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LOS ANGELES — Three days after USC lost Quinten Joyner to the transfer portal, Waymond Jordan sent a text to his agents with a screenshot of a FaceTime call. It came from Lincoln Riley.Joyner, seemingly, was set to take the graduating Woody Marks’ mantle as USC’s RB1 entering 2025. But a month ago, with Joyner’s surprising departure, USC needed sudden help in the backfield. They needed skill-position help, in general, with wide receiver Duce Robinson and later Zachariah Branch following suit. So as Jordan backed away from an early portal commitment to UCF, Trojans head coach Riley and company came…

President-elect Donald Trump has yet to be sworn in, but Democrats have already begun jockeying to see who could emerge in pole position for the 2028 election. Despite Democrats’ claims to have a deep bench, there is really only one with enough of a national profile to be considered a potential front runner: California Governor Gavin Newsom. To be sure, while Vice President Kamala Harris would theoretically be the presumed front runner, her loss to Donald Trump raises doubts as to Harris’ future viability, and even her aspirations.Of course, this is not to disparage Harris, who stepped into an unprecedented role after…

USC guard JuJu Watkins (12) warms up before an NCAA college basketball game against Rutgers, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Piscataway, N.J. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa) USC guard JuJu Watkins (12) is defended by Rutgers center Chyna Cornwell (54) and Rutgers forward JoJo Lacey (14) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Piscataway, N.J. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa) A fan displays a sign about USC guard JuJu Watkins during an NCAA college basketball game against Rutgers, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Piscataway, N.J. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa) USC guard JuJu Watkins warms up before an…

The American intelligence community needs to be shaken up. And former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is just the person to do it as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be the Director of National Intelligence, coordinating 18 intelligence agencies. A veteran of the Iraq War, she will provide the president the classified briefings on what’s going on in the world. The Senate Intelligence Committee will begin hearings soon after the new Congress takes its seats on Jan. 3. The attacks on her started early. On Nov. 13, “Nearly 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence and national security officials,” as AP described them,…

ANAHEIM — The Ducks made a commitment to Frank Vatrano on Sunday morning with a three-year contract extension and he rewarded them on Sunday evening, pouring in three points during a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Honda Center.It was the Ducks’ fourth win in their past five games with all four coming against quality opponents. Tampa Bay remained on track to make the playoffs for a 12th straight season, and it has won two Stanley Cups and four Eastern Conference crowns during that run. That didn’t stop them, however, from losing to both Southern California franchises in…

California leads the nation in homelessness and trails only Hawaii for the nation’s highest gas prices, but it seems someone forgot to tell Gov. Gavin Newsom.Ever the optimist when misconstruing data, Newsom recently took victory laps in both policy areas despite the state’s failures, which are both obvious and avoidable. “California has dramatically slowed and reduced the growth of homelessness – making more progress than a majority of other states, the nation as a whole, and previous administrations,” Newsom wrote on X shortly after the federal government released annual data on homelessness. “We’re continuing to lead the charge in getting people off…

HOUSTON — The Lakers are hoping to have a more formal update on Jarred Vanderbilt’s return-to-the-court status soon, but the one coach JJ Redick gave before his team’s loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday at Toyota Center was encouraging.“He continues to progress and ramping up to on-court activities,” Redick said. “And hopefully we have a firm update on the timetable soon. But his progress is real right now.”Vanderbilt, who hasn’t played this season after having surgery on his feet in May, participated in the non-contact parts of practice on Dec. 30.He hasn’t played since suffering a sprained right midfoot…

It came down to the final quarter of the final game of the regular season, but the Rams’ date in the wild card round of the playoffs finally became official Sunday night.The Rams (10-7) will host the Minnesota Vikings next Monday at 5 p.m. in a game televised by ABC. It’s a matchup between teams that are very familiar with each by virtue of the connections between their coaching staffs and an early-season game featuring the two. Here’s what you need to know about the Rams’ wild-card opponent:MINNESOTA VIKINGSCoach: Kevin O’Connell, 3rd seasonFinish: 14-3, 2nd in NFC NorthSeason recap: A preseason injury to…

HOUSTON — The Lakers’ comeback attempt against the Houston Rockets on Sunday was thwarted by errant out-of-bounds plays late, stopping them from overcoming the Rockets’ early interior dominance.The Lakers fell to the Rockets 119-115, with Houston grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and 28 second-chance points.Despite Houston’s interior advantage, the Lakers had a chance to tie the game late, down three with just 7.2 seconds left.But they didn’t execute their out-of-bounds play that was drawn up with the intent of getting LeBron James (21 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists) open for a 3.James tried calling for a timeout when Max Christie was…

LAS VEGAS — The Chargers (11-6) clinched the fifth-seed in the AFC playoffs Sunday, matching up with the fourth-seeded Houston Texans next Saturday afternoon in Houston. The game kicks off at 1:30 p.m. (PST) at NRG Stadium and will air on KCBS (Ch. 2) locally and stream on Paramount+.It’s the Chargers’ second playoff appearance in three seasons, the last ending with an epic second-half collapse during a 31-30 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Chargers built and lost a 27-point lead and led 27-7 by halftime before falling victim to the third-biggest comeback in NFL playoff history.The Chargers have made…