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ANAHEIM, Calif. — When he prepared for his first at-bat in Tuesday’s top of the first, fans saluted him with a standing ovation. When he roped a line drive down the right-field line two innings later, “MVP” chants greeted him as he reached third base. And when he was intentionally walked in the 10th inning — paving the way for Mookie Betts‘ game-breaking three-run homer immediately thereafter, setting up the Los Angeles Dodgers6-2 victory — the largest Angel Stadium crowd of the season jeered loudly.

Shohei Ohtani was welcomed back warmly in his first official game back in Anaheim, save for some sparse boos.

It helped that at least half the 44,731 people in attendance were Dodgers fans who made the 30-mile trek south.

“As a player, I feel very supported and appreciative of all the fans that are in front of me, in front of the team,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “It makes a difference that they’re out here.”

As an Angel, the organization he chose after being recruited out of Japan by practically every major league team, Ohtani won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2018 and later tapped into his promise as a two-way phenomenon. He won two MVPs unanimously and would’ve won a third if not for Aaron Judge‘s 62-homer season from 2021 to 2023, during which Ohtani easily paced the majors with 26.1 FanGraphs wins above replacement.

The Angels never sniffed the playoffs during Ohtani’s six-year tenure. But they empowered him to pitch and hit simultaneously the way no one ever had since Babe Ruth, and there was a belief by prominent people within the organization that his loyalty to the Angels would give them a legitimate chance to re-sign him in free agency.

But when Ohtani and the Dodgers put together the framework of a 10-year, $700 million deal that included $680 million in deferred payments, the Angels — under longtime owner Arte Moreno, who doesn’t typically hand out deferrals — declined to match. Whether he would have returned if they did is a question that might forever be left for speculation, and one Ohtani declined to answer when asked by reporters in Phoenix on Monday.

For what it’s worth, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts never felt as if the Angels were a threat this past offseason.

“I don’t think they were in the conversation,” Roberts said. “Obviously, there was a lot of hearsay. They could’ve been in the conversation, but I never got wind of that. It might’ve been on the down low. But Shohei said that they didn’t offer him, so I don’t think they were part of the conversation.”

Roberts says he believes Tuesday’s game — technically Ohtani’s second back at Angel Stadium, if you count the exhibition Freeway Series from March — offered “closure,” but mostly for the fans. He senses Ohtani has mostly moved on. His transition to the Dodgers, Roberts said, has been “pretty seamless” — despite the pressure of a mega-contract, the betting scandal that engulfed his former interpreter and the challenge of juggling his responsibilities as a designated hitter with his rehabilitation as a pitcher.

“It’s just how he’s wired,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “I think that some people are pretty emotional about things and some people are just very kind of unemotional. He’s just simplistic in that sense. It’s part of his past, and a significant part of his life, but I don’t think it’s something he continues to think through. I think he’s more of a forward-thinking person.”

Ohtani did not add to his 44 home runs or 46 stolen bases Tuesday, but he’s still well on pace to become the first 50-50 player in baseball history. If he can hold off New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor, he’ll be the first full-time DH to win an MVP and will join Barry Bonds as the only players to win back-to-back MVPs with different teams.

His return here Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of his last game in an Angels uniform and also qualified as the first meaningful September game he had ever played in the stadium. The Angels, who played a video tribute for Ohtani in March, merely honored his return with a videoboard message that listed his accomplishments as he walked toward the batter’s box for his first at-bat. For a brief moment, the description under his name when he came to bat again in the fifth inning read: “Used to work here.”

He sure did.

“The biggest part of all of this is really being able to play at this stadium in front of the Anaheim fans,” Ohtani said. “That was the part that was special for me.”

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Gators QB Lagway will throw in ‘a couple weeks’

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Gators QB Lagway will throw in 'a couple weeks'

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway will “start throwing in a couple weeks,” coach Billy Napier said Saturday.

Lagway was limited throughout spring practice with a shoulder injury that lingered from last season and played sparingly in the team’s annual spring game. Lagway played five snaps Saturday, all first down handoffs.

“DJ’s doing great,” Napier said. “He’ll start throwing here in a couple weeks. Just in general, very positive there. The lower-body stuff was good, and I think we’re working on just kind of getting him in position for the next step. But, in general, there are a lot of positives; everything’s on schedule.”

Napier raised red flags last month when he said Lagway would be a limited participant during spring, his first as the team’s starter. Instead of getting valuable repetitions, Lagway spent a month handing off, watching passing plays and calling the offense.

“He’s frustrated,” Napier said. “Obviously, he wants to play. Nobody likes to play more than that guy.”

Lagway missed some practice time last fall with shoulder soreness, a lingering issue from his high school days. But it never caused him to miss a game.

He was sidelined one game last November while recovering from a strained left hamstring he suffered against Georgia. But he started every game after, including Florida’s bowl victory against Tulane in December.

Napier said the plan to sit him during spring was “to be very smart.” Now, given rest, Lagway is expected to be full go when the team reconvenes for workouts in June. Of course, the real test will come when he starts throwing again.

Lagway completed 60% of his passes for 1,915 yards, with 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions as a freshman last season. He took over the starting role after Graham Mertz tore a knee ligament at Tennessee last October.

The Gators signed college journeyman Harrison Bailey to be Lagway’s backup this fall. Bailey has played at Tennessee, UNLV and Louisville. Bailey completed 29 of 43 passes for 363 yards, with three touchdowns and an interception in the spring game. He also was sacked five times.

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Vols, Iamaleava split; ‘no one bigger’ than team

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Vols, Iamaleava split; 'no one bigger' than team

Tennessee has moved on from starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava, with coach Josh Heupel telling reporters Saturday that “no one is bigger than” the program.

Heupel said the tipping point came Friday morning, when Iamaleava was a “no-show” for practice amid his ongoing NIL contract discussions with the school.

“This program has been around for a long time,” Heupel said after the Volunteers played their spring game Saturday. “There are a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players who came before that laid the cornerstone pieces, the legacy, the tradition that is Tennessee football. It’s going to be around a long time after I’m gone and after they’re gone.”

Iamaleava notified offensive coordinator Joey Halzle late Friday night that he was in the process of filling out his paperwork and planned to enter the transfer portal when it opens Wednesday, sources told ESPN’s Chris Low. Heupel and other staff members had been trying to reach Iamaleava and his representatives to no avail after he missed practice and meetings earlier Friday, sources said.

Tennessee was aware that Iamaleava’s representatives had reached out to at least one other school, Oregon, prior to the start of spring practice, sources told ESPN, but Oregon said it wasn’t interested.

The day before the winter portal ended in January, Iamaleava’s representatives asked for his deal to increase to the $4 million range, but Tennessee didn’t redo it.

“We weren’t going to flinch this time either,” a source told ESPN.

Iamaleava was making $2.4 million on a contract that was reported to be $8 million when he signed it. But he started receiving payments when he was still in high school, and the total value of the contract would have been closer to $10 million over the life of the deal, sources told ESPN.

Iamaleava just completed his redshirt freshman season, which means he would have three seasons remaining at his next destination. The spring transfer portal opens Wednesday, and he is expected to be the most notable player available.

“I want to thank him for everything he’s done since he’s gotten here, as a recruit and who he was as a player and how he competed inside the building,” Heupel said. “Obviously, we’re moving forward as a program without him. I said it to the guys today. There’s no one that’s bigger than the Power T. That includes me.”

Iamaleava showed promise his first year as a starter, leading Tennessee to the College Football Playoff and a 10-3 season. He threw for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He completed 63.8% of his passes.

The Volunteers’ offense finished No. 9 in the 16-team SEC in scoring offense last year in league play, and Iamaleava was the conference’s No. 10 quarterback in passing yards per game (200.6).

The move puts both Tennessee and Iamaleava in difficult situations heading into the 2025 season. Iamaleava’s departure leaves Tennessee with just two scholarship quarterbacks, neither of whom has started a college game.

Heupel said Saturday that the program will look to add another quarterback in the spring portal.

Sources added to ESPN that with Iamaleava’s future uncertain, officials from Tennessee’s collective began to make calls Friday to see what the potential market could look like for his replacement. One quarterback got more money from his school Friday after Tennessee’s collective called third-party officials tied to him, a source told ESPN.

One factor looming over both sides is that SEC rules prohibit transferring within the conference in the spring if the player desires immediate eligibility. That means Iamaleava can’t go to an SEC school and no quarterback on an SEC roster can go to Tennessee if they hope to play in 2025.

This move puts redshirt freshman backup quarterback Jake Merklinger in the driver’s seat to be Tennessee’s starter next year. It’s difficult, though not impossible, for a college quarterback to come in, learn the offense and win the starting job in summer camp. True freshman George MacIntyre is the backup, and Tennessee has a top-10 recruit in the Class of 2026, Faizon Brandon, committed. He is a five-star recruit who is ESPN’s No. 3 overall quarterback.

The market for Iamaleava will be a fascinating one, especially if he is seeking the same amount of money (in the mid-$2 million range). While there is available money in the system the next few months before the era of revenue share is codified, it’s difficult for a program to bring in a quarterback transfer with high-priced NIL demands in the late spring portal.

It not only is potentially disruptive for the current quarterback room, but it also could disrupt the locker room. Also, many schools have their quarterback salaries structured for 2025.

The move to cut ties with Iamaleava has unfolded as a classic tale of modern college football, as he arrived at the school with a historic contract and now leaves both Tennessee’s quarterback room and his own future shrouded in uncertainty.

The Volunteers, meanwhile, move on, with players emphasizing Saturday that the team is greater than any individual.

“I’ve been on some talented teams that haven’t done too well because there were a bunch of individuals on those teams,” senior tight end Miles Kitselman said. “I’m not just saying this to be saying it, but man, this team is different. … This team is a team. Like I said before, there’s no one else I’d rather go to war with and letting these guys know that we’re good with whoever we’ve got back there at quarterback. We’ve got some dogs here, these two guys [Merklinger and MacIntyre].

“We’ve got some guys who want to be here.”

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Ohio State unveils rings for winning CFP title

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Ohio State unveils rings for winning CFP title

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State‘s national championship football team will have some extra jewelry to show off on its visit to the White House on Monday.

The Buckeyes received three rings between the first and second quarter of Saturday’s spring game at Ohio Stadium.

“It’s a surreal moment. I love this place,” said defensive lineman Jack Sawyer, one of the team captains.

Players and coaches from the 2024 championship team received a ring for making the College Football Playoff, one from the CFP for winning it, and a championship ring from Ohio State.

Ohio State’s seniors — many of whom are preparing for the NFL draft in less than two weeks — showed off their rings during a ceremony at the 50-yard line.

“They’re champions. So yeah, it puts a smile on your face when you see it,” coach Ryan Day said after the spring game.

The top of the national championship ring opens and shows the scores of Ohio State’s four CFP games, with the 34-23 victory over Notre Dame at the top. Enclosed inside the ring are pieces of the confetti that dropped at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta after Ohio State won the game. The confetti is floating over a replica of the field.

All three rings also have Day’s mantra from the season of “Leave no doubt.” On the inside of the rings is a cross, signifying the team’s message and relying on its faith during the season.

“It makes it feel real. Been a long time coming for these rings but a combination of a lot of hard work, sacrifice and love when I see them,” quarterback Will Howard said.

Day originally planned not to have a spring game, considering the Buckeyes were only two months removed from playing 16 games. He originally planned on having an open practice with limited game action, but with the opener being against Texas on Aug. 30, Day reversed course.

“I’m glad we did the spring game. I wish we could have stayed out there for another four hours and get these reps and get these guys some work,” Day said. “We know who our first opponent is, so we know we have to hit the ground running. There isn’t much margin for error.”

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