A college football season never goes to plan. There are always unexpected results. A look at the surprises at the biggest halfway mark of the year.
UCLA went from laughingstock to college football darling. How did it happen?
UCLA's season looked lost after an 0-4 start. But suddenly the Bruins have become a fun, intriguing team to watch after two impressive victories.
Shaikin: Dodgers starting pitchers proving to be the ultimate opposing crowd silencers
First things first: The fans in an outdoor stadium in Philadelphia are louder than the fans in an indoor stadium in Milwaukee. No contest.
They are respectful and truly nice here. They booed Shohei Ohtani, but half-heartedly, almost out of obligation. In Philadelphia, they booed Ohtani relentlessly, and with hostility.
Here’s the thing, though: It didn’t matter, because the Dodgers have silenced the enemy crowd wherever they go this October. The Dodgers are undefeated on the road in this postseason: 2-0 in Philadelphia, and now 2-0 in Milwaukee.
The Dodgers have deployed four silencers. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani.
Read more:Yoshinobu Yamamoto's stellar complete game helps lift Dodgers over Brewers in Game 2
“It’s amazing,” Tyler Glasnow said. “It’s like a show every time you’re out there.”
The Dodgers won the World Series last year with home runs and bullpen games and New York Yankees foibles, but not with starting pitching. In 16 games last October, the Dodgers had more bullpen games (four) than quality starts (two), and the starters posted a 5.25 earned-run average.
In eight games this October, the Dodgers have seven quality starts, and not coincidentally they are 7-1. The starters have posted a 1.54 ERA, the lowest of any team in National League history to play at least eight postseason games.
“Our starting pitching this entire postseason has been incredible,” said Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations. “We knew it would be a strength, but this is beyond what we could have reasonably expected.
“There are a lot of different ways to win in the postseason, but this is certainly a better-quality-of-life way to do it.”
The elders of the sport say that momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher. In a sport in which most teams struggle to identify even one ace, the Dodgers boast four.
In the past three games — the clincher against the Phillies and the two here against the Brewers — the Dodgers have not even trailed for a full inning.
In the division series clincher, the Phillies scored one run in the top of an inning, but the Dodgers scored in the bottom of the inning.
On Monday, the Brewers never led. On Tuesday, the Brewers had a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first, but the Dodgers scored twice in the top of the second.
On Monday, as Blake Snell spun eight shutout innings, the Brewers went 0 for 1 with men in scoring position — and that at-bat was the last out of the game. On Tuesday, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game, the Brewers did not get a runner into scoring position.
That is momentum. That is also how you shut up an opposing crowd: limit the momentum for their team.
“I do think, with what we’ve done in Philly and in coming here, it doesn’t seem like there is much momentum,” Glasnow said.
Of the four aces, Glasnow and Ohtani were not available to pitch last fall as they rehabilitated injuries, and Snell was pitching for the San Francisco Giants.
In the 2021 NLCS, the Dodgers started Walker Buehler twice and Julio Urías, Max Scherzer and openers Joe Kelly and Corey Knebel once each. Scherzer could not make his second scheduled start because of injury.
Said infielder-outfielder Kiké Hernández: “We’ve had some really good starting pitchers in the past, but at some point we’ve hit a roadblock through the postseason. To be this consistent for seven, eight games now, it’s been pretty impressive. In a way, it’s made things a little easier on the lineup.”
In the wild-card round, the Dodgers scored 18 runs in two games against the Cincinnati Reds. Since then, they have 20 runs in six games.
“We said before this postseason started, our starting pitching was going to be what carried us,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “And so far, it’s been exactly that.”
The starters started their roll in the final weeks of the regular season — their ERA is 1.49 over the past 30 games — not that Hernández much cared about that now.
Read more:Hernández: The Dodgers' latest starting-pitching flex? Make the bullpen a non-factor
“Regular season doesn’t matter,” he said. “We can win 300 games in the regular season.
“If we don’t win the World Series, it doesn’t matter.”
The Dodgers are two wins from a return trip to the World Series. If they can get those two wins within the next three games, they won’t have to return to Milwaukee, the land of the great sausage race, and of the polka dancers atop the dugout.
There may not be another game here this season. They are kind and spirited fans, even if they are not nearly as loud as the Philly Phanatics.
“That,” Glasnow said, “is the loudest place I’ve ever been.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Blue Jays Remain Canada’s Team Though Expos Still on the Mind
The Toronto Blue Jays are trying to make Canada proud, but thus far, they are falling short in the American League Championship Series. They head to Seattle for the next three games of the best-of-seven series down 2-0, after the Mariners dumped them 10-3 at the Rogers Centre in Game 2 on Monday.
The Jays face long odds against the Mariners, the only one of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams to have never qualified for the World Series. The M’s have an 89% chance of erasing that dubious distinction if they can win two of the last five games.
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It’s an interesting juncture for pro baseball in Canada, considering there’s a group canvassing the Montreal business community with the intent of bringing the Expos back to Quebec in the form of an expansion franchise. But this time is not yet comparable to 1992 and 1993, when the Jays won both their World Series appearances and the Expos were still thriving before leaving for Washington and becoming the Nationals in 2005.
In 1993, three future National Baseball Hall of Famers were in the Toronto lineup—Rickey Henderson, Roberto Alomar and Paul Molitor. And Joe Carter hit the walk-off homer that won the series and Game 6 at what then was called Toronto’s Skydome against the Philadelphia Phillies, inspiring the legendary “Touch ‘em all, Joe!” call from the late, great Ford C. Frick Award winner Blue Jays announcer Tom Cheek.
The previous year, another Hall of Famer, Dave Winfield, smacked the series-winning double in the top of the 11th inning of Game 6 against the Braves at old Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium.
None of the above players were developed by the Blue Jays; they were all procured by then-GM Pat Gillick, who later was also elected to the Hall of Fame.
Are you sensing a pattern here? These players providing some of the top moments in Canadian baseball history were all short-timers in the Blue Jays organization.
It’s been 32 years since the last World Series win, and the Blue Jays have only been as far as the ALCS three times since then, including the current series. But Toronto remains the shining baseball light in Canada.
The Blue Jays are owned by Rogers Communications, which also has an 80% share of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment. Rogers bought 80% of the baseball team in 2000 for $112 million and acquired the other 20% four years later for a total price of $165 million. According to Sportico’s most recent MLB valuations, the Blue Jays are worth $2.39 billion. Which means the valuation trajectory for Canada’s baseball team looks like, yes, a hockey stick.
With revenues of $435 million in 2024, they can afford a player payroll of $280 million for luxury tax purposes, which ranks fifth in MLB. It’s no wonder the record 0f 94-68 was their best during the regular season since 2015. The money was good enough to tie the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. It was good enough to defeat the Yankees in a four-game AL Division Series.
They spent a good chunk of money earlier this year by signing superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a 14-year, $500 million contract extension.
With at least 89 wins four of the last five seasons, the Blue Jays are perennially competitive. But barring a spirited comeback against the Mariners, Canadians will have to be satisfied with that.
A group called Players on Base is trying to raise capital and interest to bring baseball back to Montreal. They point to the Blue Jays financial growth as an example of what could be duplicated in Quebec with its French-speaking population and international ties this time around.
“What we tell the investors is that if you get in now the valuation of the franchise is just going to go up,” Michel Frison, who’s pounding the pavement on behalf of the effort, said in a recent Zoom interview. “Part of starting this group is just to understand the business. Every week we have a new lead.”
The Expos were the first MLB team in Canada, but they had bad luck and equally poor ownership. They lost a National League Championship Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the strike-shortened 1981 season on a Rick Monday homer, and they were frozen in first place in 1994 when another strike wiped out the end of that season. They played in the cavernous Olympic Stadium, which seated 50,000 for baseball, and had an animated chicken flash across the video board when a pitcher tried to pick off a runner at first base.
The stadium had an umbrella roof that finally had to be locked closed for good because of mechanical problems. When then-owner Jeffrey Loria couldn’t get the government to build a new ballpark, he flipped the team for the Florida Marlins in 2002, and the Expos were run by MLB for their final three years in Montreal before moving to Washington, D.C.
In the team’s last season, when it was a fate accompli the Expos were leaving, only 748,550 attended “home” games, with 21 of them played in Puerto Rico’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
The Big O is undergoing a government-sponsored renovation costing $870 million Canadian dollars ($619 million) that includes a fixed roof with a glass ring to allow in natural light. It’s slated to reopen and be ready for baseball again by 2028. But Frison knows that the Olympic Stadium is only a short-term fix and says a new ballpark has to be part of the mix.
When expansion comes again in MLB, the fee will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $2 billion, per commissioner Rob Manfred. A new ballpark will be expensive, too; the estimated price of the proposed closed-roof 33,000-seat facility for the A’s in Las Vegas is, likewise, $2 billion.
Frison said he spent 30 years in the aerospace industry and doesn’t personally have that kind of money, and he’s having a hard time finding it. “People are interested, but we’re looking for the lion owner,” he said. “We’re focusing forward and need that majority guy.”
That’s a lot of baseball movement needed north of the border to make every Canadian fan proud.
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Source: Kings agree to free-agent contract with former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook
Source: Kings agree to free-agent contract with former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Kings are bringing a former NBA MVP on board.
Sacramento and veteran point guard Russell Westbrook have agreed to a free-agent contract, a source confirmed to NBC Sports California. ESPN’s Shams Charania was first to report the news.
NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that the contract is one year, worth $3.6 million.
It was important for Westbrook, a Los Angeles County native, to stay close to home. He played in Los Angeles, with both the Lakers and Clippers, from 2021 to 2024 before spending last season with the Denver Nuggets.
Since Sacramento traded De’Aaron Fox last season, the team has been searching to fill the void at point guard. The Kings signed Dennis Schroder this offseason, but they clearly want to secure as much depth as possible.
Westbrook declined his $3.4 million option with the Nuggets and became a free agent after one season in Denver, where he averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 75 games. The single-season triple-double NBA record holder still has it, too, after recording the ninth-most in the league last season with four.
It remains to be seen what kind of role Westbrook will play with the Kings, especially after the signing of fellow veteran point guard Schroder, but the nine-time NBA All-Star certainly gives them valuable experience as they seek a playoff return.
From Luka Doncic to Cooper Flagg, here are 10 NBA players to watch this season
From Luka Doncic to Cooper Flagg, here are 10 NBA players to watch this season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
A pressure-packed NBA season is on the horizon.
From players in new situations to those needing to prove themselves, there’s no shortage of storylines as basketball season tips off.
With the NBA returning to NBC and Peacock for opening night on Oct. 21 and Prime Video added as a new partner, the league will have a different look in 2025-26.
Here are 10 players to keep an eye on this season:
Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers
It’s the first full season with the Los Angeles Lakers for Doncic, who has officially taken over the franchise. Despite LeBron James still being his teammate, it’s clear that Doncic is both the future and the present for the Lakers. After dropping weight and signing a max extension over the offseason, all eyes should be on Doncic.
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
Normally considered the 1B to Jayson Tatum’s 1A, the former Finals MVP will have to do it alone this year. Tatum is out with a torn Achilles, giving Brown his first chance to show what he can do as a No. 1 option. The Boston Celtics‘ championship roster has been completely slashed, but Brown remains the leading force.
Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
The No. 1 pick in the draft will always come with increased fanfare, but Flagg joins the Dallas Mavericks with heightened expectations. After trading away Doncic, Dallas struck gold in the lottery. Flagg is now on a ready-to-win roster, where he won’t be relied on as heavily as most top picks. How will he fit alongside Anthony Davis?
Jimmy Butler, Golden State Warriors
Similar to Doncic, Butler was traded in the middle of last season. He hit his stride immediately, as the Golden State Warriors went 23-7 with him in the lineup to close the regular season. Seeing Butler play next to Steph Curry, Draymond Green and newly-signed Al Horford for a full season could be special — if the aging veterans can stay healthy.
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Hopefully we can watch him play this season, right? The former league MVP suited up for just 19 games last year and 39 the year prior. Injuries have plagued the Philadelphia 76ers‘ center, but he seems to be OK entering the 2025-26 campaign. When he does play, Embiid is among the most skilled stars in the NBA.
Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks were the darling of the offseason, adding Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard — and hoping Jalen Johnson returns from injury. One player that didn’t get a new deal from Young, who can opt out of his contract after this season. This team represents Young’s best chance to make a deep playoff run since the 2021 conference finals run, but all the pressure is on considering his uncertain future.
Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
We’ve been playing this game with Williamson since he was drafted first overall in 2019 — will he or won’t he stay healthy and in shape? Weight issues have hindered him throughout his career, and this could be his last chance to make it work in New Orleans. Still just 25 years old, Williamson has to prove he can make it through a full season.
Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
His significant other A’ja Wilson just won her third championship and fourth WNBA MVP for the Las Vegas Aces. What can Adebayo do to respond? The Miami Heat center is always one of the league’s best defenders, but his scoring has dipped in recent years. With Butler out of town, more of the offensive load should fall on Adebayo in a critical year for his career.
Andrew Nembhard, Indiana Pacers
Like Brown, Nembhard is facing a season without his running mate. Tyrese Haliburton’s torn Achilles will put Nembhard into the lead guard role for the Indiana Pacers. Fresh off another impressive playoff run that led to an NBA Finals loss in Game 7, Nembhard now needs to carry his usual postseason production across an 82-game season.
Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons were the surprise of the NBA last season, going from 14 wins to 44 wins and giving the New York Knicks a scare in the first round. Cunningham led the way, making his first All-Star Game and Third Team All-NBA. What does he have in store for 2025-26? The 6-foot-6 guard just turned 24 last month, so he presumably could continue to level up.
Arch Manning, a new American hero and Texas’ charming comeback kid
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Giants ace Logan Webb, catcher Patrick Bailey named Gold Glove Award finalists
Giants ace Logan Webb, catcher Patrick Bailey named Gold Glove Award finalists originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — As expected, the Giants have two Gold Glove Award finalists. But one of the names is a bit of a surprise.
Catcher Patrick Bailey is a finalist for a third time in three years in the big leagues and should pretty easily win his second straight Gold Glove, making franchise history. The other Giant, though, is pitcher Logan Webb, who made huge strides defensively after years of working on being better at holding runners. Matt Chapman, last year’s winner at third base, was not a finalist after a season impacted by a hand injury.
Bailey looks like a very strong bet to become the first Giants catcher to win multiple Gold Glove Awards and he could win the Platinum Glove, given to the best defensive player in each league. He led the Majors in Fielding Run Value and it wasn’t even close; Bailey finished at 31 and no other MLB player was higher than 22.
Bailey also ranked as the game’s best pitch-framer, and again it wasn’t close. At 25 Catcher Framing Runs, he was miles clear of NL runner-up Gabriel Moreno, who was at six. He also was among the league leaders in Caught Stealing Percentage and CS Above Average. He nearly doubled the Defensive Runs Saved (19) as the next closest catcher and led all NL position players.
Assuming Bailey wins his second Gold Glove, he would become the first Giant to do it in back-to-back years since Brandon Crawford in 2014-15.
Chapman was also looking for back-to-back wins, but a couple of IL stints put him in a hole statistically. He played just 128 games and finished second among NL third basemen in Fielding Run Value, fourth in Outs Above Average and fifth among NL third basemen in Defensive Runs Saved. The frontrunner is Ke’Bryan Hayes, the 2023 NL winner who led the league in just about every advanced metric this year while suiting up for the Pirates and Reds, but Chapman was also behind Chicago’s Matt Shaw and Ryan McMahon, who was traded from the Rockies to the Yankees in July.
Webb is the newcomer, but this is a long time coming. He has spent a long time trying to get better at controlling the running game, and he always has been strong on comebackers, a necessity as a groundball pitcher. The SABR Defensive Index makes up a percentage of the final voting and the last time their data was released to the public, Webb ranked as the leader among NL pitchers.
There aren’t a lot of great defensive statistics for pitchers, but Webb led the NL group in Defensive Runs Saved and tied for eighth in the league in Net Bases Prevented. He committed just one error in 207 innings. Rick Reuschel (1987) is the only Giants pitcher to have won a Gold Glove.
Jonathan Kuminga's ‘fire' vs. Trail Blazers trends toward rotation stability
Jonathan Kuminga's ‘fire' vs. Trail Blazers trends toward rotation stability originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
If the Warriors are to become a force in the Western Conference, they’re going to need Jonathan Kuminga. For at least as long as he’s on the roster.
Coach Steve Kerr, whose relationship with Kuminga has been a topic of debate for at least two years, has accepted that. The Warriors, the second-oldest team in the NBA, need Kuminga’s athleticism, his youthful vitality and his ability to create offense in isolation. The more he shines, the more they shine.
That’s how, in three months, we’ve gone from the Warriors and Kuminga each exploring outside options toward a divorce to Kerr raving about the 23-year-old forward and even approving of the explosive conduct that led to Kuminga’s ejection Tuesday night in a 118-111 preseason victory over the Trail Blazers.
“I love the way he played,” Kerr told reporters at Moda Center in Portland. “I love the fire, the passion. I don’t mind the objection at all; I kind of liked it, actually.
“I thought JK was terrific tonight.”
Prior to being ejected with .9 seconds left in the first half for belligerence in the face of referee Rodney Mott, Kuminga was doing a nice job of following the script the Warriors handed him as a rookie. He was running with velocity, rebounding with force, making smart and timely passes and generally providing the kind of offense no one else on the roster can deliver.
And while Kuminga has adventured into some missteps through four preseason games – with two starts, including Tuesday – there has been enough constructive hoops to encourage the Warriors and a fan base semi-divided over his merits.
He’s shooting 11-of-21 from the field, 3-of-9 from deep. Small sample size, but respectable enough. Where Kuminga is showing considerable advancement is with rebounding and passing. His 17 rebounds rank second on the team, behind only Trayce Jackson-Davis, and his 16 assists rank second on the team, behind only Brandin Podziemski.
To put a finer point on it, JK is flipping dimes at a slightly higher rate than Draymond Green and a much higher rate than Stephen Curry. His 17 rebounds have come in 74 minutes. Quinten Post, a 7-foot center, has 14 rebounds in 79 minutes.
Numbers like that might persuade Kerr to shrug off the brief tantrum that prompted the ejection.
“He kind of got right in Rodney’s face,” Kerr said. “You can’t do that. They’re going to eject you if you do that.
“But, like I said, I like the fire, and I like the energy that he played with. The emotion. I think JK’s having an excellent camp and I’m excited about how he looks.”
That’s the JK the Warriors have been seeking. The JK who inspires concern in opponents They can live with some of the ill-conceived turnovers if the other parts of his game are flourishing. Their roster is light on athleticism, and he’s the most athletic player. Their roster is heavy on high-IQ vets with tremendous aptitude for the game. He’s still on the learning curve but can offer lightning-bolt activity they can’t.
It’s profoundly evident that Kerr and his staff are trying to find the right balance of experience and youth to succeed. With four players – Jimmy Butler III, Al Horford, Curry and Green – age 35 or older, there will be considerable load management in the 82-game regular season. It’s essential that the veterans be competently supported by the 25-and-under group. That means, above all, Brandin Podziemski (22), Moses Moody (23) and Kuminga.
Kerr believes in Podziemski, so he’s assured to get meaningful minutes. Putting Moody in the starting lineup late last season yielded positive results and could happen again.
Kuminga, however, has been the wild card. In the lineup some nights, in and out of the rotation on a regular basis.
“He got fouled,” Kerr said, again referring to the ejection. “It was a frustration play. I have no problem with it. He deserved the foul (being called). He was getting fouled quite a bit. It was a physical game.
“But the way he ran on that play, the activity that he played with, the rebounding – he had six boards in one half, 17 minutes – that’s the JK who can really help our team.”
Kuminga is trending toward stability. Toward trustworthiness. The Warriors could use that, as could a few other teams. Whether they trade him before the Feb. 5 deadline for someone who is a “better fit” or consider him too valuable to move, they win.
Toronto Wolfpack players finally paid salaries after five-year battle
Canadian club folded during Covid-19 pandemic in 2020
Players receive around £750,000 in unpaid income
Players from the former Super League club Toronto Wolfpack have finally been paid around £750,000 in unpaid salaries following a five-year legal battle, the Guardian can reveal.
The Wolfpack folded in 2020 during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic leaving their playing squad – which included the likes of Sonny Bill Williams – unemployed and without a contract. Some of those players were able to source deals for 2021 and continue playing but others retired from the sport altogether and had to take jobs outside rugby league to make ends meet.
Continue reading...In this postseason, Dodgers' offense starts from the bottom
The Dodgers haven’t so much beaten opponents this postseason as they have worn them down. A lineup that underperformed for much of the summer has been relentless, resourceful and unstoppable in the fall.
And deep. Did we mention deep? Because while the Dodgers have stars at the top of that lineup, it’s been the players at the bottom who have done the most damage.
Tuesday’s 5-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series is the most recent example of that. The Brewers managed to keep Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in check, only to see Teoscar Hernández, Tommy Edman, Kiké Hernández and Andy Pages knock them down repeatedly, combining for seven hits, three runs and three RBIs to give the Dodgers a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series which resumes Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
And that’s been a trend all postseason: The sixth through ninth hitters in the Dodgers lineup are slashing .302/.391/.448 with 14 RBIs and a playoff-best 35 hits in eight games. The top five hitters in the order are batting .235.
“It's just that trust and belief we have in each other that if you don't get the job done, the guy behind you is going to do it,” said Kiké Hernández, whose two hits Tuesday raised his postseason average to a team-high .379. Hernández has also scored a playoff-high seven runs.
“We know that, one through nine, we have the best and deepest lineup in the league.”
And the hits have been important ones, with Teoscar Hernández tying the score with his second-inning home run and Andy Pages, banished to the bottom of the order after managing just a single in his first 27 postseason at-bats, untying it three batters later by doubling in Kiké Hernández.
“I was just looking for a pitch in the zone that I could hit well,” Pages, who drove a 1-1 change-up into the right-field corner, said in Spanish. “Obviously it was really important. It put the team ahead. But more important was that I was able to make good contact.”
Read more:Yoshinobu Yamamoto's stellar complete game helps lift Dodgers over Brewers in Game 2
Making contact and putting the ball in play has been a hallmark of the bottom half of the Dodgers’ lineup — and it’s probably a big factor in its success. Even with his struggles, Pages has struck out just six times in eight games; leadoff hitter Ohtani has fanned more that twice as often.
“Any time you can create traffic, especially in the postseason, it puts a lot of pressure on the opposing pitchers,” Max Muncy said. “And any time you can get guys on base, it just amplifies that and they’re more liable to make mistakes.”
“From the beginning,” Teoscar Hernández added, “it’s putting pressure on the other side. We still have to go there and get our job done.”
The postseason spotlight is one Kiké Hernández and Edman have thrived under before. Hernández is batting .330 in his last seven postseason series with the Dodgers, almost 100 points better than his career regular-season average. And Edman, who matched Hernández with two hits Tuesday, was named MVP of the NLCS last season after hitting .407 in the Dodgers’ victory over the Mets.
“Those guys, they were made for this moment,” Teoscar Hernández, who leads all postseason players with 10 RBIs. “Kiké, I know he's doesn't get a lot of opportunities in the regular season, but he knows what he can do.”
“He was a player who was born for this moment,” Pages added of Kiké Hernández. “He’s demonstrated that. And he keeps doing it.”
Another key to doing well in the postseason, Teoscar Hernández said, is not paying attention to it. Each game, he said, offers another chance for success or failure and in the playoffs, each game — and each at-bat — is magnified.
So it’s all about what you’ve done lately. Play the game, celebrate the victory or mourn the defeat, then flush it and get ready to do it all over again.
Read more:Hernández: The Dodgers' latest starting-pitching flex? Make the bullpen a non-factor
“I know we have big names in our lineup. We have really good players,” he said. “But at the same time, we still have to go there and get our job done. It's not because we had a good lineup that we score a lot of runs. We go there with confidence, with a plan and the just try to execute.”
If they can do that two more times at home this week, the Dodgers can end the Brewers season and give themselves a week’s rest before returning to the World Series for the second time in as many years.
“We’re good. We’re really good,” said Kiké Hernández, who is one of the reasons for that. “The experience, the trust that we have in each other, that if we're down in the game early, we're going to find a way to come back and tie it or take the lead.
“We're 2-0 in the NLCS, but the goal is to win a World Series, not to win two games on the road. And as we're still playing the Milwaukee Brewers, we're going to focus on them and take it one day at a time. We haven't really accomplished anything yet.”
But when they do, expect the accomplishment to come from the bottom up.
Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
‘Counterfeiting a code’: NRL announces 10-year ban for players who engage with R360
Agents who take players to unregistered competitions also face ban
Rules will ‘protect future of the game’, ARLC chair Peter V’landys says
The NRL has vowed to ban any player who leaves the code for R360 for 10 years, as it fights to fend off the threat of the breakaway rugby competition.
In a statement on Wednesday, the NRL also threatened to ban any agent if they take a player to the rebel competition.
Continue reading...Top 5 Young Guns from Upper Deck's 2025-26 Series One
Let the hunt begin!
On Wednesday, October 15th, Upper Deck releases the first installment of its flagship product, as 2025-26 Series One hits the shelves.
Series One and Two are highly anticipated due to the coveted Young Guns that are released within the set. These are considered the "main rookie card" for each play, and are highly collectible.
The Young Guns set includes a 50-player checklist each year, and here is a list of the top-five players to chase in Series One.
1. Ivan Demidov, Montreal Canadiens.
Habs fans call him the 'Demi-God', and the demand for his marquee rookie card from Series One flagship will be high. The Russian rookie burst onto the scene late last year and played the final two games of the regular season for Montreal, finishing with a goal and an assist, while adding two more points in five playoff games. He is projected to be a top-six star in Montreal, and already has three points in four games ahead of the Series 1 release (Oct. 15th, 2025).
2. Jimmy Snuggerud, St Louis Blues.
Snuggerud was a first-round draft pick of the Blues in 2022. He played the final seven games of the 2024-25 season, scoring a goal with three helpers in those games. He also added two goals and two assists in the Blues' seven-game playoff series against Winnipeg. The 21-year-old forward is off to a hot start this season as well, with two goals and three points in the team's first three games before the release of his Young Guns.
3. Ryan Leonard, Washington Capitals.
Leonard had a great NCAA collegiate career, notching 61 goals across two seasons with Boston College. He also captained Team USA's U20 team at last year's World Junior Championships, where he tallied five goals and five assists in 10 games. He's gotten off to a slower start at the NHL level with just two goals in his first 14 games, but the scoring abilities are off the charts, and he's expected to be a big-time piece of the post-Ovechkin puzzle in Washington once '8' hangs them up.
4. Zayne Parekh, Calgary Flames.
It's not too often a rookie defenseman creates buzz around the NHL, but Parekh scored in his NHL debut in the Flames' final game of the 2024-25 season. He's yet to find the scoresheet early in 2025, but has impressed with his smooth skating and playmaking abilities. He filled the scoresheet in the OHL, putting up 87 goals and 240 points in 177 games at the junior level. It's that level of production that has scouts and fans excited about what he could develop into, given the recent trend of young puck-movers putting up strong production from the back-end.
5. Sam Rinzel, Chicago Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks have two young blue liners featured in Series One, but it's Rinzel that I believe will have the most hobby relevance. He was a 2022 first-round draft pick of the Hawks, but played two years of collegiate hockey at the University of Minnesota, scoring 60 points in 79 games at that level. Rinzel then debuted for the Hawks late last season, collecting five assists in nine games. The young defender has just one goal so far in four games this season, but he is a member of the Hawks' top power-play unit, so I'd expect him to produce once that young group gets going.
Below is the full checklist of 2025-26 Series One Young Guns class:
201 Artyom Levshunov, Chicago Blackhawks
202 Gabe Perreault, New York Rangers
203 Olivier Rodrigue, Edmonton Oilers
204 Carter Mazur, Detroit Red Wings
205 Ivan Demidov, Montreal Canadiens
206 Tim Washe, Anaheim Ducks
207 Jimmy Snuggerud, St. Louis Blues
208 Jack Finley, Tampa Bay Lightning
209 Jani Nyman, Seattle Kraken
210 Karsen Dorwart, Philadelphia Flyers
211 Riley Duran, Boston Bruins
212 Ozzy Wiesblatt, Nashville Predators
213 Luca Cagnoni, San Jose Sharks
214 Ryan Suzuki, Carolina Hurricanes
215 Sam Morton, Calgary Flames
216 Oliver Moore, Chicago Blackhawks
217 Rodrigo Abols, Philadelphia Flyers
218 Colton Dach, Chicago Blackhawks
219 Noah Ostlund, Buffalo Sabres
220 Niklas Kokko, Seattle Kraken
221 Nikita Tolopilo, Vancouver Canucks
222 Michael Callahan, Boston Bruins
223 Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
224 Quinn Hutson, Edmonton Oilers
225 Jacob Gaucher, Philadelphia Flyers
226 Dalibor Dvorsky, St. Louis Blues
227 Owen Sillinger, Columbus Blue Jackets
228 Matthew Wood, Nashville Predators
229 Donovan Sebrango, Ottawa Senators
230 Jacob Melanson, Seattle Kraken
231 Marc Gatcomb, New York Islanders
232 Ian Moore, Anaheim Ducks
233 Ville Koivunen, Pittsburgh Penguins
234 Dominik Shine, Detroit Red Wings
235 Rory Kerins, Calgary Flames
236 Zayne Parekh, Calgary Flames
237 Joakim Kemell, Nashville Predators
238 Ryan Leonard, Washington Capitals
239 Matthew Robertson, New York Rangers
240 Ethen Frank, Washington Capitals
241 Jacob Quillan, Toronto Maple Leafs
242 Cam Lund, San Jose Sharks
243 Justin Robidas, Carolina Hurricanes
244 Jakub Skarek, New York Islanders
245 Victor Ostman, Seattle Kraken
246 Parker Ford, Winnipeg Jets
247 Skyler Brind’Amour, Carolina Hurricanes
248 Sam Rinzel, Chicago Blackhawks
249 Dylan Duke, Tampa Bay Lightning
250 Ivan Demidov/Artyom Levshunov CL, Montreal/Chicago Canadiens/Blackhawks.
Flames Fall 4–2 to Golden Knights, Drop Third Straight
Starting to skid.
The Calgary Flames (1–3–0) dropped their third straight game Tuesday night, falling 4–2 to the Vegas Golden Knights (2–0–2) at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary built a 2–0 lead early but couldn’t hold off a Vegas rally that saw the defending champs score four unanswered goals.
Mikael Backlund opened the scoring with his first of the season, finishing off a slick setup from MacKenzie Weegar, who disguised his slap pass perfectly to freeze Adin Hill. Blake Coleman added another late in the first, jumping on a turnover and wiring a shot over Hill’s shoulder to make it 2–0.
But Vegas — as they’ve done all season — stormed back. Jack Eichel scored twice, Kaedan Korczak added another from the slot, and Tomas Hertl sealed it with an empty-netter as the Golden Knights continued their early-season trend of comeback victories.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
1. Kadri Line Creating Momentum
The trio of Matt Coronato, Nazem Kadri, and Matvei Gridin was one of the Flames’ bright spots. The line was active all night, driving play with speed and creativity. Kadri’s veteran poise blended nicely with Coronato’s offensive instincts and Gridin’s youthful energy, giving Calgary consistent offensive-zone time.
2. Third Period Continues to Frustrate Flames
It’s becoming a worrying pattern — the inability to protect leads. The Flames have now surrendered multiple third-period goals in three straight games: four to the Vancouver Canucks, two to the St. Louis Blues, and another two against Vegas. Tuesday’s collapse came despite a strong start and a solid first 40 minutes. Until Calgary can lock things down defensively in crunch time, wins will continue to slip away.
3. Zary’s Development Path Getting a Test
Connor Zary is currently being tested in a fourth-line centre role — not a natural fit for his offensive skillset. Still, he was taking offensive-zone draws late in the game, suggesting the coaching staff is pushing him to take big offensive draws while also rounding out his defensive game. It’s a learning curve for the young forward, but one that could pay dividends if he transitions into a full-time top-six centre down the road.
The Flames will look to rebound quickly as they face the Utah Mammoth tomorrow night.
Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby Moves To 9th All-Time In NHL History For Assists
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby continues to climb the all-time ranks in several categories this season.
Crosby came into Tuesday's game against the Anaheim Ducks tied for ninth for the most assists in NHL history with 1,063, and is now ninth by himself after getting the secondary assist on Rickard Rakell's goal in the first period. Crosby now has 1,064 assists and is 15 assists away from tying Adam Oates for eighth on the all-time list.
ANOTHER MILESTONE FOR SID 🙌
— NHL (@NHL) October 15, 2025
Sidney Crosby now sits ninth all-time in career assists! #NHLFaceOffpic.twitter.com/LFajBR8rD6
Crosby has a legit chance to pass Jaromir Jagr on the all-time assists list, who finished his NHL career with 1,155. The former came into this game with two points in three games and now has his third point to start the year.
He'll try to get his fourth later in this game or on Thursday when the Penguins travel to Los Angeles to take on the Kings.
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