Sports
Column: Even a 2-year-old knows the challenge facing De La Salle against unbeaten Mater Dei
Somebody kept calling.
“Hello,” I’d answer.
Nobody would respond. There was only the sound of talking in the background.
It happened five times.
The mystery was solved when Concord De La Salle football coach Justin Alumbaugh reached me and apologized that his 2-year-old daughter, Isabel, had gotten ahold of his phone.
Isabel Alumbaugh, the 2-year-old daughter of De La Salle football coach Justin Alumbaugh.
(Alumbaugh family)
If you think De La Salle’s task of trying to hand Mater Dei its first defeat in Saturday night’s CIF Open Division state championship bowl game might be tough, imagine the balancing act Alumbaugh has been pulling off with help from his wife, coaching football and having kids ages 6, 5 and 2.
“There’s no denying how good they are,” Alumbaugh said of the 12-0 Monarchs.
Coming to Saddleback College by bus for the 8 p.m. kickoff, De La Salle (12-0) is such a huge underdog that the CalPreps.com computer prediction has it Mater Dei 44, De La Salle 3.
This game has such a certain outcome — a Mater Dei victory — that it reminds me of the first Division I state bowl game in 2006. De La Salle was the heavy favorite against Canyon Country Canyon. De La Salle was unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the nation. When the game ended, Canyon had won 27-13. A De La Salle victory Saturday would be the biggest upset since then.
Former Canyon coach Harry Welch has some advice for the underdog.
“I was more focused on us than De La Salle,” Welch said. “In fact, I took the team and coaches early off the field before the game and read them the riot act because I didn’t care for our focus. I said nothing during the week before the game to motivate or help focus on De La Salle.”
De La Salle hasn’t played since a 10-7 victory over Pittsburg in a rainstorm on Nov. 22. That’s three weeks of preparation. The Spartans have a lineman committed to Oregon, a quarterback who is 100-meter dash fast and a running back who’s the son of former NFL running back Maurice Jones-Drew.
Mater Dei coach Raul Lara knows all about De La Salle’s pedigree from having played the Spartans when he was coach of Long Beach Poly in 2001. His team lost to De La Salle 29-15 when Jones-Drew was the star running back.
This game be a mismatch as expected. Or maybe there’s a surprise coming. In sports, anything can happen.
De La Salle is holding nothing back, including bringing legendary former coach Bob Ladouceur to stand on the sideline. Perhaps De La Salle will play some of those memorable sports movies featuring upsets. “Remembering the Titans” is one. “Hoosiers” is another.
Alumbaugh just needs to make sure his phone is in his pocket or somebody might be receiving lots of calls from a 2-year-old during the game.
Pitcher who tackles well
Junior defensive tackle Giuseppe Virzi, who’s also a pitcher for the Palos Verdes baseball team, pressures Bakersfield Christian quarterback Lincoln Amade in the Southern California Division 2-A bowl game on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
In the 11:30 a.m. Division 2-A final at Saddleback College on Saturday, watch out for Palos Verdes’ 245-pound defensive tackle, Giuseppe Virzi, against 14-0 Lincoln Twelve Bridges.
He had a 1.87 earned-run average pitching for the baseball team last spring and decided to return to football at the last minute after a summer of baseball. He increased his weight, joined late and has become a big part of a big-play defense that has been key to helping Palos Verdes (10-5) reach its first state championship game in football.
Another defensive lineman who was a late addition was Marlon Osborne, who skipped his junior season, came out late and has joined with Virzi to provide help.
Asked how his team has gotten this far after losing 25 players to graduation, Palos Verdes coach Guy Gardner said, “I’m not sure. We’re still trying to figure it out.”
Highland’s Wyatt connection
Highland coach Justin Wyatt with his quarterback son, Justin Jr.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Palmdale Highland coach Justin Wyatt gets one final game with his son, Justin Jr., the 6-foot-4 quarterback headed to Nevada. Highland plays Petaluma St. Vincent de Paul in the 4-AA final at 4 p.m. Friday at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.
“It will be a special moment,” Justin Sr. said.
He has three other football-playing sons. Charlie Jackson III is a freshman receiver. Jalen Wyatt is an eighth-grade quarterback. Isaac Jackson is a seventh-grade edge rusher.
“The next three or four years are going to be fun,” Justin Sr. said.
Sports
Chiefs and Browns make first trade of 2026 draft and both eventually fill needs
The Cleveland Browns, rumored to be willing to trade down from their No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft, did just that Thursday evening when the traded the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cleveland traded the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Chiefs, in exchange for the ninth overall pick, as well as pick No. 74 in the third round and No. 148 in the fifth round.
The Browns now hold the No. 9 and No. 24 picks in the first round of the draft. They have a total of 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
So the Chiefs gave up three picks in making the first trade of the first round.
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And we know what the fan bases of both clubs were thinking prior to the selection:
Chiefs fans were thinking we know something they don’t. And then the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU — a move no doubt forced by the club’s trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
So, the Chiefs fill a major need, assuming Delane is indeed the quality corner they believe.
LSU Tigers CB Mansoor Delane celebrates a defensive stop against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in South Carolina. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Network)
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ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t like the pick, by the way. He had Delane as the 14th best player in the draft.
“It was a necessity,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back, responded.
Browns fans weren’t thinking that way.
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They were probably thinking something akin to “We screwed up.”
This is understandable because they’re Browns fans and this could have been the Browns Browning.
Well, the Browns, moving down three slots, gave up a shot to draft linebacker Sonny Styles of Ohio State to the Washington Commanders, receiver Jordyn Tyson to the New Orleans Saints and then the Browns got their chance with the newly acquired No. 9 pick:
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Offensive tackle Spencer Fano of Utah.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Fano is good. And he makes the Browns offensive line instantly better because he’s going to likely start at left tackle for them.
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So what will Browns fans think of this pick?
They’ll probably wonder why the Browns didn’t pick Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, who went with the No. 10 pick to the New York Giants and promised “to die for” Jaxson Dart if necessary. They’ll wonder this because Browns fans expect the worst.
Sports
Defending champion UCLA women’s basketball lands top transfer, continues roster overhaul
UCLA women’s basketball team has added some star power as its revamped roster begins to take shape.
Former Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced Thursday she is committing to UCLA, giving the Bruins one of the top players in the portal.
Brown averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.8% from three-point distance with the Cyclones last season. She played just 21 games due to injury, but she is one of the better two-way players in the nation on the transfer market.
The 6-foot-2 forward co-starred with Audi Crooks for Iowa State the past few seasons and was a part of the mass exodus from the Cyclones’ program.
The Bruins reeled in former North Carolina junior guard Elina Aarnisalo and former Texas Christian senior guard Donovyn Hunter a few weeks ago, adding two more experienced players to the depleted starting lineup after a record six UCLA players were selected in the WNBA draft.
UCLA also signed Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas earlier this month. She is likely to start at point guard for the Bruins and is one of the best rebounding guards in the nation.
Along with returner Timea Gardiner, the Bruins are starting to form somewhat of a core to defend their national championship. Gardiner was a starter during UCLA’s 2024-25 Final Four run, but missed all of this past season with injury and has one season of eligibility left.
A lineup with Deas and Aarnisalo in the backcourt, Hunter at the three and Gardiner or Brown at the four and adding another big or Sienna Betts at the five would be a competitive lineup in the Big Ten.
Before going to TCU, Hunter played two seasons at Oregon State where she earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Pac-12 Freshman team honors. This past season with a Horned Frogs team that went to the Sweet 16, she was third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest. She also shot 45.7% from the field and was 33.7% from beyond the arc.
Aarnisalo played her freshman year in Westwood after she originally committed to UCLA in 2025. Due to injuries from point guard Kiki Rice at the start of the 2024-25 season, she was forced into action early her freshman season and finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game.
The Helsinki, Finland, native averaged 10.2 points per game for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.3% from the arc. The Bruins will desperately need to replace the three-point production lost with the departure of Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
UCLA coach Cori Close said she wanted to sign five players from the portal. She probably needs one more guard and a little more forward depth coming off the bench following the departures of Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic.
Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse are returners coming off the bench who got a little bit of playing time in the tournament and should have much larger roles, but they are still relatively unproven in late-game situations. They will get a chance to develop as backups with some more Power Four experienced starters now in the fold.
Sports
WWE to hold premium live event in Saudi Arabia amid Iran ceasefire
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
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Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
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