Miller Moss reared back and fired. The 23-year-old’s short and zippy receivers in oversized red jerseys leaped to grab the ball.

In the sea of red, one player emerged with the ball, lifting his arm in celebration. The scene was familiar, Moss throwing a touchdown pass in Los Angeles to a teammate donning his home colors — and celebrating in the end zone.

Yet, on Saturday morning at Beverly Hills High, the celebrating player was a boy — not even half the size of the 6-foot-2 signal-caller — and the cause was bigger: the now-Louisville quarterback hosting a youth football camp for girls and boys to benefit Palisades fire relief efforts.

For Moss, the last year was far from what he expected.

In November during his fourth season at USC, Moss lost his starting quarterback role to Jayden Maiava after nine games, 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Then, in January, as he prepared a move to Kentucky to finish out his collegiate career away from home, the wildfires ravaged the Palisades. His childhood home burned to the ground, leaving just a basketball court he had often played on for hours in its destructive wake.

Moss knew he had to do something for his community. Even if he was hurting from the impacts on his family, Moss still wanted to help others.

“This camp has kind of a personal note for me just in terms of being from the Palisades, having a ton of friends and family from that area,” said Moss, who made passes to 35 campers in drills Saturday. “I think any way that you can exercise your platform to do good and to help the community, especially when it has that personal note, is always a positive.”

Louisville quarterback Miller Moss throws a pass at his youth football camp at Beverly Hills High on Saturday.

(Benjamin Royer / For The Times)

Garrett Pomerantz, USC outside linebacker and Moss’ former roommate, remembered visiting his friend and his family while they were cooped up at a hotel after the Palisades fire.

Pomerantz said it was the first time he saw Moss depressed and needing emotional support. He said Moss isn’t one to dwell in the details, adding that he’s not surprised by his willingness to step up for his community.

“That’s just Miller in a nutshell, like he’s always trying to help others,” said Pomerantz, one of the many volunteers at Moss’ youth football camp. “He worries about others, worries about us as roommates and makes sure we’re always doing good. Whenever you need someone to talk to, he’s the guy you’d want to talk to.”

On Wednesday, Moss put on a silver tuxedo and took part in Atlantic Coast Conference media day in Charlotte, N.C., to discuss his move from USC to Louisville for his final year of collegiate eligibility.

While Moss said he was grateful to play at USC, he said he’s drawing from positives as he meshes with a new team and works with Louisville coach Jeff Brohm and his staff. Louisville finished 9-4 last season.

“I hadn’t been in that situation, probably since I was 18 years old,” Moss said about the adjustment period being a transfer quarterback. “I give the team, the locker room, a ton of credit in terms of just welcoming me with open arms and making me feel like I was at home.”

Louisville quarterback Miller Moss instructs a couple of players at his youth football camp at Beverly Hills High on Saturday.

(Benjamin Royer / For The Times)

On how he’s adjusting to Brohm and the coaching staff: “He’s been phenomenal. His dedication, not only to being the best coach he can be, but to be able to invest in relationships with his players is really unique. He’s a genuinely good human being that cares about the development of us and cares about having a relationship outside of merely the one that’s player-coach based.”

Moss said that no matter where he’s playing, Southern California is always going to be his home. He was happy to return from ACC introduction and give back to his community.

Michelle Bellamy, a single mother whose condo burned down in the Palisades fire, said she came with her young son as a relaxed introduction to playing football — inspired by the connection shared with Moss and the community.

“It’s really kind and shows what character he has to put this together for these kids that were also affected by the fires and kids that weren’t affected by the fires,” Bellamy said. “It doesn’t surprise me that he has that character, because he comes from a community that cares about one another.”

As numerous members of Moss’ family watched on, the camaraderie after the Palisades fire was on full display at Beverly Hills High six months later.

Emily Kovner Moss, Miller’s mom, said it’s hard to know what drives people’s character until you’re placed in moments to act. While she and her family grieved over the loss of their home and community, Miller’s reaction was immediate.

Like Saturday, playing with the kids — whose families drove in from as far away as Ontario — Moss’ first thought was to help.

“I’m just incredibly proud that he is who I always hoped he would be,” Kovner Moss said.

The new Jets regime’s approach to the bookends of the offensive line is a 180 from last year. 

Olu Fashanu, last year’s first-round pick (No. 11), is slated as the starting left tackle. He started seven games last year. And rookie Armand Membou, this year’s first-round pick (No. 7), is expected to start at right tackle. 

The Jets went into last season with Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses — two veterans imported through free agency — as their starting tackles. They had a combined 305 career starts heading into the year — 298 more than this year’s duo have between the two of them. 

The youth movement is in full swing. 

“It just shows the trust that this building has in both me and Armand. I can talk about Armand all day,” Fashanu, already sounding like a mentor, said after practice Saturday. “He’s an extremely hard worker, and he has a very exciting future.” 

Fashanu saw work at both tackle spots along with right guard last year and generally showed well for himself. He owned a respectable 61.2 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. 

He was drafted with the intention of largely sitting and learning behind Smith and Moses for at least a season, but injuries prompted a bigger role than expected. Now under a new regime, he’s front and center with the Jets leaning on him to help anchor the offensive line unit. 

“This started back in OTAs, he committed a number of days of just being here,” coach Aaron Glenn said. “I’m not just talking about the times that he had to be here as far as the workouts. He was here on the weekends getting work in, on his own. He is committed to making sure that he’s available, for one, and then also that he’s gonna be a huge part of what we’re trying to build when it comes to the O-line. Those guys do a really good job of communicating. Those guys do a really good job of being around each other, getting to know each other. 

“He’s a big, physical man with long arms, you want your left tackle to be built the way he’s built. I’m excited about that player. I’m excited about how he’s gonna mature as camp goes on.” 

Fashanu has bulked up this offseason, wanting to play at a heavier weight this year. But his biggest area of growth has not been physical. 

“Coming into this season, I’m a lot more confident than I was last year,” Fashanu said. “That’s just something that everyone works with, the concept of self-doubt. I did a lot of work on my mental over the offseason. Coming into this camp, I feel a lot better, a lot more confident knowing my abilities and that I can go out there and dominate every play.” 

Both Fashanu and Membou have had their hands full trying to block Will McDonald IV. McDonald enjoyed a breakout season last year and has looked dominant to start training camp. 

“Will’s my biggest opp right now,” Membou said. “Going against him, it’s a really tough matchup. But it’s also really competitive and been really fun. And after practice too, I’ll go talk to him, ask him tips about what he sees about my game, my sets and stuff. It’s been good work. … Going against him, I know once I get to the game, it’s gonna make me a lot better.” 

McDonald badly beat Membou twice in 11-on-11s during Saturday’s practice — once with speed using a spin move and once with power using a bull rush. 

“It is great for Membou to see that,” Glenn said. “There’s not a lot of guys with the agility and the speed that Will has, that he’s gonna see in this league. For him to see that on a daily basis, and plus now he knows Will will rush with power. Between both of those guys, the chess match is gonna be interesting to see as we move on.”

A Venezuelan youth baseball team will not participate in the Senior League World Series because it was denied travel visas to the U.S., Little League International said Friday.

The team, Cacique Mara, reached the championship round of the tournament after winning the Latin America qualifiers in Mexico last month and was scheduled to play Saturday in South Carolina. Instead, the Santa Maria de Aguayo Little League team from Victoria, Mexico, and second-place finisher in the Latin America qualifiers took Cacique Mara’s place.

The Senior League World Series is a tournament for players ages 13-16 organized by Little League International. It is held annually in Easley, S.C., for teams from six U.S. regions and six international regions. The Senior League World Series is for players older than the 10-12-year-olds who participate in the Little League World Series, a more high-profile tournament held in South Williamsport, Pa.

Cacique Mara said in a social media post that its players and coaches attended interviews on July 14 for obtaining visas and were denied by a U.S. immigration officer. When Little League International tried to arrange emergency visas for the team, the organization’s request was denied, the team said.

The State Department said in a statement to The Athletic that it is reviewing the decision to deny entry to Cacique Mara.

“The players are demoralized. All they know how to do is play baseball. They want to go compete and leave the name of Venezuela and Latin America high. They don’t represent any threat; they are 15-year-old kids who want to win the World Cup,” Kendry Gutiérrez, president of the Cacique Mara Little League, said in a release.

Cacique Mara’s visa denial follows President Donald Trump’s signing a proclamation in June to ban citizens of 12 countries from entering the U.S. and to partially restrict entry for citizens of seven other countries, including Venezuela, citing national security concerns.

At the time, the State Department said Trump’s executive order contains exemptions for nationals who would enter the U.S. as athletes for major sporting events, as well as support staff and immediate relatives of athletes. However, there are no such assurances for fans, raising many questions ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Cacique Mara isn’t the first sports team denied entry for a tournament after Trump’s ban. Earlier this month, the Cuban women’s national volleyball team had its visa requests denied for the NORCECA Women’s Final Four tournament in Puerto Rico, a tournament that awards ranking points toward qualification for the Volleyball Nations League. By missing the tournament in Puerto Rico, the Cuban women’s national volleyball team will likely not make the Nations League.

Cuba is among the seven countries with restricted entry into the U.S.

(Photo: Peter Aiken / Imagn Images)

With the release of Happy Gilmore 2 yesterday (now streaming on Netflix) 29 years after the original came out, we at TOC decided to take this opportunity to discuss our favorite sports movies of all time. And we want to hear what is on your lists, too.

Here is what the TOC staff had to say.

MIKE:

10. Slap Shot

9. Tin Cup

8. A River Runs Through It (It was a sports movie because it had fly fishing and fighting)

7. The Boys in the Boat (book was better though)

6. Moneyball

5. We Are Marshall

4. Chariots of Fire

3. Miracle

2. Hoosiers

1. Race

STEVE:

Honorable Mention: Friday Night Lights (tv show was better than the film)

10. Varsity Blues

9. Rudy

8. Seabiscuit

7. Eight Men Out

6. Sandlot

5. Hoosiers

4. Miracle

3. A League of Their Own

2. Field of Dreams

1. Any Given Sunday

O:

As for me, I divided this assignment into 2 categories, adult sports movies and youth sports movies.

Youth Sports:

5(tie): Little Big League

5(tie) Rookie Of The Year

*even though these take place in pro baseball, the main character is a kid

4. The Mighty Ducks

3. The Bad News Bears (original 1976 version with Walter Matthau)

2. Little Giants (admittedly, this moved up higher on the list when this happened:)

1. The Sandlot

Adult Sports:

Honorable Mentions: The Fighter; The Wrestler; Bend It Like Beckham; Caddyshack; I, Tonya

10. The Program

9. Bull Durham

8. Remember The Titans

7. Field of Dreams

6. Rudy

5. White Men Can’t Jump

4. A League of Their Own

3. Jerry Maguire

2. Hoop Dreams

1. Rocky

Now it’s your turn. Please share your top-however-many.

And while we are on the topic of sports entertainment, I need to take a few lines to make a tribute to the late, great Hulk Hogan. I grew up in the 80’s and was a massive wrestling fan. There is arguably no bigger icon in the history of that industry than the man born as Terry Bollea. From his earlier rivalries with Andre the Giant, The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, and Macho Man Randy Savage and later feuds with The Ultimate Warrior and The Undertaker, the Hulkster was the headliner in professional wrestling for decades. He was absolutely larger than the ring he competed in. His fame even took him into the movie industry where he was the star of “Suburban Commando” and “No Holds Barred” and even appeared in “Rocky III” opposite Sylvester Stallone. He even eventually received his own reality show “Hogan Knows Best”. Hulk was so famous that his signature handlebar mustache was listed as one of the world’s most famous mustaches. We lost one of the great pop-culture characters this past week. Thanks for entertaining us for all these years, Hulk. I hope the 24-inch pythons still get to run wild up there. Rest in peace.

Pardon my French, but the White Sox opened a can of whoop ass on the Cubs and never looked back, continuing their post-All-Star break hot streak.

Let’s break down this huge win!

The White Sox bats started hot, as Chase Meidroth started the bottom of the first with a homer:

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Austin Slater kept the momentum going with a single, and Edgar Quero found a hole for another hit. Andrew Benintendi struck out — but the bats weren’t finished yet. Miguel Vargas singled to load the bases, and Lenyn Sosa took advantage by driving in two runs with a single:

The runs would end there for the first, but the Good Guys took an early 3-0 lead.

Colson Montgomery decided to continue his home run streak, with his third home run in three games, to begin the bottom of the second:

Meidroth followed with a single, and with one out Quero got his second hit of the game. Benintendi knocked Meidroth in with an RBI single, prompting a meeting at the mound for Imanaga — and Chris Flexen to start warming up in the bullpen.

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Imanaga got through the last two outs, but not before the Sox went up, 5-0.

As the Cubs remained off of the board, in the third Michael A. Taylor got lucky on a dropped fly that was ruled a double when Ian Happ and Pete Crow-Armstrong went for the same ball and PCA dropped it. Taylor was ultimately stranded on second, but I got a good laugh out of the play:

Tucker singled and Suzuki picked up a walk to start the fourth. PCA was robbed of what could’ve been a three-run homer, keeping the Cubs scoreless. The Sox continued applying pressure, as Slater sent a ball over the wall for the third White Sox home run of the night, way above the head of PCA.

Flexen was back up in the pen as Imanaga neared 80 pitches. Happ continued to struggle with fielding, as Quero hit a stand-up double. That prompted Flexen to step in with no outs and a runner on second, trying to put out the fire. Vargas singled to put runners at the corners with one out, and Sosa knocked in his third runner of the night on a sac fly:

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Before I could even type the current score, Mike Tauchman launched the ball to right field for a two-run homer. With that, every batter on the team had officially reached base, before the fourth inning was over. Taylor struck out, but the Good Guys put up a four-spot to make it 9-0 before the game was half over.

In the fifth, Meidroth collected his third hit of the night, with a one-out single. Slater reached on a fielding error, and a wild pitch from Flexen would advance both runners. Quero, smacking his fourth hits of the night, took advantage of the previous play with an RBI single to make it 10-0:

Vargas continued the inning with an RBI single of his own, making it 11-0. Sosa ended the inning, as Cubs fans left the ballpark in droves:

Houser had another 1-2-3 inning, while the Cubs went deeper into their bullpen for the sixth inning. Drew Pomeranz was the first pitcher to retire the Sox in order, keeping the sixth quiet.

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Houser was back in for the seventh, with fewer than 65 pitches when the frame started. He issued a leadoff walk to PCA, and another to Happ, prompting a meeting at the mound and Tyler Gilbert to start warming. McGuire jacked a ball to put the Cubs on the board with a three-run homer, and Bruján singled to take Houser out of the game. With a grab by Taylor, any further threats were thwarted, with the score staying 11-3.

Gilbert went 1-2-3 in the eighth, thwarting any comeback ideas for the Cubs. Meanwhile, John Berti stepped on the mound as a position player pitcher and gave up a one-out walk to Josh Rojas. Sosa followed up with a double, and Brooks Baldwin knocked another run in despite grounding out:

With just three outs to go, the South Siders were up, 12-3.

Matt Shaw doubled to start the ninth, and after one out, Nico Hoerner singled. McGuire drove in another run with the stroke of the bat to make it 12-4. Not wanting to go out quietly, the bases were loaded with a Bruján single. A struggling Steven Wilson walked in a run with two outs, but managed to bounce back, getting Berti to ground out and end the game.

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Oh, and Cubs fans are mad and accusing the White Sox of cheating. We’re so back, baby!

More from southsidesox.com:

Wheeling, W. Va. – At Wheeling University, we are working everyday to connect with the local community and truly become Wheeling’s University. Part of this mission is to invite the local community on campus and, on Saturday, the Wheeling University Athletic Department announced its Fall 2025 Event Calendar. From different donation drives to celebrations, the Cardinals are inviting Wheeling to campus to celebrate with us all season long. 

The 2024 season began these community outreach efforts with several events throughout the year that aimed to welcome the community on campus. The first of these events was the first-ever Wheeling Athletics Trunk or Treat event. The Cardinal teams stationed in the parking lot handing out candy to local children celebrating the Halloween season. With well over 200 kids in attendance, the events season kicked off and only continued from there. With events like the “Stuff the Truck” food drive, the Wheeling Festival of Lights Parade, and the Special Olympics basketball game in the gym, the Cardinals continue to reach out to celebrate our great city of Wheeling. 

The events calendar begins right away on the first weekend as the Wheeling Men’s Rugby team hosts IUP on Saturday, August 30th. The Cardinals will be celebrating the 2025 Collegiate Rugby Championships (CRC) National 7’s title, with a short pregame ceremony celebrating the team’s success. The following week will be the first donation drive event of the fall, with Wheeling Athletics teaming up with Ohio County Schools and Catholic Charities for the first-ever “Back-to-School Drive” on Saturday, September 6th. Fans attending either the Women’s Soccer game against Florida Southern College at noon or the Football game against Walsh at 6 PM that day are encouraged to bring back to school supplies with all proceeds being donated to Ohio County Schools. 

September continues with the Women’s Rugby National Championship celebration weekend September 12th and 13th. The team will be putting on their ring ceremony on Friday, September 12th, and the championship celebration will be held the next day as the team gets set to host Ohio State. Like the men’s celebration, there will be a short pre-game ceremony, with the team displaying their new rings as we honor the inaugural team. As the calendar changes to October, the past and the present collide with our annual Homecoming & Family Weekend, October 4th – October 5th. With four Cardinal home athletic events over the two days and the 2025 Wheeling Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony on October 5th, there are plenty of fun events for the family the whole weekend. 

The fall calendar wraps up with the second annual Wheeling Athletics Trunk or Treat Event, held on Sunday, October 26th, with a time still to be determined. The Cardinals will once again line the parking lot to provide a trick-or-treat experience for the kids, with games, candy, and much more. Along with the big events, the athletic department is also planning different youth sporting events throughout the season. Little league and youth sports leagues across the area will be invited to spend the day with the Cardinals and be recognized on the field. Stay tuned to wucardinals.com for updates on Youth Sporting days and other events that will pop up throughout the 2025-2026 season. 

The 2025-2026 Wheeling Athletics season kicks off on Thursday, August 28th, when the Wheeling University Football team travels to Clarion, with kick-off at 6 PM.