Notre Dame and USC Resume Football Rivalry With 4-Game Series Startin…

The Notre Dame-USC college football rivalry will start again in 2030. The schools announced Monday they have agreed to a four-game home-and-home series. Notre Dame will play in Los Angeles on Aug. 31, 2030, and the Trojans will visit South Bend on Aug. 30, 2031. The meetings in 2032 and 2033 will be played in the first three weeks of the season. The teams met each non-pandemic season from 1946-2025, typically in October or November, in what became known as "the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football." The exception was the 2020 season when most schools played a conference-only schedule. Negotiations for the continuation of the series became challenging after USC joined the Big Ten in 2024. The Trojans expressed that they did not want to play nonconference games after September. Notre Dame beat the Trojans 34-24 in South Bend last Oct. 18, and the series officially went on hiatus in December when the Irish announced they had filled the last open spot on their 2026 schedule with a game at BYU. Notre Dame and USC first played in 1926 and the Irish lead the series 53-38-5. The series also was put on hold from 1943-45, during World War II. The two schools have combined to win 22 national championships and produce 15 Heisman Trophy winners, and the discontinuation prompted consternation on both sides. Navy is the only team Notre Dame has played more than USC, at 98 meetings. Notre Dame and USC play for the Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy, a tradition which began in 1952. The Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy is presented by the Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles. Notre Dame victories are marked by green-jeweled shamrocks while USC victories are marked by ruby-jeweled Trojan heads. "USC’s historic rivalry with Notre Dame holds a special place in the history of college football, and we are happy to resume a series that means so much to the entire Trojan Family," USC athletic director Jen Cohen said. "It remains important for us to play this game early in the season, as it allows us to schedule competitively with our Big Ten peers and takes into account the health and best interests of our student-athletes and program. We are excited for our fans, and we look forward to more memorable matchups and unforgettable games between the Trojans and the Irish." Reported by the Associated Press

Newcastle United have turned down Arsenal's opening offer of £70 million for their captain and Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimarães. The 26-year-old, who has established himself as a key player since joining from Lyon in 2022, met Newcastle's incoming manager Matthias Jaissle for the first time at the team's pre-season training camp in La Manga after returning from a post-World Cup holiday in Brazil.

Arsenal have intensified their pursuit of the midfielder by initiating formal transfer discussions, but Newcastle are reportedly reluctant to sell their captain, who has become a fan favorite at St. James' Park. The bid represents a significant test of Newcastle's resolve to build around their current squad under new management. umafrika.club

Es el Jura inhóspito y ocre, pequeñas cintas de asfalto en el páramo azotado por el viento, torturado por el sol, y el calor que hierve las seseras, drena las piernas deshidratadas de tanto sudar, exige cordura al pelotón de las favoritas y acelera el corazón de Sigrid Haugset, nombre de reina altiva y alma de valquiria, y Lotte Kopecky, obrera belga del metal, que, guiadas por la locura, se persiguen la una a la otra, solas las dos, por estepas desiertas y cuestas a 600 metros de altitud. Llevan así desde la ascensión al Savine, un segunda a 90 kilómetros de la meta, tres, cuatro minutos por delante de las favoritas, que fingen prudencia, y sufren. Kopecky, una de las más grandes se acerca a 10, 12 segundos, de Haugset, una noruega de 27 años novata en el WorldTour, debutante y, por lo tanto, atrevida y dura, sin el miedo que paraliza a las que conocen el Tour, su dureza implacable como un martillo que golpea sin piedad. Corre Haugset como quien desafía al castigo. Construyendo su mito, su leyenda. Sabe lo que es el dolor –en 2025 se cayó durante la París-Roubaix, se rompió la cadera y con los huesos rotos y aguantándose los gritos terminó la carrera--, sabe lo que es superarlo y, contra todo sentido común, se niega a dejarle ganar, como se niega a rendirse, levantar el pie, dejarse alcanzar por Kopecky, cuya fama le precede, y vence. Es la primera victoria de su carrera después de la escapada individual más larga en los Tours de la década y en una de las etapas más largas, más de cuatro horas, 2.500 metros de desnivel, un puerto de primera desde el primer kilómetro, en un ciclismo femenino cuya exigencia y dureza se acerca a gran velocidad a la del masculino. La primera noruega que gana una etapa, la primera también que viste el maillot amarillo.

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