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One should avoid using “crazy” as a pejorative term. Those with mental illness should be spared ridicule, just like cancer patients. So we sit here and wait, in vain, for another term that sums up what ESPN did on Tuesday. It was reported that ESPN was removing play-by-play man Robert Lee from Virginia’s season opener with William & Mary on Sept. 2. With all the controversy over Gen. Robert E....

LOS ANGELES — Vasyl Lomachenko is a fight fan’s fighter. He was a double Olympic gold medalist for the Ukraine. He was 396-1 as an amateur and won a world championship in his third pro fight. But Vasyl Lomachenko could walk down Figueroa with a sign around his neck that says, “I Am Vasyl Lomachenko”...

LOS ANGELES >> The Dodgers signed Julio Urías when he was merely a boy, a 16-year-old throwing faster than some major league pitchers. They protected his golden left arm like no other, removing him from at least one no-hitter every year in order to limit the inherent harm of throwing a basebal...

OAKLAND >> ESPN reporter Shelley Smith said Sunday night she was doing well and undergoing tests at an East Bay hospital for stroke symptoms after a scare in the Golden State locker room following the Warriors’ 113-111 victory over San Antonio ...

SAN DIEGO >> When is an iings limit not an iings limit? As Dodgers coaches and executives contemplate how much more rookie pitcher Julio Urias can — and should — give them this year, it’s worth flashing back to April 11. Urias made his first regular season start that day for Triple-A Oklahoma City in Memphis, Teessee. Matt Herges, the Oklahoma City pitching coach, watched and waited as Urias threw one scoreless iing after another. Urias’ pitch count reached 73 after five iings when it was decided he’d met his limit. He still hadn’t allowed a run. Often, the decision to remove Urias wasn’t easy. “There were times when it was ‘hey we need to get him out of the game’ — yeah but he’s only...

DENVER >> It’s no surprise that the Dodgers will give the ball to rookie left-hander Julio Urias for Friday’s start against the San Diego Padres. The 20-year-old left-hander is 5-2 with a 3.71 eaed-run average in 14 games (12 starts) with the Dodgers. His last four outings, all victories, have seen Urias allow two eaed runs in 19 2/3 iings, good for a 0.92 ERA. “The way he’s throwing the baseball right now,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “this is the best thing for the Dodgers and for Julio.” And yet, Friday’s start might be his last of the season. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman stopped short of saying Urias would move to the bullpen after facing the Pad...

CINCINNATI >> While most of the Dodgers’ starting pitchers are operating on a performance-induced iings limit, Julio Urias pitched like he doesn’t need one. The freslhly-20-year-old Julio Urias tued in the best start of his barely-started big-league career Sunday afteoon, holding the Cinciati Reds scoreless through six iings and helping the Dodgers snap a three-game losing streak with a 4-0 victory. “It was huge. It was huge being able to have him out there for more than five iings,” Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal said. “Having the last two starters go less than three or four iings, we needed someone to go deep in a game. He did that for us, stepped up big time and threw a great game....

ST. LOUIS >> Julio Urias’ latest big-league cameo was a short one. The 19-year-old left-hander was sent back to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday after pitching four iings for the Dodgers in Thursday’s win over the Washington Nationals. Urias will get a few days off and then pitch out of the bullpen for OKC, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. That was the plan when the Dodgers sent Urias back to Triple-A following his July 4 start. But he made just one relief appearance before being recalled to start in Washington this week when Hyun-Jin Ryu went to the DL. Austin Baes was called up from Triple-A to replace Urias on the roster. With three off days in an eight-day span starting Monday, ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. >> Now what? For the third time this season, the Dodgers tued to 19-year-old left-hander Julio Urias to fill a short-term need in their starting rotation. Urias went four iings in Thursday’s 6-3 victory over the Washington Nationals after left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu went on the DL with elbow tendinitis. Whatever plan the Dodgers had for their precocious pitching prospect must have been written in pencil, erased and rewritten again. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he has been impressed with the way Urias has handled the uncertainty as well as being asked to make five of his nine big-league starts against first-place teams (the Cubs, Orioles, Giants and Nationals twice). ...

LOS ANGELES >> Like leaving the last Oreo in the sleeve, this is not going to be easy. But the Dodgers remain committed to keeping a goveor on Julio Urias’ workload this season, a vow of abstinence that has become more difficult to stand by with each of his five big-league starts. Urias keeps getting better, a trend that led to five scoreless iings against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled him after those five iings and 85 pitches this time, a decision that quickly became lamentable. The Brewers scored twice against Dodgers relievers in the sixth iing and it took Justin Tuer’s second home run of the game (in the eighth iing) and his game-wii...

LOS ANGELES >> Like leaving the last Oreo in the sleeve, this is not going to be easy. But the Dodgers remain committed to keeping a goveor on Julio Urias’ workload this season, a vow of abstinence that has become more difficult to stand by with each of his five big-league starts. Urias keeps getting better, a trend that led to five scoreless iings against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled him after those five iings and 85 pitches this time, a decision that quickly became lamentable. The Brewers scored twice against Dodgers relievers in the sixth iing and it took Justin Tuer’s second home run of the game (in the eighth iing) and his game-wii...

CLEVELAND — Craig Sager is going to work his first NBA Finals game. The longtime sideline reporter — known in large part for his colorful attire — has been added to ESPN’s broadcast team for Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers. Sager, who has worked for Tuer Sports for 34 years, will share sideline reporting duties with Doris Burke on the ABC broadcast. “Welcome to our team,” Burke said in a video message to Sager released by ESPN on Wednesday. “It’s our honor.” Sager was diagnosed with leukemia in 2014 and will be honored at the ESPYs next month with the Jimmy V Perseverance Award, named for Jim Valvano. He aounced earlier th...