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ESPN writer Seth Wickersham and Phoebe Schecter explain the thought processes behind the likes of legendary quarterback Tom Brady transforming themselves from backups to Super Bowl winners.
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Tyrese Haliburton was once a Milwaukee Brewers fan.
Now he’s possibly their biggest troll.
On Saturday, the injured Indiana Pacers star sat on his team’s bench during a preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey. It just so happened that the Cubs were playing the Brewers that day in Game 5 of their National League Division Series.
Two days later, Haliburton arrived at the Pacers’ preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs rocking a Dodgers jersey (reportedly that of L.A. superstar Shohei Ohtani). Again, certainly by pure coincidence, the two-time NBA All-Star was representing a team that was facing the Brewers in a high-stakes postseason game, this time Game 1 of the NL Championship Series.
The Brewers are playing for only the second World Series berth in team history, and a high-profile athlete who grew up less than two hours from Milwaukee in Oshkosh, Wis., is actively rooting against them.
The reason, it seems, is because of an alleged snub that took place in the summer of 2024. During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” in April, Haliburton said he had been scheduled to throw out a ceremonial first pitch before a Brewers game last summer … until he and the Pacers eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks during the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs.
Injured Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton wore Chicago Cubs gear during a preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 11.
(Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
“I was a Brewers fan,” he said, “and then I was supposed to throw the first pitch last summer, and they X’ed that after the playoff series. So I said, ‘You know what? I’m no longer a Brewers fan.’”
After that, Haliburton said, he became a “free agent” as a baseball fan.
Haliburton must have been thrilled with the result of Game 1 of the NLCS, a 2-1 Dodgers win, but he might want to track down jerseys for the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays just in case — the Brewers are still just four wins away from facing one of those teams in the World Series.
The nervy win in Dublin moves the Republic of Ireland up to third in Group F, a point behind Hungary, who boosted their chances of securing a play-off place with a dramatic late draw against Portugal.
The group is delicately poised with two games remaining. If Hungary beat Armenia in their next game, the Republic of Ireland must earn at least a point to take the battle for second place into their trip to Budapest on 16 November.
The Republic of Ireland’s chances have twice been hit by late goals during this window, having conceded a 91st-minute Ruben Neves goal in Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Portugal in Lisbon.
However, Azaz hopes the Irish players can build on that performance and Tuesday’s crucial win in their quest to upset Cristiano Ronaldo and co in Dublin on 13 November.
“We know it’s going to be tough, but we’ll take confidence from last week and this game and we’ll be confident we can do something special,” Azaz added.
“It’s going to be a big occasion, we saw the last game we can compete and they’re top players, but we have to be able to compete and no doubt we’ll be right up for it.”
Armenia boss Yegishe Melikyan said Barseghyan apologised to his team-mates after the game.
“Of course, the red card changed the game. It was a mistake,” said Melikyan.
“He took responsibility. He said sorry to the whole dressing room. But, if a player makes a mistake, it is also my mistake and for that I apologise.
“If there was no red card and we played 11 v 11, I think we could have got a good result. I thought we could have won, but we must go forward and I think we can get good results in the near future.”
Qatar are the headline news in the latest group of confirmed entrants for next year’s FIFA 2026 World Cup following the most recent round of qualifying matches.
The hosts of the 2022 edition of the global showpiece event reached the finals for the first time through the qualification route, when they beat the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
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South Africa also clinched a tight group, with fellow African giants Nigeria pushed to the playoffs, on a tense final day of group stage qualifiers on the continent. This came a day after Cape Verde’s first qualification for the World Cup finals.
The European teams still have some way to go to finish their qualifying groups, but the picture has become far clearer with some progress already made.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a close look at how the qualifying process stands around the globe:
After the latest round of qualifying matches, here is a breakdown of the confirmed contenders from each of the six regions:
Hosts: Canada, Mexico, United States
Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan
Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
Europe: England
Oceania: New Zealand
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
Africa: Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Nigeria will play off for the final intercontinental spot from the continent. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has yet to announce the dates for those matches.
Asia: The UAE and Iraq will vie for one intercontinental playoffs spot when they compete over two legs in the final stage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers in November.
Europe: 53 of the 54 European teams vying for 16 qualification spots can still confirm their berths, alongside England, as their first-round matches will run until November 18.
North, Central America and the Caribbean: With the World Cup host nations taking three spots, only three are left up for grabs. They will be decided on November 18. Bermuda, Costa Rica, Curacao, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago have all advanced to the third round. The three second-placed teams from each group will then fight for the intercontinental playoffs spot.
Oceania: New Caledonia have qualified for the intercontinental playoffs.
South America: Bolivia have qualified for the intercontinental playoffs, having missed out on one of the six automatic qualifying positions.
28/48 ✅@Aramco | #WeAre26 pic.twitter.com/eaksBnrBYM
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) October 14, 2025
Peru and Chile, who were third-place finishers in 1962, were the biggest names to miss out from the South America qualifiers, where Venezuela were also eliminated.
Although not considered a powerhouse in Asia, China will be disappointed not to reach their first finals since 2002.
Angola, Libya, Mali and Namibia will be among those disappointed to be eliminated from the African qualification.
Indonesia were hoping to reach only a second World Cup, and made a valiant run to the fourth round of AFC qualification. But they will be disappointed not to have gone one step further following their Dutch recruitment drive, which included their coach, Patrick Kluivert.
Bahrain, who topped their 2023 AFC Asian Cup group stage ahead of South Korea, only to be eliminated by Japan in the round of 16, will be deflated to have missed out on the chance to showcase their skills on the global stage. Palestine were only seconds away from reaching the fourth round of the AFC qualifier and, following their historic run to the knockout stage of the last Asian Cup, will also be disappointed not to have at least gone one step further in their continental qualifiers.
European qualification rounds stretch beyond the current group stages to March, while the intercontinental playoff final is scheduled for the same month, so the final 48 teams for the World Cup will not be known until less than three months before the tournament. March 31, 2026, is when all qualification will come to an end.
The World Cup draw, as revealed by US President Donald Trump in August, will take place on December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
“It’s the biggest, probably the biggest event in sports, I guess,” said Trump, who made the announcement in an Oval Office event where he was joined by Vice President JD Vance and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Trump also did not rule out overseeing the draw himself.
The tournament begins in Mexico City on June 11, and ends with the final in New Jersey on July 19.
Can you put a price on the experience of enjoying a World Series game at Dodger Stadium?
Yes, and it’s a very high one.
The Dodgers put tickets for potential World Series games on sale Tuesday, with the cheapest seat available for $881.95, according to an afternoon review of the team website. That seat — $800 for the ticket and $81.95 for fees — is located at the end of the reserve level, high above the field and next to the foul pole.
World Series prices posted on the website Tuesday ranged as high as $1,510.05. The best seats are sold as part of season packages, so that $1,510.05 seat ($1,371 ticket plus $139.05 fees) is located on the field level, near the foul pole and bullpen.
If the Dodgers advance to the World Series and play the Seattle Mariners, the Dodgers would play as many as four home games, starting Friday, Oct. 24. If the Dodgers advance and play the Toronto Blue Jays, the Dodgers would play as many as three home games, starting Monday, Oct. 27.
On Oct. 24, a family of four could get into Disneyland for a total of $796. On Oct. 27, a family of four could get into Disneyland for a total of $676.
Ticket prices are subject to change based on demand.
When the Dodgers put National League Championship Series tickets on sale, the cheapest price was $155. On Tuesday, the cheapest ticket on the team website for Game 3 on Thursday was $168.
However, since the game time has been set at 3 p.m. and weekday afternoon games are not popular, tickets on the resale market could be bought for about $100 Tuesday.
The Ivorians, who return to the World Cup finals for the first time since 2014, went through the entire 10-game group campaign without conceding a goal, one of two nations on the continent to do so alongside Tunisia.
Ivory Coast and Senegal join Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde and South Africa in booking their ticket to next year’s World Cup finals.
One more side – the winners of next month’s continental play-offs – could join that group if they emerge from an inter-confederation tournament in March next year.
Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon and Nigeria finished as the four best-ranked second-placed sides across the nine groups and one of those sides will have the chance to become Africa’s 10th representative at the expanded 48-team World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The Confederation of African Football is yet to announce a date for the play-off draw.
PHOENIX — Marcus Smart estimated he’ll be limited to about 20 to 25 minutes in his Lakers preseason debut Tuesday night against the Phoenix Suns as he returns from Achilles tendinopathy.
Speaking after the team’s shootaround Tuesday, the 31-year-old guard said the rash of Achilles injuries suffered by NBA stars recently — including three during the playoffs last season — made his initial diagnosis frightening, but he took a cautious approach with the Lakers staff to ensure he was ready for the season.
“It wasn’t scary in the fact of understanding that tendinopathy, we all kind of have it playing over the time,” said Smart, who is entering his 12th NBA season. “Just making sure you do everything you need to do, to make sure that you can get back out here, or to be able to say, ‘No, I can’t.’ So you got to test it, unfortunately, and you got to see where you’re at. So we’ve done all the tests on the court, off the court and we’re feeling fast, feeling good so we want to give it a shot.”
Guard Luka Doncic is also expected to make his preseason debut after he was on a modified training schedule following a busy summer spent with the Slovenian national team. Coach JJ Redick said Monday after practice that Doncic and the team’s training staff had yet to determine a minutes restriction on Doncic, but expects that the five-time All-Star will see an increased workload by the time he suits up again for his second preseason game.
The Lakers will follow Tuesday’s game in Phoenix with a game against Doncic’s former team, the Dallas Mavericks, in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Because of the back-to-back schedule, it’s likely Doncic will play again Friday at Crypto.com Arena against the Sacramento Kings.
Since they are playing four games in six days, the Lakers ruled out guard Gabe Vincent, forwards Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt and center Jaxson Hayes for Tuesday’s preseason game.
Rookie guard Adou Thiero [knee] has progressed to on-court activities, the team announced Tuesday, after the second-round draft pick was battling swelling in a knee. He will be re-evaluated in two to three weeks.
Nathan Aspinall threw two nine-dart finishes during the Players Championship 31 only to be blown away in the final – as Luke Littler suffered an early exit.
Aspinall, 34, produced perfect darts in a 6-4 victory over Irishman Steve Lennon in the second round, then repeated the feat in a 6-5 win over Germany’s Lukas Wenig in the last 16.
Englishman Aspinall had taken a 2-0 lead against Jermaine Wattimena of the Netherlands in the final in Wigan.
However, Wattimena reeled off eight legs on the bounce to clinically see off Aspinall and seal his second ranking title of the season.
Luke Littler, on the back of a semi-final defeat by Beau Greaves in the World Youth Championship on Monday, suffered a first-round exit as he lost 6-4 to fellow Englishman Ritchie Edhouse.
The 18-year-old world champion is currently 67th in the Players Championship standings, external and has three events to secure his place in the top 64 to qualify for the finals.
Michael van Gerwen is also in danger of not qualifying after he was knocked out at the same stage with a 6-4 loss to Dom Taylor.
The Dutchman is 92nd in table and must now make the final in the Players Championship 32 on Wednesday to secure his spot because he is skipping the final two events because of a pre-booked holiday.
There are 34 Players Championship events across the year, with the competition’s finals held in Minehead from 21-23 November.
Bijan Robinson is the best player in football.
That’s what Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris said about his star running back Monday night after a 24-14 win over reigning MVP Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.
While Morris may be somewhat biased toward his own player, national TV viewers might have trouble arguing with him after what they witnessed Robinson accomplish on this week’s “Monday Night Football.”
The third-year player tied his career high with 170 rushing yards (the most for a Falcons player during a prime time TV game) in 19 carries. That included a spectacular 81-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that was the longest run of his career as well the longest in the NFL this season. It’s also tied for the second-longest rushing touchdown in Falcons history.
Robinson now has three plays from scrimmage of 50 yards or more this season after having only one longer than 30 yards last year.
“IIt’s just a thing of my game where I want to get better at and continue to get better at every single day,” Robinson said after the game. “And you know, if I can get better at that and breaking those long runs, it’s only helping the team.”
Robinson also caught six passes from quarterback Michael Penix Jr. for 68 yards for a total of 238 yards from scrimmage, the most ever for a Falcons running back.
“There are some people who are just born to be a certain athlete,” Falcons receiver Drake London said after the game. “Like you have certain people who are born to be basketball players, such as LeBron [James]. You have people who are born to be football players, like they have the perfect body shape for it. Now, [Robinson] goes out there, and it’s like art. It’s amazing to see.”
Speaking of James, the Lakers superstar also took notice of Robinson’s performance.
“Bijan so COLD!!!!!!!!!” James posted on X during the game.
A first-round draft pick in 2023 and a Pro Bowl selection last year, Robinson leads the league with 822 yards from scrimmage this season (484 rushing and 338 receiving), and it’s not even all that close.
The Falcons are one of only six teams that have had their bye weeks already, meaning Robinson has compiled his total in five games. The next 11 players on the list — starting with San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey at No. 2 with 780 yards — have all played in six games.
If he keeps this pace, Robinson will finish the season with 2,797 yards from scrimmage, which would break the current record of 2,509 yards set by Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson in 2009. Johnson’s record was set during a 16-game season; Robinson is on pace to have 2,630 yards after his 16th game of the 17-game season.
So maybe Morris wasn’t being all that biased in his post-game comments about Robinson after all.
“He’s the best player in football,” Morris told reporters. “I’ve said it multiple times, I can’t say it enough. You can always have your pick, you can always go out there and figure out who you want to vote for, but in my opinion, he’s the best player in football.”
During a 19-year playing career that yielded 123 bookings and 12 red cards, Muscat was once branded the “most hated man in football”.
Post-retirement, he revealed, external former Rangers manager Alex McLeish did not trust him to play in an Old Firm derby during his brief spell at Ibrox.
It is to the Australian’s credit that he has since gone on to somewhat shake off his hot-head image in an impressive 13 years in management.
His glowing CV attracted Rangers two years ago, but he reportedly missed out on the job when the club opted for Philippe Clement instead.
At that time, former Rangers team-mate Neil McCann told BBC Scotland that the Ibrox side would be getting someone with “presence” who “understands the league, the intensity, the rivalry and how to get the job done”.
Muscat was then first-team boss at Yokohama F Marinos, where he won 2022 J-League after taking over from Ange Postecoglou following his exit for Celtic.
He also succeeded Postecoglou at Melbourne Victory after a period working under the current Nottingham Forest head coach.
It was in Melbourne where Muscat’s managerial career began, winning the A-League Championship twice in five-and-a-half years before his move to Japan.
Runners-up spots in the J-League in 2021 and 2023 bookended his 2022 triumph in Yokohama.
Muscat became a title winner in a third different country last year in China, and he is on the verge of another with just four games remaining as his side sit top with a two-point lead.
Across his managerial tenures in Australia, Japan and China, his win rate stands at 54%, with his teams scoring an average of 1.9 goals per game while conceding 1.2.
His Shanghai Port side scored 96 times in a 30-game league-winning campaign last year.
Those numbers suggest this is a coach who can win while implementing a front-foot approach. How that translates to Scottish football is unclear, though.
From Jack Harris: The reason the Milwaukee Brewers are in the National League Championship Series is because of plays like the one that ended the fourth inning Monday night.
A strange, one-in-a-million, 400-foot double play in which one Brewers fielder made a spectacular defensive effort, and another never lost awareness of a wacky situation — highlighting the sound fundamentals that made them baseball’s winningest team this season.
The reason the Dodgers are here, however, is because of how they can respond to adversity — settling the panic with their dominant starting pitching, rallying at the plate with their star-studded lineup and suffocating an opponent with a record $415-million payroll’s worth of talent.
In their 2-1 win in Game 1 of the NLCS at American Family Field, that was ultimately what made the difference.
The evening’s most memorable moment might have been that fourth-inning cluster, when the Dodgers had the bases loaded with one out, only to come up empty when Max Muncy had a potential grand slam robbed (but, crucially, not caught cleanly) and two Dodgers runners were retired on forceouts at home plate and third base.
But, the most important contributions were what came after that, with Freddie Freeman’s home run in the sixth inning giving the Dodgers the lead, and Blake Snell’s scoreless eight-inning, one-hit, 10-strikeout master class ensuring they wouldn’t relinquish it — even with some heartburn from the bullpen at the end.
“Obviously, there were some crazy things that happened,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s not going to come easy.”
Hernández: Dodgers’ Game 1 NLCS win shows financial might can make things right
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Dodgers add pitcher Ben Casparius to NLCS roster, drop catcher Dalton Rushing
All times Pacific
NLCS
Dodgers vs. Milwaukee
Dodgers 2, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)
Tuesday: at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio
Thursday: at Dodgers, 3 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio
Friday: at Dodgers, 5:30 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio
*-Saturday: at Dodgers, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio
*-Monday: at Milwaukee, 2 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio
*-Tuesday, Oct. 21: at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio
ALCS
Seattle vs. Toronto
Seattle 3, at Toronto 1 (box score)
Seattle 10, at Toronto 3 (box score)
Wednesday at Seattle, 5 p.m., FS1
Thursday at Seattle, 5:30 p.m., FS1
*-Friday at Seattle, 3 p.m., FS1
*-Sunday at Toronto, 5 p.m., FS1
*-Monday at Toronto, 5 p.m., Fox/FS1
*-if necessary
From Ben Bolch: Fox College Football tweeted that “The Jerry Neuheisel Era has begun with the Bruins.”
ESPN personality Pat McAfee added to the chorus of adoration for UCLA’s new playcaller, tweeting that Neuheisel “just might be a football wizard.”
Other media and sports betting sites tweeting about the Bruins’ turnaround from 0-4 to darlings of the college football world prominently featured pictures of the blond-haired assistant coach.
It was enough to prompt the sports media website Awful Announcing to ask: “Does anyone know that Tim Skipper is actually UCLA’s interim head coach, not Jerry Neuheisel?”
Having been preoccupied with saving a season, Skipper acknowledged being blissfully unaware of any narratives about who’s done what to spark his team’s turnabout.
From Ryan Kartje: USC was down to two walk-ons in its battered backfield, when Trojans coach Lincoln Riley decided to dress injured sophomore running back Bryan Jackson for the second half of Saturday’s win over Michigan, despite the fact Jackson was listed by the team as out on the Big Ten’s pregame availability report.
Riley explained the decision to play Jackson after the game, describing it as “a unique situation” and “a wellness issue.” But on Monday, the Big Ten chose to slap USC with a fine of $5,000 for violating conference rules regarding its availability reports.
“Although these circumstances were unfortunate, it is critical for availability reports to be accurate,” a Big Ten spokesperson said. “Consequently, the conference is imposing a $5,000 fine and admonishes all institutions to use the “out” designation only if there are no circumstances under which a student-athlete could participate in a game. The conference considers the matter closed and will have no further comment.”
From Broderick Turner: When Luka Doncic plays in his first exhibition game of the season for the Lakers against the Phoenix Suns Tuesday night, Coach JJ Redick said the plan with his star is pretty simple.
“Give him the ball,” Redick said, laughing.
Redick paused for a second.
“You talking about minutes?” he asked.
Redick said they are “still working through what that looks like” with the Lakers’ staff and Doncic’s team.
Marco Rossi scored in the fourth round of the shootout and the Minnesota Wild beat the Kings 4-3 on Monday night after giving up a three-goal lead in the third period.
Power-play goals by Jared Spurgeon, Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead late in the first period.
The score remained until the third period when Kevin Fiala, Quinton Byfield scored early and Adrain Kempe late to send the game to overtime.
1945 — The Chicago Cardinals snap the longest losing streak in NFL history at 29 games with a 16-7 victory over the Chicago Bears.
1949 — Ezzard Charles TKOs Pat Valentino in 8 for heavyweight boxing title.
1951 — Detroit’s Jack Christiansen returns two punts for touchdowns, but the Lions still lose, 27-21, to the Los Angeles Rams.
1962 — Houston’s George Blanda throws six touchdown passes to lead the Oilers to a 56-17 rout of the New York Titans.
1967 — The Kings, led by Brain Kilrea, beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 in their NHL debut. The game is held at Long Beach (Calif.) Arena. Kilrea scores two goals, including the first one in Kings history.
1978 — Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs gets seven assists in a 10-7 victory over the New York Islanders.
1979 — Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky scores his first NHL goal in a 4-4 tie with the Vancouver Canucks. Gretzky beats goaltender Glen Hanlon with the tying power-play goal with 1:09 remaining in the third period.
1990 — Joe Montana passes for career highs of 476 yards and six touchdowns and Jerry Rice ties an NFL record with five scoring receptions as the San Francisco 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons 45-35.
1991 — New York Rangers right wing Mike Gartner scores his 500th career goal in the first period of a 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals.
2005 — Ryan Newman sets a NASCAR record by winning his fifth consecutive Busch Series race, the Charlotte 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
2006 — Mats Sundin scores his 500th career goal, completing a hat trick with a short-handed overtime game-winner and giving Toronto a 5-4 victory over Calgary. The third goal is Sundin’s 15th in overtime — the most in NHL history.
2007 — Tom Brady of New England passes for 388 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in a 48-27 win over previously unbeaten Dallas. The five TDs gives Brady the NFL mark with at least three in each of the first six games of the season.
2011 — Japan’s Kohei Uchimura becomes the first man to win three titles at the world gymnastics championships in Tokyo. Uchimura finishes with 93.631 points in the men’s all-around, more than three points ahead of Germany’s Philipp Boy.
2012 — Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers sets a career high and ties a franchise record with six touchdown passes, three to Jordy Nelson, and the Packers rout the Houston Texans 42-24. Rodgers completes 24 of 37 passes for 338 yards and ties Matt Flynn’s single-game record for TD passes, set in last year’s regular-season finale against Detroit.
2015 — Sylvia Fowles has 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Minnesota Lynx capture their third WNBA title in five years with a 69-52 victory over the Indiana Fever in Game 5.
2018 — Stephen Gostkowski hit a 28-yard field goal as time expires, and the New England Patriots beat the Kansas City Chiefs 43-40 after blowing a big halftime lead. Tom Brady passes for 340 yards and a touchdown and runs for another score in his 200th victory as a starting quarterback, tops in NFL history. With New England leading 24-9 at halftime, Patrick Mahomes directs an impressive rally by Kansas City in the second half. He finishes 23 of 36 for 352 yards in his first loss as a starting quarterback, with three of his four TD passes going to Tyreek Hill.
2020 — The NFL cancels the Pro Bowl scheduled for January, 31, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Compiled by the Associated Press
1973 — 42-year-old future Baseball Hall of Fame center fielder Willie Mays′ last MLB career hit, as the NY Mets beat A’s, 10-7 in World Series Game 2 in Oakland.
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
The Indonesia government said last week it will not grant visas to Israeli gymnasts for the World Championships.
Published On 14 Oct 202514 Oct 2025
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The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected appeals by the Israel Gymnastics Federation to be allowed to compete at a world championships in Indonesia this weekend.
The CAS also turned down Israel’s request to force the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to guarantee Israel’s participation, or alternatively cancel or move the artistic worlds, set to start on Sunday in Jakarta.
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The Indonesian government last week said it will not grant visas to Israeli gymnasts, and the Swiss-based CAS said on Tuesday that FIG stated it has no control over Indonesia’s visa policies.
In its reaction to Indonesia’s move, the FIG did not threaten to take the event away from Indonesia as stipulated in its statutes for cases where the host refuses to issue visas. Israel wanted the FIG “taking note” of the government statement to be annulled, but CAS also rejected that on Tuesday.
Indonesia’s decision to deny visas came after Israel’s planned participation sparked intense opposition in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, which has long been a staunch supporter of Palestinians.
Israel is among 86 countries registered to compete at the worlds, with a team featuring 2021 Olympic gold medallist and defending world champion Artem Dolgopyat in the men’s floor exercise.
Now its participation is in doubt, even though the Israeli federation said in July that it had been assured by Indonesian officials that it would be welcome at the worlds. That would have gone against Indonesia’s longstanding policy of refusing to host Israeli sport delegations for major events.
The gymnastics spat is the latest example of how the global backlash against Israel over the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza has spread into the arenas of sport and culture.
Sri Lanka and New Zealand were forced to settle for a point each after their Women’s World Cup match in Colombo was abandoned because of rain.
Co-hosts Sri Lanka had racked up 258-6 after opting to bat first, thanks to the fastest fifty of the tournament so far, coming up off 26 balls, from Nilakshi de Silva.
The 36-year-old finished unbeaten on 55 from 28 balls after captain Chamari Athapaththu had hit a classy 53 from 72 balls in an opening stand of 101 with Vishmi Gurunaratne, who made 42 from 83 balls.
That left New Zealand needing their highest second-innings total at a World Cup for victory, only for the rain to arrive before the chase could begin.
The umpires officially abandoned the match at 16:45 BST.
While Sri Lanka will be frustrated to be denied a chance to claim a first victory of the tournament, the result leaves New Zealand facing a real battle to reach the semi-finals.
Sophie Devine’s side are a point off the top four and take on Pakistan on Saturday before tough matches against India and England to finish the group stage.
Hi, everyone, welcome back to Lakers newsletter. This is Thuc Nhi Nguyen, The Times’ Lakers beat writer. Thank you for your warm welcome into this space (and your food recommendations). We’re now halfway through the preseason, and let me tell you: I can’t wait until we get real basketball back again.
We are at least one step closer to seeing what this Lakers team really looks like as Luka Doncic is expected to make his preseason debut against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. He is expected to play in two of the final three preseason games and, with a back-to-back coming, it’s most likely that Doncic will finish his preseason play on Friday at Crypto.com Arena against the Sacramento Kings instead of in Las Vegas against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, on Wednesday.
Doncic’s return can help answer some questions about the Lakers, but there is still plenty to address with one week until the season opener.
If you didn’t hear, LeBron James was at the center of a major announcement last week.
No, it’s not that the Lakers star and my dad share an affinity for Hennessy.
It’s that James will be sidelined for three to four weeks as he manages sciatica in his right side. The timeline announced by the team last Thursday means James will miss the regular season opener on Oct. 21 against the Golden State Warriors. As he enters Year 23, James still has room for more firsts: This will be the first time in his NBA career that he doesn’t play in a season opener.
While coach JJ Redick has tried to downplay preseason decisions about the starting lineup, he admitted Monday that James’ prolonged absence “complicates things a little bit.” With every group, Redick said, it’s about finding balance: ensuring there’s enough shooting, facilitating and defense to go around while also managing each player’s own temperament.
“We have a week to figure that out,” Redick said Monday, “and I think it will reveal itself to us.”
Marcus Smart
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
So who will be up for the role?
Marcus Smart, who figured to be a potential starting candidate even when James was healthy, will make his preseason debut on Tuesday. He was battling Achilles tendinopathy to begin the preseason.
Smart returned to practice last week, working up to being a full participant during practices Thursday and Saturday, and impressed Redick with the classic Marcus Smart hustle and defense. Even while sidelined, Smart was lauded for his communication and leadership style.
Smart was already considered as a potential starting option over returner Rui Hachimura because the Lakers were looking for a stronger defender at the point of attack. They may have rediscovered another option in Jarred Vanderbilt.
Finally healthy from a lingering foot injury, Vanderbilt has earned rave reviews for his defensive resurgence during training camp. The 6-foot-8 forward has 13 rebounds, four steals and one block in three preseason games. He even turned heads with tweaked shooting mechanics to potentially increase his influence as a potential three-and-D option.
But Vanderbilt is one for 10 from three-point range in three preseason games.
The offensive load during James’ absence will likely fall more toward Hachimura or free agent addition Jake LaRavia.
Second-year guard Dalton Knecht could provide a scoring punch off the bench, especially after Redick said Knecht was the team’s best offensive player in training camp. Knecht, who struggled during summer league because he over-trained during the offseason, was outscoring his teammates by 42 points during live practice periods by Sunday. Redick rewarded him with a starting spot in the home preseason game against the Warriors and he responded with 16 points on four-of-nine shooting from the field and was six of eight from the free throw line.
But the 24-year-old who was briefly traded last year to return only when the deal fell through needs to earn his playing time by showing other skills.
“His ceiling is going to be based on his improvement this season as a defender,” Redick said.
Austin Reaves has already carried the heaviest workload of the preseason, especially as Doncic and James were out. Reaves delivered with 41 points in 44 minutes in two games, but knows any single Herculean effort won’t be enough to replace James long-term.
“It’s a next-man-up mentality,” Reaves said, echoing a similar message from Doncic. “Nobody is going to fill what he does with one person. I can’t go be LeBron. I wish I could. But I think you got to do it as a collective group. And that’s what we’ll do.”
Clockwise from top left: Shrimp shumai, fried shrimp ball, baked BBQ pork bun, steam pork bun and shrimp noodle rolls.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
The Lakers got a valuable week at home, but I stayed on the road for a friend’s wedding in Brooklyn. To me, there’s no better way to celebrate than with dim sum.
We schlepped from Brooklyn to Manhattan’s Golden Unicorn, where I was too impatient to take a picture of everything, but the first wave included baked BBQ pork buns, steamed pork buns, shrimp noodle rolls, shrimp shumai and fried shrimp balls.
My dim sum staples are har gow and the classic pork and shrimp shumai, but my favorite dish this time was mango pudding (unfortunately not pictured). Loaded with chunks of fresh mango, it was the perfect sweet treat before I spent the next few hours in food coma mode.
Luka Doncic set to play in first preseason game against Suns Tuesday
JJ Redick isn’t overly concerned about the Lakers’ on-court chemistry
LeBron James to miss Lakers’ opening game because of sciatica issue
Natalia Bryant makes her debut as a creative director with Lakers short film
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Manager Michael O’Neill felt had Northern Ireland beaten Germany at Windsor Park in World Cup qualifying on Monday night that they would have been in a “strong position to achieve something amazing”.
It was not to be with Nick Woltemade’s somewhat fortuitous goal the difference between the two sides in Belfast.
When the dust settles on a window during which his young side also beat Slovakia 2-0 on Friday, O’Neill will surely feel encouraged that such a possibility remains on the table as he seeks to take the side to the game’s biggest stage for the first time in four decades.
For the second time in five weeks, Northern Ireland’s players left the field against the four-time World Cup winners believing they could and perhaps should have taken something from the game.
In Cologne last month, it took until after the 70th minute before the visitors tired and quick-fire goals from Nadiem Amiri and Florian Wirtz secured an unconvincing 3-1 win.
Back in Belfast on Monday night, it was Northern Ireland who finished the stronger of the sides, but they could not find an equaliser during a final 25 minutes played largely in Germany’s third of the pitch.
The result ends any realistic chance of O’Neill’s side topping Group A, but the performance, allied with wins in their other two matches to date, means they can have real belief that they can both make and then succeed in the play-offs.
A draw in next month’s seemingly crunch fixture in Slovakia followed by a win over Luxembourg, provided as O’Neill put it “Germany take care of business at home when they play Slovakia” in the final matchday, would be enough for second place.
Even should that not come to pass, there remains a likely backdoor into the play-offs as an otherwise unqualified group winner from last year’s Nations League, although that would potentially mean a considerably stronger opponent in an away semi-final.
“We’ve gained some momentum and picked up some good results,” said defender Paddy McNair, one of two players in O’Neill’s current squad who played for Northern Ireland in their last major tournament at Euro 2016.
“If I was the opposition, I would not like to face us in the play-offs.
“It’s pretty hard to finish first now, but I think we have to get to Slovakia and get three points and you just never know what could happen going into the last game.”
After Contreras’ offensive coordinator, Carlos Trujillo, did his work on Friday night during his team’s 39-14 win over Hollywood, he was picked up by car and whisked off to Los Angeles International Airport to take a red-eye flight to Chicago so he could complete the 11th marathon of his life.
“I will never be crazy enough to do one,” Contreras head coach Manuel Guevara said.
Running 26.2 miles is pretty challenging, but Trujillo has found something he enjoys, and players admire his commitment.
“The entire varsity [team] wished him good luck,” Guevara said. “It teaches the kids that coaches challenge themselves in different ways.”
He’ll be back for practice on Tuesday as Contreras (4-3, 2-0) prepares for a key Central League game against Bernstein on Thursday night.
Trujillo, 43, said he started running marathons when he was head coach at North Hollywood. He has run marathons in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and New York besides Chicago.
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Broad retired from playing after the Ashes series in England in 2023, when Australia retained the urn with a 2-2 draw.
He added: “You wouldn’t be outlandish in thinking – it’s actually not an opinion, it’s a fact – it’s probably the worst Australian team since 2010 when England last won, and it’s the best English team since 2010.
“So those things match up to the fact it’s going to be a brilliant Ashes series.”
The first Test starts in Perth on 21 November and Australia’s preparations have been hit by the potential absence of skipper Cummins, who has not played since July because of lumbar bone stress in his back.
The pace bowler is still recovering from the injury and has said he is “less likely than likely” to play in the opener.
His absence would leave Australia with a bowling attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland, who are all in their mid-30s, with their other seamers inexperienced or untried at Test level.
The packed Ashes schedule – five Tests in seven weeks – also means both sides will be tested by injuries.
“Australia have been so consistent for a long period of time that you just knew who was going to open the batting, who was going to bat where, what bowlers there were – and they don’t have that,” said Broad.
“It’s very much a similar situation to 2010-2011 when England went and won there.
“The fact of the matter is Australia generally have to be bad to lose in Australia and England have to be very good.
“England have a great chance of being very good and Australia have a decent chance of being bad.
“I don’t think anyone could argue that it’s their weakest team since 2010… it’s just a fact.”
EXPLAINER
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino was among attendees in Egypt, continuing a string of appearances with the US president Donald Trump.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s participation in Summit for Peace held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on Monday may have been a surprise to those who were expecting only world leaders, presidents and high-ranking officials to be in attendance at the Red Sea resort town.
Infantino was photographed next to the co-chair of the event, United States President Donald Trump, in the latest joint appearance by the pair during the second Trump presidency.
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Here is all to know about Infantino’s presence in Egypt:
Infantino stated that Trump had invited him to the Summit for Peace and that “FIFA is here to help, to assist and to put ourselves at disposal for whatever we can do to make sure that this peace process comes to fruition and to the best possible end.”
His invitation followed the FIFA president becoming more vocal on the Israel-Gaza conflict in recent days.
Last week, he called for football to support efforts towards peace in the Middle East in the lead-up to two World Cup qualifiers that involved Israel, after pro-Palestinian demonstrations were planned at stadiums in Norway and Italy.
After Friday’s Israel-Hamas ceasefire announcement, Infantino praised the US-brokered plan and singled out Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
“The role of President Trump has been absolutely fundamental and crucial in the process. Without President Trump, there would be no peace,” he said.
In Sharm el Sheikh, the FIFA president stressed football’s important role in creating new hope in the Middle East region.
Infantino pledged the governing body’s support to rebuild football infrastructure in Gaza as part of wider post-war reconstruction efforts following Monday’s peace summit.
“Football’s role has to be to support, has to be to unite, has to be to give hope in the region. In Gaza, in Palestine, we will, of course, help to rebuild all the football facilities. We will help to bring football back – together with the Palestinian Football Association – in every corner of the country. We will bring (footballs), we will build pitches, we will bring instructors, we will help organise competitions, we will launch a fund to help rebuild football infrastructure in Palestine,” he announced.
Infantino added that FIFA would contribute with mini-pitches and “FIFA arenas” and invite other partners to join the effort, saying “football brings hope to children, and it’s very, very important.”
Trump first met Infantino at the White House in 2018, during his first presidential term, after the US was awarded the co-hosting rights to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
They have appeared at summits together before; in 2020, they shared the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It was during this summit that Infantino first called Trump “my great friend”, according to reporting by The Washington Post.
The pair remained in contact when Trump left office in early 2021, but since the second Trump presidency, which coincided with June’s FIFA Club World Cup staged in the US, Infantino has been seen repeatedly with the US president.
Most recently, on August 22, Infantino was filmed inside the Oval Office after he gifted a gold replica World Cup trophy to Trump.
In late 2024, Infantino relocated to Trump’s hometown in Miami due to his North American-based World Cup commitments, ensuring the two friends have easy access for any joint public appearances in the future.
Aspiration Partners made a splash when it entered the green investing space in 2013.
The Marina del Rey firm billed itself as a socially conscious online banking company, offering investments and focusing its finances on the climate crisis. It also generated and sold carbon credits meant to help offset greenhouse gas emissions.
Soon, it collected celebrity investors such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Robert Downey Jr., and Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft chief executive, philanthropist and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.
But 12 years later, things have turned sour.
Earlier this year, the co-founder and another top company official agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud charges and scheming to bilk investors using falsified documents. Aspiration went bankrupt.
And now, the company is at the center of a NBA investigation into whether a $28-million deal the firm cut with Clippers star Kawhi Leonard was designed to help the team circumvent the league’s salary cap.
The Clippers have strongly denied that, and said neither the team nor Ballmer played any role in Leonard’s deal and that there was no intention to violate any NBA rules. Leonard has also denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement, the Clippers said Ballmer and his family are “focused on sustainability” and built the Clippers’ home arena at the leading edge of environmental design. Aspiration was part of that effort, the statement said, and Ballmer was “duped on the investment and on some parts of this agreement, as were many other investors and employees.”
A review of hundreds of pages of court records offers a window into how the once high-flying green company fell amid illegal dealings and multiple federal criminal investigations.
Founded by Joseph Sanberg and Andrei Cherny, Aspiration Partners reportedly raised $110 million from venture capital funds in just its first few years of existence.
It came at a moment of rising concern about climate change, and Aspiration seemed to capitalize. Sizable deals rolled in, including a $315-million pact with Oaktree Capital Management and Ballmer.
The firm even partnered with rapper Drake in 2021, using its reforestation program to offset the artist’s estimated climate impact. The company at the time claimed its business partners and customers had funded the planting of 15 million trees over the course of a year.
In September 2021, the Clippers announced a deal with the company as the first “Founding Partner” for its state-of-the-art arena in Inglewood. The idea was fans would be able to offset their carbon impact when buying a ticket to watch the team. Aspiration even bid unsuccessfully for the naming rights to the venue, now known as Intuit Dome.
The partnership, the news release announcing it declared, “set a new standard for social responsibility in sports.”
But behind the cadre of celebrity sponsors and investors, court documents reveal trouble was brewing inside Aspiration.
In 2020, the company explored a potential $55-million loan from an investor fund in exchange for 10.3 million shares of stock, according to federal court filings. But the investor fund wanted a “put option” — a sort of safety net guaranteeing it would be able to sell its stock if Aspiration defaulted on the loan, according to federal complaints.
Sanberg, according to federal prosecutors, turned to Ibrahim Ameen AlHusseini, a venture capitalist and then-board member of Aspiration Partners.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Sanberg was aware AlHusseini didn’t have the funds to cover the “put option.” So he allegedly coordinated with AlHusseini to falsify financial records and inflate AlHusseini’s worth by tens of millions of dollars.
Federal prosecutors allege AlHusseini sent Sanberg a spreadsheet showing his investment portfolio from several years back and told Sanberg the spreadsheet was not accurate but a “hypothetical.”
Sanberg, according to the federal complaint filed against him, revised the spreadsheet to read as if it were from Dec. 31, 2019, and sent it to an investment advisor.
AlHusseini also used a graphic designer from Lebanon to falsify financial documents at least 24 times between April 2020 and February 2023, according to the federal complaint filed against Sanberg. The records sent to the financial advisor made it appear that AlHusseini’s investments and assets were worth more than $200 million, the records show.
But in reality, federal prosecutors allege his Bank of America account balance in September 2021 was $11,556.89. His Fidelity investment accounts, according to court records from federal prosecutors, totaled $2,963.63 at the time.
According to a federal complaint, Sanberg then refinanced the loaned $55 million, securing $145 million from another investment firm, again using a “put option” from AlHusseini. This time, AlHusseini promised to buy the shares for $65 million from that firm if Sanberg defaulted, according to the federal complaint.
AlHusseini did not have the funds to back that deal, federal prosecutors alleged in court papers. But he still banked $6.3 million for his role in securing it, the complaint alleged.
There were other signs the company was in trouble.
Federal prosecutors allege Sanberg moved money from his personal checking account between Aspiration and another one of his companies in March 2022, making it appear on paper as if new investments were coming in.
On Nov. 2, 2022, Sanberg defaulted on the loan, and AlHusseini agreed the following month to boost the put option value to $75 million.
Some contractors began to complain that they were not being paid, according to court filings. Lawsuits followed.
In July 2022, Cherny also notified the company he would step down as chief executive. The day after he and the company signed a separation agreement in October, Sanberg threatened to sue him, according to a letter from Sanberg’s attorneys sent to Cherny.
Cherny would later file suit against Aspiration Partners, alleging the company didn’t pay him the entirety of his severance package agreed to in October 2022, according to a complaint filed in federal court. The suit was settled out of court earlier this year.
Federal prosecutors filed charges against AlHusseini in October 2024. He later agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud, as well as to work with federal authorities in their investigation.
He is expected to appear in court for a sentencing hearing on Feb. 26, according to court filings.
Aspiration Partners filed for bankruptcy in March.
Sanberg originally entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, but in August he agreed to plead guilty to two felony counts of wire fraud, according to federal prosecutors.
Court filings show he is expected in court on Oct. 20 for a change of plea hearing.
Aspiration cut its deal with Leonard in 2022. Although players are allowed to have separate endorsement and other business deals, the NBA probe is trying to determine whether the Clippers participated in arranging the side deal beyond simply introducing Aspiration executives to Leonard.
The investigation follows information detailed in the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast, which reported that Leonard’s deal amounted to a no-work contract meant to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap rules.
The salary cap limits how much teams can spend on player payroll. It’s meant to ensure talent parity by preventing the league’s wealthiest teams from outspending smaller markets to acquire the best players.
Circumventing the cap by paying a player outside of his contract is strictly prohibited and can be severely punished.
Cherny, in a statement posted on X, disputed that the agreement with Leonard required no work from the basketball star.
“The contract contained three pages of extensive obligations that Leonard had to perform,” Cherny wrote in the Sept. 12 post. “And the contract clearly said that if Leonard did not meet those obligations, Aspiration could terminate the contract.”
In the statement, Cherny said he does not remember any conversations about the NBA’s salary cap when the contract between Leonard and Aspiration was signed.
“There were numerous internal conversations about the various things Aspiration was planning to do with Leonard once the 2022-23 season began, including emails from the marketing team about their plans,” he said.
Cherny declined to be interviewed for this article.
It was Aspiration’s collapse that shed light on the Leonard deal. According to bankruptcy filings, Leonard’s private company, KL2 Aspire, is listed as one of the company’s biggest creditors — being owed $7 million.
The Clippers are, by far, the biggest creditor listed for the company, with more than $30 million in outstanding debt.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Clippers said the team terminated its relationship with Aspiration during the 2022-23 season, when the company defaulted on the agreement.
Ballmer has said he was duped by Aspiration, and insisted the Clippers followed all NBA rules. He also said he welcomed the investigation.
The Clippers signed Leonard to a four-year, $176-million contract in August 2021. In an interview with ESPN last month, Ballmer said that the sponsorship deal with Aspiration was completed in September 2021 and that the Clippers introduced Leonard to Aspiration two months later.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Clippers said both the team and Ballmer were unaware of Aspiration’s suspicious dealings.
“Neither the Clippers nor Mr. Ballmer was aware of any improper activity by Aspiration or its co-founder until after the government instituted its investigation,” the statement read. “The team and Mr. Ballmer stand ready to assist law enforcement in any way they can.”
India wasted little time in completing a clean sweep over West Indies to give Shubman Gill his first Test series win as captain.
Opener KL Rahul hit an unbeaten half-century as India sealed a seven-wicket win on the fifth morning in Delhi.
It keeps the hosts third in the early stages of the World Test Championship (WTC) standings,, external behind Australia and Sri Lanka.
The win was set up by centuries in the first innings by Yashasvi Jaiswal (175) and Gill (129*).
West Indies were bundled out for 248 in reply but did manage to fight back and make India bat again with a better second-innings showing.
John Campbell and Shai Hope hit dogged centuries, taking the tourists to 271-3 before Hope was bowled by Mohammed Siraj and the middle order collapsed.
Six wickets fell for 40 runs, before some late hitting by number 11 Jayden Seales added enough runs to give India a chase of sorts.
However, the hosts were always going to win once Rahul and Sai Sudharsan, who added 39 to his first-innings 87, put on 79 for the second wicket.
India’s next assignment is a white-ball tour of Australia, which will be broadcast ball by ball on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, before they welcome South Africa for a two-Test series.
West Indies begin a tour of New Zealand on 5 November. They are sixth in the WTC standings, with New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa only below them because they are yet to complete a Test in this latest cycle.