Lakers’ LeBron James will sit Saturday against Jazz

• January 14, 2024

SALT LAKE CITY — The Lakers will be without star forward LeBron James for Saturday night’s matchup against the Utah Jazz, the team’s load game outside of Los Angeles from Jan. 1-Jan. 26.

James was ruled out nearly four hours before tipoff because of left ankle peroneal tendinopathy (tendon pain on the outer ankle).

He turned his left ankle in the second quarter of Thursday’s 127-109 home loss to the Phoenix Suns, hobbling before retying his shoes and playing the remainder of the game, finishing with a season-low 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting to go with nine assists and five rebounds in 24 minutes.

Saturday will be just the fourth game that James, 39, has missed this season. Two of his other absences came on the second night of a back-to-back.

This story will be updated. 

​ Orange County Register 

UCLA football breakdown: How the Bruins look at linebacker

• January 14, 2024

UCLA’s linebackers return more depth than any other unit on defense for the 2024 season.

The Bruins are set to start strong-side linebacker Kain Medrano and weak-side linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo back for another season together.

Medrano and Oladejo were the second- and third-leading tacklers for the Bruins in 2023.

Medrano came into his own as a full-time starter this past season for inside linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. Medrano had his best performance against Utah with a season-high 10 tackles (2.5 TFL), two sacks and a forced fumble.

Oladejo settled in nicely for the Bruins after transferring from Cal for the 2023 season. He was responsible for 54 tackles (2.5 TFL), an interception and two fumble recoveries in 13 games played.

Middle linebacker Darius Muasau will be one of the bigger departures from the program. Muasau led the Bruins for a second consecutive season after recording 75 total tackles in the 2023 season. He also finished the season with 10.5 tackles for a loss, four sacks and an interception.

Muasau had a season-high 11 tackles in his final game with UCLA and earned LA Bowl Game defensive MVP honors after a 35-22 victory over Boise State on Dec. 16. The redshirt senior will put on a UCLA helmet one more time when he competes in the East-West Shrine Bowl on Feb. 1 in Frisco, Texas.

The trio helped produce a top-10 defense under first-year defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, allowing 301.5 total yards per game and 25 touchdowns (only five rushing).

UCLA’s defense had allowed more than 400 yards per game in every season of coach Chip Kelly’s tenure outside of 2021 (384.4 ypg).

The Bruins allowed opponents to rush for an average of 80.5 yards per game and finished as the second-ranked rushing defense.

JonJon Vaughns’ status remains unclear for the upcoming season. The St. John Bosco graduate has played four seasons with the Bruins and has the opportunity to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA for being on UCLA’s 2020 roster during the pandemic-shortened season.

He started 11 of 13 games in in 2022 but served in a reserved role playing 12 games in 2023.

Brandon “Ale” Kaho is unlikely to return after spending the first three years with Alabama and the past three with UCLA. Kaho appeared in 11 games in 2021 but was limited to just one game over the past two seasons due to injuries.

Here’s a full breakdown of UCLA’s linebackers entering spring ball, the fifth in a six-part series by the Southern California News Group examining the post-portal outlook for every part of the roster.

LINEBACKER

Returning: Sr. LB Kain Medrano,  Jr. LB Oluwafemi Oladejo, R-Fr. LB Jalen Woods

Arriving: True Fr. LB Isaiah Patterson, Sr. LB Joseph Vaughn

Departing: R-Sr. LB Darius Muasau, R-Sr. LB Brandon “Ale” Kaho

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TOP QUESTION

Who will start at middle linebacker? Joseph Vaughn has the potential to come in and be the man in the middle for the Bruins. Vaughn spent the past five years at Yale and is coming off a breakout year in 2023. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound linebacker finished with 88 tackles (13 TFL), three interceptions, two sacks, five pass deflections and three forced fumbles in 10 games played. He’s also had a pick-six in each of the past two seasons.

THE GROUP X-FACTOR

Jalen Woods. The redshirt freshman will have the opportunity to see more playing time and potentially compete for a starting role in 2024. He played in all 13 games as a reserve linebacker and special teams player this past season. The St. John Bosco grad is listed at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County girls basketball standings: Saturday, Jan. 13

• January 14, 2024

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Standings for the Orange County girls basketball leagues through Friday, Jan. 12.

Trinity League
League
Overall

Mater Dei
3-0
15-6

Orange Lutheran
2-1
12-6

Santa Margarita
1-1
15-5

Rosary Academy
1-2
14-5

JSerra
0-3
18-4

South Coast League
League
Overall

San Juan Hills
2-0
11-8

San Clemente
1-0
13-6

Trabuco Hills
1-0
9-9

Tesoro
0-2
5-18

Aliso Niguel
0-2
3-12

Sea View League
League
Overall

Dana Hills
2-0
17-3

El Toro
1-1
13-7

Mission Viejo
1-1
7-14

Capistrano Valley
0-2
2-10

Surf League
League
Overall

Los Alamitos
2-0
17-5

Corona del Mar
1-0
9-9

Fountain Valley
0-1
12-9

Edison
0-2
5-17

Wave League
League
Overall

Marina
2-0
14-8

Huntington Beach
1-1
13-9

Laguna Beach
1-1
7-13

Newport Harbor
0-2
7-13

San Joaquin League
League
Overall

Orangewood Academy
1-0
12-5

Fairmont Prep
1-0
17-4

Pacifica Christian
0-1
17-4

Capistrano Valley Christian
0-1
11-12

Pacific Coast League
League
Overall

Sage Hill
1-0
14-2

Portola
1-1
16-4

Northwood
1-1
6-9

Woodbridge
0-1
15-6

Pacific Hills
League
Overall

Beckman
1-0
12-6

Irvine
1-0
11-8

University
0-1
8-11

Laguna Hills
0-1
7-11

Orange Coast League
League
Overall

Calvary Chapel
7-0
14-8

St. Margaret’s
6-1
17-5

Estancia
4-3
14-8

Santa Ana
3-3
10-11

Costa Mesa
2-5
5-14

Orange
2-5
10-10

Saddleback
0-7
0-17

Orange League
League
Overall

Anaheim
3-0
19-1

Magnolia
2-1
12-5

Savanna
2-1
15-5

Western
2-1
3-8

Santa Ana Valley
0-3
7-11

Century
0-3
3-7

Crestview League
League
Overall

Esperanza
1-0
16-3

El Dorado
1-0
14-5

Brea Olinda
1-1
7-14

Foothill
0-2
5-15

North Hills League
League
Overall

Yorba Linda
1-0
11-8

Canyon
1-0
12-7

Villa Park
1-1
10-10

El Modena
0-2
12-10

Empire League
League
Overall

Crean Lutheran
3-0
11-6

Tustin
2-1
13-7

Cypress
1-1
9-10

Valencia
1-2
11-10

Pacifica
1-2
16-4

Kennedy
0-2
8-10

Garden Grove League
League
Overall

Loara
3-0
11-8

Santiago
2-0
5-13

La Quinta
1-2
9-12

Los Amigos
1-2
6-10

Rancho Alamitos
1-2
7-14

Bolsa Grande
0-2
1-17

Freeway League
League
Overall

Sunny Hills
3-0
13-8

Buena Park
3-0
12-7

Troy
2-1
8-9

Sonora
1-2
9-11

La Habra
0-3
15-6

Fullerton
0-3
13-8

Golden West League
League
Overall

Godinez
4-0
10-8

Segerstrom
3-1
17-5

Katella
3-1
12-6

Ocean View
1-3
7-15

Garden Grove
1-3
4-10

Westminster
0-4
2-16

​ Orange County Register 

Alexander: Rams’ Sean McVay still standing – and thriving again

• January 14, 2024

DETROIT — The retirement of college coaching icon Nick Saban, and the firings (let’s be clear about it) of Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll this week are a good reason for a reminder that, exactly one year ago, Sean McVay was seriously contemplating stepping away from the business.

He hadn’t even reached his 37th birthday, yet in his first five seasons he’d reached two Super Bowls and won one, as well as three division titles and more than 60% of his games. He was still the youngest coach in the NFL, and yet he was facing burnout after an injury-racked 5-12 season and an uncertain future for his team, the general consensus being that general manager Les Snead had paid a heavy price for that Lombardi Trophy of the season before.

“This has been years. This isn’t a new thing,” he told reporters at the end of last season. “(Making) sure that this joy, this zest, this ability to be able to do the things at the level that you know you’re capable of, how do you not let the challenges and the grind and the competitor in you … how do you not let that change the dynamic of who you want to be as a leader in those types of things? And that’s kind of where I’m at.”

Now look at them. McVay’s Rams are back in the postseason tournament, and their Wild Card Weekend meeting with the Detroit Lions on Sunday night – aka Matthew Stafford’s Return – may be the most anticipated first-round matchup of the weekend. The Rams were 10-7 in the regular season, as those bills didn’t turn out to be so steep after all, and McVay seems to again be having the time of his life, having apparently figured out the work-life balance issue. (Maybe having a baby in the household helps.)

Oh, and McVay isn’t even the youngest coach in the NFL any more. Jerod Mayo, the New England Patriots’ replacement for Belichick, assumes that job at the age of 37. (For the record, McVay turns 38 in a little more than a week.)

So it was haunting, almost, that McVay – old enough to have his own coaching tree, still young enough to respect his elders – spent a good part of his Friday availability this week telling the reporters on site his feelings about the bombshells that had rocked the football coaching world in recent days.

“I don’t know Coach Saban too well, but I have tremendous respect for him from afar,” McVay said. “What he’s done (at Alabama) is undeniable. We’ve had a little bit of interactions, but he’s as good as it gets and his résumé speaks for itself. And then (Rams pass game specialist) Jake Peetz worked with him, and I’ve heard so many great things and a lot of the things that he shared that they did, it’s like, oh man, we should implement that.”

His interactions with Belichick and Carroll, of course, were more frequent, Carroll as a division rival in Seattle (with a 10-5 record in McVay’s favor, including a series sweep this year) and Belichick in two head-to-head meetings: A 13-3 loss in Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, in February of 2019, and a 24-3 victory at home during the pandemic season of 2020.

“You start in this business and you’re a fan of the coaches,” McVay said. “And I had such respect and admiration (for Belichick), and then obviously it was a really humbling experience in the Super Bowl in (’19). But the relationship that we’ve been able to develop, the way that you can almost feel like he’s done so much for this game … it almost felt like he was giving back to the game with the information that he shares and how he’s always treated me. And that sure means a lot.

“But (it’s) just the amount of the work capacity, the consistent stamina that he’s had, the way that he’s been able to develop players, coaches, and people around him. And then the results are one thing, but it’s just the consistency over time. And then you talk to (Rams offensive line coach) Ryan Wendell and you talk to (tight ends coach) Nick Caley and (Seahawks offensive coordinator and former Ram assistant) Shane Waldron that have really worked with him year in and year out and the admiration, but just how impressive everything that he can do and that he’s done and that he still does it at such a high level.

“The game is better for these guys, and really a lot of the same things (can be said) for Coach Carroll. But these guys are what make the game special from a coach’s perspective and I know they love it. And this game has really been good to me, and I appreciate the way that those guys have been towards me as well.”

It has been a learning experience for McVay over these past seven seasons, and part of that has been a willingness – OK, sometimes an over-willingness – to take the blame for his team’s failures. But I’m convinced it’s an important part of his coaching technique, to take the heat publicly but make sure his players understand exactly what needs to change.

He acknowledges now that he could have handled Jared Goff’s final days as a Ram far differently, but maybe that process was necessary for both Goff and the team that drafted him to get to better places, which has led to Sunday’s showdown.

“I think Jared has said it himself: The experience of being traded, which hurt, built a different resilience in him,” NBC’s Mike Tirico said on a midweek conference call. “He feels like he’s a stronger football player, stronger individual for what he’s gone through.”

McVay said early this week that with “four years of great experiences (with Goff), I have much more appreciation and perspective than I probably did at the time. … I just think (it’s) growing as a person, handling every situation the way that you want to with perspective, respect, appreciation. The (things) that I’ll never run away from are mistakes that I’ve made in previous instances. But when you look back on it, (there’s) the gratitude for those four years, all the good memories that we had.

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“And then when you end up making a change that ended up being difficult … could it have been handled better on my end? Absolutely. I’ll never run away from that. But the further you get away from it, the more that you try to grow as a man, as a person, as the leader that you want to become. He deserved better than the way that it all went down. I’ll acknowledge that. I think he knows that too. I’m not afraid to admit to those things, but I think we’re all better being able to look back on those things and I do have more appreciation for him as time goes on.”

It has brought them both to this place and this meeting. And isn’t it a good thing, for the Rams and for their fans, that McVay didn’t step away after all when the temptation arose?

[email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

Chargers to reportedly interview Jim Harbaugh next week

• January 14, 2024

The Chargers are expected to interview University of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh in the coming days, according to a report on NFL.com on Saturday that cited unnamed sources.

Harbaugh led the Wolverines to the national championship Monday.

The Chargers are believed to have a strong interest in hiring Harbaugh, a former quarterback for the team from 1999-2000 when it was located in San Diego. Although he has dodged questions about a return to the NFL, reports indicate that he has an interest in the Chargers.

The Las Vegas Raiders are another team that is said to have an interest in Harbaugh. Antonio Pierce served as an interim coach for the Raiders.

Harbaugh, 60, is under contract at Michigan through the 2026 season and it’s been reported that the school has offered him a mammoth 10-year, $125-million extension that he has so far not accepted.

The Wolverines finished a 15-0 season, amid suspensions and a sign-stealing scandal that plagued the program, with a 34-13 victory over Washington in the College Football Playoff title game in Houston.

In all, Harbaugh missed six games due to suspensions. He sat out the first three games of the season after Michigan issued a self-imposed suspension in regard to recruiting infractions. The Big Ten later suspended Harbaugh for the remainder of the regular season – for crucial conference games against Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State – for violating the conference’s sportsmanship policy by “conducting an impermissible, in-person scouting operation over multiple years, resulting in an unfair competitive advantage that compromised the integrity of competition.”

Before being hired at Michigan, where he has compiled an 86-25 record, Harbaugh spent four seasons as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. His teams appeared in three consecutive NFC Championship games, advancing to one Super Bowl in a loss to his brother John’s Baltimore Ravens in 2013, before going 8-8 in his last season and mutually parting ways with the 49ers in late 2014.

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The Chargers are seeking a replacement for Brandon Staley, who was fired along with general manager Tom Telesco on Dec. 15. Giff Smith served as the interim coach for the final three games for the Chargers, who finished 5-12.

In addition, the Chargers announced they interviewed 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks for the coaching position.

They previously said they had interviewed Smith, a longtime coach of their defensive linemen and their outside linebackers, and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore as possible replacements for Staley, who was 24-24 in two-plus seasons.

​ Orange County Register 

L.A. deputy happens to walk into a robbery at Carson store, makes 4 arrests

• January 13, 2024

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy’s trip to a Carson convenience store led to a surprise foiled robbery early Saturday morning, as the deputy discovered a group of suspects in the midst of an apparent hold-up.

As the deputy walked into the store as a customer, he saw two masked men behind the counter, one with a knife and the other holding what appeared to be a firearm, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials said.

The deputy reportedly drew his gun, radioed for other deputies and took four suspects into custody.

It turned out that one of the men behind the counter had been holding a replica that looked like an actual firearm, authorities said.

The attempted robbery occurred in the early morning hours at a store at the intersection of Victoria Street and Avalon Boulevard.

Surveillance footage obtained by KTLA showed the would-be robbers enter the store and immediately hop over the counter into the area where the clerk was standing.

​ Orange County Register 

Neo is a typical boxer: playful and full of fun

• January 13, 2024

Breed: Boxer

Age: 3 years

Sex: Neutered male

Neo’s story: Unusual for a boxer, sweet Neo has heterochromia, a lack of pigmentation in one eye. That’s why he has one blue and one brown eye. Although often associated with a lack of sight and/or hearing, in Neo’s case heterochromia has no bearing on either – he sees and hears just fine! Other than his eyes, Neo is a typical boxer who loves to play and go on walks.

Adoption cost: The center’s nonprofit arm, Dedicated Animal Welfare Group, is sponsoring Neo’s adoption, so his approved adopter will pay just $20 for his microchip.

Adoption procedure: Application and screening of potential adopters is required to ensure they are the right fit for Neo. Visit him at the Mission Viejo Animal Services Center, 28095 Hillcrest, Mission Viejo; call 949-470-3045; or email [email protected]. More information on Neo and other dogs in need of homes can be found online.

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​ Orange County Register 

Meet Penny the dachshund, the snuggle queen

• January 13, 2024

Breed: Dachshund mix

Age: 1 year

Sex: Spayed female

Size: 20 pounds

Penny’s story: Penny is happiest when she’s snuggling with a person. Following closely are her beloved walks. She’s playful, always leading the chase and zooming around the yard. But she’s also content to curl up in your officer while you work, waiting for her chance for some cuddling. Penny is house- and crate-trained and willing to learn lots more – just bring some yummy treats and she’s an eager student. Penny gets along with cats and other dog. And did we mention she loves to snuggle?

Adoption cost: $375

Adoption procedure: Complete the required adoption application online or contact I.C.A.R.E. Dog Rescue at [email protected].

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​ Orange County Register