The Sports Report: DeShaun Foster will let his actions do the talking

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

In a Times subscriber exclusive, Ben Bolch writes about and talks to UCLA football coach DeShaun Foster: The doubts have resurfaced, the same old chatter as before, swirling around DeShaun Foster like an all-out blitz.

He’s never been a coordinator, much less a coach. What does he know about leading a team? Isn’t he way too mellow and reserved for this?

Some of the skepticism that greeted UCLA’s new football coach upon his hiring in February subsided during a feel-good offseason. Foster salvaged recruiting, galvanized his team and energized fans over four blissful months.

Bruins coach DeShaun Foster gestures during the UCLA football spring showcase at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on April 27. (Meg Oliphant / For The Times)

Then came Foster’s freeze during Big Ten media day. The coach went quiet after about a minute of small talk on the big stage, his silence broken only by an uncomfortable smile. One of the few things he did say — “We’re in L.A.� — became an instant meme. It was all the radio hosts and podcasters needed to turn back on the spigot of suspicion.

See, this guy doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s unprepared. If he can’t speak to the media, how is he going to deal with his players?

Whenever his verbal stumble is brought up, Foster’s expression remains unchanged, as if he’s wearing earplugs. He’s quick to remind you that he played this game at the highest levels, reaching the Rose Bowl with the Bruins and the Super Bowl with the Carolina Panthers, before going on to develop a fleet of NFL running backs at his alma mater.

As far as he’s concerned, he has a master’s degree in football. Among the many lessons he’s learned is that smooth talking doesn’t win games.

“I’m just not a rah-rah guy, you know?� he said. “You don’t get any points for being rah-rah.�

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DODGERS

From Mike DiGiovanna: The calendar will soon turn from August to September, and though the Dodgers have baseball’s best record following Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Tampa Bay before a sellout crowd of 52,464 in Chavez Ravine, their rotation is filled with enough questions to raise serious doubts about their championship worthiness.

Will ace Tyler Glasnow (elbow) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (shoulder) return from injuries in time to front a playoff pitching staff? Can Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler, both struggling in returns from major surgeries, be counted on down the stretch? Will the inconsistent Bobby Miller regain his 2023 rookie form?

In Gavin Stone, the Dodgers may have found at least one answer.

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Dodgers box score

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ANGELS

Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk hit two-run home runs, Kevin Gausman matched a season high by striking out 10 and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Angels 8-2 on Sunday to complete a sweep of the seven-game season series.

“Not easy to sweep anyone at any time of the year,� Blue Jays manager John Scheider. “It’s a good feeling for the young guys, for everyone really. It’s nice to go out and play good baseball.�

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached base four times and drove in a pair of runs as the Blue Jays won for the 11th time in 13 meetings with Los Angeles. Guerrero had two hits and the Angels intentionally walked him twice.

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Angels box score

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MLB standings

USC FOOTBALL

From Ryan Kartje: By the time he arrived at USC last spring, Jayden Maiava looked late to the party. Miller Moss had staked his claim on the Trojans’ open quarterback spot in December, throwing six touchdowns in a debut so convincing that coach Lincoln Riley joked he would scare away any transfers who might want to come.

Not Maiava. Just two weeks after Moss’ fairytale first start in the Holiday Bowl, he left an assured starting role at Nevada Las Vegas, then flipped his commitment from Georgia to compete for a job at USC that already seemed won.

It was the opposite path most passers would take in this era of instant portal gratification. Yet Maiava’s journey already had been more circuitous than most. He didn’t have the experience of other top quarterback prospects, having picked up the position as a teenager. He didn’t grow up learning from a private coach, paying top dollar to train like so many of his peers. Instead, he bounced between three high schools in two states, moving in with his uncle in Hawaii as a sophomore out of concern his life was heading off course in Las Vegas.

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: Rams linebacker Ernest Jones IV could soon be on the move — to another team.

The Rams informed Jones and his agents that they are open to trading the team captain and that his representatives can speak with other teams regarding a trade and a new contract, people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly said Sunday. They requested anonymity because a deal has not been made.

Jones, 24, has started since midway through his rookie season in 2021, and helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI.

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SPARKS

Arike Ogunbowale had 33 points, Natasha Howard scored 30 and the Dallas Wings stormed back from a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Sparks 113-110 on Sunday.

Odyssey Sims had 24 points through the first three quarters to help the Sparks (6-24) build a 92-73 lead.

Howard made a layup for Dallas (7-22) and Ogunbowale followed with two free throws to get the Wings within single digits at 105-96 with 3:22 left to play. Ogunbowale followed a layup with a three-pointer and Howard’s three-point play made it a one-possession game at 109-107 with 64 seconds left.

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Sparks box score

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LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES

Lathan Norton scored from second base on an bad throw to first base as Lake Mary, Fla., rallied Sunday to beat Taiwan 2-1 in eight innings and claim the Little League World Series championship.

Taiwan clung to a 1-0 from the first inning until Florida’s last at-bat. The team from Florida, representing the Southeast region, outhit Taiwan and had a runner on third in three separate innings, but couldn’t get a run across.

Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Florida got runners on first and second and DeMarcos Mieses, who struck out in his previous two at-bats, delivered. Hitting the gap in shallow left, he gave Chase Anderson enough time to sprint home and tie the score.

In the eighth, Lathan was placed on second to start the inning. Hunter Alexander bunted and the throw to first went into the outfield.

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PARALYMPICS

Two weeks after French star swimmer Léon Marchand extinguished the Olympic flame to close the Paris Olympics, the spotlight is now on its Paralympic counterpart.

British Paralympians Helene Raynsford and Gregor Ewan on Saturday lit the flame in Stoke Mandeville, a village northwest of London widely considered the birthplace of the Paralympic Games.

The flame then began a trip to France under the English Channel during a four-day relay from Atlantic Ocean shores to Mediterranean beaches, from the Pyrenees to the Alps.

Its journey will end in Paris on Wednesday during the Paralympics opening ceremony — with the lighting of a unique Olympic cauldron attached to a hot-air balloon that will fly over the French capital every evening during 11 days of competition.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1939 — The first major league baseball game is televised. NBC broadcasts a doubleheader at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field between the Cincinnati Reds and the Dodgers.

1989 — Chris Drury pitches a five-hitter and Trumbull, Conn., becomes the first American team since 1983 to capture the Little League World Series, defeating Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 5-2.

1993 — Sean Burroughs, the son of former major leaguer Jeff Burroughs, pitches his second no-hitter of the Little League World Series and hits two home runs, sending defending champion Long Beach, Calif., past Bedford, N.H., 11-0 in the final of the U.S. bracket.

1997 — Carl Lewis finishes his track-and-field career anchoring star-studded team to victory in the 400-meter relay to cap the ISTAF Grand Prix meet in Berlin. The team of Olympic 100-meter champion Donovan Bailey, former world record-holder Leroy Burrell and Namibian sprint champion Frankie Fredericks, win in 38.24 seconds.

1999 — Michael Johnson shatters another world record at the world championships — this time, breaking the 400-meter mark with a time of 43.18. He cuts 0.11 seconds off the record of 43.29 set by Butch Reynolds in 1988 and ties Carl Lewis for the most gold medals at the championships with eight.

2004 — Lindsay Tarpley and Abby Wambach score as the U.S. beats Brazil 2-1, maintaining an undefeated record to win the women’s soccer gold medal at the Athens Olympics.

2011 — The Tulsa Shock snap the longest losing streak in WNBA history with a 77-75 win over the Sparks. The Shock (2-25) had 20 straight losses before Sheryl Swoopes hit a jumper with 2.9 seconds left.

2016 — San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick kneels in protest during the U.S. national anthem at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium while playing against the San Diego Chargers, objecting to racial injustice and police brutality in the U.S.

2016 — Dan Raudabaugh throws six touchdown passes and the Philadelphia Soul win their second ArenaBowl title, beating the Arizona Rattlers 56-42.

2017 — Kyle Snyder scores a late takedown of Olympic gold medalist Abdusalim Sadulaev in the deciding match, and the U.S. wins the world freestyle wrestling title for the first time in 22 years.

2017 — Floyd Mayweather Jr. stops UFC champion Conor McGregor on his feet in the 10th round in Las Vegas. The much-hyped 154-pound fight is more competitive than many expected when an unbeaten, five-division world champion boxer takes on a mixed martial artist making his pro boxing debut.

2020 — Milwaukee Bucks forfeit their NBA playoff game after the shooting of Jacob Blake, leading to the NBA postponing more games.

Compiled by the Associated Press