Mexican alternative band Café Tacvba is petitioning two of the largest music labels to take its catalog off of Spotify.
On Wednesday, the group’s singer Rubén Albarrán made an Instagram post calling on its former labels Universal Music Mexico and Warner Music Mexico to take action.
“I delivered letters to the record labels WMM and UMM, which by contract have the exploitation rights of Café Tacvba’s catalog, asking them to remove our music from the platform Stupidfy [sic] because it contradicts our artistic vision and our personal and band ethics,” Albarrán said.
He also claimed that the streaming giant invests in weapons manufacturing, runs ads for ICE and uses artificial intelligence in a way that is detrimental to musicians.
“I personally invite our followers to listen to our music on other platforms, or better yet boycott it, and don’t take part in the abuses of power, ongoing wars, violence.” Albarrán added. “It is time to create a new world, more just — where music still has value, meaning, accompanies people, giving them support, joy, hope.”
Spotify responded to Albarrán’s post in a statement to The Times.
“We respect the artistic legacy of Café Tacvba and Rubén Albarrán’s right to express his views, but the facts tell a different story,” a Spotify spokesperson wrote. “Spotify does not fund war. Helsing is a separate company that has been supplying defense tech to Ukraine. Furthermore, there are currently no ICE ads running on Spotify; the advertisements mentioned were part of a U.S. government recruitment campaign that ran across all major media and platforms. We are a platform for music, and ourAI policy is focused on protecting human artists from clones and fraud.”
In November, Rolling Stone reported that Spotify received $74,000 from the Department of Homeland Security to air ICE ads, according to information acquired from several data services.
Spotify’s statement to The Times also claimed that the platform pays artists more equitably than other streamers, saying, “We are proud that Café Tacvba’s music has generated millions of dollars on Spotify over the years, and the reality is that Spotify continues to pay out more money to more artists than any player in music history. We consistently pay out 70% of our revenue to rightsholders.”
According to Spotify’s artist website, platformed artists must contact their label or distributor and ask them to issue a takedown request.
Universal Music Mexico and Warner Music Mexico did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
Café Tacvba broke out onto the Latin rock scene with their second album,“Re,” a 20-song release from 1994. With smart, biting lyrics that touched on love, loss, hate, politics and modernism, the LP was hailed by the New York Times as “the equivalent of the Beatles’ White Album for the Rock en Español movement.” The L.A. Times’ critic Josh Kun dubbed it a “landmark.” And Rolling Stone put “Re” at the top of its “Top 10 Greatest Latin Rock Albums of All Time.”
The group saw even further international recognition with its 2003 megahit “Eres,” which received award recognition at the fifth annual Latin Grammys and has also accumulated over a half-billion streams on Spotify.
In some ways, it was just another campaign coffee: Los Angeles mayoral candidate Austin Beutner in a roomful of voters talking about his career and life accomplishments.
But this was no ordinary meet-and-greet. Beutner was standing inside a partially rebuilt house — with no doors, no windows and no drywall — in an area leveled by the Palisades fire. In the living room, about a dozen people spoke about what they had been through, from the frantic evacuation to the sight of smoldering ruins to the battle to get rebuilding permits.
Allison Holdorff Polhill, who owns the home, introduced Beutner — a former L.A. school superintendent — as the civic leader she would turn to first in a crisis.
“We were in the worst disaster that L.A. has ever experienced,” she told the group. “And we needed a leader that has experience with disasters and emergencies.”
The catastrophic Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes and left 12 people dead, has redefined the L.A. mayor’s race, expanding the field of candidates and creating a political minefield for Karen Bass as she seeks a second four-year term.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a City Hall ceremony where flags are lowered to half-staff to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Palisades and Eaton fires.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
When the fire broke out on Jan. 7, 2025, Bass drew criticism for being in Ghana on a diplomatic mission. Once she returned, she was at odds with her fire chief and unsteady in her public appearances.
More recently, she has faced scrutiny over her handling of the recovery, as well as fire officials’ watering down of an after-action report that was supposed to identify mistakes in the firefighting effort.
The Times found that LAFD officials failed to fully pre-deploy engines to the Palisades amid forecasts of dangerously high winds and that a battalion chief ordered firefighters to leave the scene of a Jan. 1 blaze, even though it wasn’t fully extinguished. That fire rekindled a week later to become the Palisades fire.
Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University, said he expects the disaster will be the No. 1 issue in the June 2 mayoral primary, resonating with voters well beyond Pacific Palisades.
To wage a competitive campaign, each of Bass’ challengers will need to make the fire and its aftermath “a reflection of what’s wrong with city government,” he said.
“It really does reflect on the readiness of the city, the responsiveness of the city, how is government working at the most basic level,” said Guerra, who also runs the Center for the Study of Los Angeles.
So far, Bass’ major challengers are embracing that strategy.
Beutner, who ran the L.A. Unified School District early in the pandemic, has accused Bass of failing to take responsibility for the city’s failures before and after the fire. On Monday, appearing with fire victims in Pacific Palisades, he called on the mayor to form a citizens commission to examine what went wrong.
Rae Huang, a community organizer who is challenging the mayor from the left, has expressed disappointment in what she called Bass’ “finger-pointing” — a reference to the mayor’s criticism, and ouster, of Fire Chief Kristin Crowley last year.
Then there’s reality TV star Spencer Pratt, an outspoken Bass critic, who launched a campaign rooted in his fury over the city’s handling of the fire — and the loss of his family’s home in the flames.
“I’ve waited a whole year for someone to step up and challenge Karen Bass, but I saw no fighters,” Pratt said in a social media post Wednesday. “Guess I’m gonna have to do this myself.”
Reality TV star Spencer Pratt, second from right, announced on Wedneday that he is running for mayor. He is suing the city over its handling of the Palisades fire, which destroyed his home in Pacific Palisades.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Still unclear is whether two formidable public figures will jump in — L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and real estate developer Rick Caruso, who lost to Bass in 2022. On Wednesday, Caruso said he will decide in the next couple of weeks whether he will run for mayor or governor.
Asked whether he might stay out of both races, Caruso responded: “I think that option is pretty much off the table now.”
As the city marked the one-year anniversary of the fires this week, Bass mostly kept a low profile, addressing the Pacific Palisades Democratic Club over the weekend and joining a private vigil at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine.
While Pratt and hundreds of demonstrators were staging a “They Let Us Burn” rally in the Palisades, Bass stood solemnly outside City Hall as police officers lowered flags to half-staff. Bass spoke about grief and loss, but also the fact that more than 400 homes are being rebuilt.
“You see signs of hope everywhere,” she told the crowd.
Bass’ political team has taken a tougher approach, accusing her most outspoken critics — including Pratt, who is releasing a book later this month — of exploiting the disaster for political or even financial gain.
“For the first time ever we saw a major wildfire politicized by MAGA leaders and monetized by social influencers making tens of thousands of dollars per month and hawking books on the backs of a devastated community,” Bass campaign strategist Doug Herman said in a statement.
For much of the past year, Bass has faced criticism over the Fire Department’s deployment decisions and its failure to put out the Jan. 1 fire. She also has taken hits over the recovery, with residents saying she has not delivered on promises to waive permit fees for rebuilding homes lost in the fire.
Now, the focus has turned to a new and unsettling question: Did the city undermine its own effort to assess the Fire Department’s mistakes?
The Times reported last month that LAFD officials made changes to the after-action report that were so significant that its author, Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook, declined to endorse it.
“The fact that [Cook] is not willing to sponsor, or support, or endorse the report says a hell of a lot about the fact that there is no trust and clear leadership,” Huang said.
Bass told The Times on Wednesday that she did not work with the Fire Department on changes to the report, nor did the agency consult her about any changes.
L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath speaks at a rally in support of the county’s emergency rent relief program to help households who have lost income because of federal immigration enforcement.
(Al Seib / For The Times)
Horvath, who is running for a second four-year term as county supervisor, has also ripped the city over the report, saying wildfire victims feel “gaslit” — and deserve answers.
The supervisor, whose sprawling district includes the Palisades burn area, said she has been hearing from people asking her to run for mayor. She said she would prefer to continue in county office. But she voiced concern about the city’s future — not just its handling of the wildfire, but also the budget, the homelessness crisis and the delivery of basic services.
“I think people are hungry for a different kind of leadership,” she told The Times.
Pacific Palisades has not been a political stronghold for Bass. Although she won her 2022 race against Caruso by a 10-point margin, she trailed him by double digits in the Palisades.
Like many people across the region, the major mayoral candidates were directly impacted by the January fires or have family who lost homes — or both.
Beutner’s home was severely damaged in the Palisades fire, forcing him to live elsewhere for the past year. His mother-in-law’s home, also in the Palisades, was completely destroyed.
Bass has spoken repeatedly about her brother, whose Malibu home was destroyed in the Palisades fire. Huang’s 53-year-old cousin lost her Altadena home in the Eaton fire. Pratt, who is suing the city over the Palisades fire, said on social media that the flames consumed not just his home but also one owned by his parents.
Caruso, still a candidate-in-waiting, managed to save Palisades Village, the shopping center he opened in 2018, in part by securing his own private firefighting crew. But the inferno nevertheless destroyed the homes of his son and daughter, who are 26 and 29.
Real estate developer Rick Caruso on Wednesday unveils an installation in Pacific Palisades with three beams of light to mark the one-year anniversary of the fires.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
On the night the fire broke out, Caruso voiced his fury on live television about empty fire hydrants and the overall lack of water to douse the flames. Since then, he has offered a steady stream of criticism about the rebuilding process, including the mayor’s decision not to select a replacement for Steve Soboroff, who served 90 days as her recovery czar.
Caruso has spoken favorably in recent weeks about a few aspects of the recovery, including the reopening of classrooms and the quick removal of fire debris. He credited L.A. Unified and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, respectively, for those accomplishments — not the city.
“Frankly, the bright spots are under the leadership of other people,” he told The Times.
Beutner has been equally blunt. At last month’s campaign coffee, he said the city needs to convene a citizen panel similar to the Christopher Commission, which was formed weeks after the 1991 police beating of Rodney King. The panel assessed the LAPD’s handling of discipline, misconduct complaints, excessive force by officers and other issues.
“If you have a tragedy, you have public hearings, you have leaders who are empaneled with the money they need to ask tough questions of everybody — the mayor, her staff, the acting mayor, police, fire” and the Department of Water and Power, Beutner told the group. “What did you do, and what would you have done differently?”
Clara Karger, a spokesperson for Bass, said the city is already participating in a state investigation, which is being overseen by the Fire Safety Research Institute, into the Palisades and Eaton fires.
On top of that, she said, the fire department is commissioning an independent investigation into its response to the Jan. 1 fire that reignited into the Palisades fire. That blaze, known as the Lachman fire, was mentioned only briefly in the department’s after-action report.
“Mayor Bass wants all the information to ensure accountability and to continue implementing needed reforms, many of which are already underway from LAFD,” Karger said.
But after just one season at USC, Longstreet is leaving.
The true freshman passer and former top prospect officially entered the NCAA transfer portal Thursday, throwing the Trojans’ future plans at football’s most important position into question. USC has just two quarterbacks currently on the roster, one being a true freshman in Jonas Williams.
There’s no doubt, however, who will remain USC’s quarterback next season. Returning starter Jayden Maiava, who led the Big Ten in passing yards last season (3,711) announced his intent last month to play another season at USC, as opposed to declaring for the NFL draft.
That left Longstreet with a choice: Spend another season on the sideline or search for opportunity elsewhere.
From Ben Bolch: When his team lost three consecutive games during what was shaping up as a rocky debut season, Mick Cronin made players and coaches go through practices without the UCLA logo on their tank tops and shorts.
There’s currently no need to strip anyone of anything.
This already looks nothing like what UCLA basketball is supposed to be.
The defense is lagging, the roster is lacking and nobody seems to know what to do about it.
A second consecutive loss has dropped the Bruins squarely into bubble territory for the NCAA tournament, somewhere a team that wears these four letters across its chest should never be. They are a middling 10-5 with no compelling victories and a .500 record early in Big Ten play.
Here are five fixes designed to get a team that entered the season ranked No. 12 playing closer to expectations:
Outfielder Alex Call (one-year, $1.6 million) and relief pitchers Anthony Banda (one-year, $1.625 million) and Brock Stewart (one-year, $1.3 million) each avoided arbitration, coming to an agreement with the Dodgers before Thursday’s MLB arbitration deadline, people familiar with the situation but unauthorized to speak publicly confirmed to The Times.
Jalen Chatfield’s first goal of the season was a tiebreaker and goalie Frederik Andersen snapped a personal nine-game losing streak as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ducks 5-2 on Thursday night.
Chatfield, a defenseman playing in his 300th career game, scored during the Hurricanes’ three-goal second period. He also had an assist.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim said Thursday that she dislocated her shoulder in training and doesn’t know whether she will be able to compete at the Winter Games in Italy next month.
Kim posted footage of her fall from earlier this week on the halfpipe in Laax, Switzerland, where the world’s top snowboarders compete later this month in a key pre-Olympic tune-up. She landed a jump cleanly but lost an edge and went skittering across the pipe, face down.
Kim, who did not say which shoulder she hurt, said she is “trying to stay optimistic” about competing at the Olympics but “[doesn’t] have much clarity now.” The 25-year-old said she has an MRI scheduled for Friday that will reveal the extent of the damage.
From Gary Klein: The spectacular one-handed catch looked like the kind of play that could only be made with sudden adjustment. A reaction with no thought or practice required.
But that’s not how it went down for Rams star receiver Puka Nacua.
“Just trusting the technique is something that actually me and Matthew talked about in the week before in a rep during practice,” Nacua said. “The angle departure that we were looking at.
“It’s crazy how some of those things come to life on Sundays.”
Stafford and Nacua were the NFL’s top connection this season.
All times Pacific Wild-card round NFC Saturday No. 5 Rams at No. 4 Carolina, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes No. 7 Green Bay at No. 2 Chicago, 5 p.m., Prime Video
Sunday No. 6 San Francisco at No. 3 Philadelphia, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes
AFC Sunday No. 6 Buffalo at No. 3 Jacksonville, 10 a.m., CBS, Paramount+ No. 7 Chargers at No. 2 New England, 5 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo
1942 — Joe Louis knocks out Buddy Baer with four seconds left in the first round at Madison Square Garden in New York to retain the world heavyweight title.
1977 — Oakland wins its first NFL title nd the Minnesota Vikings drop their fourth Super Bowl as the Raiders post a 32-14 triumph.
1988 — Anthony Carter catches 10 passes for an NFL postseason-record 227 yards to lead the Minnesota Vikings to a 36-24 victory over the San Francisco 49ers and advanced to the NFC title game.
1991 — Dean Smith collects his 700th career coaching victory as North Carolina routs Maryland 105-73. Smith is the sixth Division I basketball coach to reach the 700-win plateau and does so in the shortest time.
1996 — The Toronto Raptors set an NBA record by not making a free throw in a 92-91 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. The expansion Raptors shoots 0-for-3 from the foul line.
2004 — Brian Boucher of Phoenix posts his fifth consecutive shutout in a 2-0 win over Minnesota. He stops 21 shots and passes Bill Durnan’s NHL mark of 309:21, early in the third period.
2006 — Kobe Bryant of the Lakers scores 45 points against Indiana, making him the first player since Wilt Chamberlain — in November of 1964 — to score at least that many in four straight games.
2007 — Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mark McGwire, whose 583 home runs ranked seventh on the career list, does not make it on his first ballot.
2008 — Golf Channel suspends anchor Kelly Tilghman for two weeks for saying a week earlier that young players who wanted to challenge Tiger Woods should “lynch him in a back alley.”
2010 — Peyton Manning becomes the first player to win The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player honors four times.
2010 — Detroit’s Ben Gordon scores 20 points, including the 10 millionth point in NBA history, in a 104-04 loss to Philadelphia.
2012 — Jeremy Shelley kicks five field goals and Trent Richardson breaks a 34-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter as No. 2 Alabama beats No. 1 LSU 21-0 — the first shutout in BCS title game history.
2013 — No one is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. For the second time in four decades, baseball writers fail to give any player the 75 percent required for induction to Cooperstown. Craig Biggio, 20th on the career list with 3,060 hits, appears on 68.2% of the 569 ballots, the highest total but 39 votes shy.
2016 — Quarterback Carson Wentz, out since mid-October with a broke wrist, returns to lead North Dakota State to an unprecedented fifth straight FCS championship with a 37-10 victory over top seed Jacksonville State.
2016 — Chris Boswell kicks a 35-yard field goal with 14 seconds remaining as the Steelers somehow pull out an 18-16 victory over Cincinnati in the AFC wild-card game. Pittsburgh moves into field goal position after a pair of 15-yard penalties on the Bengals, one on linebacker Vontaze Burfict and another on Adam Jones.
2017 — College Football National Championship, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa: No. 2 Clemson beats No. 1 Alabama, 35-31.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
ONE county in the UK is on the must-visit list for 2026 as it celebrates 200 years of a beloved children’s story.
The tales of Winnie-the-Pooh written by A.A. Milne were inspired by Ashdown Forest in East Sussex.
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Winnie-the-Pooh’s England is one of the top places to visit 2026Credit: AlamyA.A. Milne was inspired by the surroundings of Ashdown ForestCredit: Alamy
New York Times named ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’s England‘ as one of the best places to visit in 2026.
Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared in print on December 24, 1925 – and just over 100 years on the destination has become a must-see for fans of the bear around the world.
The publication said: “The focal point will be in East Sussex, where Milne lived in a 16th-century farmhouse with his wife and son, Christopher Robin, who played there with his stuffed bear.“
The author A.A. Milne lived in East Sussex for most of his life – and it’s where he was inspired to create Winnie-the-Pooh.
Milne lived in Hartfield, which is found 30 miles south of London.
He based the story in the fictional Hundred Acre Wood which is inspired on the real-life Ashdown Forest just minutes away.
Fans of the tale can actually see locations like Poohsticks Bridge which was originally called Posingford Bridge and was built in 1907.
There’s also Galleons Lap which is the real-life inspiration for “The Enchanted Place” – essentially a circular clump of trees on a hilltop.
Most read in Best of British
Visitors who want to explore the actual forest and find these spots to relive the magical adventures of Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and friends can do so on a guided walk.
Throughout 2026 there are even organised Pooh Treks through Ashdown Forest.
Hartfield has a designated gift shop and it has a tearoomCredit: Alamy
The guided walk will “reveal awe-inspiring views across the forest, with story locations within comfortable walking distance of each other.
“With our expert local guide sharing the literary history and natural surroundings, your visit becomes something rather special.”
The experience is for four to six explorers and there can be tailored itineraries.
It can also includes lunch at a classic English country pub and afternoon tea at Piglets Tea Room in Pooh Corner.
Pooh Corner is also home to a range of original Winnie the Pooh sketches by illustrator EH Shepard, and another room filled with movie posters and other artwork.
Poohsticks Bridge is one of the most recognisable spots in Ashdown ForestCredit: Alamy Stock PhotoYou can actually stay in A.A. Milne’s former home called Cotchford FarmCredit: Michael Harris
If you fancy, taking a gander around Ashdown Forest on your own – it’s free entry into the woodland.
A.A. Milne lived at Cotchford Farm in Hartfield which is now a holiday cottage – so you can actually stay in it yourself.
The 16th-century farmhouse has six bedrooms and three reception rooms which includes Milne’s writing study and a music/library room.
There’s also a kitchen, oak-panelled dining room, family rooms along with two acres of gardens, wildflower meadows, swimmingpool and a tenniscourt.
The whole property that sleeps 12 can be booked from £1,200 per night.
Check Out The Top Destinations Around The World To Visit In 2026…
Here are the 52 top destinations to go to New York Times…
With three starters out, Luka Doncic tried to will the Lakers to a victory with a 38-point, 10-rebound, 10 assist triple-double. He played 38 minutes and 20 seconds one night after playing 37 minutes and scoring 30 points in Tuesday’s win over the Pelicans..
James also scored 30 points in Tuesday’s win but sat out Wednesday with right sciatica and left foot arthritis. With him, Hachimura and Reaves out, the Lakers (23-12) had an average of 61 points sidelined.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points, 11 rebounds and a season-high seven assists, Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and the New York Knicks snapped their four-game losing streak with a 123-111 victory over the Clippers on Wednesday night.
Towns bounced back from a quiet game Monday in Detroit, when he took just four shots and had only six points and six turnovers in the Knicks’ 121-90 loss that gave them their longest losing streak of the season. This time, the center had 10 points in the fourth quarter to help the Knicks break open the game.
OG Anunoby added 20 points and Deuce McBride had 16 for the Knicks, who had a 24-7 run starting late in the third quarter and extending into the fourth to turn a four-point deficit into a 105-92 advantage.
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points for the Clippers (13-23), who lost for just the second time in nine games. James Harden had 23 points and nine assists after sitting out Monday against Golden State because of right shoulder soreness.
William Eklund scored 3:08 into overtime, Macklin Celebrini had the tying goal and two assists to extend his point streak to 12 games, and the San Jose Sharks defeated the Kings 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Celebrini evened the score at 3 with 1:07 remaining in regulation. He deked his way past Warren Foegele and sent a wrist shot through traffic that beat goalie Darcy Kuemper through the legs for his 24th goal this season. The 19-year-old center has nine goals and 15 assists during his point streak.
Celebrini is tied for the third-longest point streak by a teenager in NHL history — joining Joe Sakic in 1988-89, Jimmy Carson in 1987-88 and Wayne Gretzky in 1979-80 — and the third-longest point streak in Sharks history.
Wayne Knight verbally committed to following Chesney from James Madison to Westwood on Wednesday, giving the new Bruins coach a high-quality running back to pair with quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
Showing what he could do on a national stage last month, Knight ran for 110 yards in 17 carries against Oregon in the College Football Playoff. It was the fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season for Knight on the way to being selected a first team All-Sun Belt Conference player.
Combining excellent speed with the toughness needed to break tackles, the 5-foot-6, 189-pound Knight led the conference with 1,357 rushing yards. He also made 40 catches for 397 yards and averaged 22.3 yards on kickoff returns and 9.5 yards on punt returns. His 2,039 all-purpose yards were a school record, helping him become an Associated Press second team All-American all-purpose player after ranking third nationally with 145.6 all-purpose yards per game.
From Ben Bolch and Ryan Kartje: A look at all the players who are transferring in and out of UCLA and USC in the NCAA transfer portal ahead of the 2026 college football season.
Recent announcements include UCLA acquiring running back Wayne Knight and wide receivers Semaj Morgan, Landon Ellis, Leland Smith and Aidan Mizell are coming to UCLA.
From Steve Henson: The decision by Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. to enter the transfer portal shocked and angered the Huskies because only days earlier the sophomore breakout star had signed a lucrative name, image and likeness deal to remain in Seattle.
Legal action by Washington would be no surprise two weeks after similar events prompted an exchange of lawsuits involving Damon Wilson II, an edge rusher who transferred from Georgia to Missouri in January 2025, days after signing an NIL contract.
With recruiting strategy reduced to shoveling stacks of NIL dollars at players who jump through the transfer portal seemingly at will, it’s no wonder loyalty and etiquette have given way to opportunity and greed.
And it should surprise no one that the implementation of rules might be done by judges, not NCAA officials or conference commissioners.
From Benjamin Royer:Jim Harbaugh listed descriptions of his players as he looked back on the injury-filled route to the postseason the Chargers took to facing the New England Patriots in the AFC wild-card round on Sunday.
Harbaugh, heading into his second postseason as Chargers head coach, coined his team as gladiators, warriors and competitors — grappling the attention off the reporter’s question about what he’d learned from the regular-season strife and onto his roster.
“They’re mighty men,” Harbaugh said Wednesday afternoon.
Harbaugh continued: “It just reconfirms everything that I’ve always thought and want for our team is: ‘Competitors welcome.’ Competitors and playmakers, and we’ve got them. … That bodes really well for our team.”
There’s no doubt who the mightiest of the bunch may be for the Chargers (11-6) in 2025.
Justin Herbert’s 16-game stretch — playing the final five of which with a fractured left hand before sitting out last week — has turned heads with his 3,727 passing yards and 26 passing touchdowns despite playing behind a fractured offensive line because of injuries to starting tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt.
For some teams, the search for a new head coach has begun.
The Baltimore Ravens have become the seventh team that will be seeking a new coach heading into the 2026 season. They fired longtime coach John Harbaugh on Tuesday, less than two days after a missed field goal at the end of regulation against the Pittsburgh Steelers prevented Baltimore from clinching the AFC North and advancing to the playoffs.
The Las Vegas Raiders fired Pete Carroll on Monday morning after a 3-14 season. The Atlanta Falcons fired coach Raheem Morris, as well as general manager Terry Fontenot, on Sunday night after a second straight 8-9 finish. The Cleveland Browns fired coach Kevin Stefanski after six seasons, the team announced Monday morning following a 5-11 finish this season. The Arizona Cardinals announced Monday morning that they’ve moved on from coach Jonathan Gannon after a 3-14 season.
From Gary Klein: His late grandfather is the all-time leader in NFL coaching victories.
His father was an NFL head coach.
So, yes, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula aims to become a third-generation NFL head coach.
Shula, the Rams’ defensive coordinator, is expected to take another step toward achieving that goal next week when assistants coaching in wild-card playoff games this weekend can be interviewed for head coach openings.
All times Pacific Wild-card round NFC Saturday No. 5 Rams at No. 4 Carolina, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes No. 7 Green Bay at No. 2 Chicago, 5 p.m., Prime Video
Sunday No. 6 San Francisco at No. 3 Philadelphia, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes
AFC Sunday No. 6 Buffalo at No. 3 Jacksonville, 10 a.m., CBS, Paramount+ No. 7 Chargers at No. 2 New England, 5 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo
From Anthony Solorzano: Her jitters came and went during the first meet of her college career. Now, it’s time for UCLA freshman Nola Matthews to focus on her training and routines.
“How I practice is the standard that I want,” Matthews said, “so now, I just need to implement that into competition.”
The UCLA women’s gymnastics team sent four freshmen (Matthews, Tiana Sumanasekera, Ashlee Sullivan and Jordis Eichman) to the floor during their meet against Washington, California and Oregon State on Saturday.
After earning three wins during the competition in Washington, the Bruins swept the Big Ten Conference weekly awards, including freshman of the week award for Sumanasekera after she placed second on the balance beam and the floor exercise.
“Thank you everyone for your prayers and concerns, but contrary to reports, I have not given up hope in my battle with Parkinson’s!” the 56-year-old Super Bowl champion wrote on X. “Not sure where this came from — but just like I never gave up on the gridiron — not going to start now. I pray there will be a cure one day and I appreciate you all.”
Favre also told TMZ on Wednesday: “I have absolutely not given up and I am fighting till the end. Yes I have progressed a little faster than I would have hoped at this point but I’m extremely thankful and blessed!!!”
From Benjamin Royer: The Dodgers avoided arbitration with reliever Brusdar Graterol on Wednesday, reportedly agreeing to terms with the Venezuelan right-hander on a one-year, $2.8-million deal before Thursday’s deadline to avoid an arbitration hearing.
Graterol, 27, missed the 2025 season after undergoing surgery on the labrum in his right shoulder in November 2024. The $2.8-million figure is the same as his salary for last season.
After being acquired by the Dodgers in a 2020 trade that sent Kenta Maeda to the Minnesota Twins, he turned into a hard-throwing member of the team’s bullpen.
1972 — The NCAA announces freshmen will be eligible to play on varsity football and basketball teams starting in the fall.
1973 — David Vaughn of Oral Roberts grabs 34 rebounds in a 123-95 win over Brandeis.
1984 — The Executive Committee of the NCAA votes to expand the championship basketball field to 64 teams starting in 1985.
1984 — Bengt Gustafsson of the Washington Capitals scores five goals in a 7-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
1993 — Michael Jordan becomes the 18th NBA player to reach the 20,000-point plateau when he scores 35 points in the Chicago Bulls’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Jordan reaches 20,000-points in 620 games, faster than anyone except Wilt Chamberlain, who did it in 499 games.
1994 — Dino Ciccarelli becomes the 19th NHL player to score 500 career goals in the Detroit Red Wings’ 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
2000 — Eddie House scores 61 points to tie Lew Alcindor’s Pac-10 record and lead the Sun Devils to 111-108 double-overtime victory over California.
2003 — Utah guard Mark Jackson becomes the third NBA player to reach 10,000 career assists in the Jazz’s 99-93 win over the Phoenix Suns. Jackson joins career assists leader and teammate John Stockton (15,425) and Magic Johnson (10,141).
2007 — Second-ranked Florida dominates Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and No. 1 Ohio State for a 41-14 in the BCS National Championship Bowl. The Gators become the first Division I school to hold football and basketball titles at the same time.
2008 — Goose Gossage becomes the fifth relief pitcher elected to the Hall of Fame.
2009 — Tim Tebow wins the matchup of Heisman winners as No. 1 Florida beats No. 2 Oklahoma and this year’s Heisman winner Sam Bradford, 24-14, in the BCS National Championship Bowl.
2011 — The Seattle Seahawks stun the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints 41-36 to open the NFL playoffs. Seattle, the first division winner with a losing record at 7-9, advances behind four touchdown passes by Matt Hasselbeck and a brilliant 67-yard run by Marshawn Lynch.
2012 — Denver’s Tim Tebow connects with Demaryius Thomas on an electrifying 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime and the Broncos stun the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-23 in a AFC wild-card game. The play, the longest to end a playoff game in overtime, takes 11 seconds and is the quickest ending to an overtime in NFL history.
2014 — Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas are elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame, while Craig Biggio fell two votes short.
2016 — Oakland’s Khalil Mack makes history earning a selection at two positions on the 2015 Associated Press All-Pro Team, an NFL first. The second-year Raiders defensive end and outside linebacker draws enough support from a panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league to make the squad both spots.
2018 — College Football National Championship, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta: #4 Alabama beats #3 Georgia, 26-23.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
The decision by Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. to enter the transfer portal shocked and angered the Huskies because only days earlier the sophomore breakout star had signed a lucrative name, image and likeness deal to remain in Seattle.
Legal action by Washington would be no surprise two weeks after similar events prompted an exchange of lawsuits involving Damon Wilson II, an edge rusher who transferred from Georgia to Missouri in January 2025, days after signing an NIL contract.
With recruiting strategy reduced to shoveling stacks of NIL dollars at players who jump through the transfer portal seemingly at will, it’s no wonder loyalty and etiquette have given way to opportunity and greed.
And it should surprise no one that the implementation of rules might be done by judges, not NCAA officials or conference commissioners.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Washington is “prepared to pursue all legal avenues to enforce Williams’ signed contract,” and the quarterback’s situation has also “drawn the attention of the Big Ten.” Already, Washington has declined to enter Williams’ name into the portal, citing language in the NIL contract that states the school is not obligated to do so.
It appears Washington wants to play hardball, much the way Georgia is attempting to do with Wilson, whose countersuit against the Bulldogs claims he was one of several players pressured into signing his NIL contract on Dec. 21, 2024. Georgia is seeking $390,000 in damages, pointing to a liquidated damage fee clause in the NIL contract that may or may not hold up in court.
Washington officials suspect that another school contacted Williams after he had signed his Huskies deal, and submitted evidence of tampering to the Big Ten. Tony Petitti, the conference commissioner, happened to be in Seattle on Tuesday for a Celebration of Life service for Washington goalkeeper Mia Hamant, who died on Nov. 6 from an rare form of kidney cancer.
Many Huskies football players and coaches also were in attendance when Williams posted his official announcement about entering the transfer portal on Instagram.
“To post his decision to enter the portal during the service was, at best, the result of horrible advice from his PR team, and at worst, a stunning lack of self-awareness,” wrote Matt Calkins in the Seattle Times.
Williams’ NIL deal with Washington for 2026 was estimated at $4 million, a reasonable number for a quarterback who was among the top 15 nationally in passing efficiency, passing yards and yards per attempt. He attempted to enter the portal with a “do not contact” tag, an indication he has a destination in mind.
A chronology of top quarterback movement in recent days provides circumstantial evidence that Louisiana State and Williams have mutual interest. LSU, of course, has a new coach in Lane Kiffin, and a need at quarterback. Turns out Williams and Kiffin aren’t strangers.
Kiffin’s first target was Brendan Sorsby, who had left Cincinnati, but he committed to Texas Tech. Sam Leavitt of Arizona State is considered the best quarterback left in the portal, and he visited Baton Rouge this week before heading to Tennessee for another visit.
However, Kiffin easily could shift his attention to Williams, a dual-threat signal-caller who while in high school committed to Ole Miss when Kiffin was coach. He eventually signed with Arizona, and when coach Jedd Fisch took the job at Washington, Williams followed him.
Williams blossomed as a sophomore in 2025, passing for 3,065 yards and 25 touchdowns with eight interceptions while adding 611 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
In his lengthy Instagram post, Williams thanked everyone associated with Washington before revealing the news: “I have to do what is best for me and my future. After much thought and prayer, I will be entering the transfer portal.”
Months after the devastating Palisades fire, the head of the Los Angeles Fire Commission inquired about the Fire Department’s long-awaited after-action report.
Interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva said that a “working draft” had been sent to Mayor Karen Bass’ office, Genethia Hudley Hayes told The Times on Tuesday.
In the conversation, which took place in mid-August or later, Villanueva said that the mayor’s office had asked for “refinements,” but he did not say what they were, according to Hudley Hayes.
Hudley Hayes, who was appointed by Bass in June 2023 to serve on the five-member commission that provides civilian oversight of the LAFD, said that in her long career in civic roles, she had learned that words like “refinements” could mean troubling changes to a government report, made for the purpose of hiding facts.
The Times had previously reported that Hudley Hayes was concerned enough about possible edits that she sought advice from a deputy city attorney.
But Hudley Hayes’ remarks Tuesday were her first public statements that her concerns stemmed from what she understood to be the mayor’s office’s possible intent to influence the report, which was supposed to lay out what went wrong in fighting the Palisades fire and how to prevent the mistakes from happening again.
Hudley Hayes said that after reviewing an early draft of the after-action report, as well as the final document released by the LAFD on Oct. 8, she was satisfied that “material findings” were not altered.
But her account raises questions about the mayor’s role in revisions to the report that, as Moore conceded Tuesday, downplayed the city’s failures in preparing for and responding to the fire, which killed 12 people and leveled much of the Palisades and surrounding areas.
On Tuesday, Bass’ office did not immediately explain what the refinements were. A spokesperson previously said that the office did not demand changes to the drafts and only asked the LAFD to confirm the accuracy of items such as how the weather and the department’s budget factored into the disaster.
“The report was written and edited by the Fire Department,” the spokesperson, Clara Karger, said in an email last month. “We did not red-line, review every page or review every draft of the report.”
The Times obtained and analyzed seven drafts of the report and identified deletions and revisions. The most significant changes in the various iterations of the report involved the LAFD’s deployment decisions before the fire, as the wind warnings became increasingly dire.
In one instance, LAFD officials removed language saying that the decision not to fully staff up and pre-deploy all available crews and engines ahead of the extreme wind forecast “did not align” with the department’s policy and procedures during red flag days. Instead, the final report said that the number of engine companies rolled out ahead of the fire “went above and beyond the standard LAFD pre-deployment matrix.”
“It is now clear that multiple drafts were edited to soften language and reduce explicit criticism of department leadership in that final report,” Moore said at a Fire Commission meeting Tuesday. “This editing occurred prior to my appointment as fire chief. And I can assure you that nothing of this sort will ever again happen while I am fire chief.”
The LAFD did not respond to a query about who ordered the changes to the report. Villanueva also did not respond Tuesday to requests for comment.
Hudley Hayes said she reached out to Villanueva around Aug. 21, when The Times published a story quoting a colleague on the Fire Commission, Sharon Delugach, expressing a desire to see the after-action report.
“It occurred to me then that she was correct. We hadn’t seen one — it was taking a long time,” Hudley Hayes said. “That’s the point I called interim Chief Villanueva.”
Meanwhile, the author of the report, Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook, had emailed a PDF of his report to Villanueva in early August, asking the chief to select a couple of people to provide edits so he could make the changes in his Word document.
The following week, Cook emailed the chief his final draft.
“Thank you for all your hard work,” Villanueva responded. “I’ll let you know how we’re going to move forward.”
Over the next two months, the report went through a series of edits — behind closed doors and without Cook’s involvement, as The Times disclosed last month.
On Oct. 8, the same day the report was released, Cook emailed Villanueva, declining to endorse the public version because of changes that altered his findings and made the report “highly unprofessional and inconsistent with our established standards.”
“Having reviewed the revised version submitted by your office, I must respectfully decline to endorse it in its current form,” Cook wrote in the email obtained by The Times. “The document has undergone substantial modifications and contains significant deletions of information that, in some instances, alter the conclusions originally presented.”
A July email thread reviewed by The Times shows that the LAFD formed a “crisis management workgroup” to deal with concerns about how the after-action report would be received.
“The primary goal of this workgroup is to collaboratively manage communications for any critical public relations issue that may arise. The immediate and most pressing crisis is the Palisades After Action Report,” LAFD Assistant Chief Kairi Brown wrote in an email to eight other people.
“With significant interest from media, politicians, and the community, it is crucial that we present a unified response to anticipated questions and concerns,” Brown wrote. “By doing so, we can ensure our messaging is clear and consistent, allowing us to create our own narrative rather than reactive responses.”
Hudley Hayes, who previously served on the L.A. Unified school board, said she did not think “there was any critical material removed” from the final report.
She said she noticed only small differences, such as “mistakes” being changed to “challenges,” and the removal of firefighters’ names.
She added that she does not know who ordered the changes disclosed by The Times — and despite her oversight role, is “not particularly” interested in finding out.
“Our job is to take the report that we have in front of us. Our job is to make sure those recommendations that came to us from a public report are taken care of,” she said. “You’re asking me political questions.”
Los Angeles Fire Chief Jaime Moore admitted Tuesday that his department’s after-action report on the Palisades fire was watered down to shield top brass from scrutiny.
“It is now clear that multiple drafts were edited to soften language and reduce explicit criticism of department leadership in that final report,” Moore said Tuesday during remarks before the city’s Board of Fire Commissioners. “This editing occurred prior to my appointment as fire chief. And I can assure you that nothing of this sort will ever again happen while I am fire chief.”
Moore, who was appointed fire chief in November, did not say who was responsible for the changes to the report.
The report’s author, LAFD Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook, declined to endorse it because of substantial deletions that altered his findings. Cook said in an Oct. 8 email to then-interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva and other LAFD officials that the edited version was “highly unprofessional and inconsistent with our established standards.”
Mayor Karen Bass’ office has said that the LAFD wrote and edited the report, and that the mayor did not demand changes.
On Tuesday, Clara Karger, a spokesperson for Bass said: “Mayor Bass fully respects and supports what the Chief said today, and she looks forward to seeing his leadership make the change that is needed within the department. Chief Moore is a courageous leader with strong integrity who continues to show his deep commitment to the people of Los Angeles and to the brave firefighters who serve our city every day.”
Villanueva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Moore’s remarks, on the eve of the first anniversary of the Palisades fire, were the strongest admission yet of missteps by LAFD leaders. They amounted to an about-face for a chief who in November critiqued the media following a Times report that a battalion chief ordered firefighters to roll up their hoses and leave the area of a New Year’s Day fire even though they had complained that the ground was still smoldering. That fire, the Lachman fire, later reignited into the Palisades fire.
“This is about learning and not assigning blame,” said Fire Commissioner Sharon Delugach, who praised the chief for his comments.
The most significant changes, The Times found in its analysis of seven drafts of the report, involved top LAFD officials’ decision not to fully staff up and pre-deploy available firefighters ahead of the ferocious winds.
An initial draft said the decision “did not align” with policy, while the final version said the number of companies pre-deployed “went above and beyond the standard LAFD pre-deployment matrix.”
A section on “failures” was renamed “primary challenges,” and an item saying that crews and leaders had violated national guidelines on how to avoid firefighter deaths and injuries was scratched.
Another passage that was deleted said that some crews waited more than an hour for an assignment on Jan. 7, 2025.
The department made other changes that seemed intended to make the report seem less negative. In one draft, there was a suggestion to change the cover image from a photo of palm trees on fire to a more “positive” image, such as “firefighters on the frontline.” The final report displays the LAFD seal on its cover.
A July email thread reviewed by The Times shows concern over how the after-action report would be received, with the LAFD forming a “crisis management workgroup.”
“The primary goal of this workgroup is to collaboratively manage communications for any critical public relations issue that may arise. The immediate and most pressing crisis is the Palisades After Action Report,” LAFD Assistant Chief Kairi Brown wrote in an email to eight other people.
“With significant interest from media, politicians, and the community, it is crucial that we present a unified response to anticipated questions and concerns,” Brown wrote. “By doing so, we can ensure our messaging is clear and consistent, allowing us to create our own narrative rather than reactive responses.”
Maryam Zar, a Palisades resident who runs the Palisades Recovery Coalition, said that “when news came out that this report had been doctored to save face, it didn’t take much for [Palisades residents] to believe that was true.”
It was easy for Moore to admit the faults of previous LAFD administrations, she said.
“He’s not going to take any heat. It wasn’t him,” she said. “He’s not the fire chief who really should have stood up and said, ‘I didn’t do what I should have.’”
The after-action report has been widely criticized for failing to examine the New Year’s Day fire that later reignited into the Palisades fire. Bass has ordered the LAFD to commission an independent investigation into its missteps in putting out the earlier fire.
On Tuesday, Moore said the city failed to adequately ensure that the New Year’s Day fire was fully snuffed out.
He said that LAFD officials “genuinely believed the fire was fully extinguished.”
“That was based on the information, conditions, and procedures in place at that moment. That belief guided the operational decision-making that was made,” he said. “However, the outcome has made it incredibly clear that our mop-up and verification process needed to be stronger.”
From Chuck Schilken: The Las Vegas Raiders fired Pete Carroll on Monday morning after a 3-14 season. The Atlanta Falcons fired coach Raheem Morris, as well as general manager Terry Fontenot, on Sunday night after a second straight 8-9 finish. The Cleveland Browns fired coach Kevin Stefanski after six seasons, the team announced Monday morning following a 5-11 finish this season. The Arizona Cardinals announced Monday morning that they’ve moved on from coach Jonathan Gannon after a 3-14 season.
Two other teams parted ways with their head coaches during the season. The Tennessee Titans fired Brian Callahan in October after a 1-5 start to the season. The New York Giants fired Brian Daboll in November after a 2-8 start.
With NFL’s “Black Monday” already in full swing, other teams are likely to make similar moves. Here’s a look at everything that has happened so far. This list will continue to be updated as more changes occur.
From Benjamin Royer: Quentin Lake, the Rams’ defensive captain, could be the catalyst that helps mend the Rams’ tattered secondary ahead of their wild-card showdown with the Carolina Panthers on Saturday.
Through the first 11 weeks of the season, the Rams held opponents to 17.2 points per game, just behind the Houston Texans as the NFL’s second-best defense. Over the seven games Lake missed since sustaining a dislocated elbow against the Seahawks in November, the Rams gave up an average of 24.8 points per game.
The 26-year-old safety, who is expected to make his return against Carolina, has proven to be a cornerstone on the Rams’ defense with his leadership skills and personal versatility.
Lake has also endeared himself to his teammates, as evidenced by Kobie Turner‘s widened smile when Lake’s name came up with reporters following the Rams’ 37-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
“Captain Q,” said Turner, who played a role in helping the Rams record six sacks against the Cardinals. “There’s not really words that can explain — you turn on the tape and you see exactly what he is.”
All times Pacific Wild-card round NFC Saturday No. 5 Rams at No. 4 Carolina, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes No. 7 Green Bay at No. 2 Chicago, 5 p.m., Prime Video
Sunday No. 6 San Francisco at No. 3 Philadelphia, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes
AFC Sunday No. 6 Buffalo at No. 3 Jacksonville, 10 a.m., CBS, Paramount+ No. 7 Chargers at No. 2 New England, 5 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo
For the second time in three days, the Lakers played the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena, took a close game into the fourth quarter and pulled away late behind the scoring punch of the same three players.
Again fueled by LeBron James (26 points, 10 assists), Luka Doncic (36 points, nine rebounds, eight assists) and Jake LaRavia (26 points), the Lakers overcame a 16-point first-half deficit to win 120-114 on Sunday against the Grizzlies.
After James and Doncic each scored 30 in Friday’s win that also featured a 20-point performance from LaRavia, the Lakers (22-11) won consecutive games for just the second time in five weeks.
Kawhi Leonard had 24 points and 12 rebounds, rookie Kobe Sanders added 20 points, and the Clippers edged the Golden State Warriors 103-102 on Monday night in a wild game that included Warriors coach Steve Kerr getting ejected and Steph Curry fouling out for the first time since 2021.
Kerr was ejected with 7:57 remaining in the game after becoming irate when the Clippers’ John Collins wasn’t called for goaltending. A shouting Kerr pursued the referees along the sideline and had to be restrained by his assistants before getting tossed.
Curry scored 27 points but was just four for 15 from three-point range and nine for 23 overall before fouling out with 42 seconds remaining in the game. He fouled out for the first time since Dec. 17, 2021, at Boston.
Coen Carr scored 18 points and Jaxon Kohler added 16 on perfect shooting to lead No. 12 Michigan State to an 80-51 blowout against USC on Monday night.
Jeremy Fears Jr. had 15 points and seven assists for the Spartans (13-2, 3-1 Big Ten), who took control with a 27-6 run early in the game and led by at least 20 for much of the second half.
Kohler made all six of his field-goal attempts, including a trio of three-pointers, and sank his only free throw. He also grabbed eight rebounds, two short of becoming the first Spartans player since at least 1996-97 to have six straight double-doubles in a season, according to Sportradar.
Ezra Ausar scored 16 points and Jerry Easter added 12 for the Trojans (12-3, 1-3), who lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist, and the Kings held on to beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Monday night.
Warren Foegele, Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe also scored, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 33 shots for the Kings, who beat the Wild for the second time in three nights and got just their fourth win in 12 games (4-6-2).
Jared Spurgeon had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Hartman also scored for Minnesota, which snapped a six-game point streak (3-0-3). and Filip Gustavsson had 29 saves.
Kings center Anze Kopitar left the game after playing 4:54 in the first period. The Kings later ruled him out for the rest of the game because of a lower-body injury.
Bob Pulford, a Hockey Hall of Fame player who went on to a lengthy career in the NHL as a coach and general manager, has died. He was 89.
A spokesperson for the NHL Alumni Assn. said Monday the organization learned of Pulford’s death from his family. No other details were provided.
A tough, dependable forward, Pulford helped the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup four times during his 14-year stretch with them from 1956 to 1970. The Newton Robinson, Canada, native was part of the 1967 team that remains the organization’s last to win a championship.
Pulford spent his final two playing seasons with the Kings in the early 1970s before coaching them for the following five years. He then ran the Chicago Blackhawks’ front office as general manager or senior vice president of hockey operations for three decades from 1977 to 2007, going behind the bench to coach four times during that span.
Justin Sourdif scored his first NHL hat trick and added two assists and the Washington Capitals beat the Ducks 7-4 on Monday night.
Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Ryan Leonard had a goal and an assist, John Carlson also scored and Connor McMichael had four assists for the Capitals, who ended a two-game slide. Charlie Lindgren made 41 saves in the win.
1951 — The Indianapolis Olympians beat the Rochester Royals 75-73 in six overtimes, the longest game in NBA history.
1976 — Ted Turner, a millionaire communications executive and internationally known yachtsman, buys the Atlanta Braves for a reported $10-to-12 million.
1980 — The Rams, behind three field goals by Frank Corral, beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-0 to win the NFC Championship. This is the first conference championship game in NFL history without a touchdown being scored.
1980 — The Pittsburgh Steelers advance to their fourth Super Bowl appearance since 1974 by eliminating the Houston Oilers for the second consecutive year with a 27-13 triumph in the AFC title game.
1981 — John Tonelli ties a New York Islanders record with five goals in a 6-3 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nassau Coliseum. Mike Bossy gets an assist on all six goals to set an Islanders record. Tonelli scores once in the first period, once in the second and three times in the third.
1985 — Dan Marino passes for a record 421 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Miami Dolphins to a 45-28 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game.
1985 — The San Francisco 49ers holds the Chicago Bears to 186 yards and sacks quarterback Steve Fuller nine times to win the NFC Championship 23-0.
1994 — Nancy Kerrigan is attacked after practice at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. Shane Stant clubs Kerrigan on the knee and flees the scene. Later that evening, Scott Davis wins the men’s U.S. Figure Skating title.
1995 — Lenny Wilkens becomes the winningest coach in NBA history as the Atlanta Hawks post a 112-90 victory over the Washington Bullets. Wilkens, with his 939th win, surpasses Red Auerbach’s record. Wilkens reaches the record in his 22nd year as an NBA coach, including four as a player-coach.
2005 — For the first time in NBA history, a player leads his team in scoring without making a field goal. Detroit’s Richard Hamilton scores 14 points despite missing all 10 of his field goal attempts in a 101-79 loss to Memphis.
2011 — Miami of Ohio caps a historic season with a 35-21 win over Middle Tennessee in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. The RedHawks (10-4) are the first team in Football Bowl Subdivision history to win 10 games one season after losing 10. Miami finished a dismal 1-11 in 2009.
2014 — Patrick Maher of Division III Grinnell College breaks the NCAA record with 37 assists in a 164-144 victory over College of Faith.
2014 — Jameis Winston throws a 13-yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds left and No. 1 Florida State beat No. 2 Auburn 34-31 to win the last BCS national championship game.
2015 — Patrik Elias has a goal and two assists to reach 1,000, NHL points, and the New Jersey Devils beat the struggling Buffalo Sabres 4-1. The goal is the 399th for Elias.
2016 — Ken Griffey Jr. is elected to the baseball Hall of Fame with the highest voting percentage ever, and Mike Piazza makes it in his fourth year on the ballot. Griffey is on 437 of 440 votes in his first appearance on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. His 99.3 percentage tops Tom Seaver’s 98.84 in 1992.
2018 — Jon Gruden returns to the NFL as Oakland Raiders head coach after nearly a decade of broadcasting (ESPN Monday Night Football 2009-17).
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
SACRAMENTO — A California lawmaker introduced a bill Monday to crack down on fake liens filed against politicians, court employees and businesses that can force victims to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees to clear their names and repair their credit.
The bill by Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo) comes after a Times investigation in July found lien claims filed with the secretary of state’s office are used by antigovernment agitators, including so-called “sovereign citizens,” for conspiracy-laced demands and vendettas. The U.S. Justice Department and the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service have called fake liens a form of “paper terrorism.”
“This isn’t an exotic or onerous fix,” Papan said Monday after the state Legislature returned to the Capitol to begin a new session. “The fact is that someone can do irreparable damage to someone’s reputation and their ability to have good credit. And we can certainly do better in California.”
Liens are recorded in state Uniform Commercial Code databases across the country, with the public filings intended to standardize interstate transactions and alert creditors about business debts and financial obligations.
The Times’ investigation found that state databases of UCC liens, which were designed to be straightforward and quick to file, are inherently vulnerable to abuse. A single false filing can claim an individual or business owes debts worth hundreds of millions or even trillions of dollars. Others flood victims with repeated filings that make it appear they are entangled in complex financial disputes.
In California, a lien recorded with the secretary of state costs $5 to file, but removing a fraudulent one from the public database requires a court order, which can cost thousands in attorney and court fees. The state does not notify a person when a lien names them as the debtor, allowing fake filings to remain in California’s public database for years before a victim discovers them. Many politicians and government employees learned from The Times that they had been targeted with spurious filings.
Under Assembly Bill 501, the secretary of state’s office would be required to notify individuals within 21 days if they are named as a debtor in a lien filing. The legislation also would delay court fees until the end of judicial proceedings.
In cases where the lien is found to be fraudulent, the bill would make the guilty party liable to the victim for three times the amount of court fees paid. The bill would also increase the maximum civil penalty for filing a fraudulent lien to $15,000, up from $5,000. California law already makes it a felony to knowingly file a fake lien.
“Victims of these fraudulent filings often have no idea they’ve been targeted until real harm is done,” Papan said. “That harm can look like wrecked credit, failed background checks, or failed mortgage applications while the people committing the fraud face relatively little risk or consequence.”
The National Assn. of Secretaries of State said the vast majority of UCC filings are legitimate. But, in a 2023 report, the association said that “fraudulent or bogus filings” were a widespread and persistent problem across the country, warning that they “can create serious financial difficulties for victims.”
One high-profile California public official who was unaware he had been named in a UCC claim until contacted by The Times said he was alarmed to find that the filing contained his home address. The Times identified hundreds of other UCC filings with no apparent legal basis that also listed the home addresses of government officials and prominent power-brokers, effectively turning the state’s public database into a doxing tool.
In the debt claims, individuals falsely allege government officials owe them money or property, in some cases claiming ownership of the victim’s home. Other fake filings target businesses with claims of being owed cash and cars. In some cases, individuals file dozens or hundreds of fake liens. Paid online classes associated with fringe antigovernment ideologies teach people how to record UCC liens, often promoting the filings as a way to pressure perceived adversaries or falsely claiming that the filings can erase debts.
Michael Rogers, a San Diego attorney who represents auto dealers targeted by fake filings, said AB 501 would “greatly curb some of the systemic abuses used by the sovereign citizen movement and others” who file unsupported or fraudulent lien notices.
Consumer credit expert John Ulzheimer said in July that liens can complicate a person’s ability to obtain a mortgage or a company’s chances of securing lines of credit. In some cases, he said, the filings can derail job applications for positions that require thorough background checks.
Papan said her bill would restore “balance and accountability” to the UCC system, ensuring it remains a trusted commercial tool while adding protections for Californians targeted by fraudulent filings.
“We can’t allow the Uniform Commercial Code to be used as a weapon,” Papan said. “The fact that these forms are being used to damage the integrity of commercial transactions is very troubling.”
From Gary Klein: It was a modest goal. After being sidelined all of training camp, all Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford desired was for his sore back to heal in time for the season opener.
“Just make it to Week 1,” he joked.
Mission accomplished.
“We got there,” he said, “and then just held on for dear life.”
Stafford did more than that. Despite some “touch and go moments,” he did not miss a snap during perhaps the finest season of his 17-year career.
And on Sunday, Stafford made a final case for his first league most valuable player award.
He passed for four touchdowns in a 37-20 victory over the Arizona Cardinals that gave the Rams the No. 5 seed for the NFC playoffs and a wild-card matchup on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PST against the No. 4 Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C.
The Seattle Seahawks are seeded No. 1 and will have a first round bye. The No. 2 Chicago Bears play host to the No. 7 Green Bay Packers, and the No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles play host to the No. 6 San Francisco 49ers.
Stafford, 37, will attempt to lead the Rams to their second Super Bowl title in his five seasons with the team.
From Sam Farmer: The game was the understudies versus the underwhelmings.
The second-string Chargers against the … wait a second, the top-seeded Denver Broncos only generated 240 yards and failed to score an offensive touchdown?
Such is the AFC this season, filled with teams who flash one week and fizzle the next.
Sunday’s regular-season finale — which the Broncos won, 19-3 — was far more competitive than it should have been, especially considering the lopsided incentives.
Whereas the Chargers were playing for pride and only modestly consequential postseason seeding, Denver’s stakes were two miles high: a free pass to the second round, and home-field advantage until the Super Bowl.
All times Pacific Wild-card round NFC Saturday No. 5 Rams at No. 4 Carolina, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes No. 7 Green Bay at No. 2 Chicago, 5 p.m., Prime Video
Sunday No. 6 San Francisco at No. 3 Philadelphia, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes
AFC Sunday No. 6 Buffalo at No. 3 Jacksonville, 10 a.m., CBS, Paramount+ No. 7 Chargers at No. 2 New England, 5 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo
From Broderick Turner: They met two days prior to Sunday night’s encounter at Crypto.com Arena, a two-game set between the Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies reminiscent of a playoff series.
The Lakers won the first game Friday night here and knew the Grizzlies were going to bring more intensity and a stronger effort even with star guard Ja Morant (right calf contusion) not playing.
And that was the case, the Lakers falling behind by 16 points in the second quarter, the Grizzlies ramping it up in a big way. But with Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Jake LaRavia leading the way, the Lakers pulled out a 120-114 win and improved to 12-0 in clutch games.
1964 — Keith Lincoln of the San Diego Chargers rushes for 206 yards in 13 carries, catches seven passes for 123 yards, completes one pass for 20 and scores two touchdowns in a 51-10 rout of the Boston Patriots for the AFL title.
1983 — In his 42nd game, Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky scores his 100th point of the season with an assist in the Oilers’ 8-3 triumph over the Winnipeg Jets.
1991 — Kevin Bradshaw of U.S. International scores 72 points to break Pete Maravich’s NCAA Division I single-game scoring record of 69, but Loyola Marymount sets an NCAA team scoring record in defeating the Gulls 186-140.
1993 — Reggie Jackson, who hit 563 homers and played on five championship teams in 21 seasons, is the only player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1996 — Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula announces his retirement as winningest NFL Head Coach of all-time.
1997 — The second-year Carolina Panthers, behind John Kasay’s four field goals, beat the Dallas Cowboys 26-17 to advance to the NFC championship game.
1999 — Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount are voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the biggest class of first-time candidates since Babe Ruth and four others were chosen in the original election of 1936.
2009 — Pittsburgh makes it to the top of The Associated Press’ men’s college basketball poll for the first time. The Panthers are one of a record nine Big East teams in the poll. The 16-team league had a record eight schools ranked for three weeks earlier in the season.
2013 — Aaron Rodgers connects with an NFL playoff-record 10 receivers as he throws for 274 yards in his first playoff victory at home, leading Green Bay to a 24-10 victory over Minnesota.
2013 — Arian Foster rushes for 140 yards and a touchdown in Houston’s 19-13 win over Cincinnati, and becomes the first NFL player to have 100-yard games in each of his first three playoff games.
2017 — The Columbus Blue Jackets lose 5-0 to the Washington Capitals ending their winning streak at 16 games, one shy of the NHL record. Columbus lose for the first time since Nov. 26, ending a captivating run that fell short of the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins’ record of 17 consecutive wins.
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Happy New Year, and welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter. So much has happened since we last hit your inbox. The USC-Notre Dame rivalry officially was scrapped (until 2030, at least). D’Anton Lynn took the defensive coordinator job at Penn State, his alma mater. And USC finished its season with a brutal last stand at the Alamo Bowl.
Now the most critical offseason of Lincoln Riley’s tenure with the Trojans lies ahead. The next few weeks especially could make or break the coach’s future at USC. And it all starts with hiring a new defensive coordinator.
Fight on! Are you a true Trojans fan?
Whoever is hired steps into a pressure cooker from the very start. The heat already has cranked up on USC’s coach. If the Trojans don’t make the College Football Playoff, Riley and his coordinator-to-be-named-later could be looking for new jobs at this time next year. And just making the playoff is going to require serious progress on a defense that must replace key players at every level and faces Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon next season.
It might be tempting, with that in mind, to try to maintain continuity, to circle the wagons and promote from within, hoping it’s enough to push USC into the playoff. This idea started taking hold as days dragged on after Lynn’s exit and fans’ panic started to pique: Maybe it was most prudent, the logic went, to promote defensive line coach Eric Henderson to coordinator.
After all, he called defensive plays in the bowl game. He’s a beloved assistant and top-notch recruiter. Not to mention that Georgia Tech, his alma mater, is interested in him for its staff.
Hiring someone else might mean not only losing Henderson in the staff shuffle, but also potentially losing key players or recruits along his defensive line. Several of those players, including five-star freshman Jahkeem Stewart, have publicly endorsed Henderson for the job.
Look, Henderson is a really good coach. And it’s great that his players think so highly of him. But now is not the time to make him — or anyone else on USC’s staff — the defensive coordinator.
That’s not a reflection on Henderson or secondary coach Doug Belk so much as it’s a reflection on the moment. Riley can’t afford for this coordinator hire, his third in five years, to fail. Not after all the resources that USC has poured into this next season being the culmination of its overhaul of the football program. To hand the defense to anyone other than a proven coach with a track record of immediate success is a risk that Riley just can’t take. Not now.
The question is whether any proven coaches are willing to take a risk with USC.
That’s not to say the right coach can’t step in next season and immediately make the Trojans a top-25 defense. Pete Kwiatkowski seemed to fit that profile. He has deep college experience, a close connection to athletic director Jennifer Cohen and a defense that just two years ago was among the top in college football. That he was let go by Texas just before USC lost its coordinator seemed like kismet.
But as of Sunday night, according to the Athletic, Kwiatkowski was trending toward becoming Stanford’s defensive coordinator.
Stanford.
Now I don’t know where Kwiatkowski stood in the pecking order of candidates for USC. Nor is USC doomed if it doesn’t hire him.
But that’s the profile of a coordinator that should get the job. A proven coach capable of getting the best out of USC’s talent and turning the Trojans into a playoff-caliber defense in the way his predecessors couldn’t.
Because if this doesn’t work, Riley won’t get the chance to hire a fourth.
Transfer portal notes, Week 1
Former Auburn wide receiver Cam Coleman, the most coveted player who’s not a quarterback in the portal, is scheduled to meet with USC.
(Michael Woods / Associated Press)
—Iowa State cornerback Jontez Williams became the first big-name commitment out of the portal for USC, and he’s a big get indeed. Williams started just five games last year before suffering a season-ending injury but was a standout and All-Big 12 second-team selection in 2024. Securing a No. 1 cornerback was always a top priority for USC in the portal, and the Trojans managed to find one within two days. A good start. Presumably Williams was paid to start next to Chasen Johnson or Marcelles Williams next season.
—USC is in the market for a top receiver and has a visit set up for Thursday with Cam Coleman, the most coveted portal player who’s not a quarterback. Landing Coleman, a top-five prospect in the 2024 class who played at Auburn, would be a huge coup — and Riley has shown a propensity for pulling in top transfer receivers in the past. Coleman, though, is an Alabama native and is considering Alabama, Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M too. His previous recruiting cycle revolved around SEC country. He’s also going to command a massive payday, maybe the largest for any player outside of a quarterback. USC may find it more prudent to use that money elsewhere.
—If USC can’t land Coleman, there still are plenty of viable options available. Expect USC to be aggressive in finding at least one transfer receiver to join the fray. North Carolina State wideout Terrell Anderson, who led the Wolfpack in receiving, visited USC on Sunday. Texas wideout DeAndre Moore Jr. spent time at St. John Bosco and Los Alamitos High, where he was teammates with outgoing Trojans wideout Makai Lemon.
—Linebacker remains a position of significant need, and USC managed to snag the first one that came to visit. Washington’s Deven Bryant was third on the Huskies in tackles. But while he doesn’t strike me as a difference-maker at that position, he was graded higher against the run than any of USC’s linebackers.
—Others to watch on the defensive line: Penn State end Zuriah Fisher, who visited this past weekend, and Clemson tackle Stephiylan Green.
Jaden Brownell, right, may have been the only Trojan to have a good game against Michigan.
(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
—Of the football players who have yet to be signed, three stand out: Quarterback Husan Longstreet, defensive tackle Jide Abasiri and defensive back Alex Graham. Longstreet is obvious. As a five-star passer prospect, he’d be the heir apparent after Jayden Maiava if he decides to stick around. But it’s a surprise these days if anyone does. Abasiri is an athletic marvel with a ton of unrealized potential as a pass rusher, and Graham earned a ton of praise before having his freshman season derailed by injuries. Keeping two of the three would be a coup.
—The USC men were dominated by Michigan in a 30-point loss. Now Michigan State awaits in East Lansing. That’s a brutal one-two punch coming out of the holiday break, and the Trojans didn’t look ready for the fight Friday. Michigan jumped out to an 11-0 lead, forcing six turnovers in the process, and USC never fully bounced back. No one, outside of maybe reserve forward Jaden Brownell, had anything approaching a good game. The Trojans don’t have long to bounce back, with Michigan State on tap at Breslin Center on Monday. The Spartans are coming off a tough loss at Nebraska and will have something to prove. USC will have its work cut out for it.
—The USC women don’t have the frontcourt to hang with teams like UCLA. Lindsay Gottlieb wasn’t able to lure any top-tier transfer bigs in the offseason, and while that lack of a frontcourt doesn’t always show up against lesser or smaller teams, it was an obvious issue against UCLA and Lauren Betts. I’m not sure where Gottlieb goes from here with the frontcourt if she hopes to be competitive against UCLA the next time around. Maybe Gerda Raulusaityte takes a step forward in the coming weeks before their next meeting. Maybe Kennedy Smith, at 6 feet 1, could just start at the five? (Only half-kidding.) Whatever she does, Gottlieb will be working around this problem the rest of this season.
—Everyone agrees that the college football calendar has to change. So let’s do something about it. There are still two weeks until the College Football Playoff title game. The regular season ended the last weekend of November. That’s way too long to wait even before you consider that three of the four teams that had byes — and the long layoff that comes with them — lost in this playoff. Teams with a bye are now 1-7. But the problems with the calendar go deeper than that. Eventually, when the playoff moves to 16 teams — or more — we’ll do away with conference championship week and move everything up. If you played the first round during championship week, you could be done by the latest on Jan. 8. That’s much more reasonable.
Claire Danes as Aggie Wiggs and Matthew Rhys as Nile Jarvis in “The Beast in Me.”
(Courtesy of Netflix)
Netflix has had a good year in the slow-burn, psychological thriller department, and “The Beast in Me” is another worthy entrant into that group. Claire Danes stars as an author still paralyzed by the sudden loss of her son to a car accident. When she decides to write about her new neighbor — the mysterious real estate scion Nile Jarvis, who is played by Matthew Rhys — she becomes obsessed with determining if the rumors that Jarvis killed his wife are true.
I could do without Danes’ signature lip quiver, but the always-tremendous Rhys is a creepy revelation. Certainly worth your time for a quick, eight-episode binge.
Until next time …
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. 2026 has arrived, which means league play starts getting serious in high school basketball with a number of huge games scheduled for Friday night.
The matchups
Christian Collins is all smiles after leading St. John Bosco to its own tournament championship.
(Nick Koza)
The Trinity League starts this week, and no game is bigger than Santa Margarita (19-2) hosting St. John Bosco (11-4) on Friday night in a game matching the preseason league title favorites.
Santa Margarita has been doing what everyone expected — taking advantage of its experience with four returning starters. The Eagles already own two wins over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, a Mission League power. St. John Bosco has relied on Christian Collins but suffered defeats to some very good teams in recent weeks.
The Mission League begins with a key Friday matchup of defending champion Harvard-Westlake (17-2) playing at Crespi (13-5). Both schools need a win to challenge league favorite Sierra Canyon, which plays host to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. Former Sierra Canyon women’s star JuJu Watkins will have her jersey retired at halftime.
In the Gold Coast League, Brentwood (18-1) is playing at Crossroads on Friday in the first meeting since Shalen Sheppard transferred from Brentwood to Crossroads.
In the Marmonte League, unbeaten Thousand Oaks (16-0) plays host to Oaks Christian (15-3) on Friday.
In the Del Rey League, St. Bernard is playing at St. Anthony in an early league match that could establish a league favorite.
In the Gateway League, the top two teams face off on Friday, with La Mirada hosting Mayfair. In the Baseline League, 17-1 Etiwanda plays host to 15-4 Damien on Thursday in a matchup of the league’s top two teams. On Tuesday in the Sunset League, the two favorites, Los Alamitos and Corona del Mar, meet at Los Alamitos.
Tajh Ariza (right) and Malachi Harris of Westchester celebrate after winning the City Section Open Division title last season. Westchester is 2-8 this season.
(Nick Koza)
City Section basketball is in a precarious place. The talent level has diminished. The history of great teams and great players is in decline.
Ontario Christian (18-0) and Etiwanda (13-2) continue their march to the Southern Southern Open Division playoffs. Sierra Canyon (13-1) is right behind.
Mater Dei (12-4) is still adjusting to season-ending injury to Kaeli Wynn, but received a 28-point performance from Harmony Golightly in a win over Nevada Democracy Prep.
@MaterDeiGBB is hosting its 2nd Annual Kay Yow Showcase. This year’s show case is a 2-Day Event, day 1 is at Rosary HS & Day 2 will conclude at Mater Dei HS. This year’s event is by the best line up we’ve ever had w/ the best teams, players & coaches in the country!! pic.twitter.com/eX5nkxtmCB
Sage Hill, with a new coach, is 14-4. Kamdyn Klamberg had a 31-point performance last week.
Villa Park is 15-3. Olivia Sturdivant and Lauren Wolfe are both averaging 13 points a game. JSerra is 14-2 and ranked No. 2 in the first Southern Section power rankings. JSerra faces Corona Centennial in a big nonleague game Monday.
In the City Section, Westchester, King/Drew, Birmingham and Granada Hills are emerging as the top teams. Junior Savannah Myles has been leading Westchester, which is 13-0 overall and 3-0 in the Western League.
Transfer tracker
Quarterback Jaden Jefferson of Cathedral is leaving for Corona Centennial.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
It’s time. The high school football transfer tracker for 2026 is up and running. Here’s the link.
The big transfers confirmed last week were Cathedral quarterback Jaden Jefferson and Cathedral receiver Quentin Hale announcing they would be transferring to Corona Centennial.
January is a big month for football transfers because it’s the start of the spring semester. As usual, quarterbacks are leading the way in switching schools.
Looking ahead to 2026
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s JJ Harel is ready for a big 2026.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Predictions for 2026 include lots of unique NIL deals, some baseball standouts and football stars. Here’s my crystal ball forecast.
Soccer
Anderson Carranza has 10 goals for Cleveland’s soccer team.
(Cleveland HS)
City Section boys soccer gets serious this week with the start of West Valley League play. El Camino Real, the defending champion, faces tough games against Cleveland on Wednesday and Birmingham on Friday. Here’s a report.
Rivals Mira Costa (6-2-1) and Palos Verdes (13-2) face off Tuesday at Mira Costa. Mira Costa won the Nike SoCal Holiday Classic last week in Oceanside. Former Palisades player Noah Szeder had two goals in the championship game.
In girls soccer, Santa Margarita has won its first 10 games, including a 3-0 win over Bishop Amat on Saturday. The Eagles have recorded six shutouts and given up just two goals.
Mater Dei is 9-1-3 but suffered its first defeat Saturday, losing to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 1-0.
Harvard-Westlake is 5-1-3 with its only loss to Mater Dei.
Notes . . .
Lance Mitchell is the new football coach at St. Francis. He was head coach at Muir. . . .
Johnathan Coutee is the new football coach at Murrieta Mesa. . . .
Former Long Beach Poly football coach Justin Utupo said he has won an appeal and will be able to coach again in the district in three years. Previously he was banned lifetime. . . .
Congratulations to Westlake High School Head Coach Rick Clausen as he is named our Los Angeles Rams Don Shula Coach of the Year! 🏈
We surprised him alongside Rams Legend, Andrew Whitworth with 2 Super Bowl tickets. pic.twitter.com/N7km2R941C
Westlake football coach Rick Clausen, who took over an 0-10 team and led them to a 10-1 record, has been selected the Rams’ Don Shula award coach of the year. Also honored was Mike Moon of Oxnard Pacifica. . . .
In a big girls water polo match, Mater Dei suffered its first defeat when defending Southern Section champion Oaks Christian beat the Monarchs 11-7. The Santa Barbara tournament is this weekend.
From the archives: Amon-Ra St. Brown
Amon-Ra St. Brown during his Mater Dei days in 2015.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
After 17 NFL games this season, former Mater Dei and USC receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions ranks among the top receivers. He finished with 106 receptions for 1,262 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Remember he’s one of three football-playing brothers and is multilingual being fluent in German.
From the Daily Pilot, a story on Bailey Turner of Huntington Beach becoming a world junior champion in surfing.
From NBCPalmSprings, a story on the death of a teenager golfer who fought to the end dealing with cancer.
From MaxPreps, a story on the 100 most influential people in the history of high school football.
Tweets you might have missed
I was asked by someone diagnosed with prostrate cancer to retweet this story to remind everyone get checked for the new year. Michael Boehle is now cancer free. https://t.co/OYBhEnwGlL
From the hard to believe file: A 5-foot-4 sportswriter running into a 7-6 man from Ethiopia and a 7-4 teenager from Burkina Faso. Now I know Munchkinland. pic.twitter.com/hjnDR1MDKu
Former Thousand Oaks football coach Bob Richards will receive the Coastal Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation Al Wistert Award. The banquet is March 1 at Canyon Club in Agoura.
Summary of Tommy John surgeries for MLB pitchers used by team in 2025. New record of 21 in one season by DET and LAD, which doesn’t even include their pitchers who were injured all season.
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — As I sat at a corner table inside another Courtyard by Marriott over the weekend, a floor-to-ceiling window protecting me from the 25-degree chill on a dreary morning, it struck me how much easier this would all be to do from home.
Nap until game time. Pick up the remote. Get a closeup view of every play.
Of course, that approach would also have deprived me — and Times readers — of so much over the last 10 years of being the only full-time traveling beat writer with the UCLA men’s basketball team.
Feeling a piece of stray confetti float against my cheek inside Lucas Oil Stadium after the Bruins reached the Final Four.
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Seeing Prince Ali bound down a hallway inside Oregon’s Matthew Knight Arena while yelling, “This is highway robbery, baby!” after the Bruins came back from nine points down with 51 seconds left.
Chatting with master storyteller Hep Cronin inside Kentucky’s Rupp Arena the day before an NCAA tournament game.
Interviewing Jaime and Angela Jaquez poolside in Maui before their son and daughter became on-campus celebrities.
People like to say they have the best seat in the house. Mine has often been 11F, window, on a United Airlines flight to some far-flung game that has made me cherish this decade of memories inside arenas all over the country.
There’s been so much more besides the palpable tension one can only feel sitting courtside, or in one of the media seats increasingly far removed from courtside in recent seasons. I caught a glimpse of Jake Kyman’s teammates dousing him with water after he made seven three-pointers against Washington and assistant coach Rod Palmer obligingly pushed the locker room door open a little wider than usual on his way out. Scanned cardboard cutouts of fans and pets inside San Diego State’s Viejas Arena. Wrote on deadline at Colorado while a trash collector roamed the stands blaring old Pink Floyd favorites from his boom box.
Yes, there have been annoying travel delays, crummy hotels and way too much time spent away from home. (A quick check of my Lifetime Titanium Elite status with Marriott shows 1,592 nights — the equivalent of nearly 4½ years — since 2003 while traveling for The Times in a variety of roles.)
But this is something I’m thrilled just to have the chance to do.
It takes an incredible financial commitment in a time of shrinking media resources to send someone on the road for every game with a college basketball team in 2026. That’s why I’m so grateful to my bosses for letting me take all these trips over the years.
Fortunately, I’m not the only one who realizes how special this is. Every time he sees me at a road game, Chris Carlson, UCLA’s longtime associate athletic director, has made a point to thank me for being there. He did it again Saturday, inside a club room deep within Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena, after UCLA’s frantic rally had fallen short against the Hawkeyes.
Fans often ask me if I travel on the team plane. That would be a resounding no, leading to innumerable layovers at Chicago O’Hare on the way to somewhere else in Big Ten country while the Bruins travel nonstop via charter. I don’t mind in the least.
Life on the road with the Bruins always packs a wallop, even during down seasons. A few years ago, during coach Mick Cronin’s only losing season with the team, it had just snowed in Pullman, Wash., when I exited a regional jet onto an icy outdoor ramp. I took two steps and fell backward onto my head with such a violent thud that my glasses flew back into the cabin. (I survived, or you wouldn’t be reading this.)
Along the way, there’s been far more laughter than frustration, let alone the need to Google “subdural hematoma.”
I’ve enjoyed every destination in an old conference (Pac-12) without truck stops and a new one (Big Ten) with plenty. I’ve sparked a Twitter war with the Memphis International Airport over a baggage office being closed shortly after sundown. I’ve stood in a hallway when coach Steve Alford threw his players under the bus at Cincinnati — “If you lose,” Alford said, “you get in the gym on your day off and you figure things out, not wait and get in the gym when we meet with you” — not long before the firing of Alford led to the hiring of Cincinnati’s coach.
I’ve heard that new coach — Cronin — yell at his team from two rooms over inside T-Mobile Arena after a loss to Baylor. I’ve also heard Cronin’s teams silence arenas with huge early runs against Stanford, Marquette, Maryland and San Diego State.
Traveling to cover the Bruins has had its side benefits, of course. I’ve seen family in Portland, visited wine country in the Willamette and Napa valleys and taken memorable trips to Arizona and the Bay Area during the COVID-19 season in 2020-21. The enduring image from those trips was the bizarre game against Stanford in Santa Cruz (because of health restrictions in Palo Alto), which featured an equally bizarre ending on an inbounds pass to Cardinals forward Oscar da Silva for a buzzer-beating layup.
There have been white-knuckle prop plane flights from Seattle to Pullman and white-knuckle drives across the Bay Bridge thanks to gephyrophobia. Tense drives from Spokane to Pullman because of the dreaded Colfax speed trap and walls of fog that can blindside you like a fearsome backcourt press.
Including stints covering USC basketball and an additional UCLA season under coach Ben Howland, I’ve logged three trips to the Maui Invitational — including one played in Honolulu — one to the old Great Alaska Shootout and one to Mexico for an exhibition game. The one trip that I really wanted to take — to China in 2017 — and was told no because a boss didn’t think it would be worthwhile ended in an international ordeal. Maybe it was the basketball gods’ way of telling him to keep me on the road.
As the pandemic made the prospect of taking flights seem perilous during the 2020-21 season, I covered a handful of road games off television. Admittedly, it was great to get replays and instant injury reports before hopping on a Zoom for postgame interviews.
But something just didn’t feel right. It wasn’t until the Bruins made the NCAA tournament and I accompanied them for every game on that unforgettable run in central Indiana that I fully understood one of the most important rules of quality coverage.
Being there matters.
Olympic sport of the week: Women’s gymnastics
Jordan Chiles helped UCLA rally to win the Best of the West Quad in Seattle by placing first in all four events.
(Courtesy of Jamie Mitchell)
Trailing California after two rotations in its season-opening meet, the UCLA women’s gymnastics team could rely on something else no one had in its comeback bid.
Jordan Chiles.
Predictably, the Olympic gold medalist helped the fourth-ranked Bruins rally to win the Best of the West Quad at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle by placing first in all four events.
Sticking her double layout dismount on the uneven bars, Chiles scored a 9.925 to help UCLA overtake the No. 20 Golden Bears and move into third place after the third rotation. Chiles topped herself with maybe her best beam performance at the college level, earning a 10 from one of the two judges and a 9.975 score.
UCLA senior Ciena Alipio contributed a 9.925 on the beam, helping her team edge Cal, 196.875 to 196. Host Washington finished third with 195.625 and No. 19 Oregon State was fourth with 195.550.
The Bruins next face No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU and No. 5 Utah on Saturday at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in West Valley City, Utah. The meet will be televised live on ABC at 1 p.m. PST.
Opinion time
With two months left before the NCAA tournament, UCLA men’s basketball is teetering on the bubble, with bracketmatrix.com — an aggregator of bracket projections — listing the Bruins as a No. 9 seed before they lost to Iowa on Saturday. Where do you think UCLA finds itself on Selection Sunday?
An elite finish leads to a protected seed
A solid Big Ten run puts it in Nos. 5-7 range
The Bruins just barely make it into the tournament
They’re left out for the second time in three years
We asked, “What was your favorite UCLA sports moment of 2025?”
After 453 votes, the results:
The women’s basketball team’s trip to the Final Four, 49% The men’s water polo team’s national championship, 21% The football team’s three-game winning streak, 19% The baseball team makes the College World Series, 9% The softball team makes the Women’s College World Series, 2%
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at ben.bolch@latimes.com, and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.
One of the bummer parts of any awards season is how it leads to a narrowing down of what movies are getting talked about and subsequently remembered from any given year. There are always way more than five or 10 titles from any given year that deserve the spotlight.
Which is why it was so exciting this week when Envelope editor Matt Brennan chose Mona Fastvold’s “The Testament of Ann Lee” and Angus MacLachlan’s “A Little Prayer” as his favorite movies of the year. “A Little Prayer” first premiered at Sundance in 2023, but didn’t get a theatrical release until this past summer. The delicate jewel of a film features warm, tender performances by David Strathairn and Jane Levy as a man and his daughter-in-law both reconciling themselves to the fallout of problems in her marriage. The movie is available now on digital platforms and is well worth seeking out.
David Straithairn and Jane Levy in the movie “A Little Prayer.”
(Music Box Films)
And we talked about “Ann Lee” here last week and will likely have more to say about it as awards season moves on. Matt’s list also included films such as “Sinners,” “One Battle After Another,” “Sentimental Value” and “Sirāt” along with “Sorry, Baby,” “Nouvelle Vague,” “Hedda,” and “The Alabama Solution.”
Meanwhile, with 2026 so fresh and new, it’s almost sacrilegious to start thinking about a future best-of-year list. But we’ve got one anyway: Here are the 14 movies we’re most excited to see in 2026. Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Steven Spielberg doing aliens again — at least on paper, there’s a lot of promise here.
4K premiere of Friedkin’s ‘Sorcerer’
An image from William Friedkin’s 1977 movie “Sorcerer.”
The film was a notorious flop when first released, in part because it had the misfortune of opening a week after the first “Star Wars.” An adaptation of the same novel that spawned Henri-George Clouzot’s 1953 adventure “Wages of Fear,” “Sorcerer” follows four desperate men tasked with transporting a truckload of volatile nitroglycerine through a South American jungle.
Friedkin, who died in 2023, spoke to The Times’ Kenneth Turan in 2013 before receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Venice Film Festival. The only movie shown as part of the tribute was “Sorcerer.” As Friedkin said at the time, “Every one of the films that I made, even the ones that haven’t worked, are films that I had to envision, that I had to see in my mind’s eye. And ‘Sorcerer’ is the film that came closest to my vision of what I wanted to make.”
In a January 1977 interview conducted when he had just completed filming, star Roy Scheider said that working with Friedkin “was not always to my liking as an actor. He is organized and meticulous but difficult, opiniated and tough. He can even be cruel at times. When Friedkin works on a film, nothing gets in his way, including the actors.”
Roy Scheider in the movie “Sorcerer.”
(Criterion Collection)
The film’s initial reception is perhaps well summarized by Charles Champlin’s originalLos Angeles Times review, in which he writes, “William Friedkin’s ‘Sorcerer’ is one of those movies that must make executives, no less than critics, shake their heads in stunned glum wonder. What the hell went wrong?
“A first-rate and proven piece of material. Executed with loving and meticulous care on a damn-the-cost basis by a prize-winning director with two large commercial successes behind him. But it all ends up a swollen, leaden and almost totally uninvolving disappointment that seems fairly unlikely to be saved commercially by its detonations, special effects and strenuous physical sequences.”
Champlin did seem to enjoy one element: the synthesizer score by Tangerine Dream (later of “Thief” and “Risky Business”), music that he calls “a new flavor, Latin Anxious, that works well.”
‘The Godfather Part II’
Al Pacino in the 1974 sequel “The Godfather Part II.”
(Paramount Pictures)
On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, an original I.B. Technicolor 35mm print of Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II” will screen at the New Beverly. It’s a rare and unusual way to see a great movie that can sometimes be flattened by overfamiliarity but remains as fresh and revealing as ever. The movie would go on to win six Oscars including best picture (the first sequel to ever do so).
The story cross-cuts between Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in the 1950s and Robert De Niro playing his father Vito Corleone in the early 1900s. The film shows the growth of the Corleone family empire and what it takes to keep it running.
In a January 1975 interview, Coppola talked about his motivations in approaching the sequel, saying, “The finished film makes what I consider a tough statement for a $13 million mass-audience picture. It says that this country is in danger of losing its soul, like Michael did. That power without humanity is destructive. … I didn’t want Michael to be destroyed by another gang or by a Senate investigation of organized crime. I wanted him to destroy himself. And to juxtapose his fall with flashbacks of his father’s rise a half-century earlier.”
Coppola, candid as ever, continued, “And, to be completely honest, there was the possibility of my making so much money I could bankroll some of my other projects.”
In his original Dec. 1974 review of the film, our Charles Champlin wrote, “In its way, ‘Godfather II’ is more daring than the original … The risks were worth taking, and the reward is that a single monumental segment of the American experience is neither glorified nor patronized, but made comprehensible and real, transmuted into drama of both scope and depth.”
Points of interest
‘The Birds’ in 35mm
Tippi Hedren and children are attacked by crows in a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”
(Screen Archives / Getty Images)
On Monday the Academy Museum will show Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 “The Birds” in 35mm. The film is showing as part of a series about nature’s revenge on humans — a fun group of titles that also includes “Jaws” and “Orca” (both playing in 35mm), “Creature from the Black Lagoon” in 3D, “Alligator” with director Lewis Teague in person and “The Revenant” in 4K.
Transporting Daphne du Maurier’s original story to the setting of Bodega Bay in Northern California, “The Birds” presents a classic, apocalyptic what-if scenario when humans are suddenly attacked from above.
Star Tippi Hedren, who turns 96 later this month, made her movie debut in the film and over the years she has been open about how difficult the process of shooting was for her. In an April 1963 interview with Hedda Hopper, she said, “The Humane Society was there to protect the birds but there was no one to protect me.”
In a March 1963 review, The Times’ Philip K. Scheuer wrote, “Are actors people? No matter. Alfed Hitchcock, who filmed ‘The Birds’ at Universal, was once widely quoted as saying he hated actors. After his 1960 ‘Psycho’ and now ‘The Birds,’ it must be fairly obvious that he has extended his abhorrence to the whole human race.”
Oliver Lax’s ‘Fire Will Come’
Amador Arias, left, and Benedicta Sánchez in ‘Fire Will Come’
(KimStim)
Spanish filmmaker Oliver Laxe’s “Sirāt” has become one of the most celebrated films of the year, popping up on critics list and making a strong showing on the recent Oscars shortlists. On Tuesday, Acropolis Cinema will present the Los Angeles premiere of Laxe’s 2019 film “Fire Will Come” at 2220 Arts + Archives (its original release was curtailed by the pandemic). Laxe is scheduled to attend in person.
In the film, Amador (Amador Arias) has just been released from prison for arson, after having started a wildfire that ravaged the local mountains. Living with his mother, he has to overcome the suspicions and distrust of everyone in the community.
Reviewing the film in 2020 for a digital release, Carlos Aguilar called the film “quietly phenomenal,” adding, “Its discourse on forgiveness simmers in one’s mind inextinguishably.”
Joachim Trier tribute
Director Joachim Trier, photographed at the Los Angeles Times Studios at RGB House during the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
These are also rare opportunities to see two of Trier’s earlier films — his 2006 debut “Reprise” and 2011’s devastating “Oslo, August 31st” — in a theater.
“Sentimental Value” directly engages with the legacy of Scandinavian cinema, with Stellan Skarsgård playing an arthouse filmmaker trying to get a new project off the ground with his daughter (“Worst Person” star Renate Reinsve).
Going all the way back to “Reprise.” Trier has been making a case for a new kind of Scandinavian cinema: “I would hope young people would see this not as the old, dreary, dandruff-on-the-shoulders, slow European film,” he said in 2008. “I wanted to make something more sexy and relevant to people.”
WILLIAM T. VOLLMANN is the author of numerous books, among them, “Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means,” and, most recently, “Poor People.”
CALIFORNIA HAS sometimes been referred to as “the Great Exception,” but for better and worse, this term applies quite well to all of our United States.
We commenced our independence as the nation that overthrew a government of men for a government of laws. William Blake wrote poems about us; the French Revolution was in part inspired by us. Like all institutions, we often fell short of our best possibilities, but bit by bit, falteringly and over decades and centuries, we improved ourselves. Belatedly and grudgingly, we abolished slavery; still more belatedly, we admitted that equality of representation included women as well as men. There are places on this Earth that have not yet achieved this much.
Nor did we rest there. I have visited any number of countries where free speech is not even a dream. In America, I can rail against my government to my heart’s content, knowing that there will be no midnight knock at my door. If some bully in uniform does pick on me, I have a decent chance of legally escaping his clutches.
Not only has America striven intermittently to be fair and even good, it remains an excellent place to make and keep money. It is, as they say, the locus of the easy life. And so, in spite of Native American genocide, Jim Crow, ruthless monopolism, etc., we became and for a very long time remained an ideal for ourselves and others.
I remember an old man from what used to be called Czechoslovakia; he escaped the communist regime by skiing over many mountains, and he finally found haven in California. I ate at his restaurant 40 years later. He told me that he had always dreamed of living in America. He still considered America the best place on Earth. In so many countries — from Kazakhstan to Colombia to Afghanistan — I have met people like him, people who long to be saved by going to America.
I remain grateful to have been born an American. As I get older, I admire our Constitution more and more. But what I love the most about my experience of American-ness is our famous individualism. Not everyone needs to like me, but I assume, with some correctness, that my eccentricities will be tolerated. I am my own person — and sometimes lonely for that, but that is the price that an American pays. I am, as you are, an exception in a crowd.
We are Americans, and so until recently, we knew that we were the best. Because so many people wanted to be us, we could act as we pleased — and we did, because we were the Great Exception; we were America the Blessed. Hence our complacent belief, so long borne out by the facts, that American movies and American brands would always sell. Hence also our comforting faith that the Kyoto Protocol did not apply to us, so that we could spew out all the greenhouse gases we liked, and use a pig’s share of the world’s resources. (Just this week, I learned of the U.S.’ new plan for energy independence: coal plants, subsidized for the next 25 years.)
Being America the Perfect, we invented the doctrine, even before 9/11, that we could seize war criminals in any part of the globe and whisk them off to The Hague. Of course, we insisted that should we ever commit war crimes, we would remain immune to prosecution in that court. Well, after all, how could Americans do any wrong?
Our current administration of torturers (this word sounds so shrill, so preposterous in relation to the America I believe in, that I have to remind myself over and over that it is literally accurate, that this president and his two attorneys general have quite literally legalized torture) has gone further in this direction than I ever could have imagined. President Bush’s modus operandi is this: Bull your way ahead. If you meet obstacles, overcome them with arrogant bluster. If this fails, proceed to vicious, mendacious brutality.
I wish I could blame him alone for the degradation of the America I loved. Unfortunately, Americans not only voted for this man, but after he proved himself to be a criminal, they reelected him. As one of my friends replied when I asked why we should attack Iraq when Iraq had done nothing to us: “Why not attack Iraq?”
We were Americans, you see. Why not do whatever suited our whims?
And now what? “They hate us,” we whisper to one another in amazement. In another decade, we might even begin to wonder about the degree of our exceptionality. What if we had to follow the rules that everyone else does?
Well, why not put off that pain as long as possible? It’s much more fun to remain the Great Exception.
Alas, while we hunker down behind the drawbridge, awaiting our next 9/11, we don’t even take the trouble to be united. Exceptionalism undermines us from within.
Alaskan towns are tilting in the melting permafrost, but who cares down in the Lower 48? Republicans and Democrats hate each other. Automobiles isolate us. Generations of advice-givers have made us believe that profit best defines the successful life, and so the white-collar crooks of Enron and the ghetto thugs who murder as they please celebrate their own exceptionalism against the rest of us.
Exceptionalism may be understandable and even excusable, but it should not be eternally acceptable. All-white juries have unjustly convicted black defendants in this country, and that makes me ashamed; but the notion that a 21st century criminal trial cannot be fair unless at least some jurors are the same race as the defendant is of a piece with the idea that men and women will never understand each other, that Muslim cab drivers can refuse to pick up passengers who carry liquor and that right-to-life pharmacists can refuse to fill a desperate woman’s prescription for the morning-after pill.
Let’s pander while Rome burns! I’m not worried; I’ll never catch fire. Like each and all of us, I’m my own favorite exception.
From Anthony Solorzano: After a night of rain in Pasadena, the Indiana Hoosiers washed away the weight of history.
Entering the Rose Bowl, College Football Playoff teams coming off first-round byes were winless. At the start of the season, the Hoosiers led college football with the most all-time losses. During their sole previous Rose Bowl appearance in 1968, the Hoosiers lost to USC.
Indiana’s football program spent most of its time stuck in the Big Ten conference basement, but that era is over.
Now, with new blood infused by head coach Curt Cignetti and an offense led by Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, the Hoosiers have turned the page and shattered expectations.
After a quarter of brushing off their rust following a three-week break, No. 1 Indiana rolled to a 38-3 Rose Bowl victory over No. 9 Alabama Thursday afternoon in front of a crowd of 90,278. It is the largest postseason margin of defeat in Crimson Tide history.
When an ESPN reporter asked Cignetti moments after the win how his team managed to handle the Rose Bowl pressure and proved the moment wasn’t too big for them, he responded, “Why should it be too big, because our name’s Indiana?
”… We’ve come through in clutch moments. I’m proud of the way they’ve responded.”
In front of more than 90,000 fans at the Rose Bowl, Indiana running back Roman Hemby scores on an 18-yard run in the fourth quarter during the Hoosiers’ win over Alabama on Thursday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
From Bill Plaschke: Two unbeatens owned Pasadena Thursday, two unbeatens who transformed a dreary morning into a startling afternoon, two unbeatens who overcame questions to shine like the poke of the midday sun.
Indiana and Grandaddy.
First, the Hoosiers, who improved to 14-0 and bolstered the growing belief that they are the best college football team in the country after a 38-3 beatdown of Alabama in the Rose Bowl’s CFP quarterfinal game.
Second, the Rose Bowl itself, the “Grandaddy of Them All” improving to 112-0, again proving immune to bad weather and misguided criticism while putting on college football’s most majestic show.
The rain that had soaked the morning Rose Parade stopped before the game. Early in the second quarter, the sun creeped out. A postponed pregame flyover eventually joined the party, a single jet buzzing the cheering crowd at the start of the third quarter. Finally, early in the fourth quarter the San Gabriel Mountains made their annual breathtaking appearance, barging through the clouds like the Hoosiers rolling over the Tide.
Melanie Jackson, daughter of Keith Jackson, holds up a photo of the iconic college football broadcaster at the family’s home in Sherman Oaks on Thursday.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
From Sam Farmer: Even the “Granddaddy of Them All” has a dad.
That’s the late and legendary ABC Sports announcer Keith Jackson, who coined that term for the Rose Bowl Game and it stuck. He clicked off his microphone for the last time precisely 20 years ago after Texas beat USC on this storied field.
The game was a classic and so was Jackson, the Saturday evening soundtrack for generations of college football fans. His melodic baritone filled millions of households with tales of Southerners and soph-ah-mores, with praise for the “big uglies” and proclamations of “Hello, Heisman.”
“I still hear his voice,” said his daughter, Melanie, standing Thursday in the office of the family home in Sherman Oaks, where Keith and Turi Ann raised their children Melanie, Lindsey and Christopher. “I come up here sometimes just to say hi to him.”
Jackson, who died in 2018, still lives in the hearts of his family, friends and fans, and his countless stories and famous calls are woven into the lore of college football — although he covered many sports — and the history of the Rose Bowl itself.
Rams safety Quentin Lake jogs back to the locker room before a game against the Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 16.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
From Gary Klein: As safety Quentin Lake played through much of the final year of his rookie contract, he said he did not worry about whether he would come to terms with the Rams about an extension.
If he took care of business on the field, everything would work out.
On Thursday, that manifestation came to fruition.
Lake signed a three-year extension that will keep another pillar of the Rams’ defense in place.
Terms of the deal were not announced but it includes $25.7 million in guarantees, said a person with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity because the terms were not announced.
The longtime UCLA assistant who was born at the school’s medical center, played quarterback for the Bruins and rose to de facto offensive coordinator last season will rejoin former boss Chip Kelly in a new role at Northwestern.
Neuheisel has agreed to become the quarterbacks coach under Kelly, who will serve as the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator after being fired late last season from the same role with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.
Kawhi Leonard scores 45 in Clippers’ sixth consecutive win
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard dunks during the first half of a 118-101 win over the Utah Jazz at Intuit Dome on Thursday night.
(William Liang / Associated Press)
From The Associated Press:Kawhi Leonard scored 45 points, James Harden added 20 and the Clippers recovered from blowing a 21-point lead to beat the Utah Jazz on 118-101 on Thursday night, extending their winning streak to a season-best six games.
Leonard was the only Clippers starter on the floor for much of the fourth quarter. He singlehandedly matched Utah’s points in the period (20), with blood on his nose from what appeared to be a scratch.
The Clippers hit seven straight three-pointers, with Leonard making four, to pull away. Nicolas Batum finished with 14 points and went four for six from three-point range.
Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point, left, Kings forward Andrei Kuzmenko battle for the puck during the first period of the Kings’ 5-3 loss Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press:Gage Goncalves scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:41 to play, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from a late deficit to beat the Kings 5-3 on Thursday night for their sixth consecutive victory.
Anthony Cirelli scored the tying goal with 3:19 left in regulation for the Lightning, who fell behind early in the third period on Kevin Fiala‘s power-play goal.
Cirelli crashed the net and pushed home his 11th goal on a play set up by Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov. Moments later, Cirelli and Goncalves drove the net again, and Goncalves eventually converted a behind-the-net pass from Jake Guentzel for his fourth goal.
1961 — George Blanda passes for three touchdowns and kicks a field goal and the extra points to give the Houston Oilers a 24-16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the first American Football League championship game.
1965 — The New York Jets sign Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported $400,000, the most lucrative rookie contract in football history.
1966 — Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung gain 201 yards on four inches of snow at Lambeau Field to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 23-12 victory over the Cleveland Browns and their third championship in five years.
1977 — Atlanta Braves’ owner Ted Turner is suspended one year by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn for tampering in the free-agent signing of Gary Matthews.
1982 — Rolf Benirschke’s 29-yard field goal at 13:52 of overtime ends one of the wildest and highest-scoring playoff games as the San Diego Chargers beat the Miami Dolphins 41-38. San Diego’s Dan Fouts completes 33 of 53 passes for 433 yards and three TDs. Miami quarterback Don Strock completes 29 of 43 passes for 403 yards and four TDs.
1984 — Miami defeats Nebraska 31-30 in the Orange Bowl to win the national championship.
1985 — Nevada-Las Vegas beats Utah State 142-140 in triple overtime as both teams set an NCAA record for total points. The Runnin’ Rebels score a record 93 points in the second half, and coach Jerry Tarkanian gets his 600th victory.
1986 — Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders becomes the 11th NHL player to score 500 goals. Bossy scores No. 500 on an empty netter with 17 seconds remaining to clinch a 7-5 victory against the Boston Bruins at Nassau Coliseum. Bossy reaches the milestone in 647 games, fewer than anyone in NHL history at that time.
1987 — No. 2 Penn State beats No. 1 Miami 14-10 in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.
1989 — Notre Dame beats West Virginia 34-21 in the Fiesta Bowl to finish the season at 12-0. The Irish are named national champion in the polls.
1996 — No. 1 Nebraska demolishes No. 2 Florida 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl, making them the first repeat champions in 16 years.
2001 — Jose Theodore becomes the sixth NHL goalie to score a goal in a regular-season game and stops 32 shots as Montreal blanks the New York Islanders 3-0.
2002 — Carolina’s Ron Francis becomes the fifth player in NHL history to record 500 goals and 1,000 assists when he scores in the Hurricanes’ 6-3 loss to Boston.
2009 — Utah finishes 13-0 with a convincing 31-17 win over No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The Utes are the first team from a non-BCS conference to win two BCS bowls.2009 — Doug Weight has a pair of assists for the New York Islanders in a 5-4 loss to Phoenix to become the eighth American-born player to reach the 1,000-point mark.
2011 — Seattle becomes the first sub-.500 division champ in league history with a 16-6 win over St. Louis. The Seahawks finish as champs of the NFC West at 7-9, the first playoff team with a losing record — sans the 1982 strike-shortened season — since the merger in 1970.
2018 — Marc-Andre Fleury stops 29 shots in his second shutout of the season, leading Vegas past Nashville 3-0. Vegas wins its eighth straight and earns at least one point in 13 consecutive games, both NHL records for a first-year team.
2019 — United States international Christian Pulisic becomes the most expensive American soccer player when he moves from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea for £57.6M ($73M); remains at Dortmund on loan until the end of the season.
2023 — Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapses in cardiac arrest and is revived by CPR on the field in televised NFL game against the Bengals in Cincinnati.
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
From Anthony Solorzano: Through tears, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza thanked every member of his family after becoming the first Hoosier to ever win the Heisman Trophy. The Cuban American quarterback recognized his family for believing in him throughout his career.
He was a two-star high school recruit who drew little attention before finally landing an opportunity to play at California. After three years with the Golden Bears, including a redshirt year, he transferred to Indiana. On Thursday, the No. 1 Hoosiers will take the field at the Rose Bowl, where they will face college football traditional power Alabama in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
Pressure is familiar for Mendoza. He’s faced challenges throughout his career — from proving himself as an overlooked high school athlete to earning his starting role at Cal.
Anytime Mendoza has met a hurdle, he considers how to help those around him shine.
“I know that’s my responsibility to my coaches, to my teammates and to the entire team, to be able to be sharp mentally and not have outside influences, pressures and noise able to impact my game,” Mendoza said. “I think one thing is just keeping the process on how I got here, how the entire team got to this place, which is keeping the process that I’ve kept for every single game.”
The Hoosiers finished the season undefeated. They will play for their first Rose Bowl victory in 57 years and it’ll be the second year in a row Indiana has reached the College Football Playoff.
“His leadership has increased in those crucial moments and I think that’s what makes him such a special player — because when the stakes are the highest, he steps up and gets the team going,” Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones said. “He’s a guy that people want to get behind and run a play for.”
Texas Christian running back Jeremy Payne carries the ball during a 30-27 win over USC in Alamo Bowl.
(Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images)
From Ryan Kartje: Two years ago, a day after he decided to fire Alex Grinch as USC‘s defensive coordinator, Lincoln Riley made a promise to those concerned about the future of the Trojans’ defense.
“I have complete belief, conviction. We will play great defense here,” the coach said in November 2023. “It is going to happen. There’s not a reason in the world why it can’t.”
Two years later, another defensive coordinator is out the door at USC. The day after Grinch’s replacement, D’Anton Lynn, left to take the same job at Penn State, Riley stood in front of reporters, assuring everyone once again that soon enough, USC would be great on that side of the ball.
“The arrow,” he said Tuesday, “is pointing straight up.”
“The opportunity for us to make a hire, to continue to make us better and to go from being a very good defense to being a great defense is the goal.”
UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close reacts during a win over Penn State on Wednesday.
(Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
From Ben Bolch: As she spoke about her team’s growth amid its first conference trip, Cori Close steered her comments toward something else she would like to nurture: coverage of women’s college basketball.
It was a topic that the UCLA coach had thrust into the national spotlight three days earlier when she voiced her frustration with a lack of reporting on a top-20 showdown involving her No. 4 Bruins and No. 19 Ohio State.
Now, after her team’s runaway 97-61 victory over Penn State on Wednesday inside Rec Hall, Close glanced at the 10 reporters on a Zoom call and doubled down on her previous remarks.
“The reality of what my comments were after Ohio State were, I have two really passionate agendas in regards to this, and that is, I want to be a pioneer of growing the game, period,” Close said. “I want to really be a part of the surge that’s happening and I want to be a part of telling these amazing stories that these players have, and they’re incredible young women as well as amazing basketball players.”
Tired from hosting family for the holidays and planning on rising early for a workout, the 2004 Heisman Trophy winner and star USC quarterback did not stay up to catch the end of his alma mater’s game against Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl on Tuesday night.
He likely does not regret that decision.
After allowing a 10-point lead to slip away in the final minutes of regulation, the Trojans eventually lost 30-27 in overtime after TCU running back Jeremy Payne caught a check-down pass on third-and-20 and broke multiple tackles on his way to the end zone for a 35-yard, game-winning touchdown.
Lakers coach JJ Redick reacts during a loss to the Detroit Pistons at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The Lakers started the day by singing “Happy Birthday” to LeBron James as the superstar forward turned 41 on Tuesday. They ended by singing another familiar, but more somber tune.
The Lakers got blown out again Tuesday, letting a close game devolve into a 128-106 loss to the Detroit Pistons. James scored 17 points with four assists and five turnovers while the Lakers (20-11) lost by 20 points for the sixth time this season. They are tied for the third-most 20-point losses in the league, yet somehow are still clinging to fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
“The intent and the, like, effort was there for the most part tonight,” coach JJ Redick said. “… The turnovers and the fast-break points, they kill you.”
The year 2025 was more tumultuous than any silly football game and its accompanying overwrought metaphors. It was a year that knocked me flat, tearing me apart from so many things that once anchored me, setting me afloat in a sea of guilt and despair and ultimate uncertainty.
JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is gearing up to defend his state championship in the high jump.
(Craig Weston)
From Eric Sondheimer: It’s time to peer into my crystal ball to see what 2026 has in store for the Southland’s high school athletes (and a few former ones), coaches and fans:
JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, armed with passports from the United States, Israel and Australia, will soar so far past 7 feet in the high jump that national organizations from three different countries will fight to have him represent their team.
Striker Pence, a sophomore pitcher at Corona Santiago with a 100-mph fastball, will receive an endorsement deal from a radar gun company.
The UCLA-USC women’s basketball games will have so many celebrities and former players wanting to be seen that TMZ won’t need to pay for video.
Tampa Bay defenseman Darren Raddysh, left, scores on Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal in overtime of the Lightning’s 4-3 win Wednesday at Honda Center.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press:Darren Raddysh scored midway through overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning blew three one-goal leads before beating the Ducks 4-3 on Wednesday for their fifth consecutive victory.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper celebrated his 1,000th regular-season game in charge with his 595th victory as the longest-tenured bench boss in the NHL. The Lightning’s coach since March 2013 has also led them in 155 playoff games, won two championships and reached four Stanley Cup Finals.
Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist as the Lightning skated off with a win in the opener of their three-game California trip when Raddysh converted a pass from Brandon Hagel, who had three assists.
1902 — Michigan beats Stanford 49-0 in the first Rose Bowl. Neil Snow scores four touchdowns in a game that ends with eight minutes to play. The Wolverines earned the nickname as the “Point a Minute” team, having scored 501 points in their ten games. The next Rose Bowl game does not occur until 1916.
1916 — Washington State beats Brown 14-0 in the return of the Rose Bowl. Brown halfback Fritz Pollard, the first African-American to play in the Rose Bowl, gains just 47 yards in the rain-soaked game. After a scoreless first half, Washington State scores on short runs by Ralph Boone and Carl Dietz.
1934 — Columbia upsets Stanford 7-0 in the Rose Bowl when Al Barabas scores in the third quarter on a 17-yard hidden-ball play.
1935 — Bucknell beats Miami 26-0 in the first Orange Bowl.
1935 — Tulane beats Temple 20-14 in the first Sugar Bowl. The Green Wave complete a 14-0 comeback when Temple defender Horace Mowery tips a pass into the direction of Dick Hardy, who takes it in to the end zone.
1961 — The Houston Oilers beat the Los Angeles Chargers 24-16 to win the first AFL Championship.
1961 — Boston Bruins rookie Willie O’Ree, the first black player in NHL history, scores his first goal in a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens at Boston Garden.
1971 — Notre Dame ends Texas’ 30-game winning streak with a 24-11 win in the Cotton Bowl.
1991 — Georgia Tech routs Nebraska 45-21 in the Citrus Bowl to finish as college football’s only unbeaten team (11-0-1).
1992 — Miami beats Nebraska 22-0 in the Orange Bowl, the first shutout of the Cornhuskers since 1973, and finishes with a 12-0 record.
1993 — No. 2 Alabama wins its first national championship in 13 years and deprives Miami of its fifth title as the Crimson Tide defense humbles the No. 1 Hurricanes 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl.
1993 — Florida State beats Nebraska 27-14 in the Orange Bowl to set an NCAA record by winning eight consecutive bowl games.
2000 — Georgia’s Hap Hines kicks a 21-yard field goal in overtime to complete the greatest comeback in bowl history. The Bulldogs pull out a 28-25 victory over Purdue after trailing 25-0 early in the second quarter in the Outback Bowl.
2006 — New England’s Doug Flutie converts the NFL’s first successful drop kick in 64 years during a 28-26 loss to Miami.
2007 — Boise State, after tying the game with seven seconds to go in regulation, stuns No. 7 Oklahoma 43-42 in overtime to win the Fiesta Bowl. The No. 9 Broncos win on Ian Johnson’s 2-point conversion run after receiver Vinny Perretta throws a fourth-down touchdown pass to Derek Schouman.
2008 — Sidney Crosby’s shootout goal gives Pittsburgh a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres in the inaugral outdoor Winter Classic in front of a league-record 71,217 fans. In elements way more suited for football than hockey, Crosby wins the NHL’s second outdoor game — and first in the United States — in the most dramatic of fashion at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
2012 — Backup quarterback Matt Flynn throws for a franchise-record six touchdowns to give Green Bay a 45-41 victory over the Detroit Lions.
2014 — Central Florida pulls off one of the biggest upsets of the bowl season by outlasting No. 6 Baylor 52-42 in the Fiesta Bowl. It’s the highest-scoring game in Fiesta Bowl history and second-highest BCS bowl ever.
2015 — Marcus Mariota and Oregon roll past defending national champion Florida State 59-20 to turn the first College Football Playoff semifinal into a Rose Bowl rout.
2015 — Cardale Jones turns in another savvy performance in his second college start and Ezekiel Elliott runs for a Sugar Bowl-record 230 yards, leading Ohio State to a 42-35 upset of top-ranked Alabama in the second semifinal of the College Football Playoff.
2018 — Sony Michel’s 27-yard touchdown run in double overtime gives Georgia a 54-48 win over Oklahoma in a Rose Bowl. It’s the first overtime game in the 104-year history of the Rose Bowl, the highest-scoring Rose Bowl ever and the first College Football Playoff game to go into overtime.
2022 — Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozen becomes first player in NBA history to hit buzzer-beaters on consecutive days; hits three-pointers to beat Washington Wizards, 120-119 and previous night Indiana Pacers, 108-106.
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
AS the Sun’s Deputy Travel Editor, I have racked up the air miles – hopping on a plane at least once a month.
And I know the best times to visit cheap destinations all over the world, as well as how to find those £15 flights and the best free attractions to visit.
The Sun’s Kara Godfrey travels to over 10 countries a year
Choosing the best month to visit a place can be tricky when it comes to balancing the best weather and affordable flights.
So I’ve broken it down month by month, explaining which destination to visit and when – ranging from short haul city breaks to longer haul winter sun.
I’ve even thrown in some of the best free things to do there if you’d like to keep to a budget.
And with some flights from as little as £15 each way – it’s hard to say no, isn’t it?
January – Senegal
Let’s face it, January is a hard month for us all. We’re tired, we’ve overeaten and we are counting down the days until our next paycheck.
But one of the best places to escape the misery in is beautiful Senegal.
Not only is there no risk of jet lag due to us being in the same time zone, but you can guarantee 30C weather when the rest of the UK is freezing.
It is one of the more affordable mid-haul destinations with good weather, where you can nab an all-inclusive package with TUI for £690 each – and that’s with your flights, hotels and drinks.
TUI also have some £0 deposit schemes if you needed time pre-Christmas to save.
One of the best day trips is from Dakar to Goree Island, a former slave trading post now home to a museum and street markets.
Otherwise see it as fly and flop destination, and make the most of that heat from your hotel sunlounger.
TUI has seven-night all-inclusive packages with flights from £689pp.
Free things to do:
African Renaissance Monument
The Mosque Of The Divinity
Dakar Railway Station
Senegal is a great ‘fly and flop’ destinationCredit: AlamyGoree Island is a must visit when in Senegal with boats from DakarCredit: AlamyTUI has some super cheap package dealsCredit: COLLECT
February – Marrakech
The Moroccan city of Marrakech starts to hit highs of 20C from February onwards.
The main draw is the iconic souks, where you can pick up homeware and clothing bargains.
Be prepared to haggle – locals say you should get items for 30 per cent of the starting price. But if that feels a bit mean, try and knock off at least 20 per cent.
If you need a break from the chaos, head to Le Jardin Secret for some peaceful respite.
Or take to the roof for some amazing views of the plaza, a popular one being on top of the El Fenn hotel.
EasyJet has flights from London Stansted, LondonLuton and Liverpool to Marrakech from £14.99.
Free things to do
Walking tour
Dar Si Said, Museum of Moroccan Arts (free tickets on fridays for students and teachers)
Moroccan Culinary Art Museum (MCAM)
Jemma el Fna Square
Koutoubia Mosque
Marrakech is already hitting 20C in FebruaryCredit: AlamyJust walking through the souks and to the mosques is a wonderful day outCredit: AlamyMarrakech is busy but worth exploring
March – Seville
As one of Spain‘s hottest cities, you can expect some warm weather in Seville, even in March.
Squeeze into Bar Alfafa with the locals for a cheap breakfast of coffee and pan con tomate for a few euros, before heading over to El Rinconcillo, Seville’s oldest bar, for a cheap glass of wine.
Time your visit to catch the Sunday art market outside the gallery too, where you can pick up some beautiful paintings.
Otherwise, if you want to find the best local food spots, book the Secret Food Tour which takes you to some of the city’s finest restaurants and cafes.
Ryanair has flights to Seville from both LondonLuton and London Stansted from £16.99.
Free things to do
Royal Alcazar Palace (free tickets for last hour)
Seville Cathedral (free tickets for the last hour)
Salsa shows at Jardines de Murill
The beautiful Plaza de Espana in SevilleCredit: Alamy
April – Tokyo
One of the most popular times to visit Tokyo is during cherry blossom season.
But if you head there just after, so late April, you can see much cheaper hotels and flights while still enjoying some of the world famous Sakura trees in some of the parks.
Face the hustle and bustle of the iconic Shibuya Crossing, before a some peace and quiet at the Meiji Shrine.
Try your luck at Akihabara Street which is lined with games and arcades, although one of the most fun things to do is the go karts through the city.
My favourite spot? Harajuku Gyoza-Ro for the crispiest dumplings, followed by Aoyama Flower Market, a tea shop-come-garden-centre.
British Airways has four-night holidays with return flights from £1,066pp.
Free things to do:
Ueno Park
Sensoji Temple
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observation Room
Toyosu Fish Market
Sumo Museum
The Ad Museum
Tokyo has lots of free things to do – to justify the priceCredit: GettyVisit in April to catch some cherry blossoms before the busy season
May – Singapore
The month of May is just after the popular February-April season, so you can still expect good weather but cheaper flights for Singapore.
The city is the perfect stopover destination, but there is more than enough to do here to make a full trip out of it.
One of the best ways to get around the city is a side car tour, with stops along the way at some of the top attractions.
Visit speakeasy-like Jigger + Pony, named one of the world’s best bars, or Long Bar for the famous Singapore Sling.
For a breakfast with the locals, stop at Joo Chiat, for a ‘prata’ (crispy pancake) with fish curry for about £1, or get chilli crab-cracking at Keng Eng Kee (free bibs are necessary).
British Airways has four-night holidays with return flights from £791pp.
Free things to do:
Henderson Wave Bridge
The Merlion
Garden by the Bay
Singapore in May is a perfect combination of good weather and more affordable flightsCredit: AlamyA side car tour is the best way to travel around
June – Puerto Rico
A destination that unexpectedly blew me away was Puerto Rico.
One of the most fun times to visit is on June 23, to celebrate La Noche de San Juan.
Expect big street parties, fireworks and people running into the sea at midnight for ‘good luck’.
Outside of this, the food scene is a must, with a mix of Caribbean and American influences (try the Mallorca, a sweet bread with ham and cheese, followed by a ‘beermosa’).
And of course, being the home of Bacardi, a trip to the museum is a must for your fix of pina coladas.
Or head over to Flamenco Beach, often named one of the best beaches in the world.
JetBlue has flights to Puerto Rico via New York from £486pp.
Free things to do:
Flamenco Beach
El Yunque National Forest
Puerto Rico Museum (free from 5pm to 8pm on Thursdays)
Herminio Torres Grillo Tobacco Museum
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
A food tour of San Juan is a must in Puerto RicoCredit: AlamyOld San Juan is one of the most colourful areas
July – El Gouna
Families visiting Egypt will be heading straight to Hurghada in the summer months if they want good weather and affordable resorts.
But travel in the first few weeks and head to El Gouna and you can skip the prices and the crowds.
Just 30 minutes from Hurghada, the man-made, gated lagoon island is extremely safe.
It’s also where you can find some very affordable five star resorts, spa treatments and some laidback luxury on a budget.
Loveholidays has seven nights all inclusive with return flights from £399pp.
Free things to do:
Abu Tig Marina
Zeytuna Beach
Fanadir Marina
El Gouna is a safer option for visiting Egypt, being a gated communityCredit: AlamyThe lagoon island is a great spot if you want to explore other day trips around Egypt
August – Gothenburg
One of the best alternative city breaks to visit in the height of summer, in my opinion, is Gothenburg.
In August, it hosts the Way Out West music festival, and is a great alternative to some of the busier European alternatives.
It’s also not a camping festival so you can head straight to your hotel after.
One of the quaintest places to explore outside of the festival is Haga district, lined with cosy cafes and pretty shops.
Ryanair has return flights from London Stansted to Gothenburg from £15.
Free things to do:
Museum of World Culture (free tickets for under 19)
Natural History Museum (free tickets for under 19)
Museum of Art (free tickets for under 25)
Slottsskogen city park
Frihamnen Public Sauna
Gothenburg Opera (free concerns in foyer on some Saturdays)
Music fans will visit Gothenburg in August but it is still a quieter festival town than others in EuropeCredit: Alamy
September – Milan
Milan gears up for its Fashion Week in September, but if you can avoid the expensive week (normally the last of the month) then it makes for a great post-summer city break.
Head straight out of town to Navigli, the trendy canal lined with bars and restaurants.
Ignore the tourist crowd and head down one of the side streets to Iter, a cosy bar where you can sample local wines alongside a big bowl of olives.
They also own Bar43, named one of the world’s best and more an immersive experience than a bar (although you’ll need to book a few weeks in advance).
Visit on the last Sunday of the month, for the huge flea market Mercatone dell’Antiquariato.
EasyJet has flights from Birmingham to Milan Linate from £16.99 while Wizz Air has flights from LondonLuton to Milan Malpensa from £18.
Free things to do:
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Parco Sempione
Brera Botanical Garden
Hangar Bicocca
Galleria d’Arte Moderna (free first Sunday of the month)
Museum of Natural History (free first Sunday of the month)
The fashion capital of Milan is a great post-summer city destinationCredit: Alamy
October – Madrid
Madrid is great any time of year but you can also expect good weather in October without the summer crowds.
Visit on a Sunday to shop for hours at El Rastro, one of Europe‘s biggest street markets.
It’s bustling and busy but a great place for some bargain clothes and jewellery.
One of my favourite ways to spend a few hours is to relax at Sala Equis, a former adult cinema now home to a bar and live music.
Don’t forget to grab some Spanish omelette at Pez Tortilla with a glass of vino tinto (red wine) too – you’ll be dining with the locals so make sure to brush up on your Spanish.
Ryanair has flights from Bristol to Madrid from £14.99 while easyJet has flight from London Gatwick from £18.99.
Free things to do:
Atocha Train Station’s Tropical Garden
Museo de Prado (Free tickets from 6pm to 8pm all week or 5pm to 7pm on Sundays)
Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace (free to watch on Wednesday and Saturday at 11am)
Río Park
Museo Reina Sofía (free tickets for under 18, over 65 or students)
Madrid has some amazing cheap eats if you want to dine on a budgetCredit: AlamyBar hop in Madrid for some fantastic wine and cocktails
November – Lille
Lille is the perfect autumn/winter escape without much effort needed, being the first stop in Europe on the Eurostar.
The manageable city has it all – from pretty Sunday markets to delicious waffles (try the famous chestnut filled ones at Meert).
Hop in a Citroën 2CV for a very fun vintage car tour of the city, before ending at NU rooftop for views over the train station.
Eurostar has tickets from London St Pancras to Lille from £39.
Free thing to do:
Palais des Beaux-Art (free on the first Sunday of the month)
Grand Place
Lille-Saint-Sauveur Station
Porte de Paris
Lille is the first stop in Europe on the EurostarCredit: Alamy
December – Copenhagen
Copenhagen is one of the best places to get in the festive mood.
Wrap up warm and get ready to cafe hop, from the porridge specialists Grod to the Scandi brunch Atelier September.
Tivoli Garden is great for fairytale fans who want to feel the Disney magic without the price, with twinkly lights, rides and stalls.
Make sure to stay at Hotel SP34, which has a free wine and cheese hour every evening.
Ryanair has flights from Bristol to Copenhagen from £14.99 while easyJet has London Gatwick flights from £18.99.
Free things to do:
Bakke theme park
Explore the district of Christiania
Frederiksberg park
The National Museum of Denmark
The Marble Church
Tivoli Chrstmas market is a must in Copenhagen in DecemberCredit: Alamy
Sereen Banna said the partners of Downtown LA Law Group called her “Erin Brockovich” for her work helping hundreds sue over noxious fumes spewing out of a landfill in northern Los Angeles County.
An ambitious paralegal, Banna said she embraced the role she had in empowering residents to take on companies suspected of polluting their neighborhoods.
Her bosses were proud, too, she said. Banna, 28, recalled them saying she would make them all billionaires someday.
But in early 2024, Banna said, she discovered a troubling trend in some of the firm’s most lucrative cases: Clients who claimed they were paid before joining lawsuits.
On Dec. 16, Banna sued Downtown LA Law Group, also known as DTLA, stating the firm failed to address her complaints about “illegal solicitation, as well as deceptive and unethical practices aimed at persuading individuals to become clients through misrepresentations.”
She accused the firm, which she left in the fall of 2024, of amassing plaintiffs through “practices that appeared designed to exploit vulnerable individuals.”
DTLA called the allegations “baseless,” saying they came from a disgruntled former employee.
“Any allegations of fraud, paid referrals, or unethical practices by DTLA Law Group are not only unsubstantiated, but false,” the firm said in a statement. “We intend to fight this in the court of law, where the facts will show that we operate with unwavering integrity, prioritizing client welfare.”
Banna’s lawsuit caps a tumultuous year for DTLA. A partnership between three childhood friends, DTLA has grown from a small firm focused on car crash victims into a civil litigation powerhouse, filing thousands of cases related to the January wildfires and sexual abuse in government facilities. The firm filed nearly a quarter of the cases in the $4-billion sex abuse settlement approved last spring by Los Angeles County — the largest of its kind in U.S. history.
But the meteoric rise has drawn scrutiny.
The Times reported in the fall that nine of the firm’s clients who sued over sex abuse in L.A. County facilities said recruiters paid them to file a lawsuit, including four who said they were told to fabricate claims. The L.A. County district attorney’s office is now conducting a probe into the allegations.
With the investigation pending, questions have lingered about how DTLA managed to amass so many plaintiffs so quickly. The Times spoke to more than 40 of the firm’s clients and 10 former employees, many of whom described aggressive tactics to bring in new clients and reap profits stretching back years.
More than a dozen people represented by DTLA in personal injury cases said they were recruited at a crisis point in their lives with promises of massive payouts and pressured into expensive surgeries that attorneys said would make their case more valuable. The more medical procedures, they were told, the more damages attorneys could claim.
At the end, some clients say, they were left with a fraction of what they were promised.
DTLA said in a statement it exists “to support clients through some of the most difficult moments of their lives.”
“That includes helping them avoid unnecessary financial stress while their cases are pending,” the firm said. “Medical care decisions are made solely by clients and their physicians.”
Sereen Banna, a former DTLA paralegal, sued the firm on Dec. 16, alleging it did not listen to her complaints of unethical solicitation. The firm has denied wrongdoing.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Banna said in her lawsuit she “repeatedly complained” about how clients were being solicited.
She said in an interview she reported the first paid landfill client she was aware of — a woman who received a $20 gift card — to her bosses in early 2024. In her lawsuit, she alleged “such conduct constitutes unlawful and unethical behavior for attorneys.”
She said her boss told her the alleged payments would be investigated.
“At that point, I was reminded it was above my pay grade,” she said.
‘A really big part of the recruitment process’
Banna said she resigned from DTLA in October 2024, around the time the firm began pursuing a new cohort of clients: human trafficking victims who’d been abused in hotels.
Banna said one of her colleagues, an intake coordinator, told her a man named Kevin Johnson had paid one sex worker $20 to come into the office.
Over the last two years, five ex-workers told The Times, Johnson became an increasingly common sight at the firm as he started shepherding in clients he’d found to sue over sex abuse in the juvenile halls and the Eaton fire. Like most former employees, the ex-workers requested anonymity, fearing professional retaliation.
Johnson, a 54-year-old entertainer who hosts gospel brunches and soul nights in Inglewood according to his social media, did not respond to messages or a letter left at his home. The firm is currently representing him in a lawsuit over a Mid-City car crash.
California law bans a practice known as capping, in which non-attorneys solicit clients to join litigation with a firm. DTLA has denied working with cappers and Johnson did not respond to questions about his recruitment for the firm.
Former employees said Johnson was responsible for bringing in a large number of clients.
“He is a really big part of the recruitment process for Downtown LA,” said Banna, who described how she was called to do intake with sex abuse clients after Johnson brought them into the offices of one of the partners.
Johnson wasn’t a DTLA employee, yet workers say he was a familiar face around the office.
He was close with the partners and chummy with employees, handing out lucky $2 bills to workers last holiday season, three former employees said. Two said that at one point he had his own swipe card, so he could come and go freely.
A digital trail connects Johnson to DTLA’s client list.
The Times found more than a dozen friends of Johnson’s on Facebook who appeared to have a sex abuse lawsuit filed with the county. To do this, The Times cross-referenced a list of county sex abuse plaintiffs represented by DTLA with Johnson’s Facebook friends to see how many shared identifying details.
Larisa Ellis, whom Johnson describes on Facebook as his wife, paid someone who later had a DTLA sex abuse lawsuit $50 at a social services office in November 2024 with the payment caption “Thanks for using our referral service,” according to a Cash app transaction. Ellis did not respond to a message and a letter left at their home.
“DTLA does not pay clients to retain our services or for referrals,” the firm said in a statement.
Austin Beagle and Nevada Barker, former clients of DLTA, said they were paid to sue over alleged sexual abuse in L.A. County by a man named Kevin, whose last name they didn’t know. Beagle and Barker later had their lawsuit dismissed.
(Joe Garcia / For The Times)
Nevada Barker and Austin Beagle, two former DTLA clients, previously told The Times a man named Kevin, whose last name they didn’t know, paid them $100 each in DTLA’s office after they made false claims of sex abuse. Barker identified Johnson through pictures as the man who paid her.
The couple said they were under the impression they were being compensated to be actors in a movie. The firm later asked the court to dismiss their lawsuits.
“He said he worked for a referral service and the lawsuit needed enough participants to go through,” said Beagle. “He didn’t work for the law office.”
‘Tell her I got $ for her’
Several clients told The Times they were offered money by DTLA partner Farid Yaghoubtil if they could find people to sign up for lawsuits with the firm.
“He called it an advancement, ” said LaShelle Allison, 53, a former client who said she referred several car accident victims for Yaghoubtil. “Here’s $250,’ ‘Here’s $650,’ ‘Here’s $500 for rent.”
California is one of the few states where lawyers are allowed to loan clients money.
The State Bar has a general rule that lawyers are not supposed to pay “personal or business expenses.” The bar makes exceptions that include if the client promises in writing to repay the loan, for providing funds to promote “the interests of an indigent person,” and for “advancing costs” to protect a client, with repayment contingent on the outcome of the matter.
DTLA said in a statement that it offers small loans to clients “in limited situations.”
“The firm has offered small, interest-free micro-advances to help with short-term needs like temporary housing or basic expenses, specifically so clients do not feel compelled to turn to third-party lenders,” the firm said. “These advances are entirely voluntary, never tied to medical or legal decisions, and are only recovered if a case is successfully resolved.”
Akeem Smith, 40, had DTLA sue on his behalf at least four times, twice for car crashes, once after he was punched at a night club and again over a shopping cart mishap at Rite Aid.
Smith referred 10 potential clients to Yaghoubtil, nearly all car crash victims, according to text messages between the two men. In return, Smith said, he was told he’d be compensated, though he said he was disappointed to find he was never paid for the clients he referred.
Instead, Smith said he received monthly advances of about $2,000 based on potential settlements the firm was expecting in his cases.
Smith said he would encourage clients to sign up for cases with DTLA but did not pay them. He told some about money Yaghoubtil was offering.
“Tell her I got $ for her,” Yaghoubtil texted Aug. 9, 2022, regarding a woman who Smith said had been in an accident and was considering not moving forward with the firm. “Get her back for me.”
Akeem Smith stands in front of the old DTLA office in East Hollywood.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
After The Times reached out to DTLA seeking comment on the allegations made by Smith, Yaghoubtil texted Smith asking him to notify the reporter that “everything you told her was a lie” and to remind The Times that he was still a client of the firm, according to a message Smith shared.
The next day, after telling The Times he planned to go into DTLA’s office, Smith falsely accused the reporter via text of harassment and failing to disclose they were a journalist.
In August, Smith made an ill-fated attempt to sue the firm, representing himself in a lawsuit accusing them of keeping too much of his settlement money. He asked for the case to be dismissed a month later.
Smith said he became dependent on the firm for income and, sometimes, shelter. In the summer of 2022, Smith moved into a downtown building where he paid rent to Yaghoubtil’s uncle, according to text messages between the two men. The handwritten lease, rife with misspellings, said he could stay there until he “seatel his case whit Dawntow Law Group.”
Smith said he made monthly trips to pick up checks from DTLA, which was providing him money for his rent, bills, food and car repairs, according to loan statements and text messages between the two men.
Smith said he flitted in and out of homelessness during that time — his first time ever without stable housing.
“When I met you I had my own everything,” Smith texted Yaghoubtil July 18, 2022 “Now I don’t even have clothes.”
Listed in Smith’s phone as “Farid Ferrari,” Yaghoubtil replied, “What happened to the money you got?”
Landlords, landfills and ‘incentives in exchange for signatures’
Downtown LA Law Group, founded in 2016, is run by three longtime friends.
Yaghoubtil, 42, is cousins with founding partner Daniel Azizi, 43. They met Salar Hendizadeh, 44, in elementary school, according to an interview they did with a commercial real estate company.
All attended Beverly Hills High School together, yearbooks show.
Hendizadeh left the firm in October, according to a letter sent to staff this month. The note did not explain why but said Hendizadeh “cannot be conducting any firm related business.” He did not respond to an inquiry from The Times.
Many clients who spoke to The Times said that among the partners, Yaghoubtil in particular vied hard to get their business.
In January 2019, William Brighton, who was in the VA hospital recovering from a car accident, asked a judge for a restraining order against Yaghoubtil, accusing him of making “numerous visits at the hospital to coerce (and bribe) me to retain them as counsel.”
He said Yaghoubtil offered him $1,000 to switch from his current law firm, according to the request for a restraining order. Brighton later asked a judge to dismiss the case.
DTLA did not address questions about the restraining order request.
The firm expanded quickly, outgrowing four different offices before landing this year in a 52,000-square-foot headquarters in the Arts District. They moved beyond their bread-and-butter fare of personal injury, adding departments for mass torts — cases that involves thousands of people suing over the same thing — and housing law.
An empty plot of land where the DTLA partners used to own an apartment building across the street from their East Hollywood office. Multiple tenants sued the partners for living conditions and the building is now demolished.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
The trio moonlighted as landlords themselves, owning an apartment building across the street from their East Hollywood office. They were sued by several units in 2023 and 2024 over living conditions, including allegations of infestations of rats, vermin and cockroaches that tenants said made their lives “a living hell.” One of the cases settled for $2 million, according to court records.
The partners were charged in October 2024 with a misdemeanor for failing to maintain the building. The case was dismissed and the building is now demolished.
Around 2024, their mass torts business began booming, starting with the landfill lawsuits, in which the firm accused the operators of recklessly allowing nauseating odors.
Heather Stone said she saw representatives of DTLA looking for people for landfill cases outside a Santa Clarita Walmart in 2024, one of two residents who told The Times they saw representatives at the store who appeared to be recruiting clients.
Castaic’s Chiquita Canyon Landfill, which residents say emits noxious odors, is the subject of a flood of lawsuits brought by DTLA.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Banna said in an interview that she later learned some clients for the landfill cases had been receiving gift cards to sign petitions at box stores in the area and those names later appeared on signed retainers even though clients were adamant they never signed up for a lawsuit. She accused the firm in her lawsuit of “providing gift cards, money gifts, and similar incentives in exchange for signatures.”
The firm said in a statement it would be impossible for someone to believe they were signing a petition when they were signing up for a lawsuit due to the large number of documents required to come on board.
“If someone made that claim, we would certainly discontinue our services at their request,” the firm said.
A former DTLA case manager, who asked to remain anonymous, fearing professional repercussions, said the alleged recruitment effort became clear to him after he was assigned to call people from a list he’d been provided of new Chiquita Canyon clients and found several who believed they had signed up for a petition, not a case.
“A lot of these people were completely unaware of what they were signing up for,” the former case manager said.
Surgeries and promises of ‘lottery money’
Three former case managers, who worked as liaisons between clients and attorneys, described the same modus operandi at DTLA: Sign up personal injury clients, then get them to agree to surgeries.
The more surgeries, they were told, the more profit, as it would make the case more valuable by allowing lawyers to claim higher medical damages.
The case managers said partners pushed surgeries and would give bonuses when clients went under the knife. Doctors — who stood to benefit by being able to bill for the procedures — would have gifts dropped off at the office, the ex-employees said.
The firm said any allegations of unethical practices were the result of “disgruntled former employees … who have ulterior self-serving motives.”
The case managers reported getting $500 checks from the firm when they got a client to agree to a surgery — often with the word “bonus” in the memo. The Times viewed one of these “bonus” checks, which the former employee said was for a client’s skin graft.
If they didn’t convince their clients to get surgeries, the former case managers said they feared losing their job. Yaghoubtil would ask case managers to send him a list of their surgeries at the end of the month, according to messages viewed by The Times.
“Our sx numbers for the month of May were very low,” said Yaghoubtil in a June 3 Teams message to 64 staff members, using an abbreviation for surgery. “Many were unable to produce even a single procedure… this is not acceptable.”
“How can you go an entire month and not have at least one of your cases worked up?” he continued. “It does not go un-noticed and will be letting go of those who are not trying hard enough.”
The firm said in a statement that it doesn’t interfere with a client’s medical care decisions.
“DTLA’s role is to advocate, inform, and support with transparency, compassion, and respect at every stage of the process,” the firm said.
DTLA recently moved into a new office at the former Lucky Brand headquarters in the Arts District of Los Angeles.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Jacqueline McClelland, 60, said she was assured “lottery money” by a DTLA attorney in July 2018 after she slipped in a puddle of oil in a Willowbrook shopping plaza.
The insurer for the plaza called her up and offered her $1 million if she didn’t lawyer up, she said. But she said her DTLA attorney promised they could get her far more — as long as she went to all the doctors they recommended. She turned the insurer down.
Her case settled for $350,000.
It was not even close to enough to pay for the half-million in fees she said she’d racked up, primarily from going to doctors. She said she is still in excruciating back pain from her surgery.
DTLA took 46% of the settlement and sent the rest of the money to a judge to decide how to divvy between her and the 31 doctors, clinics and loan companies she owes, according to a court record filed on behalf of DTLA to determine the distribution. A volunteer at a Watts high school, McClelland has spent a year lawyerless in court fighting for any bit of it she can get.
“Is someone helping you?” asked Judge Gary Tanaka at a Dec. 17 hearing in his Torrance courtroom where she had been appearing with such regularity that the clerk knows her by first name.
“No one. Sorry, your honor, no one has helped me at all,” said McClelland, standing in a court proceeding she said repeatedly she did not understand. “Downtown LA Law just gave me to the wolves.”
“I would agree with that,” said Scott Meehan, an attorney representing one of the doctors fighting her for her settlement money.
DTLA said it could not comment on privileged conversations with McClelland. The firm said in a statement that all medical providers had legitimate liens that entitled them to money from the client’s settlement, including McClelland’s.
Jacqueline McClelland, a former client of DTLA, stands outside Los Angeles Superior Court in Torrance on Dec. 17 ahead of her court hearing.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The Times found court records for more than 60 DTLA clients who had costs, typically medical bills, that ended up being more than their settlement. In those cases, DTLA couldn’t convince the doctors to reduce fees, and the attorney would hand the remaining money over to let the court decide how to divvy it up among everyone who needed to be paid.
But the lawyers get their cut — in some cases, more than three-quarters of the settlement, according to lawsuits filed on the firm’s behalf to determine who gets the remaining money.
“Our clients only pay for legal fees and costs if they win a lawsuit or get a settlement,” DTLA said in a statement.
After he was beaten by a Santa Monica security guard, David Villatoro, a 33-year-old construction worker, said a DTLA attorney told him he could get half a million easy, probably double that. But only if he went to a litany of doctors’ appointments, including a neck surgery.
It would mean losing his construction job and going on disability. But he claims his attorney said the surgery would make the case more valuable.
“That’s where the big bucks come in,” he recalled the attorney saying.
The big bucks never came.
Instead, months after the case settled, Villatoro got an email telling him not to contact the firm anymore about his case. Attorneys had taken 58% of his settlement money — about $72,000 — and he would have to go to court to fight for a cut of what was left along with the doctors.
He said he still can’t turn his head fully to the right.
“I’m just so confused,” he said. “I was so naive. It was my first time ever, ever, ever getting a lawyer.”
Laura Stephenson, a 57-year-old baker, was told by her DTLA attorney that her slip-and-fall in her Menifee cul-de-sac could net millions. But she would need to do a shoulder surgery.
She hesitated. It would mean too much time away from her bakery and she wasn’t sure she wanted to do it. The attorney convinced her by offering her a loan for $10,000, she said.
More than four years after the fall, she has received no money and can’t fully move her arm. The firm took 77% of her $175,000 settlement, according to a court filing to decide how to distribute the money. The rest went to the court to distribute, and she is still fighting to get a portion.
“I am living this nightmare,” said Stephenson, one of eight people The Times spoke with who said they filed a complaint with the State Bar.
The firm said all medical treatment was voluntary and ethics rules prevent sharing more information about discussions with clients.
“DTLA does not force anyone to receive medical treatment they do not want,” the firm said.
Uber, a common target of DTLA, sued the firm and one of the main surgeons used by clients, Greg Khounganian, last summer for racketeering, alleging the firm had “side agreements” with him to inflate medical bills for unnecessary procedures. Uber’s lawsuit alleged that many patients underwent an unnecessary spinal fusion that takes months to recover from in order to get a larger settlement.
In some cases, Uber alleged, Khounganian inflated the bills by as much as 640%. If the case didn’t settle for much, the lawsuit stated, Khounganian would agree to dramatically reduce their liens.
In an Instagram post, DTLA called the lawsuit a “calculated attempt by a billion-dollar corporation” to suppress legitimate claims. An attorney representing Khounganian said the doctor had a spotless professional record and had never faced any disciplinary action.
“He is assuredly a first-rate and widely respected orthopedic surgeon,” Stephen Larson, an attorney for Khounganian, said in a statement. “Uber’s meritless lawsuit, we believe, is part of its nationwide political and lawfare campaign to suppress liability for accidents caused by Uber’s drivers.”
Khounganian sought to have Uber’s case against him dismissed, with his attorneys calling it in one court filing “a lawsuit designed purely for tabloid effect with no meaningful effort at substance.”
One person, who saw another doctor for a heart valve condition that heightened the risk of complications, could no longer walk for more than 10 minutes after their surgery, Uber alleged in the lawsuit.
DTLA clients said the firm would often insist on sending them to specific L.A. doctors even if they lived in a different county, or, in some cases, a different state.
Christy Strickland, who had a case over a fall that occurred while working for the delivery app Instacart, said the firm insisted L.A. doctors were cheaper than those in Texas. So she said they flew her in from Houston and once gave her gas money to drive, putting her up in a hotel for two weeks to recuperate along with two of her children.
Those travel expenses would total more than $10,000 — including two $482 Uber rides, according to a breakdown. She said she was never told those travel costs would be coming out of her money.
“YOU AND YOUR DOCTOR advised me to get these surgeries and I have told you that I am still in pain even more since the surgery,” she emailed Yaghoubtil in July 2023. “Do you know how it feels to wake up in the morning and your back hurts so bad all you can do is just lay there until it subsides?”
In November, Yaghoubtil, speaking on a podcast episode called “Lawyering With Empathy,” emphasized his focus was never high-dollar verdicts. The well-being of clients, he said, always came before profit.
“We love a client,” he said. “If we have to, we’ll go down fighting with them.”
Times staff writer Christopher Buchanan contributed reporting.
From Ryan Kartje: For a nine-win team such as USC, once again on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff, the bowl season can feel a bit like purgatory. One foot in the past season, the other in the future, your team trapped somewhere in-between.
There were glimpses of each Tuesday night for USC in a brutal 30-27 overtime defeat to Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl. There were equal reminders all night both of what could have been this season, had USC ever played at its best for long, and also flashes of why it never managed to be.
In one moment, there was freshman Tanook Hines, sprinting to catch a deep ball in stride, announcing himself as a rising star. In another, a TCU running back was busting his way through tackles on third-and-long, rumbling improbably into the end zone, deflating any such delusions of grandeur.
But after oscillating between those opposing poles, the final minutes against TCU took the Trojans on a tour of all their most glaring concerns from the 2025 season, from the leaky defense to the missed opportunities on offense.
The Trojans saw a two-score lead evaporate in the final minutes of regulation. They got all the way to the five-yard line in overtime, only for the offense to stall and settle for a field goal. They even sacked TCU quarterback Ken Seals on second and 10, pushing the Horned Frogs out of field-goal range and forcing a third and 20.
All signs in that moment pointed toward the Trojans securing their 10th win, a feat they achieved only once over the past eight years. But then, against a three-man USC rush and with eight defenders in coverage, Seals checked down to running back Jeremy Payne in the flat.
“We did everything right defensively to put them in that position,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said.
Detroit Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart scores during a 128-106 win over the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
From Broderick Turner: The Lakers are still searching for an identity after 31 games, a task complicated by injuries that have depleted their rotation for much of the season.
They’re lacking a defensive personality. They haven’t been a physical team, an overly athletic team or a fast team.
The Lakers got a close look at a team that embodies all of those characteristics in a 128-106 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Coach JJ Redick acknowledged the Lakers are still trying to figure out who they are and how they can fix their issues after losing for the fourth time in five games.
“The players, staff, everybody, we’ve really tried to play the right way every night and have the right intent,” Redick said. “The flow of lineups and rotations and all that has been challenging for everybody, not just the coaches. It’s a challenge for the players. And building an identity is difficult.”
James Harden had 21 points while John Collins and rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser each added 16 for the Clippers, who have found a successful formula after not winning more than two consecutive games before their current run of success began.
Leonard’s productive night came after he scored a career-best 55 points in a victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. He has averaged 37.8 points over the past five games.
How Curt Cignetti Indiana into a Rose Bowl favorite
Indiana players say coach Curt Cignetti’s honesty and accountability have helped the team go from the Big Ten basement to No. 1 in the country.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
From Anthony Solorzano: Curt Cignetti knows winning. No matter where he finds himself, whether it’s James Madison or with the Division II IUP Crimson Hawks, success follows him. Since getting the opportunity to lead a program, Cignetti has never had a losing season.
When Indiana hired him in November 2023, the Hoosiers were the program with the most all-time losses in college football history, and ended the season with a 3-9 record under Tom Allen.
It wasn’t a work in progress, the Hoosiers football program needed to be rebuilt.
On New Year’s Day, Indiana will face Alabama in the highly anticipated Rose Bowl matchup. The Crimson Tide have a rich postseason history and a tradition of championships, but the Hoosiers are the favorites to win.
Anthony Rendon clears path to end his Angels tenure
Anthony Rendon’s tenure with the Angels could be drawing to a close with the third baseman agreeing to a restructured contract with the team.
(Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Anthony Rendon has agreed to restructure the final year of his $245-million, seven-year contract with the Angels, a person with knowledge of the decision told the Associated Press on Tuesday night.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Angels hadn’t announced any developments with Rendon, who didn’t play last season following hip surgery.
The team and Rendon have amended the deal to restructure the remaining $38 million owed to the third baseman in 2026, presumably spreading the money over time.
Rendon is still on the roster and continuing to rehab at home in Houston, but his horrendous tenure with the Angels could be over.
1961 — Paul Hornung, on leave from the Army, scores 19 points to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 37-0 win over the New York Giants for their seventh NFL championship. Green Bay’s Bart Starr throws three touchdown passes in the first title game ever played in Green Bay.
1962 — The American Basketball League folds. The ABL played one full season, 1961-1962, and part of this season. The ABL is the first basketball league to have a three point shot for baskets scored far away from the goal. The league also had a 30-second shooting clock and a wider free throw lane, 18 feet instead of the standard 12.
1973 — Third-ranked Notre Dame edges top-ranked Alabama 24-23 in the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame’s Bob Thomas kicks a 19-yard field goal with 4:26 left to give the Irish a one-point lead. With two minutes left, the Irish clinch the victory when on third-and-8 from the their own 3, Tom Clements completes a 35-yard pass from his own end zone to Robin Weber, and Notre Dame runs out the clock.
1982 — Jockey Pat Day edges Angel Cordero Jr. by two races to capture leading rider honors. Day rides Dana’s Woof and Miltons Magic to victory during the evening program at Delta Downs for 399 wins for the year.
1988 — A blinding fog rolls in during the second quarter of the Chicago Bears’ 20-12 NFC semifinal victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field in Chicago. The fog obscures the game from most of the 65,534 fans present and a national television audience that could watch only ground-level shots.
1989 — Jockey Kent Desormeaux sets the world record for most number of wins in a single season. His 598th win is aboard 2-year-old East Royalty in the Inner Harbor Stakes at Laurel Racecourse.
2005 — Harness drivers Catello Manzi and Brian Spears each set single-season records. Manzi, 55, becomes the oldest harness driver to lead North America in victories (727), even without a win on the last day. Sears becomes the first driver to surpass $15 million ($15,085,991) in pursue earnings.
2013 — Johnny Manziel lives up to his nickname “Johnny Football,” leading 20 Texas A&M to another comeback win, 52-48 over No. 22 Duke in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Aggies are down 38-17 at halftime but with Manziel at the helm they came back in the highest-scoring game in the bowl’s history. The 2012 Heisman trophy winner throws four touchdown passes, completes 30 of 38 passes for 382 yards and runs for 73 yards and a touchdown.
2016 — Top-ranked Alabama relies on a stifling defense and the bruising runs of Bo Scarbrough to wear down Washington for a 24-7 victory in the Peach Bowl semifinal game.
2016 — Deshaun Watson runs for two touchdowns and throws another and No. 3 Clemson crushes No. 2 Ohio State 31-0 on in the Fiesta Bowl to set up a rematch with Alabama for the College Football Playoff national championship.
2017 — The Cleveland Browns complete the second 0-16 season in NFL history with a 28-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
2017 — The Buffalo Bills snap the longest current non-playoff streak in North American pro sports with a 22-16 victory at Miami and Cincinnati’s victory at Baltimore. The Bills hadn’t made the postseason since 1999.
2018 — Houston guard James Harden scores 43 points in Rockets’ 113-101 win over Memphis Grizzlies; 4th straight NBA game with 40+ points and 8th straight with 35+; joins Oscar Robertson as only player with at least 35 points & 5 assists in 8 straight games.
Until next time…
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