 points and loses to Jarkko Nieminen 6-0, 6-1. It’s the quickest match since the ATP started keeping such records in 1991.

2020 — After 20 years with the New England Patriots, six-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady officially agrees to move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

PHILADELPHIA — Besides carrying on the UCLA legacy, which Mick Cronin says is an honor in itself, he’s got an extra incentive here this weekend that has nothing to do with finding the best cheesesteak in town.

“We’ve got to win two games,” said Cronin, whose Bruins will start off going against Central Florida, whose coach, Johnny Dawkins, knows all too well from the years they squared off when he was at Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference. “My daughter goes to American [University.]

“I’ll see her Monday. But I would like to spend a week with her.”

That’s because the East Region will be held in Washington, where AU is located. But for the Bruins to advance to past a Sunday showdown most likely against powerful Connecticut, Cronin says they’ll first need to contain Central Florida’s potent attack.

UCLA coach Mick Cronin talks with guard Trent Perry during the Bruins’ game at Michigan on Feb. 14.

(Lon Horwedel / Associated Press)

“Central Florida can score,” he explained of the 21-11 Knights, who’ve successfully made the transition from the AAC to the Big 12. “They’re athletic.

“[Themus] Fulks [averaging 14.1 points and 6.7 assists] keeps me up at night because he can get in the lane whenever he wants. He’s great off the pick and roll. He makes good reads and he’s a problem.

“I’ve seen Riley Kugel [14.4 points] since high school. He played for a friend of mine, so I know he’s a very good player and has gotten better as he’s gotten older.

“They can shoot it. They’ve struggled of late which means law of averages, that’s going to flip. They’re an athletic, aggressive team.”

On the other hand Dawkins, back in the city where he played for five years and won an NBA Eastern Conference title while playing alongside Charles Barkley, knows what he’s up against.

“Mick does a great job with his team,” said Dawkins, who before coming to Central Florida went 156-115 coaching eight years at Stanford, following a decade serving as Mike Krzyzewski’s assistant at his alma mater, Duke. “Of course. UCLA is a storied program of all college basketball.

“What an amazing history they’ve had there. and, of course, Coach Cronin is a coach I have known from the American as well. I know his team is going to be really, really talented.

“They’re very skilled and they’re tough.”

Speaking of that legacy, which includes a 1976 Final Four appearance here under John Wooden’s replacement, Gene Bartow, Cronin’s players knew what they were signing up for when they decided to come to Westwood.

“It’s definitely a blessing just to be part of this, to be part of the history, part of the tradition,” said senior guard Skyy Clark, averaging 11.7 points per game. “It’s a lot to carry for sure, but it motivates us to go out there and just do what we can.”

UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau is congratulated by fans after beating USC at the Galen Center on March 7.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

“Yeah, a lot comes with these four letters we wear on our chest,” added second-leading scorer and top playmaker Donovan Dent (13.5, 7.6 assists). “We just want to make our names and the history of it.

“I wouldn’t say there’s extra pressure, but we know there’s definitely a standard that needs to be held.”

UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau and Dent were injured during the Bruins’ Big Ten tournament run, but Cronin said Thursday “they looked good today [during practice,] so knock on wood.”

Maintaining the standard first set by Wooden is what lured Cronin from Cincinnati, where he won 296 games in 13 years and took them to the NCAA tournament nine times.

“I had a great job and was close to being the winningest coach ever at Cincinnati,” said Cronin, who’ll be making his fourth tourney appearance with the Bruins, including dropping a 2022 Sweet Sixteen game to North Carolina in this building. “But I left to sit in Coach Wooden’s chair and coach at the best university in the country, arguably the world, and everything that goes with it.

“It’s tremendous. I’ve been very fortunate. To coach at my alma mater, Cincinnati, and to be the head basketball coach at UCLA following so many.”

On Friday night, Cronin and the Bruins will take on the challenge of Central Florida and his longtime adversary Dawkins, mindful there are no gimmes once you get this far. No. 5 seed Wisconsin learned that during a loss to No. 12 High Point on Thursday and top-ranked Duke nearly did, having to rally from 13 points down to survive No. 16 Siena.

“You got to have players,” he said. “If you can’t coach, you’re not going to be in those tournaments. “The better players you have, the further you go.

That’s the whole key to getting in these things and advancing in them. Perseverance.”

NEW ORLEANS — Trey Murphy III scored 27 points and the New Orleans Pelicans extended their home winning streak to seven games with a 105-99 victory over the Clippers on Thursday night.

Saddiq Bey had 20 points and Zion Williamson added 15 for the Pelicans, who swept the two-game set against the Clippers after a 124-109 win, also at home, on Wednesday night.

Dejounte Murray was held out to rest as part of his comeback from a ruptured Achilles tendon. He had 17 points and a season-high 11 assists Wednesday night in his ninth game since making his season debut last month.

Derrick Jones Jr. scored 22 points, John Collins had 18 and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 for the Clippers, who lost their fourth in a row.

Kawhi Leonard sat out a night after scoring 25 points and grabbing eight rebounds in his return from a one-game absence because of a sprained left ankle.

The Pelicans trailed 94-91 with 5:53 after Collins’ floater, but Williamson made a layup and Murphy hit a three-pointer to put New Orleans up for good as it closed with a 14-5 run.

Luka Doncic became the first player since Kobe Bryant to score 60 points in a game for the LA Lakers as they overcame the Miami Heat 134-126.

Doncic – the NBA’s leading scorer this season – has reached 30 points in eight consecutive games and got to 50 twice in his last five appearances but in hitting 60 achieved a mark that no Lakers player had managed since Bryant in 2019.

And on a night of notable marks for the Lakers, LeBron James scored a triple double with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists to move.

The game was his 1,611th regular-season outing, moving him level with Robert Parish for the most in NBA history. The all-time leading scorer in NBA history will set a new record if he features for the Lakers against the Orlando Magic on Saturday.

“He’s not only competing against the entire league but also Father Time. And he’s giving Father Time hell,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of the 41-year-old.

Who: Japan vs Australia
What: AFC Women’s Asian Cup final
Where: Stadium Australia, Sydney
When: Saturday at 8pm (09:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 06:30 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.

Two and a half years after their Women’s World Cup dream on home soil ended in heartbreak, Australia return to the same piece of turf in search of redemption.

The ghosts of the past may still linger, but Saturday’s final offers the Matildas’ golden generation something more: the chance to rewrite their story and lift a first major trophy in front of their own fans.

With eyes on a second continental title, Australia will face heavyweights and two-time champions Japan in a blockbuster Women’s Asian Cup final at Sydney’s Stadium Australia, the same venue on which the Matildas were stunned 3-1 by eventual runners-up England in the 2023 World Cup semifinals.

While many consider Australia favourites to lift the trophy this weekend, history tells a different story. The Matildas have lost both previous continental finals against Japan, leaving the hosts hoping the third time will be the charm.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a closer look at the final and what to expect from both teams:

How did Australia and Japan reach the final?

Both Australia and Japan have enjoyed an unbeaten route to the final, with the Aussies finishing second in Group A and Japan topping Group C.

Australia, 15th in the FIFA world rankings, opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over the Philippines before thrashing Iran 4-0, but had to fight for a 3-3 draw with South Korea in the final group game.

The knockouts saw Australia overcome North Korea 2-1 in the quarterfinals before they were tested brutally by record nine-time champions China in the semifinals, which they won 2-1.

In contrast, World No 6 Japan, the highest-ranked team in the tournament, were dominant from the get-go, beating Taiwan 2-0 to start their campaign. That was followed by an 11-0 rout of India and a 4-0 mauling of Vietnam, as the Nadeshiko sailed into the knockouts with a perfect record and a clean sheet.

In the quarterfinals, they swept past the Philippines 7-0 before downing South Korea 4-1 in the semifinals, reminding fans of why they are the most dangerous side in this tournament.

How many times have Australia and Japan faced each other?

Australia and Japan are familiar foes, having faced off 30 times. The defining clashes came in the 2014 and 2018 editions of the Women’s Asian Cup, when Japan beat Australia 1-0 both times in the final of those tournaments.

Saturday’s match is also the first time Australia have been in the final since losing the 2018 edition.

Australia and Japan last met a little over a year ago at the SheBelieves Cup in the United States. Japan beat the Aussies 4-0 en route to winning the title.

How many Asian Cups have Australia and Japan won?

Australia have won the Women’s Asian Cup once – their only major title – at the 2010 edition in China, where the Matildas defeated North Korea 5-4 on penalties. Current captain Sam Kerr, then 16 years old, scored the opening goal in that final.

Japan have won the Asian Cup twice, in 2014 and 2018, while they ended runners-up four times (1986, 1991, 1995, 2001).

Japan are also the only Asian team to have won the Women’s World Cup, beating the United States on penalties in the 2011 edition in Germany.

What’s the prize money for the winner?

Along with continental bragging rights, the champions will receive a cheque for $1.8m – the same prize money from 2022, which is lower than any other confederation’s equivalent tournament besides Oceania.

In comparison, the winner at the 2023 men’s Asian Cup took home a prize purse of $14.8 million.

Kerr shines for Australia, Ueki leads the way for Japan

Sidelined for two years by an ACL injury, Australia captain Kerr arrived at the 2026 tournament with questions surrounding her fitness and saddled with a ⁠heavy burden to restore pride in the Matildas.

Now with four goals in five matches, including a sublime winner in Tuesday’s semifinal, the 32-year-old striker has silenced all doubts and carried her team back ⁠into the national spotlight.

“I know I can be one of the best players in the world, and I am showing that at this tournament,” the Chelsea striker said of her recent form.

Along with Kerr, central midfielder Alanna Kennedy has been a goal-scoring machine for the ‘Tillies’, netting five goals in as many matches to sit second on the top-scorers list, while Caitlin Foord has been a key playmaker with three assists.

But the tournament’s spotlight has been captured by Japan’s Riko Ueki, whose six goals in four matches – including a stunning hat-trick off the bench against India – lead the charts.

The striker, often a vital presence in Japan’s front three, poses a headache to the opposition, alongside winger Kiko Seike, who has four goals in four games.

Japan coach says Matildas are ‘massive favourites’

Japan coach Nils Nielsen insists Australia will be “massive favourites” in the final, but his team’s near-flawless progress to the title match suggests otherwise.

Japan’s attacking force has scored a whopping 28 goals in five games, while their solid backline has conceded just one, against South Korea in the semifinals.

The Nadeshiko will have a partisan crowd at the 83,500-capacity Stadium Australia to deal with, and Greenlander Nielsen put the pressure on the Kerr-led Australia by calling the frontrunners.

“The Matildas really have an amazing team; they have adapted to whatever is coming their way,” Nielsen said. “They have a great coach … He hasn’t been here long, and he’s already made so many nice transforms.

“When they play in front of a crowd like this, Australia are big favourites, massive favourites for the final.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s head coach Joe Montemurro believes his side can do better than what they showcased against China in the gruelling semifinal.

“We’re going to have to be better,” he told Australia’s Network 10. “There’s a resilience that we have in our psyche. We need to be better with the ball; we need to be smarter and control tempo.”

Kerr dreams of second Asian Cup triumph

Considered one of Australia’s greatest athletes, Kerr is the only player from the current squad who was also part of the 2010 Asian Cup-winning squad.

But she has never lifted any silverware with the current crop of players, many of whom have been alongside her in the team for more than a decade.

“It would honestly mean everything,” Kerr said of winning the title with them. “We’ve talked about it for ages. This is a dream of ours, and these girls are like family to me.”

Predicted Australia starting lineup

Matildas head coach Montemurro could pick defender Winonah Heatley ahead of Clare Hunt.

Mackenzie Arnold (goalkeeper); Ellie Carpenter, Winonah Heatley, Steph Catley, Kaitlyn Torpey; Kyra Cooney-Cross, Alanna Kennedy, Katrina Gorry; Mary Fowler, Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord

Predicted Japan starting lineup

Japan head coach Nielsen could stick to the same lineup from the last game.

Ayaka Yamashita (goalkeeper); Hana Takahashi, Toko Koga, Saki Kumagai, Hikaru Kitagawa; Fuka Nagano, Hinata Miyazawa, Yui Hasegawa; Maika Hamano, Riko Ueki, Aoba Fujino

After 17 months, the WNBA has agreed to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement and players will be paid more than in any other professional American women’s sports league.

It is the latest in a trend of increasing equity for women athletes.

• In 2022, the U.S. women’s soccer team won a $24-million settlement with U.S. Soccer after players disputed making significantly less than the less successful men’s team.
• Then the Professional Women’s Hockey League was born in 2023 following many players defecting from the National Women’s Hockey League to form the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Assn., then merging with the Premier Hockey Federation until a historic bargaining agreement.
• The National Women’s Soccer League announced a new CBA in the summer of 2024 that included giving players agency on where they are traded and abolishing expansion and collegiate drafts.

That momentum put considerable pressure on WNBA negotiations. Could the players set a new benchmark for future contract negotiations across women’s pro sports leagues?

The Sky’s Angel Reese and the Fever’s Caitlin Clark shake hands before a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 17.

(Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

The WNBA’s CBA was a flashpoint because of the boom in popularity in supporting women’s sports, with players such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese becoming household names. Last season, the WNBA made enough revenue to trigger revenue-sharing for the first time and this season marks the start the league’s new 11-year, $2.2-billion media rights deal.

Unlike in the NBA, where players get around 50% of the league’s revenue before expenses, the WNBA’s first revenue-sharing kicked in only after the league hit a benchmark determined by a formula of revenue targets, which had been difficult to achieve since the start of the deal was the 2020 COVID season played in front of empty stands.

The WNBA broke its single-season attendance record in 2025. As league interest grew, so did the tension between the league and the players’ union.

Many viewed this negotiating cycle as an opportunity to pounce on the increased visibility, and in a lot of ways, the union did. Players are going to be paid significantly more and they got a win in revenue sharing, earning 20% of the league’s revenue before expenses — a big jump from the previous 9% share.

The average player salary before revenue-share payments will be around $584,000.

But was it as much as they should have gotten?

Tamika Tremaglio, former NBPA executive director and advisor to the WNBPA during the 2020 CBA negotiations, said observers were less concerned about the start of training camps looming on April 19 and more focused on whether negotiations would end with a stable deal that would hold for the length of the agreement as market conditions evolve. Increased salaries are always celebrated, but both sides agreeing to a new revenue sharing model was a consequential step forward for players.

“The real story is the revenue share,” Tremaglio said. “At the end of the day, that’s what is going to drive the future.”

The fallout from the new deal will take months or years to fully understand. Free agents will be able to begin signing with teams in April, and since 80% of the players are eligible for free agency, there will be higher figures being floated around than ever.

A’ja Wilson and her Las Vegas Aces teammates celebrate while holding the 2025 WNBA championship trophy.

(Chris Coduto / Getty Images)

That might affect what talent comes to the league, too.

“More European players might come into the league,” a WNBA team consultant not authorized to speak about the league publicly told The Times. “Now that the money is better, that might knock out several college players in the draft.”

There are some WNBA-level players who have stayed in Europe due to restrictive prioritization rules that force players to participate in all WNBA practices and games even if they conflicted with international league obligations. Many WNBA players compete in international leagues during the offseason and prefer the option to keep playing in lucrative foreign leagues if there is an overlap with the WNBA season.

While the new rules for international play in the WNBA CBA are not yet clear, compensation changes could open the door for more players to choose to prioritize the league.

The general consensus among people operating within the WNBA is relief that a deal is in place.

“It’s huge,” one player agent told The Times. “They made big strides. This is important for women’s basketball.

Sparks players Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson, Azura Stevens, Kelsey Plum and Julie Allemand talk during a game against the New York Liberty at Crypto.com Arena on Aug. 12.

(Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)

“Anytime both sides don’t get everything they want,” the agent added, “that’s a good deal.”

That agent also noted that this CBA will set the precedent for the next negotiations to continue to raise the revenue-sharing if the league continues to make more money.

Under the new CBA, the 20% revenue-sharing is tied to the league’s gross revenue, a significantly different number than the net revenue, which is calculated after all expenses are taken into account. The players were fighting for a percentage of the gross revenue, even if it is a smaller percentage than the net revenue the league offered because it is guaranteed.

The NBA first reached 53% of gross revenue in their CBA in 1983 and has stayed around that number ever since.

“If it was net, you’d have all these other expenses and you sort of lose control of the actual expenses,” Tremaglio said. “You have no control from the perspective of where the players are. But now, you don’t even have to go look at the minutia of auditing every single expense line item. That’s what makes such a difference.”

More details around the CBA, including player housing, expansion draft format and roster spots, will become clearer as the deal reaches ratification.

For now, even if 20% revenue sharing is less than the 40% the players first proposed, the deal represents a significant, stable increase in player compensation.

“This will impact women’s sport globally, not just the game of basketball,” Tremaglio said. “This will impact everything, soccer, everything.”

Reports say Sardar Azmoun, who plays for UAE club Shabab Al-Ahli, was expelled for Instagram post with Dubai’s ‌ruler.

Sardar Azmoun, one of ⁠Iran’s top football players, has ⁠been expelled from the national team for a perceived act of disloyalty to the government, Iranian media has reported, making it unlikely he will play any part in the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

Iran’s participation in the global football showpiece is under a cloud because of the ongoing conflict with the United States, who are co-hosting the June 11-July 19 tournament with Mexico and Canada.

If Team Melli do turn up for their opening-round group matches, they will ⁠undoubtedly be weakened by the absence of striker Azmoun, who has scored 57 goals in 91 internationals since making his debut as a teenager in 2014.

Azmoun, who plays his club football in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for Dubai club Shabab Al-Ahli, upset the Iranian authorities this week by posting a picture on his Instagram feed of a meeting with Dubai’s ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Iran has launched rocket ‌and drone attacks on the UAE following air strikes by the US and Israel, which killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A report on the Fars News Agency, which has links to the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, cited “an informed source within the national team” as saying Azmoun had been expelled from the squad.

Pictures removed

Azmoun later removed the pictures but was still lambasted on state TV on Thursday, with football pundit Mohammad Misaghi saying the striker’s actions had been an act of disloyalty.

“It’s unfortunate that you don’t have enough sense to understand what kind of behaviour is appropriate ⁠at a given time,” Misaghi said.

“We should not mince words with such people. They should be ⁠told that they are not worthy of wearing the national team jersey.

“We have no patience for this sulking and childish behaviour. National team players should be people who proudly belt out the national anthem and deserve to wear the Iran jersey.”

There was no immediate response to a request for comment on ⁠the matter from the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI).

Azmoun, 31, is one of the best-known footballers in Iran, where the game is a national obsession.

He has played his ⁠entire club career abroad with stints at Zenit Saint Petersburg, Bayer Leverkusen and ⁠Roma, as well as featuring for Iran in the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.

An unsourced report on the Novad News channel said on Thursday that an order had been issued for the seizure of the assets of Azmoun, another UAE-based national team forward Mehdi Ghayedi, and former international Soroush Rafiei.

Misaghi was speaking against ‌the backdrop of pictures of a ceremony welcoming the Iranian women’s national team back to Tehran on their return from Australia.

Seven of the delegation accepted asylum in Australia after the team was branded “wartime traitors” on Iranian state TV for not singing the ‌national ‌anthem before a Women’s Asian Cup match. Five later decided to return to Iran.

Iran’s men are scheduled to play friendly internationals in Antalya, Turkiye, against Nigeria on March 27 and Costa Rica four days later as part of their World Cup preparations.

Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov scored in a shootout to give the Philadelphia Flyers their fourth victory in five games, 4-3 over the Kings on Thursday night.

Noah Cates had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 22 saves. The Flyers remained six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.

On Wednesday night against the Ducks, Cates scored in overtime in the Flyers’ 3-2 victory.

Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin failed on their shootout attempts for Los Angeles, though the Kings still moved into the second wild-card in the Western Conference.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist for the Kings. Quinton Byfield and Anze Kopitar also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves.

Panarin ensured the Kings picked up a point in the standings with a blistering wrist shot on a power play that tied it 3-3 with 9:32 remaining.

The Flyers were without forwards Sean Couturier (upper body), Luke Glendening (lower body) and Denver Barkey (upper body), leaving them to play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Up next for the Kings: vs. Buffalo at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Iran’s national football team returned to their war-torn nation after several of the players sought asylum in Australia.

Iranian authorities on Thursday gave the national women’s football team a hero’s welcome after their return from Australia, where some had made and then withdrawn asylum claims, amid accusations Iran had pressured their families.

Six players and one backroom staff member who travelled to Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup sought asylum earlier this month after they prompted criticism from hardliners in Iran for failing to sing the national anthem before their first match.

Five of them later changed their minds and returned home along with the rest of the team, including captain Zahra Ghanbari, with their fate prompting international concern amid the US-Israel war on Iran.

Activists have accused Iranian authorities of pressuring the women’s families, including summoning their parents for interrogation, while Tehran has alleged that Australia sought to force the athletes to defect.

Several thousand people, many holding Iranian flags, turned out for the welcome ceremony on Thursday evening in Valiasr Square in central Tehran, where other pro-government rallies have taken place in recent weeks, state TV images showed.

“My Choice. My Homeland,” read a slogan on a giant billboard on the square that showed the players in their national kit and mandatory hijabs saluting the Iranian flag.

Flanked by team members, Iranian football federation President Mehdi Taj said on stage, “What is certain is that these athletes are loyal to the homeland, flag, leader and revolution.”

Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, one of the most high-profile women in Iranian politics, told the team members: “All Iranians were waiting for you; welcome to Iran.”

‘Threatening their families’

As onlookers cheered the players, giant AI-generated images of the women were projected on a screen showing them pledging loyalty to the Iranian flag against a background of Iranian national landmarks.

Two squad members have remained in Australia, but the remainder of the team, including the five other women who initially applied for asylum, arrived in Iran on Wednesday after a long journey home via Malaysia, Oman and Turkiye.

Activists have accused Iranian authorities of pressuring these five women into changing their minds through intelligence agents putting pressure on their families at home.

“The regime in Iran started threatening their families and basically took their families hostage. Because of that, they were forced to withdraw their asylum and go back to Iran,” Shiva Amini, a former Iranian national football player, who now lives in exile and campaigns on women’s rights, wrote on social media.

But Farideh Shojaei, an Iranian football official who travelled to Australia, said the players had been offered “houses, cars, money, promises of contracts with professional clubs, as well as humanitarian visas”.

“Fortunately, the members of our team valued their national identity above all else and turned these offers down,” she told Iranian media.

Before their opening game, the Iranian team fell silent as the national anthem played, although they later sang it in subsequent matches. An Iranian state TV presenter branded the players “wartime traitors”.

A central feature of the welcome ceremony in Tehran was singing the national anthem of the Islamic Republic, with players and officials joining in.

Thursday’s Results

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

North Hollywood 5, Granada Hills Kennedy 3

Sun Valley Poly 11, Sylmar 9

Verdugo Hills 5, San Fernando 3

WISH Academy 11, Washington Prep 5

SOUTHERN SECTION

Adelanto 6, Granite Hills 4

Alhambra 10, Schurr 2

Animo Leadership 6, Compton Early College 3

Arroyo 14, Glendale 0

Banning 9, Yucca Valley 8

Beverly Hills 13, Lennox Academy 3

Bloomington 10, Carter 0

Buckley 7, Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 6

Campbell Hall 6, Brentwood 1

Chaparral 8, Citrus Valley 3

Charter Oak 3, El Rancho 2

Chino 7, Don Lugo 1

Compton Centennial 7, Lawndale 5

Covina 9, Pasadena Marshall 8

Diamond Ranch 5, Chaffey 4

Eisenhower 2, Colton 1

Environmental Charter 13, Ambassador 6

Etiwanda 2, Santa Ana Foothill 0

Gabrielino 23, Southlands Christian 4

Garden Grove 14, Rancho Alamitos 1

Glendora 14, Western Christian 3

Grace 29, Santa Clara 2

Grand Terrace 12, Arroyo Valley 0

Heritage Christian 12, Village Christian 1

La Mirada 7, Aliso Niguel 1

La Quinta 11, Rancho Mirage 0

Leuzinger 4, Culver City 3

Maranatha 12, Whittier Christian 4

Milken 4, Burbank Providence 1

Montebello 18, San Gabriel 0

Newbury Park 7, Buena 1

Norwalk 8, Sante Fe 3

Ontario 6, Montclair 3

Orange County Pacifica Christian 7, Laguna Beach 4

Palm Springs 17, Xavier Prep 4

Palo Verde 8, Bellflower 7

Redlands 15, Hesperia Christian 0

Redlands East Valley 18, Silverado 1

Rolling Hills Prep 13, HMSA 4

Rowland 3, Diamond Bar 1

San Juan Hills 11, Riverside Prep 10

Santa Clarita Christian 4, Desert Christian 0

Santa Monica 8, Calabasas 4

Santa Rosa Academy 9, San Jacinto Valley Academy 8

Shadow Hills 5, Palm Desert 3

South Hills 11, Los Altos 3

Summit 5, Rialto 1

Temecula Prep 14, SJDLCS 1

Temecula Valley 11, Trabuco Hills 0

Temescal Canyon 5, San Dimas 3

Trinity Classical Academy 7, Castaic 3

Twentynine Palms 4, AAE 2

Victory Valley 4, Barstow 3

Webb 16 La Puente 2

West Torrance 9, New Roads 0

West Valley 14, San Jacinto 4

INTERSECTIONAL

Borrego Springs 12, Anza Hamilton 0

Colorado Legend 10, La Habra 5

Eagle Rock 19, CALS Early College 1

Fullerton 14, Colorado Mullen 4

Gahr 7, Utah American Fork 1

Inglewood 16, Dorsey 1

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 7, Port of LA 4

WISH Academy 11, Washington Prep 5

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

Animo Robinson 24, Animo Watts 14

Bell 11, Huntington Park 6

Bernstein 25, Contreras 12

Central City Value 18, Vaughn 14

Dorsey 21, Dymally 0

East Valley 20, Panorama 4

Garfield 6, LA Roosevelt 2

Hollywood 18, Belmont 5

Mendez 20, Roybal 8

SOCES 15, Northridge Academy 4

Triumph Charter 19, Bert Corona 1

Westchester 15, Narbonne 13

SOUTHERN SECTION

Alhambra 16, Mark Keppel 0

Aliso Niguel 4, El Toro 1

Alta Loma 6, Citrus Valley 2

Arrowhead Christian 19, Woodcrest Christian 2

Barstow 4, Victor valley 2

Beaumont 7, Rancho Verde 1

Bonita 20, Claremont 6

California 5, Sante Fe 4

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 5, Bishop Conaty-Loretto 2

Castaic 13, Golden Valley 4

Chadwick 22, Westridge 1

Chaffey 9, Diamond Ranch 0

Chaminade 7, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 6

Coastal Academy 9, Mayfield 0

Crescenta Valley 23, Hoover 0

Cypress 3, Segerstrom 0

Desert Christian Academy 11, California Military Institute 10

Don Lugo 3, Chino 2

Eastside 11, Littlerock 4

El Cajon Christian 8, Trabuco Hills 2

El Dorado 10, Mayfair 0

El Modena 9, La Habra 6

El Rancho 15, Arroyo 5

Fillmore 15, Channel Islands 4

Firebaugh 19, Hawthorne 13

Fontana 11, Bethel Christian 2

Foothill Tech 12, Bishop Diego 0

Fullerton 6, Los Altos 1

Garden Grove Pacifica 4, Anaheim Canyon 1

Gahr 10, Cerritos 0

Garden Grove 11, Westminster 1

Granite Hills 12, Adelanto 4

Hemet 16, United Christian Academy 5

Hesperia Christian 17, Immanuel Christian 2

Highland 2, Quartz Hill 1

Indio 18, Lakeside 1

Indio 14, Temecula Prep 1

Irvine University 9, San Marino 8

Jurupa Hills 16, San Gorgonio 0

Kaiser 14, Grand Terrace 5

Knight 14, Antelope Valley 1

Lakeside 7, San Jacinto 6

La Mirada 5, Valley Christian 0

La Quinta 10, Rancho Mirage 0

La Salle 13, Mary Star of the Sea 2

La Serna 16, Whittier 4

Lennox Academy 14, Compton Early College 8

Leuzinger 9, Culver City 6

Liberty 10, Linfield Christian 4

Los Alamitos 6, Huntington Beach 5

Marina 6, Edison 0

Millikan 9, Lakewood 0

Mira Costa 9, Bishop Montgomery 8

Mission Viejo 2, El Cajon Christian 1

Moorpark 14, Royal 2

Moreno Valley 9, Vista del Lago 6

Muir 18, Glendale 3

Murrieta Valley 15, Chaparral 5

Newport Harbor 7, Corona del Mar 4

North Torrance 6, Santa Monica 1

Northwood 8, Irvine 0

Oak Park 5, Camarillo 4

Ontario 5, Montclair 0

Oxnard 5, Buena 1

Paloma Valley 15, Tahquitz 2

Palos Verdes 4, El Segundo 0

Paraclete 9, Lakewood St. Joseph 4

Pasadena 19, Immaculate Heart 8

Pasadena Poly 10, Flintridge Prep 0

Rialto 18, Eisenhower 8

Ridgecrest Burroughs 31, Silver Valley 1

Riverside Notre Dame 6, United Christian Academy 0

Riverside Poly 2, Shadow Ridge 0

San Jacinto 15, Temecula Prep 1

San Juan Hills 8, Tesoro 5

Santa Ana Foothill 17, Esperanza 0

Santa Paula 18, Nordhoff 1

Saugus 3, Valencia 2

Schurr 25, San Gabriel 0

Shadow Hills 21, Palm Desert 14

Shadow Ridge 8, Louisville 4

Simi Valley 5, Newbury Park 4

St. Bernard d. San Gabriel Mission, forfeit

St. Bonaventure 20, Del Sol 0

St. Monica 16, St. Anthony 2

St. Paul 10, Bishop Amat 0

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 18, Gardena Serra 5

Summit 20, Arroyo Valley 0

Temecula Valley 4, Great Oak 2

Viewpoint 10, Brentwood 0

Warren 9, La Palma Kennedy 1

West Covina 9, Southlands Christian 8

Western Christian 16, San Dimas 15

West Ranch 13, Canyon Country Canyon 4

Whittier Christian 3, Maranatha 1

Windward 11, Archer 8

Yucaipa 5, Rancho Cucamonga 3

Yucca Valley 19, Banning 9

INTERSECTIONAL

Anza Hamilton 10, Borrego Springs 0

Eagle Rock 6, Alemany 4

Harvard-Westlake 6, El Camino Real 3

Nevada Bishop Gorman 5, Mission Viejo 1

Nevada Spanish Springs 7, Carson 4

Rio Hondo Prep 3, San Diego 2

Riverside Poly 9, Nevada Reed 0

San Fernando 4, Tri-City Christian 3

Sierra Canyon 17, Nevada Douglas 0

Sierra Canyon 3, Nevada Reed 2

Sun Valley Magnet 7, Lakeview Charter 6

Thousand Oaks 9, Granada Hills 4

Torrance 7, Legacy 2

Trabuco Hills 4, Nevada Bishop Gorman 4

Utah Lehi 10, Carson 5

USC has settled a lawsuit with a former high-ranking athletic department official who alleged the university allowed former athletic director Mike Bohn to racially harass and discriminate against her, then fired her when she voiced concerns about Bohn’s behavior.

Joyce Bell Limbrick was the highest-ranking Black and female official in USC’s athletic department when she was fired by the university in September 2023, four months after Bohn resigned amid an internal investigation into his conduct and the culture of the department. Bell Limbrick filed suit early last year, accusing USC of wrongful termination.

That dispute was settled out of court this week. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

When reached by The Times, Bell Limbrick declined to comment. Bohn has never publicly addressed the allegations.

While the lawsuit never made it to trial, it nonetheless offered the most detailed account yet of the conduct that led to Bohn’s resignation.

Bell Limbrick filed a Title IX complaint with the university against Bohn in October 2022, after an incident in which she says Bohn punched her on the arm at a USC volleyball match. That complaint ultimately compelled an investigation, during which, according to her complaint, Bell Limbrick told USC officials of “Bohn’s history and rumors of inappropriate and unwanted touching involving … other females at both Cincinnati and USC.”

The university hired an outside law firm that specializes in institutional responses to racial and sexual harassment and discrimination to investigate Bohn five months later. The Times learned of that investigation shortly thereafter, as well as a previous investigation into Bohn’s conduct at Cincinnati, and in May, asked both Bohn and USC about those concerns.

Bohn resigned a day later.

Soon after that, the university fired Bell Limbrick, citing “a pattern of poor performance.” She was the only member of an 11-member executive team to lose her job and, according to the complaint, had just been awarded a “merit increase” on account of her “overall job performance.”

Bell Limbrick worked at USC for nine years, initially as the director of athletic compliance, before Bohn was hired in 2019. Shortly after he became athletic director, Bohn promoted Bell Limbrick to senior woman administrator, one of the highest-ranking positions in the department. According to her complaint, she had been one of the few Black women to hold such a position at a major American university.

“Ms. Bell Limbrick had a thriving career at USC and she loved her work. Then, Mike Bohn arrived,” her attorney, J. Bernard Alexander, said in a statement in 2025.

”[Bohn’s] incessant, racially charged remarks made Joyce feel uncomfortable and undervalued, but more than that — he actively isolated her from the executive team and undermined her work. She already was vulnerable as the only Black woman on the team, and rather than support her, the university allowed Bohn to make her life hell.”

Her complaint detailed inappropriate comments made in front of USC donors and staff, as well as insensitive or discriminatory remarks made in her presence. At the time, The Times spoke with six people with knowledge of the department’s inner workings who largely corroborated her claims about Bohn’s conduct.

Bohn declined to respond to The Times’ questions about his conduct leading the athletic department, but he provided a statement to The Times on the day of his resignation in May 2023 stating he would “always be proud of leading the program out of the most tumultuous times in the history of the profession.”

“In moving on, it is important now that I focus on being present with my treasured family, addressing ongoing health challenges, and reflecting on how I can be impactful in the future,” Bohn said in the statement.

The NBA’s leading scorer recorded the second 60-point game of his career as the Lakers take down the Heat in Miami.

Luka Doncic scored 60 points – the most ‌ever recorded against the Heat – as the Los Angeles Lakers won their eighth straight game, defeating ⁠the Miami Heat 134-126 ⁠away on Thursday night.

James Harden had the previous record against Miami with 58 points. He reached that mark while a member of the Houston Rockets on February 28, ⁠2019.

The Lakers (45-25) also got a triple-double from LeBron James, who had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. It was just the second triple-double of the season for James, who no ⁠doubt has fond memories of his time in Miami, leading the Heat to four straight NBA Finals (2011-2014) and two NBA titles.

It is possible that this was the final game in Miami ever for James, 41, who has not yet announced his future playing plans.

Doncic, who entered the day leading ‌the NBA with a 32.9 scoring average, made 18 of 30 shots from the floor, nine of 17 on three-pointers and 15 of 19 at the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds, five steals and three assists.

Over the past two nights, Doncic has scored 100 points.

Bam Adebayo led Miami (38-32) with 28 points and 10 rebounds. He appeared fully healthy after having missed Miami’s previous game due to tightness in his right calf.

However, the ⁠Heat are just 1-3 since Adebayo scored 83 points against Washington on ⁠March 10, the second-greatest scoring game in NBA history.

Tyler Herro added 21 points for Miami, and Norman Powell tallied 20.

The Heat were without two key injured players, Jaime Jaquez Jr (left-hip tightness) and Andrew Wiggins (left big toe). Those ⁠two players combine to average 30.9 points.

Miami led 42-29 at the end of the first quarter, during which the Heat shot 63.0 percent from the ⁠floor and had a 26-12 edge in paint points. ⁠Los Angeles, despite 12 points from Doncic, shot just 40.9 percent.

Los Angeles hit 12 of 20 shots from the floor in the second quarter and cut its deficit to 65-59 at halftime. Miami shot just 40.9 percent.

The Lakers took their first lead ‌of the game at 72-71 with 9:05 left in the third as Doncic hit his third straight three-pointer. By the end of the period, the Lakers led, 97-88.

Doncic scored 19 points in ‌the ‌third. Miami misfired on 10 of 12 attempts from behind the arc in the quarter.

The Lakers closed out the game without much trouble in the fourth quarter, beating Miami for the third straight time.

While the Europa League will continue to offer respite from an otherwise difficult season for Forest, the additional games present challenges.

Forest will take on Porto in the quarter-final on 9 and 16 April, welcome Aston Villa to the City Ground in between the two legs and then host Burnley the following weekend.

Winning games means positive momentum and that can only be a help when it comes to fighting to stay in the league.

But it also means more games and Pereira, who is set to take charge in his first European quarter-final, must find the balance between keeping his side in the top flight and managing the demands of competing in Europe.

“When we win it’s different,” Pereira said.

“The spirit is different, the energy is different and the boys deserve it because they are a fantastic group, very good players and with team spirit, character – we showed everything today.

“I don’t have any doubt that we have the quality and we will compete to achieve our targets.”

Yates added: “That winning feeling is special, you want to keep that momentum going.

“Momentum at this stage of the season is huge. We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. Recover now, focus on Tottenham now and keep building, keep getting those wins.

“It’s not over yet, we’re still dreaming.”

Out of the mouths of babes …

When measuring the furiously growing buzz around the Lakers, one need only heed the hopeful cries of one of their most rabid fans.

A 6-year-old.

Jackson Tuyay was named the Lakers’ fan of the game when the team beat the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Courtesy of Tuyay family)

(Courtesy of Tuyay family)

Wearing a Shaquille O’Neal jersey that nearly drapes to his knees.

Leading 20,000 fans in a Saturday night cheer that has swept through a city.

“Yeaaaaaah!,” Jackson Tuyay screamed, and now all of Lakerland screams with him.

It happened in the second half of the Lakers’ steal of a victory against the Denver Nuggets.

The videoboard at Crypto.com Arena announced the regular competition for Fan of the Game, and while searching the stands for the usual dancing fools, the cameras focused on a child who had been cheering the entire night.

Not just cheering, but screaming. Not just rooting, but flexing. Not just clapping, but pounding his fists against his chest.

It was Jackson Tuyay, and he was doing it all with one word in a tiny voice that spoke for a massive fan base.

Yeaaaah indeed. Tuyay was captured on the giant videoboard, he was awarded a $100 gift card for being Fan of the Game, and afterward none other than LeBron James credited him with the comeback win.

“That little kid on the Jumbotron was definitely … I looked up there … I think he’s, yeah, he’s the reason why we won tonight for sure,” James told reporters afterward, and everyone laughed, but there’s something to this.

On what many onlookers credited with being the loudest night of the season, a kindergartner perhaps epitomized what many of this city’s oldest and most die-hard fans are finally feeling.

Everybody is screaming about the Lakers. Everybody is flexing about the Lakers. Everybody is pounding their chest about the Lakers.

They have won nine of the last 10 games, cutting into winning records of the New York Knicks, Minnesota, Denver and Houston in the last 10 days, moving up to third in the West, sprinting toward the potential for greatness.

Did you see them in their fourth quarter comeback win in Houston on Monday night? The Rockets committed nine turnovers, made four baskets and Kevin Durant was held to one garbage-time layup in the entire second half. Once a gaping wound, the Lakers have the league’s sixth-ranked defense during these last 10 games. Combined with its deftly collaborative offense, one can only imagine the heights this team can reach.

They’re playing unselfish basketball, witness James throwing himself through the air while chasing down a loose ball against Denver.

They’re playing tough basketball, witness everything growling Marcus Smart does down the stretch, from steals to treys.

They’re playing redemptive basketball, witness Deandre Ayton finally showing up and proving he is truly the X factor on this team.

And, of course, they’re playing Luka and A.R. basketball, the two best players on this team throwing down one dagger after another, even playing better with James on the court alongside them.

“I think they’re gonna win a lot of games,” predicted Jackson this week, and I think this child genius might be right.

The kid’s impact Saturday night might have been brief, but it’s real, as he received props not just from James, but from Doncic on Instagram.

Lakers center Deandre Ayton blocks a pass to Rockets center Clint Capela during their game Monday.

(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

“I just wanted the Lakers to win because I thought it would be cool,” Jackson said.

Cooler still is that this was the first Lakers game of Jackson’s young life, as his father, Byron, bought four tickets online for him; his mother, Katherine; and his younger sister, Emilia.

“I saw it on the schedule and just figured it would be a fun afternoon for the kids,” said Byron, a South Pasadena lawyer who grew up during the Shaq-Kobe era and is passing his Laker fandom on to his family.

Like any good Lakers fan, the couple bought souvenirs for the kids before the game, including purchasing a jersey and a foam finger for Jackson. The jersey was the smallest size possible, but appropriately celebrated the biggest man imaginable. Jackson swam in it, but was inspired by it.

“We had to get the Shaq jersey,” said Byron. “We’re old school.”

Once the game started Jackson lived up to a nickname given to him because he runs everywhere, including out of his house in the mornings and around the corner to his nearby school.

A friend’s parent calls him “Turbo,” and he was doing all kinds of turbo things when the cameras caught him in the act.

“He has this crazy aura and energy about him,” said Byron. “He was cheering like that all game.”

Once the fans at Crypto.com Arena saw his flexing and chest beating, they couldn’t get enough. He was not only named Fan of the Game, but he was shown on the videoboard several times during the rest of the game, igniting a huge ovation every time and establishing himself as the team’s new talisman.

After the game ended with the Lakers stunning overtime victory, fans lined up to give him high-fives and cheer for him as his family descended a stairway.

He might be hearing more cheers in the future. He’s already been invited to their next home game by somebody from Doncic’s camp, and future invitations are sure to follow.

C’mon Lakers, get this kid in the building for a playoff game. Show that the sophisticated following of the world’s most glamorous sports franchise is actually rooted in the heart of a child.

After all, Laker fans know a hero when they see one, and the postgame chants for Jackson Tuyay were unmistakable.

“M-V-P … M-V-P … M-V-P!”