The Sports Report: Jim Harbaugh’s wild and wacky first day of camp
Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell, who is probably busy figuring out how to buy Paris Olympics souvenirs online.
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From Bill Plaschke: He strutted around the deep green football fields like a new father, shouting and gesturing and celebrating with cheers and compliments and a loudly blown whistle.
Then Jim Harbaugh explained.
His first official training camp practice as the Chargers coach was like…childbirth?
Yeah, childbirth.
“Just like being born,” he said after Wednesday’s inaugural training camp workout at the Chargers’ gleaming new El Segundo practice facility. “It was like coming out of the womb. It’s comfortable and safe, and now you’re born. The lights are on. It’s bright and there’s chaos. People are looking, people talking to each other and, just feels good to have it happen.”
Oh, it’s happening all right. In a wondrous culmination of an offseason of labor, the new Chargers era began Wednesday with their new $16-million coach filling up their new $250-million home with wit and wisdom and just plain weirdness.
It was truly a bolt to the senses.
MORE CHARGERS:
Look who impressed Jim Harbaugh on first day of Chargers training camp
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RAMS
From Gary Klein: Matthew Stafford trotted onto the practice field Wednesday at Loyola Marymount and immediately made a diagonal beeline for the weight room behind the far end zone.
The Rams’ star quarterback went through exercises inside and outside the building before returning to the field with a smile for the start of the team’s first training camp practice.
There was noticeable bounce in the 36-year-old Stafford’s step.
And why not?
The day before, after months of no movement, the Rams finally gave in and adjusted his contract.
Whether it was the deal, or the excitement of preparing for his 16th season, Stafford appeared energized throughout the 90-minute workout.
“I’m happy to be out here playing football,” he said. “Love doing it, love doing it with this group and just excited about the year to come.”
DODGERS
From Jack Harris: Of the many variables that could influence the Dodgers’ World Series chances the rest of the year, one factor will be more important than all else.
The Dodgers need Tyler Glasnow to stay healthy, pitch well and — regardless of what they do before next Tuesday’s trade deadline — perform like an ace at the top of their rotation.
To that end, Wednesday was an encouraging sign.
After his first injury scare of the season, a two-week stint on the injured list because of back tightness, Glasnow made a much-needed return to the Dodgers’ rotation Wednesday night, giving up two runs in five innings during the Dodgers’ 8-3 loss against the San Francisco Giants.
Glasnow was far from flawless in his first start back from the IL. His command escaped him at times, leading to four walks. He exited with a deficit after giving up two runs in the fourth inning, including a solo home run to Matt Chapman. And if not for a couple well-timed double-plays, his overall stat line might have looked very different.
“My mechanics felt a little weird,” Glasnow said. “Not really in a good rhythm. Just the whole night was kind of a struggle.”
The Dodgers still lost, having their five-game win streak snapped on a night they failed to record a hit until the seventh inning (they did get one run on a bases-loaded walk in the first) and lost Chris Taylor (who had the knock with his seventh-inning double) to an apparent lower-body injury as he was running the bases — further underscoring their need to bolster the lineup ahead of next Tuesday’s deadline.
MORE DODGERS
Clayton Kershaw returns to the Dodgers. What can they realistically expect from him?
See the special cleats Clayton Kershaw’s kids decorated for his comeback
How Brent Honeywell learned to throw a screwball, a pitch notable in Dodgers history
Dodgers activate Tyler Glasnow, sign veteran shortstop Nick Ahmed
ANGELS
From the Associated Press: Angels center fielder Mike Trout will not play Wednesday night for triple-A Salt Lake and is leaving his minor league rehab assignment after one game to be reevaluated.
Trout began a rehab stint Tuesday but exited after just two innings because of soreness in his surgically repaired left knee.
Before the Angels’ game Wednesday in Seattle, manager Ron Washington said Trout reported he was feeling better, and Washington hoped the three-time MVP would be able to serve as the designated hitter for Salt Lake that night.
USC
From Ryan Kartje: Lincoln Riley strode confidently into the cavernous confines of a new, unfamiliar stadium, one of the new coaches on the block in the Big Ten, surrounded on all sides by the novel and the unfamiliar. Everywhere inside Lucas Oil Stadium were reminders of how much his circumstances had changed since last season. New coaches, new players, new logos, new everything.
It wasn’t just the new conference and all its new trappings, though. The landscape of college athletics has been upended since USC beat Louisville in the Holiday Bowl in December.
Within the Trojans’ own building, so much had turned over, too. A new quarterback, a new defensive coordinator, a new defensive scheme and a new, stiffer schedule to handle, all with revenue sharing also on the horizon.
But amid all the new and unfamiliar at Big Ten media days, the message from Riley, at the start of his third season at USC, was, by now, a well-worn one. In fact, he offered an almost identical sentiment at this time last year, at Pac-12 media day … before USC finished a frustrating 9-5.
In discussing the state of his program Wednesday at Big Ten media days, Riley declared that USC had made “progress in every way you can possibly measure” since he took over, but was still well in the midst of a “rebuild” nearly three years in, one he suggested was far more substantial than those his Big Ten counterparts took on.
In the same breath, Riley was also defiant that USC enters its new conference this year already among its upper tier, with its sights set on stacking national titles. How long he can successfully straddle both of those notions as USC’s coach remains to be seen.
UCLA
From Ben Bolch: Accompanied by the school’s fight song, new UCLA football coach DeShaun Foster walked across a stage inside Lucas Oil Stadium on Wednesday morning to take his spot behind a lectern … only to stumble his way through the next minute.
“How are you guys doing?” Foster asked the horde of media seated below him, going on to note in roundabout fashion that UCLA and the Big Ten were a good fit because of their shared championship pedigree.
“Football-wise,” he continued, appearing increasingly uncomfortable and often pausing between thoughts, “we’re just excited. I’m sure you guys don’t know too much about UCLA, our football program, but we’re in L.A. … It’s us and USC, and we, um ...”
Finally, after another long, awkward pause in which he shifted uneasily, Foster turned to look at several school and conference officials standing near the stage and chuckled.
“I’m just basically excited, really. That’s it,” he said. “Any questions?”
And with that, Foster composed himself like the high school sophomore who fought through terrible nerves before gaining five yards during his first carry for the Tustin varsity. He spoke passionately about running backs TJ Harden and Keegan Jones before going on to address the travel challenges associated with playing in a coast-to-coast conference and the importance of hiring an experienced offensive coordinator in Eric Bieniemy.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1902 — Jim Jeffries knocks out Bob Fitzsimmons in the eighth round to retain the world heavyweight title.
1941 — Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox wins his 300th and last game, beating the Cleveland Indians 10-6.
1956 — Swaps sets an American record in a 1 5/8-mile race at Hollywood Park. Swaps runs the course in 2:38 1-5.
1956 — Jack Burke Jr. defeats Ted Kroll 3 and 2 in the final round to win the PGA championship.
1976 — In Montreal, Edwin Moses of the United States sets an Olympic record in the 400 hurdles with a time of 47.63.
1982 — Janet Anderson wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf title, her first tournament victory.
1999 — 86th Tour de France: Lance Armstrong wins 1st of 7 consecutive Tour de France titles but is later disqualified for drug cheating.
2004 — Copa América Final, Estadio Nacional, Lima: Brazil beats Argentina, 4-2 on penalties; 2-2 after extra time.
2007 — Michael Rasmussen, the leader of the Tour de France, is removed from the race by his Rabobank team after winning the 16th stage. Rasmussen is sent home for violating (the team’s) internal rules. The Danish cyclist missed random drug tests May 8 and June 28, saying he was in Mexico.
2010 — Alberto Contador wins the Tour de France for the third time in four years. Contador holds off a next-to-last day challenge from Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, his runner-up for a second consecutive year.
2010 — Jamie McMurray’s victory in the Brickyard 400 gives owner Chip Ganassi the first team triple crown in American auto racing: winning the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same year. McMurray won the season-opening Daytona 500 in February, and Ganassi IndyCar series driver Dario Franchitti won the Indy 500 in May.
2011 — The NFL Players Association executive board and 32 team reps vote unanimously to approve the terms of a deal to the end the 4½-month lockout. The final pact is for 10 years, without an opt-out clause.
2011 — Taylor Hoagland hits a two-run home run, Valerie Arioto and Megan Langenfeld have RBI singles and the United States beats rival Japan 6-4 to win its fifth straight World Cup of Softball championship.
2012 — Triple jumper Voula Papachristou is kicked off Greece’s Olympic team by the Hellenic Olympic Committee for her comments on Twitter mocking African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right political party.
2015 — Maya Moore scores a record 30 points to lead the West to a 117-112 victory over the East in the WNBA All-Star Game. The league’s reigning MVP scores eight straight points in the final 2 minutes to turn a one-point deficit into a 113-106 advantage.
2021 — USA’s men’s basketball lose to France 83-76 ending their 25-game Olympic winning streak.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time...
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
