Originally published in December 2019
BBC Sport looks at why it’s time for AC Milan and Inter to “move into the future” and replace one of the world’s most prestigious football stadiums with a new arena in San Siro.
READ MORE: Demolition of iconic San Siro stadium confirmed
Available to UK users only.
The celebration had hardly begun, when Shohei Ohtani first voiced the theme of the day.
“I’m already thinking about the third time,” he said in Japanese, standing atop a double-decker bus in downtown Los Angeles with of thousands of blue-clad, flag-waving, championship-celebrating Dodgers fans lining the streets around him for the team’s 2025 World Series parade.
Turns out, he wasn’t alone.
Two days removed from a dramatic Game 7 victory that made the Dodgers baseball’s first repeat champion in 25 years, the team rolled through the streets of downtown and into a sold-out rally at Dodger Stadium on Monday already thinking about what lies ahead in 2026.
With three titles in the last six seasons, their modern-day dynasty might now be cemented.
But their goal of adding to this “golden era of Dodger baseball,” as top executive Andrew Friedman has repeatedly called it, is far from over.
“All I have to say to you,” owner and chairman Mark Walter told the 52,703 fans at the team’s stadium rally, “is we’ll be back next year.”
“I have a crazy idea for you,” Friedman echoed. “How about we do it again?”
When manager Dave Roberts took the mic, he tripled down on that objective: “What’s better than two? Three! Three-peat! Three-peat! Let’s go.”
When shortstop Mookie Betts, the only active player with four World Series rings, followed him, he quadrupled the expectation: “I got four. Now it’s time to fill the hand all the way up, baby. ‘Three-peat’ ain’t never sounded so sweet. Somebody make that a T-shirt.”
For these history-achieving, legacy-sealing Dodgers, Monday was a reminder of the ultimate end goal — the kind of scene that, as they embark on another short winter, will soon fuel their motivations for another confetti-filled parade this time next year.
“For me, winning a championship, the seminal moment of that is the parade,” Friedman said. “The jubilation of doing it, when you get the final out, whatever game you win it in, is special. That night is special. But to be able to take a breath and then experience a parade, in my mind, that is what has always driven me to want to win.”
Share via
“[To] do this for the city, that’s what it’s all about,” first baseman Freddie Freeman added. “There’s nothing that feels as important as winning a championship. And if so happens to be three in a row, that’s what it is. But that’s what’s gonna drive us to keep going.”
Last November, the Dodgers’ first parade in 36 years was a novelty.
Much of the group had been part of the 2020 title team that was denied such a serenade following that pandemic-altered campaign. They had waited four long years to experience a city-wide celebration. The reception they received was sentimental and unique.
Now, as third baseman Max Muncy said with a devious grin from atop a makeshift stage in the Dodger Stadium outfield, “it’s starting to get a little bit comfortable up here. Let’s keep it going.”
“Losing,” star pitcher and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto added, in English, in a callback to one of his memorable quotes from this past October, “isn’t an option.”
Doing it won’t be easy.
This year, the Dodgers’ win total went down to 93 in an inconsistent regular season. They had to play in the wild-card round for the first time since the playoffs expanded in 2022. And in the World Series, they faced elimination in Games 6 and 7, narrowly winning both to complete their quest to repeat.
“I borderline still can’t believe we won Game 7,” fan favorite Kiké Hernández said in a bus-top interview.
But, he quickly added, “We’re all winners. Winners win.”
Thus, they also get celebrations like Monday’s.
As it was 367 days earlier, the Dodgers winded down a parade route in front of tens of thousands of fans from Temple Street to Grand Avenue to 7th Street to Figueroa. Both on board the double-decker buses and in the frenzied masses below, elation swirled and beverages flowed.
Once the team arrived at Dodger Stadium, it climbed atop a blue circular riser in the middle of the field — the final symbolic steps of their ascent back to the mountaintop of the sport.
Anthony Anderson introduced them to the crowd, while Ice Cube delivered the trophy in a blue 1957 Chevy Bel-Air.
Familiar scenes, they are hoping become an annual tradition.
“Job in 2024, done. Job in 2025, done,” Freeman said. “Job in 2026? Starts now.”
The Dodgers did take time to recognize their newfound place in baseball history, having become just the sixth MLB franchise to win three titles in the span of six years and the first since the New York Yankees of 1998 to 2000 to win in consecutive years.
Where last year’s parade day felt more like an overdue coronation, this one served to crystallize their legacy.
“Everybody’s been asking questions about a dynasty,” Hernández said. “How about three in six years? How about a back-to-back?”
And, on Monday, all the main characters of this storybook accomplishment got their moment in the sun.
There was, as team broadcaster and rally emcee Joe Davis described him, “the Hall of Fame-bound” Roberts, who now only trails Walter Alston in team history with three World Series rings.
“We talked about last year, wanting to run it back,” he said. “And I’ll tell you right now, this group of guys was never gonna be denied to bring this city another championship.”
There was Game 7 hero Miguel Rojas calling up surprise October closer Roki Sasaki, on his birthday, to dance to his “Bailalo Rocky” entrance song; a request Sasaki sheepishly obliged by pumping his fist to the beat.
Yamamoto, coming off his heroic pitching victories in Games 6 and 7, received some of the day’s loudest ovations.
“We did it together,” he said. “I love the Dodgers. I love Los Angeles.”
Muncy, Ohtani and Blake Snell also all addressed the crowd.
“I’m trying to get used to this,” Snell said.
“I’m ready to get another ring next year,” Ohtani reiterated.
One franchise face who won’t be back for that chase: Clayton Kershaw, who rode into the sunset of retirement by getting one last day at Dodger Stadium, fighting back tears as he thanked the crowd at the end of his illustrious (and also Hall of Fame-bound) 18-year career.
Share via
“Last year, I said I was a Dodger for life. And today, that’s true,” Kershaw said. “And today, I get to say that I’m a champion for life. And that’s never going away.”
Kershaw, of course, is one of the few still around from the club’s dark days of the early 2010s, when money was scarce and playoff appearances were uncertain and parades were only things to dream about — not expect.
As he walks away, however, the team has been totally transformed.
Now, the Dodgers have been to 13 straight postseasons. They’ve set payroll records and bolstered their roster with a wave of star signings. They’ve turned the pursuit of championships into a yearly expectation, proud but unsatisfied with what they’ve achieved to this point.
“I think, definitionally, it’s a dynasty,” said Friedman, the architect of this run with the help of Walter’s deep-pocketed Guggenheim ownership group. “But that to me, in a lot of ways, that kind of caps it if you say, ‘OK, this is what it is.’ For me, it’s still evolving and growing. We want to add to it. We want to continue it, and do everything we can to put it at a level where people after us have a hard time reaching.”
On Monday, they raised that bar another notch higher.
“This parade was the most insane thing I’ve ever witnessed, been a part of,” Kershaw said. “It truly is the most incredible day ever to be able to end your career on.”
On Tuesday, the Dodgers’ long road toward holding another one begins.
“I know they’re gonna get one more next year,” Kershaw told the crowd. “And I’m gonna watch, just like all of you.”
TORONTO — As soon as Blake Treinen entered for the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night, Clayton Kershaw dropped his guard and began to look around.
For the previous three hours, the future Hall of Fame pitcher had been locked in on the game, mentally preparing for a potential relief appearance from out in the bullpen.
But when that didn’t come, the 37-year-old Kershaw then let himself relax, took in the scene of an October night at Chavez Ravine, and soaked up the final moments of what was his final game ever at Dodger Stadium.
“It’s a weird thought, of like, ‘This is your last game ever there,’” said Kershaw, who announced last month he will retire at the end of this season. “And not a sad thought. Honestly, just a grateful thought. Just like, ‘Man, we spent a lot of great times here.’”
Win or lose in Games 6 and 7 of this World Series, Kershaw’s overall career will end this weekend at Rogers Centre in Toronto. But on Wednesday night, he closed the book on the ballpark he has called home for all 18 seasons of his illustrious MLB career.
Dodger Stadium is where Kershaw first made his big-league debut back in May 2008, as a highly anticipated left-handed prospect with a big curveball and quiet demeanor. It was the stage for his rise to stardom over the nearly two decades that followed, as he went on to capture three Cy Young Awards, 2014 National League MVP honors and a career 2.53 ERA that ranks as the best among pitchers with 1,000 innings in the live ball era.
It is where he experienced some of the most defining moments of his career, including a no-hitter in 2014 and his 3,000th strikeout earlier this year. It’s also where he suffered repeated October disappointments, none bigger than the back-to-back home runs he gave up in Game 5 of the 2019 National League Division Series.
In other words, it was always home for Kershaw, the place he would return to day after day, year after year, season after season — no matter the highs or lows, aches and pains, successes or failures.
“I just started thinking about it when the game ended,” said Kershaw, who elected to traverse the field to get back to the clubhouse after Wednesday’s game instead of the connected bullpen tunnel. “I was like, ‘Man, I might as well walk across this thing one more time.’”
About an hour later, Kershaw would linger on the field a little longer, joined for an impromptu gathering by his wife, Ellen; their four children; and other family and friends in attendance for his last home game.
“Ellen just texted after and was like, ‘Hey, we got a big crew,’” Kershaw said. “So I was, ‘Well, just go to the field. I’ll try to shower fast so we can hang out.’”
Television cameras caught Kershaw laughing as his kids ran the bases, tried to throw baseballs at a hovering drone and enjoyed a diamond that had become their own personal childhood playground over the years.
At one point, Kershaw posed with the Dodger Stadium grounds crew for a picture — standing on a mound they had manicured for all of his 228 career starts in the stadium.
“Honestly, it was awesome,” Kershaw said. “It was the perfect way to do it. Just have everybody out there, running around … It was unplanned, unprompted, but a great memory.”
Kershaw, of course, is hoping to add one more Dodger Stadium memory next week. If the team can reverse its three-games-to-two deficit in the World Series this weekend in Toronto, it would return to Chavez Ravine for a championship celebration.
If not, though, he’ll have a couple parting moments to cherish, from Wednesday’s postgame scene down on the field, to his final career Dodger Stadium outing back in Game 4 in which he stranded the bases loaded in the 12th for one of the biggest outs in his entire career.
“I’m super grateful with how that went, as opposed to the last time before that,” he quipped, having given up five runs in his only other Dodger Stadium appearance this postseason. “You can’t plan any of that stuff. Who knows if it ever works out. But yeah, to get that one last out was pretty cool.”
So, too, was his one last night Wednesday.
A BRAND new visitor attraction is coming to a UK city – and it is opening tomorrow.
Zip World – a UK outdoor adventure giant – is opening its first ever city-centre site in Wales.
The new destination will be located on top of the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
The attraction will open tomorrow and will have three experiences.
The first experience is a Stadium Walk, where visitors can step across the rooftop of the Principality Stadium and gain panoramic views of the city.
At Stadium Drop, visitors can abseil down the side of the stadium.
Read more on travel inspo
Finally, at Stadium Flyer, visitors can head on a zip line across a 60 metre high canopy.
Unlike other Zip World attractions, the Cardiff site will sell tickets to each experience individually – so visitors can chose one experience, two or all three.
Tickets will start from £25 per person.
The opening of Zip World Cardiff at Principality Stadium will be Zip World’s second city-centric location, following the opening of Helix and ArcelorMittal Orbit 360 in London last year.
The attraction is opening in partnership with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).
The attraction was previously branded under the name Scale and was operated by Wire & Sky.
Zip World will now be the new operator of the Principality Stadium roof top attraction after securing a deal with the WRU.
Andrew Hudson, CEO of Zip World, commented: “Bringing Zip World to Cardiff is a proud moment for us.
“It’s our first stadium location and our first city-centre location in Wales.
“It’s chance to bring something new to the capital, in a place that means a lot to our team and to the wider Welsh public.
“Taking on the rooftop operations at Principality Stadium marks the start of an exciting new chapter – one where Zip World will act as a strategic partner to help shape the stadium’s next phase.
“This is just the beginning.
“Our team is working hard behind the scenes, and we can’t wait to introduce even more adventures to the stadium and bring a bit of Zip World magic to Cardiff – watch this space!”
Sean Taylor, founder and president of Zip World added: “As a lifelong rugby fan, I’ve got fond memories of watching Wales play as a young lad.
“The atmosphere was electric and the Andy Haden dive in 1978 is something I’ll never forget.
“To now be taking on the rooftop adventures at Principality Stadium marks a significant step forward for Zip World.”
Zip World also recently announced a new adventure attraction in one of the UK’s best loved beauty spots – with a huge underground zip wire.
ONE travel writer headed to Zip World in Llechwedd to see what it is like…
Zip World Llechwedd in North Wales is a bit different from your average theme park – and not just because of its location.
This vast cavern is twice the size of St Paul’s Cathedral and although there are no rollercoasters, it’s still crammed with exciting activities from an 18-hole underground crazy golf course and an adventure course that relies on wires, rope bridges and tightropes to a mega zipline above the quarry.
There’s even a deep mining tour that uncovers an underground lake at 500ft below which relies on a cable railway to get back to the surface.
My boys were most excited for Bounce Below, though – a sprawling and cavernous trampoline park which features nets set at different levels for adventurers young and old to explore.
You need to arrive about half an hour before your time slot to get checked in, but that gives you plenty of time to discover the site on the surface before you venture inside the mountain.
The boys had an absolute blast underground, exploring all the different levels of nets and the twisty slides that connect them.
The lights and music all added to the atmosphere and before we knew it, our hour was up and we were heading back along the tunnels to the mine entrance.
If you prefer to stay above ground, other Zip World sites in Wales, Cumbria , Manchester and London offer attractions like a toboggan ride downhill through the forest, high ropes courses and even a turn on the world’s longest and tallest tunnel slide overlooking the 2012 Olympic Park.
In other attraction news, the UK’s biggest indoor tropical waterpark to get massive new upgrade.
Plus, the new Guinness brewery attraction FINALLY announces opening date for the UK.
Dodgers fans Aiden Mashaka and his dad, Akida Mashaka.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
How long have you been a Dodgers fan?
Akida: What are you talking about? Kirk Gibson! I’m Tommy Lasorda, baby!
How much did you pay for your ticket?
Akida: $900. We bought our tickets from a third party. I’ve been asking my brother-in-law how much I owe him, but he’s such an amazing human being. He’s like “Don’t worry. I got this!”
Was it worth it?
Akida: Of course it’s worth it. We’re seeing the Dodgers World Series. The flight costs more than $900. If you have it, it’s worth it. If you don’t have it, it’s not worth it — you can watch it on TV. If I was still in school, I would be watching on TV. But I am a 53-year-old man, after many years of life, so I can spend $900 to watch the Dodgers.
Aiden: This is maybe my second or third game that I’ve been to for the Dodgers. Being at the World Series, like the grand finale, I feel like it’s a great time to be here. I’m really proud of my dad, my auntie and my uncle for bringing me here. I want to thank them.
Akida: Can we get a crying emoji?
Dodgers catcher Ben Rortvedt connects for a double against the Cincinnati Reds during Game 2 of the National League Wildcard Series at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 1.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Neither Alex Call nor Ben Rortvedt had appeared in a playoff game until this season. And though neither Dodger reserve got off the bench in the first two games of the World Series, they’re a lot closer to the action then they expected to be before the July trades that brought them to Los Angeles.
“It’s really cool. I’m just soaking it all in,” said Call, who came over from the Washington Nationals at the deadline.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” added Rortvedt, who was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays, then spent most of the summer in triple A before being called up when Will Smith got hurt in early September. “I’ve been taking it more day by day, so it hasn’t kind of struck me as much as people think it would. Definitely when this is done I’m really going to reflect and kind of realize how crazy it has been to kind of be on this team and be where we are now.”
Call, 31, who also played with the Cleveland Guardians in a five-year big-league career, appeared in one game in each of the Dodgers’ first three playoff series, going three for four with two walks, getting hit by a pitch and scoring a run.
“It’s kind of crazy because it feels like it should have been harder,” Call said of reaching the World Series. “With the Nats, it’s like we were going to have to grind our way all the way to the top. And then you get to come over the Dodgers and you’re the favorites, World Series champs. You’ve got probably the best roster ever assembled, with amazing stars up and down the lineup, and then they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, we want Alex Call on our team.’
“That’s kind of an amazing compliment.”
Rortvedt, 28, who also played with the Yankees and Minnesota Twins in four seasons, started the first four games of the postseason and hit .429.
“If I pinch myself, it’s kind of like I’m not sure [I’m here,]” he said. “I just try to be as prepared as I can, understand the magnitude of things, and just try to be prepared and try to slow everything down and do my best.”
The Shohei-inspired sushi roll, available only during games, features spicy tuna inside — representing Ohtani’s Japanese heritage — and avocado on top, representing California. “That’s the whole idea: the mixing of the cultures,” said owner Don Tahara. Other World Series specials — available all day, even when the game’s not on — include chili cheese fries, cocktail specials and Canadian poutine in a nod to the Blue Jays.
It’s Dodgers mania. Los Doyers clinched their spot in the World Series for the second year in a row.
Game 1 kicks off Friday. The first two games facing the Toronto Blue Jays will be away, with the Dodgers returning home for Games 3 and 4. Local restaurants and bars are preparing for back-to-back World Series wins by hauling in extra TVs and adding food and drink specials.
Whether you’re heading to Dodger Stadium and looking for a pre- or post-game destination or just want to be in the thick of Dodger madness, keep reading for 11 places near the stadium that are screening all of the games:
Sitting in a chair on Thursday night as fans came into SoFi Stadium to watch high school football games between Loyola and Gardena Serra and Leuzinger against Palos Verdes, you can hear the different reactions of first-time visitors as they climbed escalators and stairs to reach their seats.
Many were in awe.
“This is nice.”
“Wow. This stadium is so different.”
“I can’t believe I paid $80 for a high school game.”
The games have been put together by Playbook Events. Teams have to give up revenue they would make from hosting their own games. Parking costs $10 while student and adult tickets range from $29 to $71. Usual student tickets are $10 at home sites.
It’s clear players enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime experience to play in a prestigious NFL stadium that will host the swimming competition at the 2028 Olympic Games. And first-time visitors who’ve never been able attend a concert or NFL game at SoFi because of cost are truly impressed with the seating and experience.
But there’s also some issues that could enhance the experience. One fan suggested better directions on where to park and how to pay for parking, since only credit cards are accepted, and lots of grandparents are not tech savvy on how to purchase tickets online or which entrance to take to find the parking lot. Schools need to provide more specific instructions. Organizers are also requiring fans to sign a waiver when entering, leading to long lines if you don’t arrive early.
The cost for fans can be prohibitive, which means schools need to take that into account when agreeing to play a game at SoFi. The organizers certainly know what they are doing. Games start on time and security is plentiful and helpful for first-time visitors.
Loyola athletic director Chris O’Donnell said, “For this kind of experience, for both teams, it’s really great. I’d do this again in a second.”
The next big game at SoFi Stadium happens Thursday at 5 p.m. when unbeaten Los Alamitos plays Huntington Beach Edison.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
If Loyola football coach Drew Casani could give out game balls after his team’s 13-10 Mission League win over Gardena Serra at SoFi Stadium on Thursday night, he’d need to go to a sporting goods store to find enough to hand out. There were so many contributors.
There was kicker/punter Jacob Kreinbring making field goals from 44 and 35 yards despite narrower NFL goal posts. He also had a punt downed at the one-yard line.
There was linebacker Kane Casani, who blocked a field goal that led to a long touchdown return by sophomore Malique Pollard.
There was linebacker Holden Smyser and defensive linemen Max Meier and Will Mack, all of whom helped the defense stop Serra three out of four times on fourth downs in the fourth quarter.
Remember that Loyola (4-3, 1-1) lost a group of players who abandoned the program in the offseason, leaving behind players who drew skepticism whether they would be competitive against top teams.
It’s that Loyola tradition of playing as a group that allowed the Cubs to beat a Serra team that continues to struggle on offense. Serra (3-4, 0-2) fell behind 10-0, then tied the game on a DeVohn Moutra Jr. safety, followed by a touchdown run and two-point conversion from sophomore quarterback Malik Tunai.
“Man, this feels great,” said Kane Casani, who’s the son of the head coach. “A lot of people doubted us. We came together as a brotherhood.”
Loyola broke the tie with 4:14 left in the third quarter on Kreinbring’s 35-yard field goal.
One of two trained hawks stolen from outside SoFi Stadium during a Rams game was recovered Sunday in Hacienda Heights, nearly 25 miles from where the vehicle taken during the heist was found a week ago.
A two-seat motorized cart with a key left in the ignition was stolen Sept. 28 from the stadium. The hawks — named Bubba and Alice — were housed in green containers in the back seat and vanished along with the vehicle.
Bubba was recovered near Seventh Street in Hacienda Heights after a homeowner spotted the hawk in her backyard and contacted the Inglewood Police Department. Falconer Charles Cogger, who trained and owned the hawks, raced to the location.
“I made arrangements, got over there as quick as I could and got Bubba back,” Cogger told NBC Los Angeles. “Alice is still out there, but this gives me hope she will show up.”
The hawks were employed by SoFi Stadium to deter other birds from flying over SoFi Stadium during the game, keeping fans safe from unpleasant aerial droppings and also keeping birds from eating discarded food.
The Harris’s hawks, also known as bay-winged hawks, are large, lanky raptors that breed in the southwestern U.S. and throughout South America. They have vision eight times better than that of humans and are known for hunting together as a team.
The Kawasaki Mule UTV that housed the hawks was found abandoned Sept. 29 in a South L.A. neighborhood about five miles from SoFi Stadium and 25 miles from Hacienda Heights.
Inglewood police released a photo of the suspect taken by stadium security cameras, describing him as a male adult “wearing a black jacket with a white stripe going down the shoulder, black pants and black shoes.”
Cogger is holding out hope that Alice will turn up. Each of Cogger’s hawks wears a metal band around its leg that identifies it as captive-bred.
“They can only go so long without eating or getting water,” he said.
Anyone with information about Alice can contact the Inglewood Police Department watch commander at (310) 412-5206. Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for the hawk’s safe return.
A SWARM of flying bugs halted the Women’s Cricket World Cup grudge match between India and Pakistan.
Players from both sides tried to fix the problem by waving towels and spraying bug repellent.
5
5
But organisers called for heavy duty measures when India were 154 for four in the 34th over of the group match.
With the insect invasion in full swing, a man in a gas mask emerged to fumigate the pitch with an industrial grade bug spray cannon.
Both sets of players were forced to leave the field and fans had to sit through a 15-minute delay.
But even that didn’t seem to have the desired effect.
Once play resumed, it wasn’t long before another stoppage was brought on by a bug flying into the eye of Pakistani bowler Rameen Shamim.
Indian batters repeatedly moaned to the umpire about being affected by the insects.
Unsurprisingly, there is nothing written into cricket law to guide umpires when bugs bother the players.
But they are advised to signal a dead ball if a player is “disadvantaged by an animal within the field of play”.
SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET £50 BONUS WHEN YOU JOIN
India ended up winning the clash with their geographical neighbours by 88 runs.
The match was played on neutral ground in Colombo, Sri Lanka, due to political tension between the two nations.
And there were no handshakes between the players before the action got underway.
Colombo is proving to be a troublesome venue for cricket matches of late.
On Saturday, the match between Sri Lanka and Australia was washed out without a single ball being bowled due to heavy rain.
5
5
5
Any Rams fans whose attention was diverted Sunday at SoFi Stadium by an aerial assault of bird droppings should know whom to blame.
Not the birds. They were just doing what they do (do).
Blame the thief who stole two trained hawks tasked with keeping the skies above the stadium free of other birds, so that the only airborne objects would be tight spirals off the right hand of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
But the hawks — who have names: Alice and Bubba — were stolen at 2:22 p.m. by a suspect the Inglewood Police Department described as a “male Black adult wearing a black jacket with a white stripe going down the shoulder, black pants and black shoes.”
Police said the key was left in the ignition of the Kawasaki Mule UTV that housed the hawks. The thief drove off with the maroon two-seater and hadn’t been caught as of Tuesday morning. The vehicle was last seen in the Village at Century shopping area in Inglewood.
“Affixed to the bed of the UTV were two Harris’s Hawks … housed in green containers,” the police said. “These Hawks are used during the games by a Falconer in order to deter other birds in the area.”
The falconer is Redlands police officer Charles Cogger. The trained birds are Harris’s hawks, also known as the bay-winged hawk, large and lanky raptors that breed from the southwestern United States and throughout South America. They are known for hunting together as a team with vision eight times better than that of humans.
It’s a shame Alice and Bubba weren’t there to see the gorgeous 88-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Tutu Atwell in the fourth quarter that gave the Rams a 27-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Sean McVay good naturedly put it on his late grandfather.
As a team executive, John McVay helped the San Francisco 49ers win five Super Bowl titles, excellence that created 49ers fans everywhere.
So when the Rams play the 49ers on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium, McVay fully expects the usual massive contingent of 49ers fans.
“They obviously have a great fan base,” Sean McVay said Monday during a videoconference with reporters before deadpanning. “I blame my grandpa for that.”
Share via
Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their stunning comeback win over the Indianapolis Colts at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
McVay could also blame former team ownership, which moved the Rams from Los Angeles to St. Louis after the 1994 season. That left Southern California without the Rams for more than two decades before they returned in 2016.
The departure to St. Louis created untold numbers of Southern California NFL fans who embraced the 49ers, the Los Angeles/Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers among other teams.
McVay, however, said he was “hopeful and optimistic” that the Rams on Thursday will feel the same vibes they got in their season-opening victory over the Houston Texans and on Sunday in their 27-20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
“I’ve loved the home atmospheres we’ve had this year,” McVay said, adding, “I certainly felt our crowd. I thought it was an advantage and an edge to us. And I’m looking forward to seeing as many Rams fans come out and support us.”
The Rams’ victory over the Colts improved their record to 3-1 heading into the NFC West opener against the 49ers (3-1), who are coming off a 26-21 defeat by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The 49ers are in first place in the division, with victories over the Seattle Seahawks (3-1) and the Arizona Cardinals (2-2).
“We got the benefit of them coming to our house,” defensive lineman Braden Fiske said. “We feel good about it. It’s going to be a battle for the division.”
The 49ers started 3-0 despite the absence at times of key players such as quarterback Brock Purdy, star tight end George Kittle and star defensive end Nick Bosa among others.
Purdy, who signed a $182.5-million extension before the season, is dealing with a toe issue and his status for Thursday night’s game will be determined. Kittle remains on injured reserve for at least one more game and Bosa is out for the season.
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey carries the ball against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 28.
(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
But the 49ers still have running back Christian McCaffrey and linebacker Fred Warner leading the way for coach Kyle Shanahan’s team.
Last season, the Rams defeated the 49ers at SoFi Stadium, 27-24, on a last-second field goal by Joshua Karty.
After the victory over the Colts, Rams edge rusher Jared Verse noted fans’ spirited reaction when the 49ers-Jaguars score flashed on the video screen, with the 49ers trailing.
“That’s just what it means,” Verse said of playing against the 49ers. “It means a little bit more.”
The Rams suffered no obvious significant injuries against the Colts, McVay said, but added that players would be evaluated. … McVay said he was “not sure” whether offensive lineman Steve Avila (ankle) would be ready to play Thursday. Avila has been sidelined for three games. Justin Dedich has started in Avila’s place at left guard.
ST HELENS star Matty Lees left in the middle of Saturday’s crunch play-off clash against Leeds Rhinos.
Rugby league fans were left gobsmacked when they saw Lees, 27, making his way out of the AMT Headingley Stadium during half-time.
3
3
3
The prop left in his tracksuit while Saints were trailing 12-6 to the home side.
However, it was quickly reported by Sky Sports that the England international had received news that his wife Beth was going into labour.
Fans quickly took to social media to wish the happy couple all the best.
One rugby league enthusiast tweeted: “Good luck Matty, see you next week.”
Another commented: “Fair play to him.”
A third wrote: “Good luck.”
This fan said: “All the best!”
And that one wished: “Wishing you and Beth absolute happiness.”
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
St Helens managed to fight back in the second half and went on to turn things around with a 16-14 victory.
Lees has been a pivotal figure for Saints this season, missing only two Super League games.
St Helens coach Paul Wellens revealed the baby wasn’t due before Sunday but had an agreement with his player that if things changed he would be allowed to leave.
Wellens said after the game with the Rhinos: “His partner was due to be induced tomorrow but things transpired [differently].
“You can’t have a word with the baby inside and ask it just to hold off for a few hours, so things gathered pace quicker than thought.
“I spoke with Matty in the week and it was really important that he’s there for the birth of his child.
“It’s an important rugby game and yes we’d love him to be there, but he makes sacrifices to perform for us and the most important thing is he was there.
“We had a very clear plan during the week and we were comfortable that if he had to leave, he would leave. When that moment came, we made what I feel is the right decision.
“It’s difficult for him in that situation. You need to be there for your partner, but at the same time you think you’re letting the boys down.
“He needs to know he’s not letting the boys down, because he never does.”
SANTA BARBARA — “In this next song,” said Paul McCartney, “we’d like you to sing along.”
Oh, this was the one?
By an hour or so into his concert Friday night at the Santa Barbara Bowl — basically somebody’s backyard by the standards of the former Beatle — McCartney had already gotten the capacity crowd to join in on a bunch of all-timers including “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “Love Me Do,” “Jet,” “Getting Better,” “Lady Madonna,” “Let Me Roll It” and “Got to Get You Into My Life.”
But for Sir Paul, even (or especially) at age 83, there’s always a way to take an audience higher.
So as his keyboard player plunked out the song’s lovably lopsided lick, McCartney and his band cranked through a fast and jumpy rendition of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” that left nobody any choice but to hop up and holler about the sweet certainty of life’s going on.
Paul McCartney and his band.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
A sellout pretty much as soon as it was announced, Friday’s show was a kind of warm-up gig ahead of the launch next week of the latest leg of McCartney’s Got Back world tour, which began criss-crossing the globe in 2022 and will resume Monday night in Palm Desert after a nine-month break.
On the road he’s playing arenas and stadiums, but this hillside amphitheater seats only 4,500 or so; to make the evening even more intimate, fans had to lock their phones in little pouches on the way into the venue. (The presence of several cameras swooping around on cranes suggested that McCartney was filming the concert for some unstated purpose.)
“That’s our wardrobe change of the evening,” he said at one point after taking off his jacket, and indeed this was a slightly trimmed-down version of the flashy multimedia production that he brought to SoFi Stadium three years ago. That night in 2022, he played three dozen tunes over two and a half hours; on Friday he did a dozen fewer — no “Maybe I’m Amazed,” no “Band on the Run” — in about an hour and 45 minutes.
The advantage of the smallness, of course, was that you could really hear what McCartney and his longtime backup band were doing up there: the folky campfire vocal harmonies in “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” the propulsive groove driving “Get Back,” the barely organized chaos of a downright raunchy “Helter Skelter.”
Then again, that assumes that tracking those details is why anybody turned up in Santa Barbara.
Though he dropped an album of new solo songs in 2020, McCartney has been pretty deep in nostalgia mode since the 2021 release of Peter Jackson’s widely adored “Get Back” docuseries. He’ll tend the machine this fall with a new book about his years with Wings and an expanded edition of the Beatles’ mid-’90s “Anthology” series; next year, a documentary about the Wings era is due from director Morgan Neville; in 2028, director Sam Mendes will unveil the four separate biopics he’s making about each Beatle, with Paul Mescal in the role of McCartney.
Paul McCartney takes the stage.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
All that looking back can make it hard for even a devoted fan to take in the legend standing before them in the flesh; instead of overwriting memories with fresh information, the mind steeped in myth can train itself to do the opposite (especially when the owner of that mind has shelled out hundreds of bucks for a concert ticket).
Yet you have to hand it to McCartney, whose face bore a dusting of silvery stubble on Friday: As predetermined as this audience was to have a good time, he was tapped into the energy of a musician making minute-to-minute decisions.
He opened the show with a zesty take on the Beatles’ “Help!,” which experts on the internet say he hadn’t played in concert since 1990, then followed it up with one of his quirkiest solo tunes in the disco-punk “Coming Up,” which he juiced with a bit of Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn” theme.
After a flirty “Love Me Do,” he asked the women in the crowd to “gimme a Beatles scream,” then nodded approvingly at the sound. “Imagine trying to play through that,” he added.
“Jet” had a nasty swagger and “I’ve Got a Feeling” a sexy strut; “Live and Let Die,” meanwhile, was just as trashy as you’d hope.
McCartney told moving if familiar stories about meeting Jimi Hendrix and about his mother coming to him in the dream that inspired “Let It Be”; he also told one I’d never heard about screwing up a performance of “Blackbird” — “Lot of changes,” he said of the song’s complicated guitar part — in front of Meryl Streep. Because his wife Nancy was in the house, he said, he played “My Valentine,” a weepy piano ballad anyone but Nancy probably would’ve gladly exchanged for “Junior’s Farm” or “Drive My Car.”
But then what was that choice if not a commitment to the circumstances of the moment?
Paul McCartney arrives at the Santa Barbara Bowl.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
Dodger Stadium won’t be empty Sunday, even though the next time the Dodgers play at home will be Tuesday in a National League Division Series opener.
But LA Card Show will make its Dodger Stadium debut that day with a Dodger blue-tinged format that includes a watch party of the team’s regular-season finale starting at 12:10 p.m. on DodgerVision.
Most of the time, however, attendees likely will have their heads down, studying the intricacies of trading cards and memorabilia of all stripes and types. More than 350 collectibles vendors will display, buy, sell and trade wares across sports, Pokémon, Disney and other trading card games along with comics, toys and art.
“It’s the perfect blend of card show and cultural experience, and Dodger Stadium provides the ultimate backdrop for us to lean in and create an extraordinary event,” said Chris Koenig, executive director of Dodgers 365, the program that brings outside events into Chavez Ravine.
The event begins at 10 a.m. and will include live DJ sets, food vendors, brand activations, giveaways and an autograph lounge with former Dodgers Ramón Martínez, Joe Kelly and Orel Hershiser, who owns a collectibles store in Claremont called Legends’ Attic.
Tickets are available at lacardshow.com/tickets.
Dodgers fans pay up, in significant numbers and in significant amounts, to watch their team on SportsNet LA: Home team, home channel.
Not on Friday, though, when Clayton Kershaw takes the mound for what might well be the final time at Dodger Stadium.
The exclusive broadcast rights for the game belong to Apple TV+, as part of a package of Friday night games bought from Major League Baseball. Apple is guaranteed a minimum of four exclusive broadcasts for whatever teams it chooses to air, according to a league official. Friday’s game will be the Dodgers’ fourth on Apple TV+ this season, so it remains exclusive to Apple.
The alternate Apple game Friday involves the Toronto Blue Jays. As it became apparent the Blue Jays might clinch a playoff spot on Friday, Apple and MLB agreed that Sportsnet — the Blue Jays’ equivalent of SportsNet LA – could air a simulcast of that Apple TV+ broadcast. (That change was announced Thursday morning, before a Jays loss and Cleveland Guardians win made it impossible for Toronto to clinch on Friday.)
However, the Jays will total five exclusive Apple TV+ broadcasts this season.
This will not be the first bit of Dodgers history limited to the Apple audience. In 2022, when Albert Pujols hit his 700th career home run, the game was on Apple.
The man who called the Pujols game for Apple also will call the Kershaw game for Apple: Wayne Randazzo, the voice of the Angels.
Kershaw, the 11-time All-Star and three-time Cy Young award winner, said Thursday he would retire at season’s end. After the weekend series against the San Francisco Giants, in which Kershaw is scheduled to start Friday’s game, the Dodgers finish the regular season on the road. The Dodgers have not said what role, if any, Kershaw might fill on their playoff roster.
Fans can sign up for a free seven-day trial of Apple TV+ here. (If you’re signing up just to watch Kershaw, you’ll need to cancel within the seven-day window, or you’ll be billed $12.99 each month.)
MEXICO CITY — It was pouring buckets of rain at the Estadio GNP Seguros on Saturday night, when Oasis played one of two sold-out reunion shows in Mexico City.
Lined at the entrance were tents stuffed with bootleg tour merch and fans seeking respite from the water. You could hear the sloshing of wet socks and Adidas Sambas as they price-checked knockoff memorabilia emblazoned with the Gallagher brothers’ iconically muggy faces.
For 200 pesos, you could get a T-shirt with Noel and Liam Gallagher as fighting cats, or characters from “Peanuts” and “The Simpsons.”
While a downpour isn’t the ideal weather condition for an outdoor concert — my Bohemian FC x Oasis collab football jersey went unseen under a fashionable rain parka — it was certainly fitting for a band that routinely, perhaps obsessively, sings about rain. Yet for Mexican fans of Oasis who’ve anxiously waited years to finally see the brothers reunite, it was all sunsheeeeIIIIIINE.
Outside the entry gates, father and son Santiago and Omar Zepeda, both sporting bucket hats, had a palpable buzz radiating off them as they eagerly waited to enter the stadium. It was a multigenerationally significant day for them.
“I came for the first time with my dad in ’98 at the Palacio de Deportes to see Oasis, and now I get to bring my son,” said Santiago, who came from Guadalajara with his 14-year-old in tow. “There was a moment that I said we’ll just go without tickets and see what we do. We’ll get in because we’ll get in. I feel incredible to be able to have done what I did with my father 27 years later now with my son.”
In August of last year, the Manchester-bred Gallagher brothers — who had been openly feuding for decades — declared that war was over on the 30th anniversary of their 1994 juggernaut debut, “Definitely Maybe.”
“The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over,” they announced. As reunion tour dates opened, and two Mexico City stops were announced, Mexican fans expressed pure elation and flooded Ticketmaster once the sale went live. As you can imagine, it was online bedlam.
Waiting in the Ticketmaster queue filled Esteban Ricardo Sainz Coronado, 24, and Sara Pedraza, 25, with dread. The young couple came in from Monterrey, Nuevo León, but it was uncertain whether they’d make it to what Coronado called “a collective reunion that’s cultural and transcends more than music history.”
Pedraza waited three hours in Ticketmaster’s virtual line, almost missing school and her chance to secure seats as she kept getting bumped off the site. “I stubbornly kept trying and after I don’t know how many attempts, it worked,” Pedraza said. “It was such a huge relief.”
Like Coronado and Sainz, the reunion tour is millions of fans’ first opportunity to see Oasis play live, as they would have been far too young or not even born yet during their heyday. For longtime Oasis heads, it was a chance to once again be in community with their favorite band.
British bands have long had a foothold in Mexico’s alternative scenes, with fans of all ages still packing bars and venues to hear Primal Scream, Blur, Pulp and, of course, Morrissey and the Smiths. These groups have had an enduring, impassioned following that has been explored in books, articles and films, with Mexicans often feeling a spiritual and cultural connection to the U.K.’s music scene stemming back to the Beatles. Oasis could have sold out shows across Mexico 10 times over.
After acrimoniously (and unsurprisingly) breaking up in 2009, the hope to ever see the Gallaghers fill a stadium with the staple of acoustic jam sessions worldwide, “Wonderwall,” dimmed. The brothers’ endless swipes at each other in the media post-breakup didn’t give fans hope they’d get back to “living forever.” Mexican fans even prayed to La Virgen de Guadalupe that the infamously combative brothers wouldn’t break up again even hours before showtime.
“As long as they don’t fight!” said Hector Garduño, who came to the show with his partner, Sofia Carrera, from Querétaro. “That’s what we want, for them not to fight.”
Gracias a la virgencita, the tour has seemingly been all love. The skies eventually cleared up on Saturday, and the stadium indeed filled with Oasis’ soaring, anthemic bangers for 2 ½ hours. For days leading up to the Mexico City date, fans in my orbit and social feeds debated how the show would compare with the crowd at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, where Oasis played the previous weekend.
“[Mexican audiences are] on another level,” said Garduño. “I think these dudes are going to be taken by surprise. I expect jumping, screaming, crying; the emotion of hearing those songs that really move you.”
Mauri Barranco, who came to the show with her best friend, said “I feel like we give a lot of ourselves. That’s why so many artists like coming to Mexico.”
Meanwhile, Alberto Folch, from Mexico City, saw his own audience participation as a challenge. “With all the vibes, with all the emotion, we’re ready to jump, to show them what Mexico is made of,” he said. “Tonight we’re rock ‘n’ roll stars.”
The 65,000 fans in attendance undoubtedly showed up sobbing and screeching with unbridled elation. Liam Gallagher played to the locals, donning a sombrero de charro during “Wonderwall” and the show closer “Champagne Supernova.” The band sounded as if no time had passed since its salad days, with the members’ vocals and musicianship arguably tighter than ever — perhaps a positive side effect of pulling back from the rock star lifestyle now that they’re in their 50s. The sound reverberated clean across the stadium as well (shoutout to L-Acoustics, who provided the sound for the reunion tour), and was praised nonstop by fans I spoke to throughout the weekend. I heard a lot of emphatic cries of “el sonido, güey!”
I pogo’d along with my fellow “madferits” as we turned away from the stage and linked arms to do the Poznań: a signature move at every show, borrowed from Manchester City F.C. fans. During “Cigarettes & Alcohol,” we shouted every lyric and were sprayed by flying beers thrown in raucous excitement.
I’ve never felt more giddy to get splashed with spit-riddled beer — and seemingly neither did anyone around me, who shouted joyful obscenities in Spanish. Three men behind me even sobbed into each other’s chests during “Don’t Look Back in Anger” and the stadium filled with cellphone lights as Noel Gallagher crooned “Talk Tonight.”
The rain didn’t fall again, but even if it had, it would have still felt like the sun.
Mooney said continued investment into all levels of the game will form a key part of the FAW’s future plans.
Following reforms of governance and structure in recent years, next year’s strategy is set to focus on “high performance” and “grassroots”.
That will include on increasing recent investments into improving facilities and new funding for the domestic game, including “long overdue” injection in the men’s Cymru Premier and financial boost for the women’s Adran Premier “to capitalise on momentum”.
Mooney accepts there will be a need to boost revenues to keep up with the investment plans, pointing to better relationships with partners, new sponsorship deals on the back of international success and plans to utilise the association’s cash reserves.
“We don’t budget to qualify for tournaments, but we have Euro 2028 coming here and we know that we highly likely to play in it with the qualifying is set up, so it would be foolish not to plan on that basis,” said Mooney.
“We have to battle complacency by investing wisely in the sport and the results will mean a bigger game in Wales.
“We’ve had good days, but there are much better days to come if we deliver on this new plan next summer.”
