The Sports Report: Soccer star Alex Morgan retires

Hi, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get straight to the news.

From Kevin Baxter: I wasn’t looking for Alex Morgan when I visited the San Diego Wave’s massive training facility last month. I was there to talk to Landon Donovan, the other national team legend, who had just been named the Wave’s interim coach.

But Morgan came over anyway after practice and we chatted for about 20 minutes. She talked about her daughter, Charlie, who has been the topic of most conversations with Morgan over the past four years. But she also talked about her charitable foundation, the businesses she hopes to start, her husband, Servando Carrasco, and the home-cooked food she makes for her two dogs.

What she didn’t talk about was football. And if there was ever a sign that Morgan was ready to leave behind the sport that had defined her life for so long, that conversation on a windswept cliff overlooking the 5 Freeway was it.

On Thursday, Morgan made it official by announcing his retirement from professional soccer in an emotional four-and-a-half-minute video he posted on social media. He will play his final game on Sunday in San Diego, his new hometown, against the North Carolina Courage.

“I’m retiring,” she said during the video, in which she also announced that she is pregnant again. “And I am very clear about this decision. It has been a long process and it was not easy.”

“Football has been a part of me for 30 years,” he continued, pausing frequently to take a deep breath and compose himself. “It was one of the first things I ever loved. I gave everything to this sport and what I received in return was more than I could have ever dreamed of.”

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Rams

From Gary Klein: The Detroit Lions boast one of the most dynamic passing attacks in the NFL, and the Rams now have to try to stop it with a depleted secondary.

The Rams placed cornerback Darious Williams on injured reserve Thursday with a hamstring injury, meaning the veteran will miss the Sunday Night Football opener and games against the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears.

Williams, who was expected to start opposite Tre’Davious White, suffered the injury early in training camp. Cobie Durant could start in Williams’ place, but Durant has also been recovering from a hamstring injury.

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NFL SEASON OPENING

From Sam Farmer: Baltimore lost by less than an inch (and a foot).

That’s the right foot of Ravens receiver Isaiah Likely, who appeared to catch the game-tying touchdown against Kansas City with 0:00 left in the game. However, replay revealed his right toe was right in the back of the end zone and the Chiefs went on to win 27-20.

It was a thrilling finish to a rematch of last season’s AFC title game, which Kansas City won by a touchdown in Baltimore.

The play in question occurred on third down from the 10-yard line, after Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson missed touchdown passes to Likely and a wide-open Zay Flowers.

One of Kansas City’s heroes was rookie receiver Xavier Worthy, who scored a pair of touchdowns on a 21-yard pass and a 35-yard throw from Patrick Mahomes.

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From Ryan Kartje: The numbers of USC’s two most recent Heisman Trophy winners are officially retired and immortalized in the Coliseum. However, one had to wait much longer than the other to receive that honor.

It’s been nearly 20 years since Reggie Bush won his Heisman Trophy after one of the most electrifying seasons in college football history. That trophy was awarded in 2010 after the NCAA found Bush accepted improper benefits and slapped USC with significant sanctions that included erasing any mention of the legendary running back from campus.

Bush finally got his Heisman back in April after a protracted fight with the Heisman Trust. And now, he also has his No. 5 back at the end of the Coliseum peristyle.

He’s joined by No. 13 Caleb Williams, whose impressive improvisational skills helped lead USC to the 2022 Pac-12 title game en route to becoming the Trojans’ eighth Heisman winner.

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Why USC sold Coliseum space to DirecTV: It’s a ‘do or die’ scenario

ANGELS

Cody Bradford allowed one run in six innings and Adolis Garcia hit a three-run homer in the first inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Angels 3-1 on Thursday night.

Bradford (5-2) threw his fifth straight quality pitching and allowed just two hits, both singles to Zach Neto. He walked two, matching his season high, and struck out four. In his previous four starts, the 26-year-old left-hander was 0-2 despite a 2.77 ERA as he received seven runs of support.

The Rangers (68-73) are 8-2 in their last 10 games, their best 10-game skid this season. The defending World Series champions are five games from .500 for the first time since Aug. 5.

The Angels (58-82) extended their franchise-record streak of consecutive losing seasons to nine with the defeat.

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PARALYMPIC GAMES

From David Wharton: For years after surgery left him paralyzed as a child, Steve Serio didn’t see much of a future in sports.

His friends played in high school, so he volunteered to coach all the teams. Then, at age 14, he heard about wheelchair basketball.

Twenty-two years later, Serio is playing in his fifth Paralympic Games, hoping to lead the U.S. men’s national team to a three-peat and add to a resume that already includes two golds, a bronze and a world championship in 2023.

“The most influential moment in my life was not the Games we won or the gold medals we won, but the day I discovered wheelchair basketball,” Serio said. “That was the day I started my impossible.”

Her story is a common one among people with disabilities who say it was only by chance that they stumbled upon adaptive sports. Here’s a brief guide for Southern Californians who are inspired to try some of the sports being played at the Paris Paralympics.

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Live updates from the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1920: Jack Dempsey knocks out Billy Miske in the third round to retain the world heavyweight title. This is the first radio broadcast of a championship fight.

1920 — Bill Tilden wins his first of seven US Open men’s singles titles, defeating Bill Johnston, 6-1, 1-6, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3, at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York.

1941: Bobby Riggs defeats Frank Kovacs in four sets to win the men’s title at the United States Lawn Tennis Association championships. Sarah Palfrey Cooke wins the women’s title with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Pauline Betz.

1975 — Chris Evert wins his first of six US Open singles titles with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Evonne Goolagong. In the men’s semifinals, Manuel Orantes stages one of the great comebacks in tennis history, saving five match points to defeat Guillermo Vilas 4-6, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 after trailing by two sets and 0-5 in the fourth set.

1980 — Chris Evert Lloyd defeats Hana Mandlikova of Czechoslovakia to win her fifth US Open singles title in the past six years.

1980 — John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors meet in what is probably their best match at the US Open. McEnroe defeats Connors in the semifinal 6-4, 5-7, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) in front of a packed Louis Armstrong Stadium.

1992 — Noureddine Morceli of Algeria breaks the world record for the 1,500 metres, clocking 3:28.86 at an international track and field meeting in Rieti, Italy. Morceli breaks the record of 3:29.46 set by Said Aouita of Morocco in 1985.

1993 — Helena Sukova of the Czech Republic defeats Martina Navratilova 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. Navratilova’s loss leaves the United States without a player to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in the history of the tournament, which dates back to 1887.

1995 — Cal Ripken plays in his 2,131st consecutive major league game, breaking Lou Gehrig’s 56-year-old record. Ripken receives a 22-minute standing ovation and then hits a home run in Baltimore’s 4-2 victory over the Angels.

1996 — Baltimore’s Eddie Murray hits his 500th home run.

2003 — At the US Open, No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne wins the Belgian women’s singles final, beating No. 1 Kim Clijsters, 7-5, 6-1.

2008 — US Open Women’s Tennis: Serena Williams wins her third US Open title by beating Jelena Janković of Serbia 6-4, 7-5.

2017 — CoCo Vandeweghe becomes the third American to reach the semifinals of the women’s US Open, beating top-seeded Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (4), 6-3. Madison Keys completes the sweep for the American women, giving the host country all four spots in the US Open semifinals for the first time in 36 years. Keys, the 15th seed, needs 69 minutes to beat 418th-ranked Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-3, 6-3. The Americans have not had all four semifinalists at the US Open since 1981, when Tracy Austin beat Martina Navratilova for the title. Chris Evert and Barbara Potter also reached the semifinals.

2017 — FIFA orders a World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal to be replayed after the referee was found guilty of match-fixing and banned for life. South Africa beat Senegal 2-1 in the qualifier last November, aided by a penalty awarded by Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey for a non-existent handball.

2020 — World number one Novak Doković is disqualified in the fourth round of the US Open after hitting a ball in frustration, hitting a line judge, while trailing 5-6 to Pablo Carreno Busta in the first set.

Compiled by Associated Press