logo
UCLA and Arizona to play at Intuit Dome in game honoring late Hall of Famer Bill Walton

UCLA and Arizona to play at Intuit Dome in game honoring late Hall of Famer Bill Walton

CBS News25-05-2025

Former Pac-12 basketball rivals Arizona and UCLA will play each other in the Hall of Fame Series at Intuit Dome.
The game between the men's teams will be Nov. 14 and will honor late Hall of Famer Bill Walton. Besides starring for the Bruins in college, his son Luke played for the Wildcats and the elder Walton broadcast games involving both schools.
The teams most recently met in December, when UCLA won 57-54 in Phoenix.
Last season, UCLA played in the first college basketball game at Intuit Dome, beating Gonzaga 65-62.
Walton is one of basketball's most eccentric all-time personalities, known just as well for his playing days as he was for his quirky game calling.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

MLB first-round pick Jeff Francoeur talks fatherhood in youth sports, Pete Rose, potential baseball lockout
MLB first-round pick Jeff Francoeur talks fatherhood in youth sports, Pete Rose, potential baseball lockout

Fox News

time26 minutes ago

  • Fox News

MLB first-round pick Jeff Francoeur talks fatherhood in youth sports, Pete Rose, potential baseball lockout

Jeff Francoeur, in his own words, "know[s] baseball backwards and forwards." A former first-round pick once dubbed "The Natural," Francoeur is now an analyst for his former Atlanta Braves while doubling up as a dad to athletes. An expert of the game, it would be easy for him to take charge of his children's ball games. But he wants to let his kids be kids. "Take the parents out of [youth sports] and the kids usually have a great time," Francoeur told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. "I coach a 12U travel softball team for my daughter – all the parents think their kid should be hitting third, playing here, being this. If you took all the parents out and asked those girls to make a batting order, I bet you they can do a pretty good job of making what the batting order should be." Francoeur knows that there are a ton of parents out there who choose to live vicariously through their kids when it comes to athletics (he even admitted he can "get carried away"), and he's not afraid to put those parents to the test. "The first question I ask a lot of parents is, 'What do you want out of sports for your kids?' My mom and dad wanted me to learn to be a great teammate, how to have [a] work ethic, overcome adversity," he added. "Parents now, there are still plenty that look at it like that, but so many look at it as a 'win at all costs' at such a young age. [Former Braves pitcher John Smoltz] said it best on the podcast. He said, 'I wish there were more coaches that have the balls to worry about development over winning, especially at the younger ages.' That gets lost, man. So many people care about the bottom line and winning. Have you ever thought 'what's best for my kid?'" In fact, one of Francoeur's kids "hates baseball" and plays lacrosse. "Even though I know baseball backwards and forwards, and I'd love for my son to play, this is his passion, this is his dream. Who am I to sit here? I used to have to drag him to baseball practice. Lacrosse, he can have practice from 6 to 8, he's got his stuff laid out, he's pumped, man." Among his involvement in youth sports, he started the "Pure Athlete" podcast, which highlights youth sports, its parents and how it all can be pure once again. His brand recently partnered up with D1 Training to help those younger athletes be in sports for the right reasons. "When we do this podcast stuff with young athletes, you're trying to kind of navigate that journey. There's so many avenues, right? There's so many places that you can go to train, to do this, people that sell you. For me, [D1 founder] Will [Bartholomew] and those guys, though, they do it the right way, man, and they got the right people connected with them," Francoeur said. "I love how they personalize everything; everything is specific to what you're trying to do. "If you're looking at trying to get the next step in advance, that's such a big part now. We talk to all these athletes, man, even for my career, if I look back, if there's one thing I could have done better, it's take care of your body, right? Train better, agility, nutrition, all that. I just think D1's on the cutting edge of a lot of what they do." Pete Rose is now eligible for the Hall of Fame. If, and likely when, he makes it, he won't see it. He died last September. Rose was placed on baseball's ineligible list in 1989 after it was rumored he bet on baseball while he was with the Cincinnati Reds. Fifteen years after the ban, he finally admitted to doing so as a manager. It's since been reported he gambled as a player, but he denied that. It may be tough for some to give "Charlie Hustle" the benefit of the doubt, but Francoeur said he's talked to more Hall of Famers that are on the side of letting him in than not letting him in." "I got so many mixed feelings about that. There's no right answer to that. It's kind of like, man, really? You're going to wait until he died to do that?" Francoeur said. "It's so funny, because you remember Pete Rose said before he died, 'When I die, they'll make me eligible.' Sure enough, he called it. I mean, they did." Rose's Cooperstown fate will likely be decided in 2027 by the Classic Baseball Era Committee, which considers players whose careers ended more than 15 years ago. He would need 12 of the 16 votes to get in. The current collective bargaining agreement expires in December 2026, and the threat of a lockout is certainly real. Players and owners agreed to a deal after a lockout of a little more than three months, from late 2021 into early 2022. After the lockout came numerous rule changes that baseball purists may hate, but the numbers don't lie. Attendance has increased in each of the last two seasons and ratings have been adequate. Francoeur said "the pitch clock was the greatest thing [MLB Commissioner Rob] Manfred ever did." But he said the game cannot fumble the momentum it has gained in recent years. "To be honest with you, the only thing I think can screw this up are two things. The TV deals, we've got [to] make it better for fans to watch baseball again. I still have 1,000 people in Atlanta [saying], 'How do I watch the Braves?'" Francoeur said. But it looks like players and owners will be battling for even longer if a deal is not reached in the next year and a half. "And the second, I hope the union and the owners can figure it out, but it doesn't sound great after 2026. I know deadlines drive deals, but I wish there would be more dialogue now. Let's start talking about this now. We have 18 months to figure out what we need to do to make sure there's not a work stoppage. Attendance is up, stadiums have so much now, but trying to figure that out is important." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Why Bengals' personnel additions are more notable than typical June transactions
Why Bengals' personnel additions are more notable than typical June transactions

New York Times

time28 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Why Bengals' personnel additions are more notable than typical June transactions

Shuffling of personnel staff, adding of supplemental scouts and assistants doesn't typically resonate as news, even in the empty June news cycles. The Bengals aren't the typical organization. So, when the club made official the additions of scouts Josh Hinch and Tyler Ramsey, along with scouting research analyst Trey LaBounty on Monday, it left a larger impression than the typical transaction. Advertisement The size of the Bengals' scouting staff has been a criticism of the organization for decades. So, when the team enters this season netting two extra assistants following scout Christian Sarkisian leaving to become general manager at Northwestern, it's notable. It also comes four months removed from the director of player personnel Duke Tobin saying this about his scouting group: 'If I thought we were missing something, I would definitely add more.' The Bengals still face a cavernous gap with the rest of the league, and specifically the AFC North. That's as easy to find as a link on the team directory page. There are differences in how teams categorize and list their scouting and analytics staffers, but they generally categorize them into research and strategy and player personnel. Combining those groups, here are the general numbers of employees in those divisions. • Ravens: 36 • Browns: 35 • Steelers: 27 • Bengals: 9 The Browns, known for their heavy lean into analytics, list 15 in research and strategy alone, plus another 20 in player personnel. The Bengals only list employees in alphabetical order and don't classify them by division. Staffers don't necessarily equate to results, of course. Plus, the Bengals utilize their coaching staff in the scouting process as much, if not more, than any organization in the NFL. Tobin's idea is that the coaches are responsible for developing the draft picks, and they want everyone pulling in the same direction with conviction once the player enters the building. Head coach Zac Taylor has repeatedly spoken out about his support for the Bengals' process, lending weight to the coaching staff's opinions in the evaluation period. Tobin has provided a version of the same answer to the repeated question about the smallest scouting staff in the NFL for decades. 'It's never been and never will be about how many voices you have or how many opinions,' Tobin said before Super Bowl LVI in 2022. 'It's about having the right opinions and trusting in the guys you have entrusted to come up with the right opinions.' Validation of the philosophy will always be easier to find when the wins stack up, specifically in January. Tobin's team put together multiple productive free agent and draft classes in advance of the 2020 and 2021 seasons, leading to back-to-back AFC North titles, an AFC championship and an appearance in the AFC Championship Game that snapped a franchise record 10-game win streak. Advertisement The answers are harder to validate coming off missing the playoffs in back-to-back years, as he did at the combine in Indianapolis. 'Hugely disappointing,' Tobin said with the first two words regarding last season while addressing the gathered media in February. Inevitably, that day, the question came up again regarding the size of his scouting staff and if he was looking to add to the staff. 'Adding more just to satisfy a league quota isn't something I would do,' Tobin said. 'If I thought we were missing some area and weren't getting coverage where I need or where I wanted, or we needed a capacity we don't currently have, then certainly I would look at it. Right now, I think the group is operating very effectively and cohesively. I value their opinions. I know what I am getting out of their opinions. 'When you add new people, it takes a while to know what you are getting out of those opinions. So those opinions don't hold the weight until they have been here a while. There are people around the league I know, like and trust. Am I prepared if something happens? Yeah, I'm always prepared if something happens. But the need right now isn't there.' What happened over the ensuing four months came in waves and made an impact. Major contract negotiations with Tee Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase and (still) Trey Hendrickson ran parallel with a free agency week in which the Bengals stayed surprisingly quiet. Then came a draft where the club desperately needed to find starters in the first three rounds, all while negotiations over the expiring stadium lease were ongoing at the highest levels. Then Sarkisian moved on to Northwestern. His departure allowed an opportunity to reevaluate how the department operates. Tobin's right-hand men, Steven Radicevic (director of pro scouting), Mike Potts (director of college scouting) and Trey Brown (senior personnel executive) all remain, along with scout Andrew Johnson. Advertisement The addition of the 39-year-old Hinch, 35-year-old Ramsey and LaBounty, a product of Stanford (2021) and Miami University (2023), makes for a plus-two trade out. They still boast half the personnel staff as every other team in the league, but it marks the first addition to the group since Brown was added in 2021. Hinch and Ramsey offer a more traditional background in line with the rest of the department. Hinch spent the last four seasons with the Patriots, having broken into the NFL in 2015 with Tampa Bay. Ramsey has 16 years of scouting experience, mostly with Seattle and Carolina. The most interesting addition is LaBounty, who will bring an analytics element to player evaluation. Analytics chief Sam Francis has led the charge on the data side since his hiring in 2019, when he worked with current offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher to build the Bengals' analytics and game management from scratch. With most of his attention focused on the field during the season, LaBounty's ability to focus on the college evaluation side through a data lens brings a new angle to the draft process from start to finish, rather than Francis jumping in late to the game. 'If it pops up tomorrow that we need X and don't have the coverage for it, and I need somebody with a different skill set, we will go out and get them,' Tobin also said in February. These moves suggest there was an obvious need for a different skill set and willingness to move off a previous stance. Nobody will confuse the Bengals with the Browns, Ravens, or any other personnel department in football at this point, but with all the demands placed on executives, this at least serves as recognition that the time had come for an incremental move in a more modern direction. (Photo of Duke Tobin: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)

Cowboys need more from Tyler Guyton, and he's making significant changes to improve
Cowboys need more from Tyler Guyton, and he's making significant changes to improve

New York Times

time28 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Cowboys need more from Tyler Guyton, and he's making significant changes to improve

It's hard to find answers to questions about the Dallas Cowboys on the field of OTA practices. Contact is nonexistent and players are just getting back into the groove of team activities after months away from the building. One of the biggest questions this season for the Cowboys will be how well Tyler Guyton can rebound from a tough rookie season. For nearly a decade, left tackle was the least of anybody's worries, as Tyron Smith anchored the spot at an All-Pro level. Toward the end of Smith's time in Dallas, injuries started to become a bigger factor. After working through it for a few years, the Cowboys let Smith walk in free agency last year. Advertisement A month later, they drafted Guyton in the first round to become the left tackle of the present and the future. Things went off-kilter from the start. The Cowboys eased Guyton into the starting unit in training camp. Once Guyton assumed the starting role in camp, he was sidelined for a while due to injury. All of that happened before the season even began and the actual trials and tribulations for a rookie offensive lineman in the NFL kicked into high gear. 'Of course, there are going to be ebbs and flows,' Guyton said of last year's errors. 'I understand that it already happened. It's in the past and I'm going to move forward from it and learn from my mistakes.' The rookie mistakes came in different forms. Guyton struggled on the field as he tried to grasp NFL speed while also handling a position change, going from right tackle in college to left tackle in the pros. The external pressure didn't do him many favors, either. Taking over for an elite player like Smith, who not only possessed a large frame like Guyton but also underwent the same position change when he entered the league, was not an easy task. In addition to Guyton's struggles against defensive players, he also had an issue with discipline. Guyton finished the season tied for the second-most penalized player in the NFL with 14 penalties. Five of those infractions were false starts, and another five were holdings. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer went out of his way to praise the work Guyton has done since the end of his rookie season a few months ago. Schottenheimer said Guyton was one of the first players back in the building and expects consistency and stability could help the second-year player out of Oklahoma. 'I think some of the new things that (offensive coordinator) Klayton Adams and (offensive line coach) Conor Riley have brought from a fundamental standpoint really fits him,' Schottenheimer said. 'He hasn't played offensive line a whole lot, then he played right tackle at Oklahoma. Then, we moved him to left tackle. It's obviously a premier position. Then, you miss quite a bit of time last year in training camp. 'He has not missed a day. He was one of the first guys back in the building. … He understands how important this year is for him, not just for him, but for our football team. He looks great and he's playing at a high level right now, going up against some good speed rushers.' All of the praise comes with an obvious disclaimer: there is no contact at practices right now, unlike the intense practices in training camp. Those training camp practices will differ greatly from the full-speed competition on Sundays. Guyton isn't just working harder, but he's also taken steps to work smarter. His physique and build are noticeably different than last year. He appears leaner, still carrying muscle in his frame but shedding some of the excess weight. That appearance is not by accident. Advertisement 'I think that I figured out a lot about what I need to do to take care of my body, to be able to play at a high level,' Guyton said. That revelation didn't come on the field or even in the weight room. 'I changed my diet completely around,' Guyton said. 'Fast foods are out. Fried foods are out. I just try to stick to a strict regimen of vegetables and salmon throughout the week of prep. It's definitely changed a lot, actually.' Guyton said the change in diet wasn't difficult for him, and there are too many things he misses from his previous habits of consumption, like from the Caniac Combo from Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers. The results he's seen have made things easier. 'It's easy when you feel better,' Guyton said. 'I feel like my body is more pure right now. I can move more freely, my joints feel better. It's been a great transition.' Guyton described his body as a constant work in progress. He still aims to become faster and stronger, while also adding more flexibility to his toolbox. Many of the external pressures Guyton faced last year are still there, but their presence has faded in intensity. The upcoming season is no longer about following in Smith's footsteps or dealing with a position change, even if those elements will always be part of Guyton's story. For Guyton, it's now about being a good player in his own right, and certainly better than what he showed in 2024.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store