sport world

Long Beach native and longtime sports executive Jack Teele passed away Wednesday night at the age of 87. Teele was a sportswriter at the Independent Press-Telegram for 10 years and then spent 33 years in the front offices around the National Football League, including 21 years with the Los Angeles Rams, where he rose to the rank of vice president of administration. Teele was a long-familiar face i...

LOS ANGELES >> Before Stephen Carr dashed for 52 yards along the north sideline of the Coliseum in USC’s win over Stanford, he ran through a vast hole. Carr, the Trojans’ freshman running back, was untouched past the line of scrimmage. The hole, on the left side of USC’s offensive line, might have been close to 10 yards, based on TV replays. Why was it so gaping? Start with left guard Chris ...

LOS ANGELES >> One didn’t ea a penalty and one did, but two controversial incidents of targeting between UCLA and Hawaii last Saturday might leave the Bruins without two of their starting linebackers for this week’s game against Memphis. Senior Kenny Young, who was forced out of last Saturday’s game after getting leveled on a blindside block, will go through the concussion protocol this we...

THOUSAND OAKS >> No dramatic moment, no speech, no loud applause. The Rams simply conducted their defensive meetings Monday with Aaron Donald in attendance, and that normalcy had to feel superb. Donald, the Rams’ star lineman who ended his six-week contract holdout Saturday, got back to work at team headquarters. The plan, according to Coach Sean McVay, is for Donald to be on the field when ...

SAN FRANCISCO >> For a team that could still win 100 games, the Dodgers sure seem to have a lot of questions to answer about their postseason roster. “We have a lot of good players we’re still evaluating,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Monday’s game. “We have a lot of guys to work with. When you have the lead we had, you can prioritize health and trying to keep guys sharp while tr...

LOS ANGELES >> His play-calling was measured, effective and, at times, even inspired. At the end, it was something else completely, something shocking after witnessing the Rams mostly depress all of last season. Sean McVay’s play-calling, to cap his head-coaching debut Sunday, was celebratory. He ordered his team to assemble in victory formation and his backup quarterback to take a clock-emp...

LOS ANGELES >> Just before Rams quarterback Jared Goff disappeared into the Coliseum tunnel 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 — Los Angeles’ celebration of landing the 2028 Olympic Games next week will include Inteational Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach. Bach will light the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum’s Olympic cauldron during the Rams-Washington game Sept. 17, the Southe Califoia News Group has leaed. Bach’s two-day visit to Southe Califoia will come four days after the IOC in Lima, Per...

By Ryan Kartje [email protected] @Ryan_Kartje on Twitter THOUSAND OAKS >> Wade Phillips has been in this position before. Four of the past six times he has switched teams, to be exact. And so, when you ask about his conce transitioning from last year’s 4-3 defense to his vaunted 3-4, a topic that seems to whip fans of his new defenses into a state of nervous hysteria, Phillips calmly brushe...

GREEN BAY, Wisc. >> Sean McVay’s focus on Sept. 10 almost has been almost obsessive. The Rams’ coach has seemed like an eager child counting down to the days to his birthday. It’s almost here. Much to McVay’s excitement, the preseason ended Thursday night with a 24-10 loss to Green Bay at Lambeau Field, a game filled with backup players, many of whom were fighting for roster spots. McVay’s w...

THOUSAND OAKS >> Last November, as the Rams season descended into a downward spiral, Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson found himself locked in a feud with the Rams head coach and its front office. How quickly things change. On Tuesday – the same day he was signed to a symbolic one-day contract, allowing him to officially retire as a Los Angeles Ram – Dickerson was given an official ti...

LOS ANGELES >> It looked ominous. When Kenechi Udeze, USC’s defensive line coach, left the Portland airport in his rental car on a snowy January day, he noticed other cars were tued over aside the interstate. Udeze had arrived amid the city’s biggest snowstorm in two decades, and he still needed to drive almost 70 miles south to Independence, Ore., to visit a five-star defensive lineman na...

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...

THOUSAND OAKS >> Yes, it’s just preseason. Before that, it was just OTAs. Before that, it was just the Big Sky Conference. At every tu, Cooper Kupp has faced doubters, and tued them around. The stakes have reached their apex. Kupp, a former small-school standout at Easte Washington, now is preparing for his NFL regular-season debut, and the Rams’ third-round draft pick seems ready, as always. In two preseason games, Kupp has eight catches for 105 yards and one touchdown. Also, seven of Kup...

Even before his first regular-season game, Rams Coach Sean McVay showed he won’t be afraid to delegate responsibilities. McVay, formerly the offensive coordinator in Washington, announced shortly after his hire in January that he would call plays for the Rams, but McVay said Sunday that his offensive coordinator, Matt LaFleur, called plays during the second half of Saturday’s preseason victory over Oakland. Most notably, LaFleur, formerly the quarterbacks coach in Atlanta, called plays when the ...

LOS ANGELES >> A text from UCLA offensive line coach Hank Fraley flashed across Michael Alves’ phone screen. “You’re going with the ones tomorrow,” it read. Instead of being excited about his promotion from second-string guard to the first group, Alves was conceed. “Is someone injured or something?” the redshirt freshman recalls thinking after hearing of the change. But it wasn’t an injury that shook up UCLA’s once-solid No. 1 offensive line. It was Alves’ consistent improvement. He’s prac...

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...

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 alo...

OAKLAND >> Coach Sean McVay is a quarterbacks guru who loves tight-end mismatches and now gets to plan with receiver Sammy Watkins. But don’t forget the Rams’ running backs. McVay should not. The Rams have Todd Gurley, who underachieved badly in 2016 but seems poised for a bounce-back season after a strong training camp. McVay, the Rams’ rookie coach and their play-caller, might be tempted to throw the ball a lot, but his recent history suggests that the ground game works. McVay’s second p...

The Los Angeles Rams travel to Oakland to play the Raiders for its second game of the preseason. Check back for live news, stats and updates during before, during and after the game. How to catch the game: Start Time:xa07 p.m. PT Saturday at thexa0O.co Coliseum TV:xa0KCBS/KFTR Online:xa0NFL Game Pass Radio:xa0xa0ESPNLA 710 & 100.3 The Sound (English) ESPN Deportes 1330 AM (Spanish) Advertisement ...