sport world

After a dogfight in the first half, the No. 2-seeded Sparks pulled away from the fifth-seeded Phoenix Mercury, and the defending WNBA champions won their playoff opener and the first game of their semifinal series Tuesday. The Sparks defense helped them stifle Phoenix in the second half of a 79-66 victory. “It went just like I thought it would, you’ve got champions over there,” said Sparks coach B...

LOS ANGELES >> Of the 159 rushing yards Ronald Jones amassed in USC’s season-opening victory over Weste Michigan, 122 came after contact. Deland McCullough, the Trojans’ ruing backs coach, took notice. “It ain’t always the flash and long runs,” McCullough said. “It’s the dirty work of lowering your shoulder, ruing through trash, breaking arm tackles and sending a physical message to yo...

BELLFLOWER >> “Our expectations are to win a national championship,” St. John Bosco senior Jaiden Woodbey said after a recent practice. “We have the mentality and leaders to do it.” St. John Bosco is one of few high school football programs in the country where a player can say something like that with conviction. Coming off of its second CIF State title in four years, Bosco is a legitimate ...

LOS ANGELES >> If USC freshman linebacker Levi Jones plays half as well as he talks, the Trojans might need to let him wear No. 55 this season. “For sure I’m going to be better than (my father),” Jones said Wednesday. “You can tell him that too.” That kind of statement could haunt Jones when you consider his father, Robert, was an All-America linebacker at East Carolina; first-round draft pi...

OAKLAND >> The humor wasn’t lost on Mark Davis an hour or so before the Oakland Raiders took the field against the Rams on Saturday night. Or hubris. Like so many others around the NFL, the Raiders owner is keeping an eye on things down in Los Angeles. With the Rams trying to rebound from the shaky 4-12 step they took in L.A. upon retuing home last year and the Chargers throwing down the gauntlet with their Fight for L.A. pledge as they prepare for year one in Tinseltown, Davis has to chuckle a little bit. “You know, it’s kind of fuy,” Davis said. “They’re talking about the fight fo...

OAKLAND >> The Rams will push their starters into the second quarter Saturday against the Oakland Raiders. It’s the typical plan of attack the second week of the preseason, with NFL coaches extending clock time for starters as they chart their flight plan toward the regular season. The primary objective is creating a smooth landing for the regular-season opener, as players prepare both their bodies and minds for the grueling 16-game schedule. But there are underlying objectives that go along with preparation. Even for starters who will give way in the second quarter to backups looking to...

Coming off of a disappointing 2-8 season, some might say the Dominguez High football team is in a dubious state. However, new coach Deon Toliver sees the challenge and is ready for it. “It’s a challenge just getting the guys to show up to practice,” Toliver said. “Getting the structure of our team implemented has been a struggle.” One thing that Dons fans have in their favor is that during Toliver’s previous head coaching stops at Gardena and Leuzinger, he took both teams to the playoffs in his first year. “I think we can get that done,” he said. “So far, everywhere I have been, I been able t...

LOS ANGELES >>USA Gymnastics reached a confidential, out-of-court settlement in Califoia before this year with a former teenage U.S. national team gymnast who alleges U.S. women’s Olympic and national team physician Larry Nassar sexually abused her, a former U.S. Olympian familiar with the case told the Southe Califoia News Group. The confirmation of the settlement by the former Olympian is one of the clearest indications to date that top USA Gymnastics officials were aware of Nassar’s alleged abuse of underage gymnasts and the measures the organization took to keep those allegati...

SEATTLE >> Andrew Bailey’s long road back to the majors is almost over. Bailey rejoined the club on Friday, and he could be activated as soon as today. He last pitched in the majors on April 9, the first week of the season. Since then, he’s fought shoulder trouble. “It’s obviously been a long ...

LOS ANGELES >> Adrian Gonzalez is ready to find out. “It feels good,” the Dodgers first baseman said of the back injury that sent him to the DL. “I’m not playing in pain. But I haven’t been playing baseball games.” Gonzalez hasn’t played a baseball game since June 11. Since then, he has two ex...

Kailin Curran joins Lomita featherweight Brian Ortega as the only true locals on the UFC 214 card. Curran, 26, faces Alexandra Albu in a strawweight bout in the featured early prelims fight on UFC Fight Pass. From Ewa Beach, Hawaii, Curran has been living and training in Orange County for the past f...

Southe Califoia has already made an impression on Pele van Anholt and he’s only been here since Monday. “Everything is big,” the 26-year-old Dutch defender said Thursday. “In Holland, it is a little bit smaller. I live in Amsterdam. L.A. is a big place and it is really nice.” Van Anholt was sign...

ANAHEIM — A year can make a difference. That is apparent when it comes to Marcus Pettersson. The scruffy facial hair covering his cheeks and chin has rendered his once teenage-boyish appearance obsolete. “Growing up,” Pettersson said, smiling. The same could be said about his game. Amid all the hoop...

Los Angeles will play host to the Olympics in either 2024 or 2028. This is going right over the heads of us who can’t retu their library books on time. Michael Nelson Trout will be 33 years old in 2024. Tiger Woods will tu 53 in 2028. By then Califoia might have seceded, the Daytona 500 might ...

LOS ANGELES >> Jeren Kendall’s parents were proud for the same reason most parents of college students are proud. “I got home and my parents told me I finally got a job,” Kendall joked about agreeing to sign with the Dodgers on Friday. “It’s a pretty good job.” Indeed, it is – and it came with...

SAN BERNARDINO >> Angels outfielder Mike Trout played a full nine iings for the club’s High-A affiliate Inland Empire 66ers on Sunday night in his final tuneup before getting back with the big club after the All-Star break. “I feel ready to play,” Trout said. It had been aounced earlier in...

ANAHEIM >> Mike Trout took a big step toward retuing to action, with another coming up today. Trout swung at 100 percent effort in the batting cage on Thursday, clearing the way for him to take his first swings on the field today, Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He progressed from soft toss to ...

ANAHEIM >> In a game ruled by the three true outcomes of statistical royalty (home runs, walks and strikeouts), it was inevitable — a walkoff strikeout. With the game tied 2-2 in the ninth iing, Angels outfielder Ben Revere reached base with one out on an error by Dodgers sub shortstop Chris...

Bellator MMA President Scott Coker likes to dream big and Saturday night is just that and more. Coker’s Bellator MMA lands at Madison Square Garden with a split card, with Bellator 180 on SpikeTV and Bellator NYC on Pay-Per-View ($49.95). “From top-to-bottom, this is a card I would watch and that’s ...

The question greeted the Lakers every day for the past three years when their fortunes rested on ping-pong balls instead of postseason success. So it’s no surprise Rob Pelinka has frequently found himself fielding inquiries about the team’s draft lot...