The symbolic significance of President Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Kyiv cannot be understated

• February 25, 2023

The symbolic significance of President Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Kyiv cannot be understated: An American president took a substantial risk by entering an active war zone without any U.S. military presence, on the anniversary of the beginning of the deadliest war in Europe since 1945, to demonstrate the United States’ commitment to standing with Ukraine and democracies globally, and against Russia and their autocratic partners.

“I thought it was critical that there not be any doubt – none whatsoever – about U.S. support for Ukraine in the war,” Biden said in Kyiv on Monday. “This is so much larger than just Ukraine. It’s about freedom of democracy in Europe, it’s about freedom and democracy at large.”

This trip was perhaps one of the strongest moments of Biden’s presidency. While unprecedented for an American president, it was quintessential Joe Biden, made complete by his ten-hour train ride from Poland – where an Air Force C-32, not the typical presidential plane, landed – to reach Ukraine’s capital city.

Nevertheless, there are two big, unanswered questions coming out of Biden’s trip: First, how substantial will America’s and NATO’s commitment to Ukraine going forward be? Second, what is the end game of the U.S. and NATO beyond simply supporting Ukraine’s justifiable goal of getting back all the territory Russia has occupied between 2014 and present day?

With respect to the first question, Biden has largely been successful over the last year in underscoring to the American people how critical supporting Ukraine is to ensuring the stability of global democracy. But as the conflict rages on with no signs of slowing, public support has softened.

As Biden prepares for a tough reelection campaign where he’ll need to defend his record on an international war that is now tied to his political legacy, the public’s wariness toward this conflict is growing. Roughly one-half (48%) of Americans now say they favor the U.S. providing weapons to Ukraine to counter Russia, down from 60% last May, per recent polling.

Occurring concurrently with the president’s Kyiv visit, Donald Trump, the current frontrunner for the Republican nomination, gave a speech in Ohio criticizing Biden for focusing on Ukraine at the expense of focusing on national and local issues, like the train derailment there two weeks earlier.

Last year, Trump also praised Vladimir Putin as a “genius” for invading Ukraine.

Counterpoint: The tragedy in Ukraine could have been avoided

While the far-right has been most vocal in their opposition to maintaining current levels of U.S. aid for Ukraine, the left-wing of the Democratic Party has also expressed hesitancy, with some progressives painting the ongoing conflict as a byproduct of NATO’s and America’s pro-war policies.

At the Munich Security Conference last weekend, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said definitively that “Republican leaders are committed to a strong trans-Atlantic alliance” and are “committed to helping Ukraine.” But Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s views are less clear, as he recently indicated that he would no longer support a “blank check” to aid the country, though he has clarified that he does support Ukraine.

The Biden Administration thus far committed nearly $50 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, and the president announced an additional $500 million in new military aid during his visit to Kyiv. Yet, securing additional aid beyond that could prove very challenging going forward, given the power that far-right House Republicans wield over McCarthy, in light of the concessions he made to secure his speakership.

If America wavers, other Western nations will almost certainly follow suit, which would be nothing short of catastrophic. This would embolden Putin to continue his expansionist efforts, perhaps into NATO territory, increasing the risk of a direct conflict between the U.S. and Russia.

As such, Biden’s Kyiv trip was also intended to reinforce to our NATO allies, who have grown increasingly wary of the cost of defending a non-NATO nation, that the U.S. is committed to supporting Ukraine for, in his words, “as long as it takes.” Biden stopped in Kyiv before heading to a summit in Poland with the leaders of the Bucharest Nine, who often call on the U.S. to do more in repelling Russian aggression.

Adding to the challenges Biden faces vis-à-vis shoring up support for Ukraine, there is lingering ambiguity as to what outcome the U.S. and NATO would consider to be a “victory” against Russia. This question remains unanswered, though will be an important one for President Biden to address in the coming weeks and months.

Notwithstanding these obstacles, Biden has led a strong and unified NATO response since Russian forces rolled into Ukraine one year ago, providing billions of dollars in critical aid, all while keeping American soldiers out of the conflict.

If nothing else, the President’s time in Kyiv underscored these successes, and sent a broader message to the world about American leadership in these dangerous times, during which autocracy is on the rise – not just in Europe, but globally as well.

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Russia, along with Iran, China, and North Korea have effectively created a new ‘axis of evil.’ Biden’s visit to Kyiv sent a powerful message to these nations that America will not stand by as democracy is actively threatened abroad by autocratic rule.

Ultimately, Biden’s trip to Ukraine’s capital was a symbolically important act that reinforced his own leadership role and that of the U.S., but triumphalism would be premature.

If Russian soldiers remain on Ukrainian territory, Putin will bide his time and destabilize the rest of the country, which could prompt renewed fighting in a few years’ time – in other words, a repeat of the low-level conflict in the Donbass between 2014-2022.

In order to defeat Russia, Ukraine needs the means to decisively expel Putin’s soldiers from their country. As the conflict settles into a war of attrition, accomplishing this will require resources on par with the Marshall Plan that followed World War II.

Thus, one year later, there is still much work to be done to ensure a victory for Ukraine. We can only hope that Biden’s visit to Kyiv brought us closer to making that a reality.

Douglas Schoen is a longtime Democratic political consultant.

​ Orange County Register 

California Lottery stands behind $2 billion Powerball winner despite claim ticket was stolen

• February 25, 2023

The California Lottery insists that Edwin Castro is the rightful winner of the record breaking $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot, despite a lawsuit filed by a man who claims the winning ticket was stolen from him.

Castro became the subject of overnight fame when he was announced as the Powerball winner on Feb.14. He won the largest prize in U.S. lottery history. Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, where the winning ticket was sold, also basked in glory.

However, Pasadena resident Jose Rivera, claims that he purchased the ticket from Joe’s Service Center on or around Nov. 7, 2022, and that it was stolen from him by a man he knows only as “Reggie.”

Rivera filed a lawsuit against Castro, Reggie and the California Lottery on Feb. 22 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. asking the court to declare him as the rightful owner of the lottery ticket and the prize money. Rivera alleges that he tried to get the ticket back from Reggie after the winning number was announced on Nov. 8, 2022, but that Reggie refused to do so and tried to blackmail Rivera into splitting the winnings by threatening to destroy the ticket.

The California Lottery says this is not true and released the following statement in response to the allegations:

“When it comes to the vetting process for big winner, California Lottery has the utmost confidence in its process for doing so. California Lottery remains confident that Edwin Castro is the rightful winner of the $2.04 billion prize stemming from the Powerball drawing in November of 2022.”

A customer purchases lottery scratcher tickets from Joe Chahayed at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Carolyn Becker, deputy director of communications for the Lottery, told the Pasadena Star-News that the Lottery carries out an extensive investigation to verify winners. This includes having the claimant corroborate facts about how the ticket was purchased, verifying the physical ticket and in some cases reviewing surveillance footage of the store where the winning ticket was purchased.

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“We take this (vetting) process very seriously and sometimes it can take weeks or even months,” she said. “That process is incredibly important to the California Lottery, because it ensures the integrity of a winner.”

Becker also said it’s common for people to submit false claims or forged tickets.

“Sadly, we do get bad actors who try to claim winnings that are not theirs,” she said.

The California Lottery does not launch independent investigations into allegations of theft. This responsibility lies with local law enforcement.

City of Pasadena Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian said Rivera reported the alleged theft to the Pasadena Police Department on Feb. 15. Rivera had no evidence of purchasing the ticket and ultimately no theft report was written up, she added.

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Castro was announced as the winner on Feb. 14 and elected to receive the lump payout of $997.6 million.

According to the lawsuit, Rivera filed his own winning claim form with the lottery on Feb. 17 and did not do so any sooner because of the alleged threat of Reggie destroying the ticket.

Rivera believes he is the rightful winner and entitled to choose between the $997.6 lump payout or the 30 annual payments. His legal representation has submitted a Public Records Act Request to the California Lottery seeking to access a video depicting the purchase of the winning ticket.

​ Orange County Register 

Angels’ Gio Urshela reunited with influential hitting coaches

• February 24, 2023

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Angels have reunited Gio Urshela with the hitting coach who was there when he turned his career around.

Within a couple of weeks in November, the Angels hired Phil Plantier as their assistant hitting coach and acquired Urshela from the Minnesota Twins.

“I am really excited to be with him,” Urshela said of Plantier. “I learned a lot with him in 2018.”

At that time, Urshela was joining his third organization of the season, starting in Cleveland and passing through Toronto on his way to the New York Yankees.

Plantier was the Yankees’ Triple-A hitting coach when Urshela arrived that August, having hit .244 with a .544 OPS with the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate. That was on the heels of hitting .225 with a .589 OPS in 167 big-league games with Cleveland and the Blue Jays.

In short, Urshela had done little to show that he was anything but a good-field, no-hit player.

Although Urshela has said that what’s happened since began with the help of Plantier, you won’t get Plantier to take any credit.

Or even to describe specifics of what they did.

“Gio tapped into his athleticism as a hitter,” Plantier said. “It’s always the player that makes decisions and Gio made really good decisions. He worked on things that were good for him. He was able to own what he was doing. He’s a good athlete and he figured it out.”

Urshela said Plantier mostly helped change his approach, getting him to pull the ball with a little more power into the gaps instead of simply spraying it to the opposite field.

Urshela hit .307 with an .815 OPS over the final 27 games of the season with Plantier at Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre.

In 2019, Urshela hit .315 with 21 home runs and an .889 OPS in the majors with the Yankees.

Marcus Thames, now the Angels’ hitting coach, had that role with the Yankees in 2019, so the Angels now have both of the hitting coaches who oversaw Urshela’s career breakthrough.

What’s more, Angels manager Phil Nevin was the Yankees’ third base coach.

“Something clicked when he got to New York,” Nevin said. “He got a chance to play a lot. The most impressive thing about that is the splits with him are really, really good. Right-handed, left-handed, he’s about the same on both sides.”

Urshela has a career .744 OPS against righties and a .764 OPS against lefties.

When the Angels made the deal with the Twins to get Urshela, they were attracted to that offensive package as well as his ability to play anywhere on the infield.

Urshela, 31, has started 520 big-league games at third and 39 at shortstop. He provides an insurance policy if third baseman Anthony Rendon gets hurt again, and he can also fill in at other spots. Nevin said Urshela could play shortstop “once or twice a week” when the season starts, and he didn’t rule out the possibility of him playing even more.

On Friday, Urshela was working out at first base, a position he could play instead of Jared Walsh when the Angels are facing a left-handed pitcher.

Nevin said Urshela will get more reps at other positions once he returns from playing for Colombia in the World Baseball Classic.

“I am good playing all four positions,” Urshela said, adding that he’s particularly intrigued by the chance to play more shortstop because “you are more in the game. Everywhere the ball goes, you have to move. At third, you mostly stay at the base.”

Urshela’s flexibility on the field fits with his profile off the field, too. Nevin said his “positive energy is unmatched” in the clubhouse.

“He wants to win but he’s got an infectious personality,” Nevin said. “Always upbeat, always positive, very energetic, very positive around the guys. Great teammate. He really is. He’s just a tremendous individual. We’re lucky to have him.”

NOTES

After Tucker Davidson starts the Angels’ exhibition opener Saturday, they’ll have Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval and Shohei Ohtani start the next three games. Nevin said Tyler Anderson and Chase Silseth are on the schedule after that, but the days aren’t set yet. …

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Catcher Edgar Quero will enter Sunday’s game after starter Logan O’Hoppe, Nevin said. Quero is just 19 years old, having played at Class-A in his breakthrough 2022 season. He’s considered one of the Angels’ top five prospects. “I’m excited to see him,” Nevin said. “He’s young. … For him to come up here and experience this is awesome for him.” …

Former Angels Darin Erstad and Troy Percival have been in camp this week as guest instructors. …

The Orange Lutheran High baseball team was on the field to watch workouts Friday morning. They were guests of Nevin, whose nephew plays on the team. Orange Lutheran is playing in a tournament this weekend in Mesa, Arizona.

​ Orange County Register 

‘Dilbert’s’ Scott Adams: ‘White people should get the hell away from Black people’

• February 24, 2023

Pro-Trump “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams, who has previously claimed he’s been a victim of racism in Hollywood and corporate America, went on a racist diatribe this week, labeling Black people as a “hate group” and saying that White people should “get the hell away” from them.

During his Real Coffee with Scott Adams online video program Wednesday, the controversial East Bay cartoonist offered up his latest provocation. He cited a recent poll that he said shows that “nearly half of all Blacks are not OK with White people.” If so, Adams said, “That’s a hate group.”

Adams cited a Rasmussen survey of 1,000 American adults that dealt with the phrase, “It’s OK to be White.” The Anti-Defamation League has deemed the phrase a hate slogan that started as a trolling campaign by members of the controversial forum 4chan.

Among other things, the Rasmussen poll found that 72% of the 1,000 American adults surveyed agreed with the statement, and that even a majority of Black people — 53% —  did as well. The poll also found that 79% of respondents agreed with the statement, “Black people can be racist, too,” including 66% of Black people.

Adams focused on other data from the poll. He said it revealed that 26% of Black respondents said it’s “not OK to be White” and 21% said “they weren’t sure.” With a degree of amazement, Adams said: “That’s 47% of Blacks not willing to say it’s OK to be White. That’s like a real poll. This just happened.”

Adams said that the poll demonstrated that there is “no fixing” current racial tensions in America, which is why White people should live in largely segregated neighborhoods.

“Based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to White people is to get the hell away from Black people,” the 65-year-old author exclaimed. “Just get the (expletive) away. Wherever you have to go, just get away. Because there’s no fixing this. This can’t be fixed.”

Adams said he had already self-segregated by moving to an area “with a very low Black population.” It’s not clear if he was referring to the Tri-Valley town of Pleasanton, where he was known to be living in 2020.

After Adams said that this is the “first political poll that ever changed my activities,” he sarcastically claimed he’s always tried to help the Black community because it brings positive social benefits.

“I’ve been identifying as Black for a while because I like to be on the winning team,” Adams continued. “And I like to help. I always thought if you help the Black community, that’s sort of the biggest lever, you could find, the biggest benefit.”

“But it turns out that nearly half of that team doesn’t think I’m okay to be White,” Adams said.

Given the poll results, Adams said he’s now “going to re-identify as White,” arguing that he doesn’t “want to be a member of a hate group,” which he claimed he had “accidentally joined” with his supposed Black identification.

Adams also said, “I’m going to back off from being helpful to Black Americas because it doesn’t seem like it pays off. … The only outcome is that I get called a racist.”

Adams continued by suggesting that Black people don’t value education as much as other groups and by claiming he’s “sick” of seeing “video after video” of Black people beating up on non-White people. He also stated: “We should be friendly. I’m not saying we should start a war or do anything bad. I’m just saying, get away.”

Adams concluded his comments by laughingly saying, “And there we go. You didn’t expect that today, did you?’’

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Over the years, Adams has appeared to embrace increasingly radical positions, the Daily Beast said. He first compared former President Donald Trump to Jesus in 2015 and continued to voice his support for the former president through his 2016 campaign and his controversial presidency. On Twitter and in his online program, Adams also has flirted with favorite topics of the far-right culture wars, the Daily Beast said.

In the wake of the George Floyd protests in 2020, Adams claimed that he was the victim of racism, saying that he had lost multiple jobs due to his skin color.

“I lost my TV show for being white when UPN decided it would focus on an African-American audience,” the Pleasanton resident posted on Twitter on June 28. “That was the third job I lost for being white. The other two in corporate America. (They told me directly.)”

Last year, Adams introduced a Black character for the first time in his strip’s 33-year history, the Daily Beast said. However, it appeared that the character only existed to allow Adams to poke fun at  “woke” culture and the LGBTQ community. The character’s plotline revolved around his identifying as White, only for management to ask if he could also identify as gay.

This story has been updated to include some more of Adams’ comments.

​ Orange County Register 

Cole Custer looking for a strong start at Auto Club Speedway

• February 24, 2023

FONTANA — Cole Custer needs to get out to a fast start in 2023. Right now, the rain isn’t helping.

“They said this is a record amount of rain and snow for February, so it’s pretty crazy to happen this weekend,” said Custer on Friday from Auto Club Speedway.

The Ladera Ranch native was the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series rookie of the year but he’s back in the second-tier Xfinity Series this season, racing in the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang in Saturday’s Production Alliance Group 300 (2 p.m. on FS1).

“As drivers, you get used to the hurry-up-and-wait,” Custer said. “We’re just waiting it out and seeing what the weather looks like and if anything they’ll delay us to another day.”

Champing at the bit to get out on the 2-mile tri-oval one more time, Custer expressed disappointment in the proposed changes to the primary race shape at Auto Club Speedway.

“It’s sad. This track is one of the best that we go to,” Custer said. “Every single driver looks forward to coming here because it is so racy. We wish we could keep it going. It’s the track I went to as a 5-year-old, asking for autographs from drivers, so it’s always been a special for me.”

Owner of one Cup Series win and one serious fine, Custer, 25, knows this season is pivotal for his career.

“It’s going to be a year of growth I think (and) I’m hoping to win a lot of races this season and that gets you in a lot of good conversations in order to get back (to the Cup Series),” Custer said.

Seen as an industry prodigy, Custer’s father, Joe Custer, is the team president of Stewart-Haas Racing and the chief operating officer of Haas F1 Team.

“I’ve obviously been lucky enough to grow up around it and start racing at 5, and it’s all you know,” Custer said. “From the time I was little, I was racing go-carts and quarter midgets, and it’s always been what I’ve loved to do.”

After growing up racing locally at Irwindale Speedway, Perris Auto Speedway and Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, Custer became the youngest NASCAR Truck Series winner as a 16-year-old in 2014.

When he turned 18, Custer was driving the No. 00 truck full time for JR Motorsports, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and living in North Carolina.

“You just try to learn as much as you can at every step,” he said.

He made the switch to the Xfinity Series and from 2017-19 scored 10 checkered flags, including wins at Fontana, Richmond, Pocono, Chicago, Kentucky and Dover in 2019.

Stewart-Haas Racing made the move to replace Daniel Suarez with Custer in the No. 41 Ford in 2020, and Custer because the first series rookie to win a Cup Series race since 2016 by passing and holding off Martin Truex Jr. at the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

Following a string of inconsistent results in 2021, Custer returned to the Xfinity Series with SS-Green Light Racing last year at Auto Club Speedway and won the race after leading for 80 laps.

In October, Custer and crew chief Mike Shiplett were fined $100,000 for allegedly slowing down to impede other drivers and assist teammate Chase Briscoe on the last lap of the Charlotte race. In November, Stewart-Haas announced that Ryan Preece was replacing Custer in the No. 41 and Custer would move back to the Xfinity Series driving a second full-time car behind the No. 00 for SHR.

“There have been times when things have been going good and times where it was a roller-coaster, so it’s just a matter of getting back to what you know how to do and getting some confidence, getting a feel for the cars and what you need,” Custer said. “The guys I’m working with are great, so I’m looking forward to hopefully starting strong here in Fontana.”

Speedway land sale reported

On Friday, Sport Business Journal reported that NASCAR had closed on a “major real-estate deal” of hundreds of acres of land on a northern parcel of Auto Club Speedway.

According to SBJ, the identity of the purchaser is unclear but a deed has been filed to San Bernardino County indicating California Speedway Corp., owned by NASCAR, stating a closed sale for 433 of the 522-acre site.

SBJ revealed in March 2020 that NASCAR was working to sell, and a nine-figure price tag is expected.

NASCAR has retained the rest of the site but has informed its fan base and industry partners that this weekend will be the last as the track currently stands.

Harvick to make 750th start

Kevin Harvick is scheduled to make his 750th consecutive Cup Series start in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (12:30 p.m. on FOX).

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Harvick considers Auto Club Speedway his home track, having won there in 2011 and recorded five top 10s in his last seven races at ACS.

The Bakersfield native was the 2014 Cup Series champion and owns 60 wins in 22 years. He has said this will be his final full-time season as a Cup driver.

Harvick is third all-time in consecutive starts behind retired drivers Jeff Gordon (797) and Ricky Rudd (788).

​ Orange County Register 

Sen. Marco Rubio puts a hold on former Mayor Eric Garcetti’s ambassadorship nomination

• February 24, 2023

On Friday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio put a hold on former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to India. Garcetti is expected to go before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which Rubio is a member, next week.

Garcetti was first nominated back in July 2021, and was renominated last month by the Biden Administration.

“The Biden Administration has nominated questionable individuals to multiple posts as representatives of the U.S. government,” Rubio’s statement announcing a list of nominees he is holding reads. “One of these nominees has ignored credible sexual assault accusations in his prior office…I will not turn a blind eye to these absurd nominations, which will hasten America’s decline.”

Related: The disastrous story of Eric Garcetti’s nomination drags on and on

This is not the first time this happened. Last year, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, put a hold on Garcetti’s nomination. On May 5, 2022, Sen. Grassley released a report on Garcetti’s awareness of alleged sexual misconduct by his right-hand man. The report found, “that Garcetti likely knew, or should have known, that his former senior advisor was sexually harassing and making racist remarks toward multiple individuals. These findings contradict Garcetti’s testimony at a nominations hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”

These finding are no doubt part of the reason why Garcetti’s nomination has continued to stall, despite Garcetti’s parents shelling out money on lobbyists to get their son the nomination. According to Politico, this lobbying effort included a botched attempt at pressuring Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly to support Garcetti’s nomination.

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In response to Sen. Rubio’s hold, the nonprofit group Whistleblower Aid issued a statement applauding the hold. “Senator Rubio’s hold shines a spotlight on the reasons why Eric Garcetti’s nomination has already created an unprecedented two-year vacancy in New Delhi. The clear record of Garcetti enabling sexual harassment at City Hall in Los Angeles and his attempts to strong-arm the U.S. Senate into overlooking these failures is disqualifying,” said Whistleblower Aid CEO Libby Liu in a statement. “It is disappointing that the Administration continues to put Garcetti’s ambitions ahead of the vital U.S.-India relationship, which would be better served by a qualified nominee with a clear record of ethical leadership and relevant diplomatic expertise.”

That is absolutely correct.

Eric Garcetti, as I have written before, was an utter disaster as mayor of Los Angeles. From homelessness to rampant corruption in city government, the city of Los Angeles lost a decade of progress with him as mayor. Garcetti once upon a time had the delusion that he had done such a great job in Los Angeles that he should be president. He snapped out of it, though, backed Joe Biden and years later is still hoping he gets his political reward in the form of an ambassadorship.

The United States deserves better. The people of India deserve better.

Sal Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

How UFC’s Tatiana Suarez struggled and persisted to fight again

• February 24, 2023

If everyone loves a good comeback story, then the world should spread its collective arms and embrace Tatiana Suarez on Saturday.

Still undefeated nearly a decade after embarking on a professional MMA career, Tatiana Suarez will walk to the Octagon for the first time in nearly four years against Montana De La Rosa on the UFC Fight Night 220 main card at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

But to hear Suarez tell it, this is just another fight.

“I don’t approach it any differently. Just because, I mean, that’s how I’ve always been,” Suarez said in a phone interview Tuesday evening from Las Vegas. “I mean, I don’t like to put too much into anything, overhype or anything. The only thing that I trust in is just my abilities.”

But Suarez, 32, isn’t just another fighter. She was once on a fast track to what appeared to be, at the very least, a title shot if not becoming a titleholder. Her grappling skills were so dominant she began garnering comparisons to undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Cast in the unfortunate role of foil this weekend, De La Rosa (12-7-1) could prove to be a challenge on the mat for Suarez. Three of her five UFC wins have come by submission. Still, betting sites have Suarez as high as a 9-1 favorite, the biggest on the card.

“There’s not any pressure for me. If anything, she’s the one with the pressure,” De La Rosa, 28, said Wednesday at media day. “I mean, everyone says she’s the next Khabib or the woman Khabib, so I think she has a lot of expectations to live up to in this fight on Saturday.”

Since Suarez, then the second-ranked strawweight, defeated third-ranked Nina Nunes (nee Ansaroff) via unanimous decision in her last fight June 8, 2019, it will be 1,359 days between walks to the Octagon.

Prior to that, Suarez was laying waste to her fellow 115-pounders. Her two victories before Nunes were in 2018 against Alexa Grasso and Carla Esparza, both via devastating finishes.

Since then, Esparza won and lost the strawweight title in 2022 and Grasso will be challenging flyweight great Valentina Shevchenko for her belt at UFC 285 on March 4. But there are no sour grapes for Suarez.

“Unfortunately, I was just sidelined with injuries and, like, I couldn’t do it myself, you know? But I don’t envy them, you know what I mean? Or nothing like that.” Suarez said. “Like, I’m happy for them. And I’m glad that they are where they are. But it’s just like for me, in my mind, I already know that I belong at the top and that I’m going to be at the top. I just need to stay committed and determined like I always am.”

Is Saturday’s flyweight bout life or death? No, the Covina native and former Northview High wrestling standout already fought that fight and won it too, overcoming thyroid cancer in a diagnosis that derailed her dreams of wrestling in the 2012 London Olympics.

After becoming cancer-free, Suarez soon discovered Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA. In 2014, she went 2-0 as an amateur, then 3-0 as a pro over the next year. She landed a spot on the UFC reality show “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2016 and tore through that as well, annihilating all three opponents in the house before needing less than four minutes to submit Amanda Cooper in the final to win a UFC contract.

Suarez’s first serious neck injury actually proved fortuitous. That was what led to the discovery of a cancerous growth on her thyroid, followed by radiation treatment and the removal of her thyroid and several lymph nodes.

This second one, which occurred before the Nunes bout and became more aggravated during their fight, was the start of a two-year recovery process for disc issues and bone spurs.

“It was bad after the fight. It was really bad during, but it just got obviously worse throughout the fight,” Suarez said. “And by the third round … I was extra compromised.”

Then in the summer of 2021, two months before her comeback fight at UFC 266, Suarez’s knee was severely injured during a practice session. ACL, LCL, MCL, meniscus, all torn. Her PCL was partially torn. Major knee reconstruction followed.

“So basically, I was just wrestling, and I knew the guy was trying to take me down off the wall, and my leg just stayed,” Suarez said. “It got stuck then my knee completely just like … the other way. So there’s a pretty traumatic injury. Something I don’t really want to even think about.

“It was like … my leg was completely … like my knee was the different way. It was horrible. It was horrible.”

After months and months of recuperating and waiting, she was forced to undergo surgery, a grueling rehab and to be even more patient.

What’s more, it meant making the difficult decision to move from Rancho Cucamonga to Las Vegas, where Suarez knew she would be under the watchful eye of Heather Linden, the director of physical therapy at the UFC Performance Institute — “I think she’s the best in the game,” Suarez said — and could take advantage of all the facilities and amenities for free.

And now the one-time Olympic hopeful not only had to learn how to walk again, she had to learn to emerge from the darkness. And she had to allow patience to persist.

“It wasn’t great. I’ll tell you that. It’s hard to explain. It was a really hard time just because, you know, I had been patient for a while. And then I had to do the same thing all over again,” Suarez said.

Now it’s business as usual. The only change is Suarez will compete at flyweight, where at 125 pounds she can concentrate more on her game plan and less on cutting weight.

De La Rosa, a natural flyweight, believes this is to her advantage. “I just feel like there’s a lot of things that I can do in there that she hasn’t seen before, especially when she’s moving up to the flyweight division when she’s just been facing smaller opponents,” she said.

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After this fight, Suarez says she is open to dropping back down to strawweight and being a contender again.

“I plan on going back down. I just wanted to focus on the fight this time. I’m cutting, but it’s not as much as I usually do,” she said. “It matters to me. I just want to make sure I’m healthy. And I’m strong and I’m fighting.”

UFC 220

When: Saturday

Where: UFC APEX, Las Vegas

How to watch: ESPN+ (prelims, 1 p.m.; main card, 4 p.m.)

​ Orange County Register 

Orange Lutheran baseball winning games, but 0-1 against sprinklers

• February 24, 2023

Rain will probably force high school baseball games to be postponed or canceled Saturday.

Orange Lutheran, in a way, got off to something of a head start Wednesday.

It was water that stopped the Lancers’ game, although it was not from rain.

Orange Lutheran and Gahr were in the 10th inning of their game, a 4-4 tie in the Prep Baseball Report California Preseason Invitational tournament championship at Great Park in Irvine, when sprinklers came on at 11 p.m. due to an automated system.

No park personnel were available to shut off the sprinklers, so the game was stopped. In baseball parlance the game was “called.”

This game is never going to end will it?

Orange Lutheran and Gahr are still tied at 4 in the bottom of the 10th. pic.twitter.com/my3laAETxk

— Manny Alvarez (@MAlvarez02) February 22, 2023

As the game had passed the fifth inning, by CIF Southern Section rule 1515, “A regulation called game with a tie score shall be counted as ½ game won and ½ game lost for each team.”

“Once it goes five innings,” said Orange Lutheran coach Eric Borba, “the game is complete.”

Orange Lutheran junior Ben Reiland was 3 for 5 against Gahr to lead the Lancers offense. Reiland committed to Oklahoma State.

“We pitched really well (against Gahr),” Borba said. “We had to overcome seven errors. We pitched eight pitchers who struck out 10 and they walked only one.”

Orange Lutheran, No. 8 in the CalHiSports.com state rankings, won the PBR tournament opener 4-1 over Redondo, then beat state No. 18 Aquinas 6-1, and in the semifinals state No. 29 Corona 7-2.

Gahr is No. 30 in the CalHiSports.com rankings.

The Lancers are 4-0-1. They opened another Prep Baseball Report tournament that is in Arizona with a 12-5 win over Hamilton of Chandler, Ariz., Thursday.

NOTES

Foothill finished in seventh place in the Prep Baseball Report tournament. The Knights beat Huntington Beach 4-3 in the seventh-place game. Cypress finished in 11th place and Servite finished 13th with a 10-2 win over El Dorado in the 13th-place game. …

Cypress, JSerra and Ocean View also are in the Prep Baseball Report tournament in Arizona. JSerra’s game Friday against Arizona’s Camp Verde High is the Lions’ first game of the season. They are ranked No. 1 in Orange County and in CalHiSports.com’s California rankings. …

The CalHiSports.com baseball top 40 includes Villa Park at No. 4, Huntington Beach at No. 6, Santa Margarita at No. 9, Cypress at No. 13, Servite at No. 20 and Foothill at No. 37. Its “on the bubble” group includes El Dorado and Mater Dei. …

The Loara Tournament’s championship game has Pacifica (4-1) vs. Villa Park (4-0) at Glover Stadium on Saturday at 7 p.m., weather permitting, of course. Pacifica in the tournament beat Yorba Linda, J.W. North, Fountain Valley and Bishop Amat. Villa Park’s tournament wins were over Aliso Niguel, Millikan, Downey and Fullerton. …

Cypress and JSerra play each other twice next week. Their games are at Cypress on Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. and at JSerra on Friday at 4 p.m.

​ Orange County Register