LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead is finally an MLS All-Star

• July 1, 2023

Ryan Hollingshead was and was not caught off guard by being named to the Major League Soccer All-Star team for the first time Tuesday.

“It’s one of those things where you’re never really surprised and you’re really surprised,” said the 32-year-old defender, a 10-season MLS veteran. “I think I’ve been putting in seasons as an outside back over the last five or six years that when they’re announcing the All-Star team I’m looking like I should be on there.

“After enough years of not getting selected in those moments, when you feel like you’re playing at the top of your game, you get these thoughts creeping in like, ‘OK, it probably just isn’t going to happen. It’s just not going to happen. It’s just not in the cards.’”

Among the dozen players designated by All-Star head coach Wayne Rooney to participate in an exhibition against Arsenal of the Premier League on July 19 at Audi Field in Washington D.C., Hollingshead is also one of 19 debutants on the 26-man roster.

That includes Los Angeles Football Club teammate Denis Bouanga.

The explosive forward was voted in after playing 23 MLS regular-season games.

The veteran Hollingshead – drafted out of UCLA by FC Dallas, where he played from 2014 until LAFC acquired him in trade prior to last season – had 240 league matches before getting the nod, making him the longest-tenured MLS player among Rooney’s All-Star rookies.

The 6-foot-2 attack-minded fullback has 25 league goals – second most by a defender since 2010 – and 17 assists across 16,455 minutes in MLS.

The bulk of those numbers were compiled in Dallas from 2019 through his championship season with LAFC.

“This club has put me in a position to excel at the highest level and my teammates have put me in that same position,” Hollingshead said. “So I think a lot of this nod towards being an All-Star really has to do with the way that our club has performed over the last year and a half.”

From a numbers perspective, Hollingshead’s 2023 is not indicative of his best self.

One goal, a game-winner against the Galaxy in April, along with an assist through the first half of the year has not landed Hollingshead on an MLS team of the matchday roster, something 12 other LAFC players have appeared on at least once.

Though Hollingshead helped unlock important moments through the club’s Champions League run, the hangover of a draining and ineffective final alongside struggling teammates lingered into a difficult June, when the Black & Gold suffered three of their four losses in the league this year and netted seven of 18 possible points.

Following a rare full week to train, LAFC (9-4-5, 32 points) travels to Hollingshead’s old stomping grounds Saturday in sweltering Dallas, tied for first in the West.

Eyeing a season sweep over seventh-place FC Dallas (7-7-5, 26 points), LAFC’s shorthanded opponent will miss 10-goal scorer Jesus Ferreira, who had a hat trick for the U.S. men’s national team in the Gold Cup on Wednesday.

“Traditionally, Texas hasn’t been a positive place for us,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo noted before the first of five matches over 14 days leading to the All-Star break.

“We’d like to start this little next stretch of games before a bigger break on the right foot.”

LAFC at FC Dallas

When: 5:39 p.m. PT Saturday

Where: Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas

TV/Radio: Apple TV (Free)/710 AM, ESPN App, 980 AM

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​ Orange County Register 

Anthony Rendon returns to Angels’ lineup after missing time with bruised wrist

• July 1, 2023

ANAHEIM — It might have taken a few days longer than expected for Anthony Rendon to get back in the lineup, but it happened quickly as soon as he gave the green light.

The Angels activated Rendon before Friday’s game. The veteran third baseman did not face any live pitching in the minors or even a simulated game. Rendon had simply hit off the high-velocity machine in the past couple of days.

“He came in after the game yesterday and said he felt great and he wanted to play tonight,” Manager Phil Nevin said before Friday’s game.

Rendon was hit in the left wrist by a pitch on June 15 in Texas. He remained on the active roster for a few days before going on the injured list. He was eligible to return on Monday, but the Angels decided to give him more time.

Nevin put him back into the cleanup spot on Friday. Although Rendon has just one home run in 164 plate appearances, the Angels like him in the middle of the lineup because of the way he works at-bats and drives in runners. He is hitting .286 with runners in scoring position.

“Anthony back out there certainly lengthens us out, puts that quality at-bat in the middle that we’ve been getting out of (Brandon) Drury in that spot,” Nevin said. “But with Anthony and him together in there, for me really lengthens this thing out so I’m excited to have him back.”

The Angels were not able to get Rendon and Drury in the lineup together on Friday, though. Drury hurt his shoulder on a diving play early in Thursday’s game, and he woke up sore on Friday. Nevin said he expects him back in “a day or two.”

“I can’t have all my toys at once,” Nevin quipped.

Shortstop Andrew Velazquez was optioned to Triple-A to create a spot for Rendon.

MEDEROS UP

The Angels called up right-hander Victor Mederos from Double-A, the third time this season they have called up a player who was selected in the 2022 draft. They earlier called up shortstop Zach Neto, their first-round pick, and relief pitcher Ben Joyce, their third-round pick.

Mederos, 22, was the Angels’ sixth-round pick out of Oklahoma State. He had a 5.98 ERA in 12 starts at Double-A this season, with 71 strikeouts and 25 walks in 55⅔ innings.

Nevin said the Angels called him up because they needed multi-inning coverage for the bullpen after getting 10 innings of relief in the previous two days. They optioned right-hander Andrew Wantz.

As for the trend of calling players up after such little time in the minors, Nevin said: “We feel these guys are extremely talented. And ready to be here. I think we’ve provided a good foundation for them and a good support system around them to prepare them for this moment.”

Mederos said he appreciated that the Angels offered opportunities that most other organizations wouldn’t.

“I feel like there’s a lot of organizations out there where you can be the best guy in the Double-A rotation, you’re probably not gonna get that chance,” he said.

NOTES

Neto (strained oblique) said earlier in the week he hoped to begin baseball activity on Friday, but Nevin said that was overly optimistic on Neto’s part. “He was kind of trying to make his own schedule,” Nevin said. “As aggressive as he wants to be with it, hopefully Sunday or Monday, we’ll get him out on the field. If he gets out there and starts doing stuff, this will ramp up very quickly. As long as we know he’s feeling good, it’s a matter of just getting him back in shape. We’ve got to make sure that’s out of there because if you re-injure these things, it takes a while to come back.” …

Left-handed reliever Matt Moore (strained oblique) continues to play catch. He is “getting close to getting back on the mound,” Nevin said. …

Joyce (ulnar neuritis) has a few more days of playing catch before he gets on the mound, Nevin said. …

The Angels designated infielder Jake Lamb for assignment to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Mederos. …

Infielder Kevin Padlo, who had been designated for assignment last weekend, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A.

UP NEXT

Diamondbacks (RHP Ryne Nelson, 4-4, 4.97 ERA) at Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 4-2, 5.54 ERA), Saturday, 7:07 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM

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​ Orange County Register 

Orange County restaurants shut down by health inspectors (June 22-29)

• July 1, 2023

Restaurants and other food vendors ordered to close and allowed to reopen by Orange County health inspectors from June 22 to June 29.

Baci Di Firenze Italian Restaurant, 416 N. Lakeview Ave., Anaheim

Closed: June 27
Reason: Cockroach infestation

One Fine Blend at Huntington Beach Public Library, 7111 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach

Closed: June 27
Reason: Rodent infestation
Reopened: June 29

T.P. Banh Bao 2, 13067 Euclid St., Garden Grove

Closed: June 26
Reason: Cockroach infestation

Cold Stone Creamery, 215 Orangefair Mall, Fullerton

Closed: June 22
Reason: Cockroach infestation
Reopened: June 23

Sookdal, 9448 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove

Closed: June 22
Reason: Insufficient hot water
Reopened: June 23

Cordon Blue Restaurant & Lounge, 15380 Beach Blvd., Suite A, Westminster

Closed: June 22
Reason: Sewage overflow
Reopened: June 22

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This list is published weekly with closures since the previous week’s list. Status updates are published in the following week’s list. Source: OC Health Care Agency database.

​ Orange County Register 

NHL free agency: Ducks move on from Max Comtois, Kevin Shattenkirk

• July 1, 2023

For many teams, it goes without saying that it is an especially complicated year because the salary cap remains tight. That means there are a lot of players pursuing a scarce number of dollars in the system when the bell goes off for the start of NHL free agency on Saturday.

Specific to the Ducks, veteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and forward Max Comtois will be joining a crowded free agent class that had a few surprise additions around the league. On Friday, the Nashville Predators bought out 32-year-old center Matt Duchene, and the Winnipeg Jets did the same with forward Blake Wheeler, their former captain who turns 37 on Aug. 31.

Shattenkirk, 34, will be heading to free agency after playing the past three seasons with the Ducks, his agent confirmed on Friday. It’s understood there wasn’t much traction in any talks with the Ducks after the regular season concluded.

He joined the Ducks as a free agent in 2020 – signing a three-year contract worth $11.7 million – just after winning the Stanley Cup championship with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The path to the parting of ways was different with Comtois, who is 10 years younger than Shattenkirk, and once a promising prospect, a second-round draft choice (No. 50) in 2017. The Ducks opted not to tender a qualifying offer to Comtois after a disappointing season in which he had 19 points in 64 games, and showed signs of continued regression after a 16-goal, 33-point season in 2020-21.

That wasn’t going to cut it with the (relatively) new and unsentimental management group. A year ago, the Ducks didn’t hesitate to cut ties with forwards Sam Steel and Sonny Milano, not qualifying either player. Milano, in fact, was coming off a career-high in assists (20) and points (34) with the Ducks, eventually winding up with the Washington Capitals. He had 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 64 games this past season. Steel, a Ducks’ first-round pick (No. 30) in 2016, landed in Minnesota on a one-year deal and recorded 28 points in 65 games with the Wild. Steel, incidentally, did not receive a qualifying offer from Minnesota on Friday.

In addition to Comtois, the Ducks did not tender qualifying offers to five others: defensemen Axel Andersson and Simon Benoit, goaltender Ollie Eriksson Ek, right wing Bryce Kindopp and left wing Josiah Slavin.

Andersson recently signed a two-year contract with Djurgårdens IF in Sweden, and Eriksson Ek also agreed to a two-year deal with MoDo in Sweden.

As expected, the Ducks did extend qualifying offers to five restricted free agents – forward Troy Terry, centers Trevor Zegras and Benoit-Olivier Groulx, defenseman Jamie Drysdale and goaltender Lukas Dostal.

With where the Ducks are in their rebuild, realistically, it’s not in the timeline of the organization to take big swings in the free agent market. But you can’t rule out the possibility of Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek making a selective strategic signing or two at some point.

“There are a number of spots within our roster that we need to address,” Verbeek said on Friday. “We are looking to add to our forward group on the wing and we will look at a few options to help our blue line.

“We are in a good spot with the cap where we can be flexible in our approach.”

​ Orange County Register 

Pac-12 survival: Our forecasts for media rights revenue, network partners and expansion as the saga continues

• June 30, 2023

It has been 360 days since the Pac-12 presidents authorized commissioner George Kliavkoff to “immediately” begin negotiating a media rights deal and 137 since they expressed hope for a resolution “in the very near future.”

Evidently, the presidents think in geologic time, where the “very near future” means sometime this century.

There is still no media deal, no decision on expansion and no hard evidence suggesting the endgame is nigh.

Instead, there are only crumbs, clues and hints that the Pac-12’s existential crisis soon could be coming to a close.

Today, on the anniversary of USC and UCLA announcing their intentions to enter the Big Ten on Aug. 2, 2024, the Hotline presents a summary of the situation and predictions for the outcome.

The survival odds

Our current forecast views Pac-12 survival as a 4-point favorite over Pac-12 extinction, suggesting a 60 percent probability (approximately) that Kliavkoff will negotiate a media contract that keeps the 10 remaining schools together.

That line has held steady since Arizona president Robert Robbins and Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano publicly stated their willingness to wait for a final offer before possibly pursuing futures in the Big 12.

If presidential panic isn’t a factor, the conference has a better chance to navigate the crisis.

However, the survival line has fluctuated over the past year and could move again in the coming weeks, depending on circumstances.

The (unofficial) deadline

If desired, the Pac-12 could delay consummating a media deal for months and gamble that a stellar football season will generate big ratings and drive up the price of its content.

But that’s a risky strategy.

The informal deadline for a deal is July 21, when players and coaches will gather in Las Vegas for the Pac-12’s preseason media extravaganza.

If there’s no media rights agreement by then, the existential crisis will dominate the proceedings and divert attention from the coaches and players — a PR nightmare, in other words.

We would interpret that scenario to mean Kliavkoff has been unable to secure a satisfactory deal, and the odds for Pac-12 survival would drop.

But make no mistake: News could break at any point. The situation is highly fluid.

The valuation calculation

The Hotline initially expected the Pac-12 to sign a media deal that averaged $35 million to $40 million per school per year.

But the Big 12 changed the marketplace in October. Desperate for stability, the conference renewed its agreements with Fox and ESPN and established a valuation floor: $31.7 million per school per year.

We expect the Pac-12’s deal to last five-to-seven years and fall within 10 percent of the Big 12’s valuation, indicating a low end of $28.5 million per school and a high end of $34.9 million.

And frankly, slight differences in annual media revenue are immaterial to success for schools that have $100 million annual budgets.

(The Pac-12 has better media markets and the two most valuable football brands, Oregon and Washington. Meanwhile, the Big 12 has a deeper well of quality programs and a better basketball product. But in general, the leagues are more alike than different.)

One important piece to the valuation calculation: Will the Pac-12 agreement include the sale of its data and statistics to sports gambling companies? And if so, how significant is the accompanying dollar figure?

The media partners

Few topics have received as much attention over the past year as ESPN’s interest level in the Pac-12 without USC and UCLA providing direct access to the L.A. market.

Our view is unchanged: The interest is narrow but deep.

The most influential network in college sports probably doesn’t want a large package of Pac-12 football games. After all, it has plenty of inventory through its contracts with the ACC, SEC and Big 12.

But what it needs from the Pac-12, it needs badly: Content to fill the late broadcast window (7:30 p.m.), which is prime time for the 76 million residents in the Pacific and Mountain Time Zones.

The late window is also critical in the rabid (and rapidly growing) sports wagering industry — a chance for gamblers to recoup losses from earlier in the day.

ESPN licenses 22 regular-season games from the Pac-12 under the terms of the agreement signed in 2011. We expect the number in the next contract to be approximately the same.

Our favorite for the other 50-something games that currently air on the Fox and Pac-12 Networks? That would be Apple, with its growing interest in streaming live sports.

And don’t discount the potential for a third media partner — perhaps it’s Amazon, Fox or NBC (for streaming on Peacock) — to grab a small package of Pac-12 games.

The expansion decision

There are three possible answers to the membership question: The Pac-12 could stand on 10; it could add two schools; or it could add four.

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We have yet to detect strong interest for 14 and remain skeptical that a 10-team conference would include enough TV homes and generate enough game inventory to meet the desired valuation threshold.

(Simply adding two schools would increase inventory by 13-15 home games per season, with each worth several million dollars in the media contract.)

The overwhelming favorites are San Diego State and SMU, although they carry very different profiles.

The Aztecs are a geographic fit and just reached the NCAA Tournament championship game.

SMU brings the Dallas media market and is a long-haul play competitively, with the resources to support football success.

In our view, no other school clears the bar — at least not now.

If the Pac-12 is back at the negotiating table in five or six years for the next media contract cycle, there could be other expansion options.

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to [email protected] or call 408-920-5716

*** Follow me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline

*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers, Taurean Prince agree to 1-year deal to kick off free agency

• June 30, 2023

The Lakers agreed to terms on a one-year contract with free agent forward Taurean Prince, a source confirmed to the Southern California News Group.

ESPN reported, citing Prince’s agents at Creative Artists Agency, that the 29-year-old forward and the Lakers agreed to a one-year, $4.5 million deal not long after the free agency negotiating window officially opened on Friday at 3 p.m. PT.

Prince, who played for the Atlanta Hawks as a rookie when Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was an assistant on that coaching staff, can’t officially sign the contract until 9:01 p.m. PT on July 5, after the free agency moratorium period ends.

The Lakers did lose free agent forward Troy Brown, who reportedly agreed to a one-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

More to come on this story, which will be updated.

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​ Orange County Register 

Expelled OUSD student sues district, alleges racial discrimination, violations of due process

• June 30, 2023

A former Canyon High School freshman, who was expelled for alleged sexual harassment, has sued the Orange Unified School District, claiming he faced racial discrimination and violations of due process.

The lawsuit was filed in the Central District of California on June 16 by May Jung Law as well as Benjamin Crump, a nationally recognized civil rights attorney.

In addition to not being granted due process, the lawsuit alleges the presence of racial discrimination that occurred throughout the disciplinary process, claiming the existence of “racial and ethnic disparities.” These incidents allegedly occurred while the student was being questioned by a panel of administrators who would eventually decide his fate at the school.

“The district tries to bank on people not asking questions or digging deeper,” said Je Yon Jung, the attorney representing the student. “Yet, the more we started to ask questions, the more we were like this is really bad and needed to do something.”

The student had a “consensual” interaction with a female student, the lawsuit alleges, and after an “interrogation” and subsequent disciplinary process by the district, the student was accused of sexual harassment and ultimately expelled.

“While OUSD and its employees cannot comment upon many aspects of the lawsuit due to the privacy of students and others, the District denies the allegations in the lawsuit and plans to disprove the allegations in court,” said OUSD communications coordinator Hana Brake.

In December 2022, the student — who was not named in the lawsuit and is not being named by the Southern California News Group since he is a minor — was called into the Canyon High assistant principal’s office and questioned about his interactions with female peers, the lawsuit said.

A parent had complained to the school, according to the lawsuit, alleging that the student had met with her daughter during a class where she declined a kiss. The lawsuit claims the student was questioned about this interaction by former assistant principal Greg Smith and current assistant principal Nora Alvarez without his knowledge that a parent had complained.

During the questioning, the student was told to recount all of his interactions with his female peers, including any and all “touches on the arm,” the lawsuit said. Those other students, according to the lawsuit, were also questioned throughout the semester and did not accuse him of forcibly kissing or initiating any sexual contact.

The student said in the lawsuit that he was forced to stay and be questioned for more than two hours and wasn’t allowed to call his parents.

The student was initially suspended from school-related activities for 27 days, according to the lawsuit.

But the school convened a “Student Success Panel” which consisted of “three panelists who are administrators from other schools within the district,” the lawsuit alleges, who read statements from the parties involved, met behind closed doors and ultimately expelled him.

The student was sent to Villa Park High School, another school in the district, for the remainder of the school year.

After a failed appeals process by the student’s parents, the family filed the lawsuit against OUSD alleging “constitutional violations and racial discrimination.”

The lawsuit alleges the student, who is Latino and Korean, was subjected to racism throughout the disciplinary process. OUSD, the lawsuit alleges, disciplines Black and Brown children at two to three times the rate of White students, citing data from previous SSP hearings.

The SSP process, Jung said, is used against students of color in an “absurd” manner and is “designed to wrongfully accuse children of color.”

“On a daily basis, we entrust our children’s physical and emotional well-being and safety to our student educators,” said Jessica Meeder, senior counsel at May Jung. “It is an egregious abuse of power for the OUSD to take that trust and deny our children the most basic and fundamental protections at school because they are children of color and minors who may not know their rights.”

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Apple hits historic $3 trillion milestone

• June 30, 2023

By Ryan Vlastelica | Bloomberg

Apple made Wall Street history as the first company with a market value over $3 trillion, the latest sign of big tech’s seemingly unstoppable dominance in equity markets.

The iPhone maker gained 2.3% on Friday, adding to a rally that’s added more than $983 billion to its size this year and leaving it roughly a half-trillion dollars above the next-largest company. Apple’s ascent to the milestone helped the Nasdaq 100 Index to its best-ever first half ever, driving a broader stock rally that underscored the dominance of tech mega-caps

The rally has caught many strategists off guard, leading some to question its viability as the economy faces potentially more Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes. However, investors remain excited about the growth potential of artificial intelligence, and they have also gravitated toward the kind of quality factors that Apple has in spades, including a strong balance sheet, durable revenue streams, and a robust competitive position.

“The reason Apple has outperformed for more than a decade isn’t that investors are being foolhardy, but because it is executing on a business strategy that works, its earnings plan is working, and its lock on the consumer is only getting stronger,” said Jonathan Curtis, director of portfolio management for Franklin Equity Group.

“The balance sheet is phenomenal, it pays a dividend it can continue to grow, it has an active repurchasing program, and a consumer staples-esque platform business, all powered by a device people look at four hours a day,” Curtis said.

In a sign of Wall Street’s ongoing optimism about the stock, Citi on Thursday began coverage of Apple with a buy rating, writing that its ability to continue expanding margins was underappreciated. It sees additional upside of about 30% for the stock, a target that would take Apple close to a $4 trillion valuation.

The trillion-dollar club

Apple first became the world’s most valuable stock in 2011, when its market cap was under $340 billion and it comprised about 3.3% of the S&P 500. Since then, it has rarely forfeited that title. It first reached $1 trillion in value in mid-2018, and it achieved a $2 trillion valuation in August 2020, making it the first US company to surpass that level, though Saudi Aramco was the first $2 trillion company overall.

The iPhone maker briefly rose above the $3 trillion level in early 2022, although it failed to close above it, and that peak marked the start of a downtrend that has now been fully erased.

Companies of this size are few and far between, and in the US the club is populated only by other megacap technology and internet stocks, including Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and chipmaker Nvidia Corp., which became the first trillion-dollar chipmaker earlier this year. Microsoft Corp is the only other US stock with a valuation above $2 trillion.

While Apple is not the biggest gainer of the year — Nvidia, Meta Platforms Inc., and Tesla Inc. have more than doubled — its size gives it a massive influence over markets, accounting for 7.7% of the weight of the S&P 500 Index.

Still, the milestone doesn’t mean smooth sailing for Apple from here. The stock trades at about 30 times forward earnings, and while this is down from a 2020 peak above 35, it remains well above its 10-year average multiple of 17.9.

Despite Citi’s new bull call, analysts have been pulling back on the stock amid the year’s rally. Fewer than 70% of the firms tracked by Bloomberg recommend buying the stock, the lowest such ratio among the trillion-dollar stocks. Furthermore, its consensus rating — a proxy for its ratio of buy, hold, and sell ratings — is near its lowest since November 2020. A recent downgrade from UBS was the latest example of weaker sentiment.

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