The Sports Report: UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava reflects on a tumultuous career so far
Nico Iamaleava discusses career
From Connor Dullinger: Nico Iamaleava became a household name among college football fans.
Not because of his five-star, blue-chip status, leaving Warren High as the second-ranked prospect in the 2023 class and top-ranked recruit out of California.
Not for leading Tennessee to its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance and a 10-3 record — tying for the Volunteers’ second-best finish since 2001.
Instead, Iamaleava is remembered for his tumultuous exit from Knoxville, a parting characterized by head coach Josh Heupel that the program would move on without its starting signal-caller, leading the Long Beach product to UCLA.
More than one year removed after his departure, Iamaleava reflected at preseason media day on his time with the Volunteers, the effect last season had on his mental health and his mindset heading into 2026.
“In Tennessee, I was in a rough mental state as far as being far from home, but that’s what came with me growing and maturing,” Iamaleava said Wednesday. “So coming back home has been a great transition, and I can’t wait to play this year.”
Can Mark Walter keep the Dodgers?
When the news broke last week that Mark Walter was selling the Lakers just one year after buying the storied basketball franchise, executives working for another crown jewel in his sports empire — the Dodgers — were quick to say the billionaire had no plans to sell the team.
The Dodgers have won three of the last six World Series and 12 division titles since an ownership group led by Walter bought the then-bankrupt team in 2012, and the Dodgers now are considered the most successful — and lucrative — franchise in Major League Baseball.
Yet, amid Walter’s financial difficulties, including a federal inquiry into his insurance empire regarding $16 billion to $21 billion in undisclosed loans to his own companies, questions remain over whether the blowback will hit the Dodgers.
Walter has denied wrongdoing, and sports business experts say it’s far too soon to know whether the Dodgers will be in play. No charges have been filed against Walter or anyone associated with his businesses.
“If you’re judging on that — winning and revenue created — he’s been at the helm of all of that. … He does truly look like a white knight as it relates to his ownership of the Dodgers,” said Patrick Rishe, executive director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis. Still, “we don’t know what the issues are, and we don’t know the severity and the magnitude.”
Cox customers can finally watch the Dodgers on SportsNet LA
Rams hope for some Aaron Donald answers soon
From Gary Klein: The Aaron Donald watch continues.
On Thursday, coach Sean McVay was asked if Donald, a three-tine NFL defensive player of the year, would do more workouts before deciding whether or not he will come out of retirement to join the Super Bowl-favorite Rams.
Donald worked out at Loyola Marymount when the Rams were in training camp, and last week at the Rams facility in Woodland Hills.
“We’ll see,” McVay said. “I would love to be able to have all this stuff figured out but … I know he’s feeling good, and I think he will continue to work out, and I’m hopeful that we’ll have some answers on that sooner than later.”
Angels rout the Astros
Zach Neto was five for six with his 21st homer and a career-high seven RBIs and the Angels scored their most runs in three years to rout the Houston Astros 18-3 on Thursday night.
The Angels (51-77) had a season-high 18 hits and scored their most runs since a 25-1 victory over Colorado on June 24, 2023.
Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez (4-5) gave up just two unearned runs across seven innings while striking out six.
Takeaways from Chargers’ preseason loss to 49ers
From Sam Farmer: Jake Slaughter could be the first Chargers player to touch the ball on every offensive snap. He has never done so in an NFL game that counts.
Slaughter, the rookie second-round pick from the University of Florida, is the leading candidate to start at center after Tyler Biadasz went down with a knee injury at practice this week. There is no timetable for the return of Biadasz, who signed a three-year, $30-million contract in March.
Although Slaughter played some guard in college, center is his natural position. He played just nine snaps Thursday in a 41-17 preseason loss to the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium.
It’s understandable that the Chargers (1-1) only wanted light duty from him, considering they slogged through a brutal 2025 season when they lost their two outstanding tackles and endured a revolving door along the offensive line throughout the season.
As is common throughout the NFL, lots of Chargers starters were merely spectators for the second of three preseason games.
Here are some more observations from the Chargers’ preseason loss to the 49ers:
Sparks are eliminated from playoff contention
From Jordan Puente: After 15 years in the WNBA, the Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike is content with her decision to call this her final season.
“I think that ended up being a blessing in disguise,” Ogwumike said of returning to the Sparks during the offseason. “Once training camp hit, I realized, you know what? I think what I have left is one more season, and I was OK with that.”
The Sparks opened a three-game homestand and the first since Ogwumike’s retirement announcement with a crushing 124-88 loss to the Atlanta Dream.
Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said before tipoff she wanted her team to get off to a better start, but the team could not deliver Thursday and extended its losing streak to six games. The defeat officially eliminated the spiraling Sparks (12-24) from playoff contention.
This day in sports history
1901 — William Larned wins the first of seven men’s singles titles in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championship.
1914 — Walter Hagen captures the U.S. Open golf title by edging Chick Evans.
1920 — Jock Hutchinson wins the PGA golf tournament with a 1-up victory over J. Douglass Edgar.
1932 — Helen Hull Jacobs beats Carolyn Babcock to win the women’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn.
1982 — Mystic Park becomes the first 3-year-old trotter to win the American Trotting Championship.
1985 — Mary Decker sets the world record in the mile run with a time of 4:16.71 in Zurich.
2003 — Paul Hamm puts together a near-perfect routine on the high bar to become the first American man to win the all-around gold medal at World Gymnastics Championships. Needing a 9.712 or better to beat China’s Yang Wei, Hamm strings together four straight release moves during his 60-second routine — one of the toughest feats in gymnastics — for a 9.975 and the gold.
2004 — American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins his sixth gold medal of the Athens Olympics even though he doesn’t swim the final of men’s 4 x 100m medley relay; US wins in world record 3:30.68.
2008 — At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Yukiko Ueno pitches 28 innings in two days, including seven to shut down the U.S. softball team, 3-1, and give Japan the gold medal. It was the first loss for the Americans since Sept. 21, 2000 — 22 straight games. LaShawn Merritt upsets defending champion Jeremy Wariner to lead a U.S. sweep of the 400 meters track event. David Neville gets the bronze. The U.S. men and women both drop the baton in the Olympic 400-meter relays and fail to advance out of the first round. Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown easily wins the 200 meters to cap the first sweep of all four men’s and women’s Olympic sprints in 20 years.
2010 — Kyle Busch makes NASCAR history with an unprecedented sweep of three national races in one week, completing the trifecta with a victory in the Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch, winner of the Nationwide race a day earlier and the Trucks race on Aug. 18, becomes the first driver to complete the sweep since NASCAR expanded to three national series in 1995.
2011 — The Sparks run off 16 straight points to overcome a 15-point, second-half deficit and hand the Tulsa Shock their WNBA-record 18th consecutive loss with a 73-67 victory. The Atlanta Dream lost 17 in a row in their inaugural season of 2008.
2016 — Kevin Durant scores 30 points and helps the Americans rout Serbia 96-66 for their third straight gold medal. That caps an Olympics in which the U.S. dominated the medal tables, both the gold (46) and overall totals (121). The 51-total-medal margin over second-place China is the largest in a non-boycotted Olympics in nearly a century.
2018 — Liu Xiang of China sets a world record time of 26.98 seconds to win the women’s 50-meter backstroke gold medal at the Asian Games. Liu becomes the first woman to swim under 27 seconds in the event, breaking the mark of 27.06 set by fellow Chinese swimmer Zhao Jing at the 2009 world championships in Rome.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1926 — Ted Lyons of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The 6-0 victory was achieved in 1 hour, 7 minutes.
1930 — Chick Hafey of the St. Louis Cardinals hit for the cycle and drove in five runs in a 16-6 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.
1931 — Babe Ruth hit his 600th home run as the Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns 11-7.
1947 — The first Little League World Series was at Williamsport, Pa.
1972 — Steve Carlton of Philadelphia had his 15-game winning streak snapped when Phil Niekro and the Atlanta Braves beat the Phillies 2-1 in 11 innings.
1975 — Pitching brothers Rick and Paul Reuschel of the Chicago Cubs combined to throw a 7-0 shutout against the Dodgers. Rick went 6 1-3 innings and Paul finished the shutout for the first ever by two brothers.
1982 — Milwaukee pitcher Rollie Fingers became the first player to achieve 300 saves as the Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2.
1986 — Spike Owen had four hits and became the first major league player in 40 years to score six runs in a game as the Boston Red Sox routed the Cleveland Indians 24-5 with a 24-hit attack.
2007 — Garret Anderson of the Angels drove in a team-record 10 runs in an 18-9 rout of the New York Yankees. Anderson hit a grand slam, a three-run homer, a two-run double and an RBI double to become the 12th player in major league history to have 10 RBIs in a game.
2007 — Arizona’s Mark Reynolds tied the major league record for consecutive strikeouts by a non-pitcher when he fanned in his ninth straight plate appearance in a 7-4 loss to Milwaukee. Reynolds struck out in his first two at-bats against Dave Bush to match the record. Bush hit Reynolds with a pitch in the sixth, ending the streak.
2011 — Johnny Damon lost a grand slam to a video review in the seventh inning, then hit a game-ending home run in the ninth that lifted the Tampa Bay Rays over the Seattle Mariners 8-7. Damon connected for a leadoff shot in the ninth on the first pitch from Dan Cortes. The Rays trailed 5-4 in the seventh when Damon launched a drive to right-center field. First ruled a home run, the umpires changed the call to a three-run double after a video review.
2015 — Mike Fiers pitched the second no-hitter in the major leagues in nine days, leading the Houston Astros to a 3-0 victory over the Dodgers. Having never thrown a complete game in his five-year career, Fiers was dominant. He struck out 10 and walked three, retiring the final 21 batters. Fiers struck out Justin Turner on his 134th pitch to end it.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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