ANAHEIM >> The difference between the majors and minors, in some ways, can be undetectable, the rubber and home plate separated by the same 60 feet, 6 inches in both Anaheim and Albuquerque. In other ways, the difference can be subtle, like a tiny punctuation mark. Or sizable, like what that tiny pu...

Vic Couch, a 14-year assistant coach with Long Beach State men’s basketball head coach Dan Monson, passed away after a long battle with illness, Monson confirmed Friday. “He was a special guy,” Monson said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Couch family.” Couch played at Santa Clara and coached...

LOS ALAMITOS >> The competitive equity era is officially underway for the CIF Southe Section, which released the new playoff divisions for fall sports on Friday afte oon. This year the CIF-SS will be shuffling divisions for almost all of its team sports based on their new model, which measures perfo...

LOS ALAMITOS >> While football is grabbing most of the headlines for the CIF Southe Section’s new competitive equity playoff model, nearly every sport in the CIF has been completely reorganized by the new divisional system. New divisions for girls volleyball, boys water polo, and girls te is were al...

OXNARD >> As the final ho sounded Thursday to wrap up the Rams’ offseason workout program, it was impossible not to look ahead. The next time the Rams gather as a team, it will be at training camp in late July in Irvine. Two weeks later, they’ll open the preseason against the Dallas Cowboys at the C...

OAKLAND >> On Friday afte oon Tim Lincecum sat at the confluence of the known and the unknown. He was wearing a bright red Angels uniform, having just dressed for the first time in a clubhouse in which he barely knew any of his teammates. Then he stepped out into the visitors dugout at the Oakland C...

Track and field’s global gove ing body has decided that Russian track athletes will not be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games later this summer in Rio de Janeiro because of the country’s failure to comply with inte ational anti-doping guidelines after it was revealed that top Russian athletes, ...

LONG BEACH >> The United States Golf Local Leagues is a one-of-a-kind youth sports organization. The game of golf may be built on individual accomplishments, but the dedicated group of volunteers and parents of the Long Beach affiliate are teaching a team-first attitude that is producing a better ex...

Joe Smith Jr. is 21-1 with 17 knockouts and proud owner of a knockout ratio of 77 percent. Apparently, that doesn’t cut any ice with Andrzej Fonfara. “I know he has a big punch, because he wins fights by knockout,” said Fonfara, who will take on Smith in the light heavyweight main event Saturday fro...

OXNARD — As the final ho sounded Thursday to wrap up the Rams’ offseason workout program, it was impossible not to look ahead. The next time the Rams gather as a team, it will be at training camp in late July in Irvine. Two weeks later, they’ll open the preseason against the Dallas Cowboys at the Co...

Former Duke point guard Derryck Tho ton has decided to transfer to USC. Tho ton, who played his freshman season at Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth, selected USC over Kansas. He averaged 7.1 points and 2.8 assists in 26.0 minutes last season at Duke. Under NCAA rules, Tho ton must sit out a season and wi...

This is not your typical slow L.A. Galaxy start. The team is buried in the ultra-competitive Weste Conference, tied for fourth with 21 points, but L.A. has only two losses and both came on stoppage-time goals. It’s not that the Galaxy are playing poorly, forward Mike Magee said. It’s that they’re pl...

Abner Mares has always been that fighter you want to see do well. He is never looking to fight a patsy. He wants to tangle with only the meanest hombres. It’s his credo. “Definitely, definitely,” Mares said. “It will grab people’s attention and that’s the key point I want to make. I’m the type of fi...

Track and field’s global gove ing body has decided that Russian track athletes will not be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games later this summer in Rio de Janeiro because of the country’s failure to comply with inte ational anti-doping guidelines after it was revealed that top Russian athletes, ...

CLEVELAND — Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry let their frustrations with Game 6 of the NBA Finals be known, and it came at a price. Each was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Friday for separate incidents. Kerr, the league’s coach of the year, was fined for publicly criticizing officiating after the game, whi...

Abner Mares has always been that fighter you want to see do well. He is never looking to fight a patsy. He wants to tangle with only the meanest hombres. It’s his credo. “Definitely, definitely,” Mares said. “It will grab people’s attention and that’s the key point I want to make. I’m the type of fi...

MEMPHIS, Te . — Police in Te essee say wrestler Jerry “The King” Lawler and his girlfriend have been arrested on charges of domestic violence. Officers arrested the 66-year-old Lawler and 27-year-old Lauryn McBride after responding to a call at Lawler’s home Thursday night in East Memphis. World Wre...

CLEVELAND >> From the edge of elimination to the brink of history. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have pushed the NBA Finals to their limit. Game 7 is necessary. James scored 41 points, delivering another magnificent performance with the season on the line, Kyrie Irving added 23 and the Ca...

There have been plenty of reasons for fans to celebrate the Dodgers’ bullpen despite a once rocky start. Dodgers relief pitchers entered Thursday with a National League leading 3.01 ERA. Closer Kenly Jansen stood one save away from surpassing Eric Gagne on the franchise’s all-time list. But there wa...

Andre Jeanbart kept hovering back to the table of souvenirs. Over and over again, he wrote down his name at the Los Angeles Coliseum. He was making his mark on the silent auction, bidding for a lunch with Kevin Demoff. Finally, after his fourth try, his competitor patted him on the back and walked a...