Padres roundtable: Did 2022 NLDS signal a power shift in NL West? RAMSįrom Gary Klein: The Rams continued to add quarterback depth, agreeing to terms with Brett Rypien, the team announced Thursday. Inside the ‘secret’ baseball academy the Dodgers are running in Ugandaĭodgers open series against Padres eager to ‘move forward’ from playoff failureĭodgers vs. When Kasumba became a regular, Wafula sweetened the deal: if he kept coming, the coach would pay for him to go back to school too.Īnd so began a relationship that would confirm Wafula’s belief in the redemptive power of the sport and fill Kasumba, now 18, with dreams of becoming Uganda’s first major leaguer. So Wafula, a volunteer baseball coach, made the boy a deal: leave the slaughterhouse and each time he came to the baseball field he’d get fed. Wafula remembered of the pair’s first conversation: “I asked him why he was working in the slaughterhouse and he was like, ‘I want to have something to eat. It was a Dickensian environment, one in which the workers, mostly young boys, were bathed in blood. She is competing in what Layshia Clarendon called, “the best point guard camp I’ve been at.”įrom Kevin Baxter: Paul Wafula found Dennis Kasumba in a slaughterhouse.īy the time he was 14, hunger and hopelessness had led Kasumba to drop out of school and take a job slaughtering cows, sheep and goats. That’s what we lacked last year: accountability.”Ĭanada was so convinced by the vision of Bryant and Miller that the five-year pro opted to return to her hometown team on a nonguaranteed training camp contract one year after signing as a coveted free agent from Seattle. Everyone on this team wants to see everyone be successful and do well, encouraging each other, pushing each other, holding each other accountable. “You can just sense that it’s a different environment, different atmosphere in the locker room. “It’s a complete 180 from last year,” said guard Jordin Canada, who is in her second year with the Sparks. well before the season, helping the team develop chemistry on and off the court. Any problems ranging from housing to medical staff questions, the team helps with immediately, free-agent forward Azurá Stevens said. They were marveling at the franchise’s new level of professionalism and camaraderie that’s taken hold with the first-year tandem of general manager Karen Bryant and head coach Curt Miller.Īfter cobbling together a practice schedule by hunting open court time in rental gyms, college campuses and the Lakers’ facility, the Sparks will call El Camino College their regular practice home this year. Sparks players weren’t just smiling Thursday for their photo sessions during the team’s annual media day. “The vibes are right,” the forward said Thursday with a broad smile. *Saturday, May 13 at New Jersey, TBD, ESPNįrom Thuc Nhi Nguyen: It’s 2023 and Chiney Ogwumike gave the highest possible compliment of the Sparks’ first four days of training camp. *Thursday, May 11 at Philadelphia, TBD, ESPN Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times
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