TALKING POINTS
LA Rams trade WR Ben Skowronek to Texans in draft pick swap
THOUSAND OAKS — The Los Angeles Rams have traded receiver Ben Skowronek to the Houston Texans in a swap of late-round draft picks.
Houston got Skowronek and a seventh-round pick in 2026 for a sixth-round pick in 2026 in the trade announced Thursday.
Skowronek was a seventh-round draft choice from Notre Dame who played his way into a significant role on offense and special teams during his three seasons with the Rams.
He notably had two catches for 12 yards as a rookie in the Rams’ Super Bowl victory while playing 46 snaps on offense after Odell Beckham Jr.’s injury. He became a regular in coach Sean McVay’s offense during the Rams’ dismal 2022 season, catching 39 passes for 376 yards and even lining up extensively as a fullback while starting 11 games.
Skowronek primarily contributed last season on special teams, serving as a team captain for the Rams. He has 58 receptions for 575 yards and one touchdown in his three-year career.
Beach League: 5 NFL teams will hold training camp in Southern California this year
Southern California will be a prime spot for NFL training camps this year.
With the Costa Mesa City Council unanimously approving a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders, five teams will be holding their practices within a 105-mile radius in late July and early August. There hasn’t been a cluster of teams training in such close proximity since the late 1990s, when five teams trained in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Back then it was called the Cheese League. This summer, it might as well be the Beach League with the Chargers, Rams, Raiders, New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys all in the area.
The Raiders will be at the Jack Hammett Sports Complex, which hosted the Chargers from 2017 to 2023. The complex has two fulllength football fields, room for bleachers and plenty of parking for fans compared to the Chargers’ headquarters, which was 2 miles away.
It is also a location new Raiders general manager Tom Telesco knows quite well after having served as Chargers GM from 2013 to 2023.
The Bolts will hold camp at their new facility in El Segundo, which they will move into next month after the end of offseason workouts.
The Saints will practice at UC Irvine, which hosted the Rams from 2016 to 2019 and 2021 to 2023. The Saints
needed a new location during construction of a new cafeteria at the team complex.
New Orleans is no stranger to preseason stints in SoCal since the Saints have participated in joint workouts with the Chargers five times in the past seven years.
That is unlikely to happen this year since the teams will meet in the regular season.
The Rams will be holding training camp in Southern California but have not made an announcement yet on the exact location. Offseason workouts are taking place at California Lutheran College in Thousand Oaks, where their facility has been since 2016, but they are moving to Woodland Hills at some point this year.
Like Thousand Oaks, temporary facilities will be in place while the team finalizes plans on a permanent facility in Woodland Hills, where owner Stan Kroenke bought 100 acres last year.
With the exception of the 2020 pandemic year, the Cowboys have held a portion of their camp in Oxnard since 2012. They also trained in Oxnard six times between 2001 and 2010.
UC president recommends UCLA pay Cal Berkeley $10 million per year for 6 years
LOS ANGELES — The University of California Board of Regents is expected to accept a recommendation that UCLA pay University of California at Berkeley $10 million a year for six years as a result of the Bruins’ upcoming move to the Big Ten and the demise of the Pac-12.
The recommendation was made by UC president Michael Drake and will be voted on during a regents meeting Tuesday at UC Merced.
In order for the Regents to affirm UCLA’s move to the Big Ten in December, 2022, the university agreed to pay UC Berkeley between $2 million and $10 million because of how the move would affect the Cal athletic program.
Cal agreed to join the Atlantic Coast Conference last year after the Pac-12 couldn’t negotiate a media deal, causing eight of its members to leave.
Besides increased travel costs, Cal will have a reduced share of the ACC’s media rights deal.
According to a report by UC’s president, the difference between UCLA’s annual media rights distribution from the Big Ten and UC Berkeley’s share from the ACC will be approximately $50 million per year.
Drake is also recommending that if there is a significant change in revenues and/or expenses for either school, exceeding 10% over 2024-25 projections, UCLA’s contribution can be reevaluated by the regents.
UCLA and the University of Southern California announced on June 30, 2022, that they were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. USC is private and not part of the UC system.
Raucous crowd roars its approval for Caitlin Clark in her home debut with Fever, an 83-80 win
INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark walked into her new home arena Thursday night with No. 22 shirts and jerseys peppered from floor to ceiling.
She left as a first-time WNBA winner. A late-arriving but louder-than-usual crowd roared during her official introduction to Fever fans and again when Clark made her first basket, a layup with 7:00 left in the first quarter. The cheers grew when she completed a three-point play a few minutes later and hit a crescendo when she finally made a long 3-pointer from the edge of the fieldhouse logo late in the third quarter.
Yes, Clark successfully navigated the city’s most anticipated rookie debut since Peyton Manning played for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts in 1998 even though it wasn’t quite the start most expected.
In an 83-80 preseason victory over the Atlanta Dream, Clark had 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and six turnovers, going 4 of 12 from the field and 2 of 9 on 3s in 31 minutes.
Susanna Tapani scores in OT, Aerin Frankel makes 53 saves, and Boston beats Montreal 2-1
LAVAL, Quebec — Susanna Tapani scored in overtime and Aerin Frankel made 53 saves to lead Boston to a 2-1 win over Montreal in Game 1 of a Professional Women’s Hockey League semifinal series on Thursday night.
Tapani pounced on a loose puck in the blue paint at 14:25 of the extra period for the first overtime goal in PWHL playoff history.
Lexie Adzija scored in regulation for Boston. The visitors entered the best-offive semifinal with wins in four of their final five games, including a 4-3 victory over Montreal in the final game of the regular season.
Kristin O’Neill scored and Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 24 shots for Montreal, which finished second in the PWHL regular season and six points ahead of thirdplace Boston.