LAFC, Galaxy set to resume rivalry
LAFC will rejoin the Major League Soccer regular season by hosting the Galaxy on Aug.22. The neighbors, whose El Tráfico rivalry is the among the most intense in Southern California professional sports, will meet again at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson on Sept. 6.
MLS is still finalizing its redrafted schedule but the Athletic reported it will resume Aug. 12 with FC Dallas playing Nashville in Frisco, Texas. Teams will play an additional 18 regular-season games with the first phase of that schedule consisting of six games against close geographic rivals.
LAFC’s other Phase 1 games, to be played between Aug. 22 and mid-September, will include two road games and two at home; one of those home games will be against the San Jose Earthquakes.
The Galaxy will also play four additional games, two at home and two on the road. At least one of those additional games will likely feature San Jose. — Kevin Baxter
Direct dialogue between a group of Pac-12 football players insisting on improved conditions and conference officials hoping to avert a widespread boycott over the players’ demands began Thursday night during a two-hour videoconference call centered on safety protections amid the COVID-19 pandemic. — Ben Bolch
The NFL’s chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills, says the league is establishing a new two-step protocol for players and coaches who have no known history of the COVID-19 infection and receive a positive test.
Any individual in that situation who is also asymptomatic will be given two confirmatory tests on the day following the positive test result. During the confirmation period, the individual must remain out of the team facility and isolate at home until the confirmatory test results return.
Two more top-10 women — Elina Svitolina and Kiki Bertens — will miss the U.S. Open, joining No. 1-ranked Ash Barty in skipping the Grand Slam tennis tournament.
The Washington Football Team released running back Derrius Guice after he was charged in multiple domestic violence incidents.
The Associated Press reported that Guice was arrested on one count of strangulation, three counts of assault and battery and one count of destruction of property.
New York Giants cornerback DeAndre Baker was formally charged with four counts of robbery with a firearm in connection with a fight at a cookout in May, a prosecutor said. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar, who also was arrested, won’t be prosecuted because of insufficient evidence.
Zane Smith scored the first NASCAR Truck Series win of his career with a last-lap pass in double overtime at Michigan International Speedway.
Lydia Ko shot a six-under 65 for a one-shot lead going into the weekend at the Marathon Classic in Ohio.
Colorado State suspended football activities because of what athletic director Joe Parker said are “extremely troubling allegations of racism and verbal abuse,” according to a statement.
Offensive lineman Paul Grattan, a three-year starter with Villanova and a first-team All-Colonial Athletic Assn. selection in 2019, announced he would join UCLA as a graduate transfer. — Ben Bolch
The Kings lent defenseman Tobias Bjornfot to Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League ... The Seattle Kraken hired Everett Fitzhugh as the club’s first broadcaster. He is believed to be the first Black team broadcaster hired by an NHL franchise.