The Sports Report: Can UCLA’s John Speraw lead U.S. men’s volleyball to Olympic gold?

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The court at Walter Pyramid was still covered in confetti. Fans hadn’t yet spilled into the Long Beach State parking lot on a sunny Saturday afternoon. UCLA players were still basking in the glory of a second consecutive national title when John Speraw, who was equal parts emotionally exhausted and elated, sat down for the postmatch news conference.

The UCLA head coach locked eyes with a USA Volleyball staff member sitting in the audience.

“See you Monday,” the staff member said with a grin.

Speraw didn’t have time to waste. Days after leading the Bruins to their first consecutive NCAA championships since 1995-96, Speraw traded his blue and gold for red, white and blue as the United States prepared for the Paris Olympics. The Americans, chasing their first Olympic medal since 2016, begin pool play on July 27.

Entering his third Olympic Games as the national team head coach, Speraw has perfected the balance of two jobs that leave him constantly short on time. Even after the national team got on the court for a recent practice at its training facility in Anaheim, Speraw was on a phone call while snaking through groups of players during warmups.

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DODGERS

From Dylan Hernández: October came early this year for Dave Roberts.

With the Dodgers dropping six of their final seven games before the All-Star break, the annual scapegoating of Roberts started three months ahead of schedule.

The postgame talk show on the team’s flagship station always fields complaints about the manager when the Dodgers lose, but the volume of such calls increased last week. Other fans vented on social media.

This was news to Shohei Ohtani, who described his relationship with Roberts as “wonderful.”

“I think he’s a manager who has a lot of conversations with players individually,” Ohtani said in Japanese earlier this week. “I myself, there are many areas with which he’s helped me.”

Ohtani applauded his manager’s consistent professionalism.

“As one of the top commanders on the team, I think the manager approaches every game with focus,” he said.

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LAKERS

From Dan Woike: Finally Bronny James made a three and finally Bronny James made a noticeable impact on the court — events that somehow felt both momentous and meaningless in the Lakers’ third game in Las Vegas.

On one hand, the 12 points – nine coming in the first half – were proof of skills that the Lakers have been touting since using their second-round pick on James last month. On the other, if James’ early struggles in Vegas weren’t real reason to panic, a good half on Wednesday wasn’t real reason to celebrate.

The Lakers first win, an 87-86 victory over the Hawks, was reason enough for the Lakers to have a smile.

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Lakers box score

GALAXY

Rookie Joseph Paintsil had a goal and two assists by halftime to spark the Galaxy to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday night.

Diego Fagúndez staked the Galaxy (13-5-7), who moved into first place in the Western Conference, to a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute with his fourth goal of the season. Gabriel Pec notched his third assist on the score and Paintsil picked up his sixth. Pec became the second Galaxy player to contribute to a goal in 10 straight home matches, joining Robbie Keane (2012-13).

The Rapids (11-9-5) knotted the score in the 32nd minute when Kévin Cabral scored for a fifth time this season. Jonathan Lewis earned his second assist of the campaign and defender Sam Vines snagged his first.

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Galaxy box score

MLS standings

LAFC

LAFC and Real Salt Lake both fell out of first place in the Western Conference while playing to a 1-1 tie Wednesday night.

Both clubs began the night tied with the Galaxy in first place, but neither scored in the second half. Meanwhile, the Galaxy beat Colorado 3-2 just down the freeway in Carson.

Cristian Olivera scored an early goal for LAFC in its first outing since its 13-match unbeaten streak ended last weekend with an ugly 5-1 home loss to Columbus.

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LAFC box score

MLS standings

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1921 — Babe Ruth hits his 139th home run and becomes the all-time home run leader in Major League Baseball, taking the title from Roger Connor.

1927 — Ty Cobb of the Philadelphia Athletics doubles off the glove of Harry Heilmann for his 4,000th hit.

1951 — Jersey Joe Walcott, at 37, becomes the oldest fighter to win the world heavyweight title with a seventh-round knockout of Ezzard Charles at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

1970 — San Francisco’s Willie Mays gets career hit number 3,000 off Montreal’s Mike Wegener in the second inning.

1975 — The trial of Dave Forbes, the first pro athlete to be indicted for a crime committed during play, ends in a hung jury. Forbes, of the Boston Bruins, was indicted for excessive force used on an opponent. Forbes’ victim was Henry Boucha in a game on Jan. 4 against the North Stars at Minnesota. The prosecution decides not to seek a retrial.

1987 — New York’s Don Mattingly ties Dale Long’s 31-year-old major league record when he homers for the eighth consecutive game in the Yankees’ 7-2 loss to the Texas Rangers.

1993 — Greg Norman shoots a 64 on the final day to set a record with a 13-under 267 and wins the British Open. Norman wins by two strokes over defending champion Nick Faldo.

1995 — Britain’s Jonathan Edwards breaks the 10-year-old world triple jump record, leaping 59 feet in the Salamanca Provincial meet. Edwards tops the previous mark of 58-11½ set in 1985 by Willie Banks of the United States.

1999 — Jean Van de Velde’s triple bogey on the 72nd hole sets the stage for Paul Lawrie to become the first Scotsman to win the British Open in his native land since Tommy Armour in 1931. Lawrie, 10 strokes behind when the final round began, wins the four-hole playoff over Van de Velde and Justin Leonard, making birdies on the last two holes to complete the biggest comeback in a major.

1999 — David Cone dazzles the Montreal Expos, throwing the 14th perfect game in modern history to lead the New York Yankees to a 6-0 victory.

2005 — In Oklahoma City, the United States loses a tournament title game for the first time since 1997, falling 3-1 to Japan in the championship of the inaugural World Cup of Softball. The Americans, which lost to Canada earlier in this tournament, lost to Australia 1-0 in the championship game of the 1997 Superball, held in Ohio.

Compiled by the Associated Press