sport world

COSTA MESA >> Retire for three months, and some people lose all respect for you. That’s essentially the treatment Dolphins quarterback Jay Cutler got from Melvin Ingram, whom he will face this Sunday at StubHub Center. Asked on Thursday afteoon what problems Cutler might present this weekend, the Chargers defensive end didn’t miss a beat. “None,” Ingram said. Never mind the fact that, when...

Middleweight champion Geady Golovkin is coming off his toughest fight, a narrow victory over Daniel Jacobs in March at Madison Square Garden. It strengthened Golovkin’s legacy some, but not as much as it could have because Jacobs’ name doesn’t carry worldwide weight. Universally, Canelo Alvarez’s carries a whole lot, so that’s why Golovkin and his team are looking at Saturday’s highly anticipate...

By the time Lonzo Ball begins his first training camp with the Lakers on Sept. 24 he will have already released several versions of his signature shoe, starred in a reality show chronicling the daily lives of his family and dropped a rap single. It has been, by any measure, a busy summer for the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft and the NBA Summer League MVP. “I look at it pretty simply,” Ball said Mond...

LOS ANGELES >> Just before Rams quarterback Jared Goff disappeared into the Coliseum tuel late Sunday afteoon to celebrate his first win as an NFL quarterback, he paused, peeked over to a hundred or so fans shouting his name from the stands and raised his right arm to the sky. The roar that immediately erupted was unlike anything we’ve heard from the Coliseum for an NFL team in what seem...

LOS ANGELES >> For months they lived together, trained together and prayed together. So it only made sense that when the Dodgers’ two teams in the Dominican Summer League played each other for the championship Sunday, they celebrated the win together. When “DSL Dodgers 2” beat “DSL Dodgers 1” in the title game, 6-4, it marked the second time in the history of the 33-year-old league that two ...

LOS ANGELES >> Canelo Alvarez on Monday was asked what a victory over middleweight champion Geady Golovkin would mean to him, and to his native Mexico. Alvarez pulled no punches. “It’s very important for me, it’s very important for Mexico - for my people, for my country,” said Alvarez, who Sept. 16 will challenge Golovkin at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view). “My team and I...

ANAHEIM >> Mike Trout is now finding out how everyone else in the majors lives. Trout, seemingly immune to the slumps that define his sport, has gone hitless in his past 17 at-bats, the second longest such drought in his career. He took an 0 for 18 in August 2014, the year he won his first MVP, by the way. Since hitting homers in his first two at-bats last Saturday in Baltimore, Trout is 3 f...

Jeremy Clements battled Matt Tifft down the stretch at Road America before pulling away to the finish line after the two leaders spun out near the end of the second-to-last lap for his first career Xfinity Series victory at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Working with fresh tires down the stretch, Clements chased down Tifft after pitting with nine laps left to surrender the lead. Clements finally caught ...

LOS ANGELES >> Is it possible for USC to have any surprise players when the Trojans are ranked No. 4 and one of the most scrutinized programs in the nation? Even in the social media age, it is possible for players to exceed expectations or surprise the public. One of my picks is tight end Cary Angeline, a 6-foot-7 freshman who looks fast enough to be a receiver. Angeline might only make two ...

PITTSBURGH >> Clayton Kershaw should be happy. His back injury was less serious than might have been feared when he left his July 23 start. He has retued to health relatively quickly. And his team is so far out front that it can afford to take it slowly with him, giving him a long runway to retu to the rotation with bullets saved for October. Oh, yeah — that last part doesn’t seem to sit well with the Dodgers ace. “Health-wise, I could have pitched in the big leagues 10 days ago. But that’s not the plan obviously,” Kershaw said Monday after throwing a four-iing simulated game at PN...

George Richardson is the fourth Cabrillo High football coach in as many years, so he knows that continuity is the most important thing for the Jaguars this season. “I’m a players coach with a disciplinarian approach,” Richardson said. “We’re trying to change the culture. That starts with the adults to solidify a community and family atmosphere that retains student-athletes.” A handful of starters from last year transferred out of Cabrillo over the summer, but the Jaguars still have a strong group of senior leaders. The rebuilt defense will be led by retuing senior starters Deleoun Arthur, Sh...

OAKLAND >> This is the Jared Goff the Rams drafted, or thought they drafted, anyway. Goff didn’t look perfect in Saturday night’s 24-21 preseason victory over Oakland but, well, what’s a good word for almost perfect? Goff led the Rams on three scoring drives in four first-half possessions, and completed strong, accurate passes all over the field to seven different targets. The Rams intended for Goff to leave the game early in the second quarter, but who knew that he would — or could — lead a 16-play drive that lasted nine minutes and led to a go-ahead field goal? So, Goff played nearly ...

BALTIMORE >> Hours after Albert Pujols made history with his 609th homer, he couldn’t enjoy it as much as he’d like because of May Machado’s 131st. Pujols’ first-iing homer on Friday night moved him into a tie with Sammy Sosa for eighth place on the all-time homer list. Pujols and Sosa, both bo in the Dominican Republic, are now tied for the most homers ever hit by a player bo outside of the United States. But when Pujols had the chance after the game to talk about what the achievement meant, the night had been spoiled by Machado’s three homers – including a walk-off grand slam t...

LONG BEACH >> A 73rd-minute penalty kick and a shot cleared off of the line in the last seconds of overtime helped the Long Beach State women’s soccer team avoid a season-opening upset to Cal State Northridge on Friday night at George Allen Field. LBSU dominated possession and outshot the visiting Matadors, but the Big West Conference foes finished tied 1-1 in the nonconference match. The game will not count toward the conference standings, but will help both teams’ RPI in the long run. The 49ers (0-0-1) will visit CSUN (0-0-1) on Oct. 26 for the conference regular-season finale. LBSU be...

LOS ANGELES >> He had just caught another comeback victory and hit another home run, Yasmani Grandal now standing in the Dodgers clubhouse and being asked to discuss his team’s astonishing and utter awesomeness. Yet, instead of effervescing with the sort of delight that must come from playing on a club not only chasing but routinely tackling history, Grandal’s rather somber tone suggested he was recounting the passing of a childhood pet. One that was fluffy and lovable and house broken from Day One. On the other side of the room Sunday, Justin Tuer was saying nothing at all of the win...

As a brand new program, St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy has its work cut out for it this season. Building an 11-on-11 tackle football program from the ground up is not an easy task. Coach Todd Butler has the challenge of converting the remnants of St. Pius’ flag football team into a functioning full...

LOS ANGELES >> All-Pac 12 Oregon standout Norman Xiong, Virginia Tech’s Mark Lawrence Jr. and Oklahoma State’s Hayden Wood somehow managed to separate themselves from the pack on the first day of play at the 117th U.S. Amateur Championship with 6-under 64s. Xiong, an 18-year-old San Diego nati...

GLENDALE >> So many baseball men in khakis and collared shirts strolled the grounds of Oakmont Country Club on Monday, you would be tempted to think this is what they do in retirement: golf. You would only be half right. There was Eddie Murray, the Hall of Fame first baseman. There was Charlie...

IRVINE >> As the Rams went through scripted, oft-repeated warm-up exercises, Sammy Watkins glanced left and right and tried to mimic his new teammates. This is going to be a process. In his first day on the field with the Rams, after Friday’s trade that brought him over from Buffalo, Watkins d...

BROOKLYN, Mich. >> Kyle Larson slipped between cars on an overtime restart, capping his wild weekend with a victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan Inteational Speedway. Larson was in the spotlight after team owner Chip Ganassi allowed him to go to Iowa to compete in the Knoxv...