Quick Hitters
Cousins injured, undergoing tests on knee
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — A person with knowledge of the situation says Los Angeles Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins is undergoing tests to confirm a preliminary diagnosis of a ligament tear in his knee.
Cousins was injured in a workout in Las Vegas this week, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press on Thursday because no official diagnosis has been released publicly.
ESPN first reported that Cousins was injured.
It could be the latest major blow for Cousins — an All-Star for six consecutive seasons when his injury woes began.
He tore his Achilles in February 2018 and was sidelined nearly a year, plus he missed out on what likely would have been a massive contract in free agency that summer. He signed with Golden State for $5.3 million, missed roughly half the season while rehabbing, and then missed much of last season’s playoffs after tearing a quad muscle.
He signed a one-year deal this summer with the Lakers for $3.5 million.
Cousins has averaged 21.2 points and 10.9 rebounds over parts of nine NBA seasons with Sacramento, New Orleans and Golden State.
Minor league owner refuses to meet with Muslim rights group
NORWICH, Conn. — The owner of two minor league baseball teams is refusing to meet with a Muslim civil rights group, accusing it of supporting terrorists.
The Council on AmericanIslamic Relations sought a meeting with E. Miles Prentice, owner of the Single-A Connecticut Tigers and Double-A Midland (Texas) RockHounds. CAIR is concerned that Prentice is chairman of the Center for Security Policy, an organization identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-Muslim hate group.
Prentice said Thursday he considers the SPLC “radical leftists” and sees no use in “meeting with, or otherwise legitimating, those who seek to silence us or are associated with terrorist organizations like Hamas.”
The Tigers, an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, declined to comment. Tark Aouadi, the executive director of CAIR, Connecticut called Prentice’s statement unfortunate but said he had not had time to review it.
Thomas turns it around and shares lead at Medinah
MEDINAH, Ill. — On the range, Justin Thomas had no idea where the ball was going. Some five hours later, he had a share of the course record at Medinah.
Ultimately, all that mattered Thursday in the BMW Championship was taking a good step toward an important goal. Thomas already is set for the Tour Championship next week and the chase for FedEx Cup and its $15 million prize. That’s not what interests him.
He made his first birdie after hitting a tree on the fourth hole, leaving him a 5-iron he hit to 2 feet. His last birdie was a putt from about 60 feet on the fringe from the back of the 16th green. He did enough right in between for a 7-under 65 and a share of the lead with Jason Kokrak.
The others to post 65 at Medinah were Tiger Woods, Mike Weir and Skip Kendall at the PGA Championship in 1999 and 2006.
Woods won both those majors. Winning the second FedEx Cup playoff event might be a lot tougher.
After weeks of taking out their aggression on teammates, crosstown neighbors Yuma Catholic and Yuma High were able to face off in a preseason scrimmage on Thursday night.
The teams traded possessions in a controlled scrimmage at Ricky Gwynn Stadium, each coming in with some surprises, for better or worse. Each team also left the gridiron feeling like it had at least taken a step forward too.
“I think both teams are happy to hit somebody else at this point,” YC coach Rhett Stallworth said. “It’s been a long summer and they were just ready to hit somebody that’s not in the same jersey and see what it’s about.”
Even after 2018 seasons that couldn’t have been much different (Criminals were 3-7, Shamrocks went 11-3 while being the 3A runner-ups), the Yuma High front seven made the scrimmage a bit choppy at first. The Criminals forced an early interception off of YC’s Gage Reese, and at least kept the usually highpowered offense in check. The Criminals would score two defensive touchdowns on the day, too.
“I just told the kids that we’re scrimmaging Rhett Stallworth’s Yuma Catholic Shamrocks. They are well-prepared,” Yuma High coach Curt Weber said. “They are a good football team. We’re not scrimmaging the weak sisters of the poor. We know that we were going to get a wellorganized and big effort out of them. To hang in there to any degree at all, is really a pretty good feather in their cap.”
Meanwhile, Yuma High was able to move the ball a little bit early with the help of junior quarterback Jacob Straub, who was able to make a few plays on some bootlegs.
“Jacob has a good football mind, but he’s just inexperienced,” Weber said. “I think today went a long way into giving him some experience. He got his jersey a little bit dirty today.”
The first shifts for each team were somewhat uneventful, but eventually the Shamrocks and their endless amount of weapons on the edge took over. Reese was able to find senior Rakai Malone on a deep goroute, while running backs senior Ean Chavez and senior Jamar McFarlane were able to do damage in space.
McFarlane, who will miss the first half of the season after transferring from Kofa, had the ability to break loose for the length of the field each time he touched the ball. His big plays were likely familiar for the Criminals, who saw him rush for 175 yards in a game last season when McFarlane played for the Kings.
“You can tell by what both of them (McFarlane and Chavez) did tonight,”