CARSON, Calif. — The LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls have been Major League Soccer mainstays since the league's inaugural season in 1996, signing glamorous players and regularly competing for championships through years of success and setbacks in a league that's perpetually improving and expanding. Yet just a year ago, both of these clubs appeared to be a very long way from the stage they'll share Saturday in the MLS Cup Final. The Galaxy were one of MLS' worst teams after a season of internal turmoil and public fan dissent, while the Red Bulls were merely a steady mediocrity seeking yet another coach to chart a new direction. A year later, these MLS founders are meeting in the league's first Cup final between teams from North America's two biggest markets. "Two original clubs being able to put themselves in this situation, I think it's great," Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. "To see two clubs that have been at it as long as this league has been around be here, I think it's a special moment. Couldn't be two more different and contrasting styles as well, which could make for an interesting game, and I would imagine a high-intensity game." Everything changed in 2024 after a dismal decade for the Galaxy, who are favored to cap their transformation by winning their team's record sixth MLS championship with a roster that's dramatically different from its past few groups — albeit with one massive injury absence in the final. The transformation of the Red Bulls happened only in the postseason, when a team that hadn't won a playoff game since 2017 suddenly turned into world-beaters under rookie coach Sandro Schwarz. New York struggled through the final three months of league play with only two wins before posting road playoff victories over defending champ Columbus, archrival New York City FC and conference finalist Orlando to storm into the Cup final. "We know about the history (of our club), and we know tomorrow will define what that could mean," Schwarz said Friday. "To feel the pressure for tomorrow, it's necessary, because it's a final, and without pressure it's not possible to bring the best quality on the field." The Red Bulls have never won an MLS Cup, only reaching the championship match once before. What's more, they've somehow never won a Cup in any tournament, although they've collected three Supporters' Shields for MLS' best regular-season record. The Galaxy's trophy case is large and loaded, and those five MLS Cups are on the top shelf. But not much of that team success happened in the past decade for the club that famously brought David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and many other international stars to Hollywood. In fact, this season has ended a grim era for the Galaxy, who haven't lost all year at their frequently renamed home stadium — which was the site of protests and boycotts just a year ago. The club's fans were tired of LA's steady underachievement and ineptitude in the front office run by team president Chris Klein, who was fired in May 2023. One year ago Thursday, the Galaxy hired Will Kuntz, a longtime Los Angeles FC executive who engineered his new club's roster transformation, most dramatically by landing new designated players Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil — two international talents that LAFC also had in its sights. "I give Will and the group up there a ton of credit," Vanney said. "It's one thing to have players you like, and it's a whole other thing to get them here and get them to connect with your group." Pec and Paintsil combined for 32 goals and 27 assists while boosting the incumbent talents of striker Dejan Joveljic and Riqui Puig, the gifted Barcelona product who runs the offense from the midfield. The Galaxy clicked in the postseason, scoring a jaw-dropping 16 goals in four matches. Puig has been the Galaxy's most important player all season, but he won't be in the MLS Cup Final after tearing a knee ligament late in last week's conference final victory over Seattle. The loss of Puig — who somehow kept playing on his injured knee, and even delivered the game-winning pass to Joveljic — makes the Galaxy even more difficult to anticipate. "He played a lot in the regular season, so it was not so easy to analyze all these games now without him," Schwarz said. "But the main focus is to analyze what we need to do, because it's not clear now how they're playing without him." The Galaxy could give some of Puig's responsibilities to Marco Reus, the longtime Dortmund standout who joined LA in August. Reus is nursing a hamstring injury, but Vanney expects him to play. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Houston's Al-Shaair apologizes for hit on Jacksonville's Lawrence that led to concussion HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s Azeez Al-Shaair took to X to apologize to Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence after his violent blow to the quarterback’s facemask led to him being carted off the field with a concussion. Back in the starting lineup after missing two games with a sprained left shoulder, Lawrence scrambled left on a second-and-7 play in the second quarter of Houston’s 23-20 win on Sunday. He initiated a slide before Al-Shaair raised his forearm and unleashed on the defenseless quarterback. In the long post, Al-Shaair says "To Trevor I genuinely apologize to you for what ended up happening.” Jets are sticking with struggling Aaron Rodgers as their starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers will remain the New York Jets’ starting quarterback despite speculation the team could bench him in what has been a disappointing season. Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said during a video call that he still believes Rodgers, who turned 41 on Monday, gives the Jets their best chance to win. Rodgers was 21 of 39 for 185 yards and touchdown passes to Davante Adams and Isaiah Davis but also had an interception returned 92 yards for a touchdown by Leonard Williams in the Jets’ 26-21 loss to Seattle on Sunday. Hall of Famer Randy Moss reveals he's 'battling something' internal and asks for prayers Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss revealed he’s dealing with a health issue and asked fans to pray for him and his family. The 47-year-old ESPN football analyst made the announcement on Instagram from the set of the network’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” show. He directed his message to men and urged them to get checkups and bloodwork done, without specifying for any particular illness. Moss explained why he’s been wearing tinted sunglasses, saying, “I’m battling something, man, and it’s something internal, your boy is going to get through it.” College playoff bracket offers last dress rehearsal and one more chance to see where the SEC stands The next set of College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday night under heavy scrutiny before the final bracket is set on Sunday. It will be one last chance to see just how much the selection committee loves the Southeastern Conference. The best gauge will be whether Miami, which suffered its second loss over the weekend, is placed behind any or all three SEC teams with three losses — Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina, all of which are coming off wins. Whatever happens, the SEC is likely to have at least five teams in the 12-team field when the final bracket comes out. Mollie Marcoux Samaan stepping down as LPGA commissioner after 3 1/2 years of record prize money Mollie Marcoux Samaan is leaving after more than three years as LPGA commissioner. In a surprise announcement Monday, Marcoux Samaan says she will step down in January, just three weeks before the LPGA starts its 75th season. Liz Moore is the chief legal and technology officer. She'll be serving as interim commissioner until a search committee can find a permanent replacement. Marcoux Samaan was the athletic director at Princeton when she took over the LPGA in May 2021. Prize money has soared during her tenure. She also has faced criticism for the LPGA not gaining in popularity during a rise in women's sports. Kansas holds off Auburn for No. 1 in AP Top 25 as SEC grabs 3 of top 4 spots; UConn slides to No. 25 Kansas continues to hold the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll. Auburn is pushing the Jayhawks in the latest poll after winning the Maui Invitational and checked in at No. 2. Two-time reigning national champion UConn nearly fell out entirely after an 0-3 week at Maui, falling from No. 2 to 25th. The Southeastern Conference had three of the top four teams with No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 Kentucky behind the Tigers. The poll featured six new teams, headlined by No. 13 Oregon, No. 16 Memphis and No. 18 Pittsburgh. TCU, Duke climb into top 10, Notre Dame drops in women's AP Top 25; UCLA and UConn remain 1-2 TCU has its best ranking ever in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll after a convincing win over Notre Dame. The Horned Frogs jumped eight spots to No. 9, the first time the school has ever been in the top 10. The Fighting Irish, who were third last week, fell seven spots to 10th after losses to TCU and Utah. UCLA remained No. 1, followed by UConn, South Carolina, Texas and LSU. USC, Maryland and Duke are next. USC QB Miller Moss enters transfer portal after losing starting job to Jayden Maiava LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California quarterback Miller Moss is entering the transfer portal after losing the Trojans’ starting job last month. Moss started the Trojans’ bowl victory last season and their first nine games this season before coach Lincoln Riley replaced him with Jayden Maiava in early November. Moss signed with USC before Riley arrived at the school. Moss also stayed after Caleb Williams transferred from Oklahoma to rejoin Riley, and he served as Williams’ backup for two seasons before getting his chance to play with six touchdown passes in last year’s Holiday Bowl. Michael Andretti's Formula 1 dream comes to bittersweet fruition without his involvement Michael Andretti has been sidelined from his namesake motorsports organization and won’t have any role with the Formula 1 program he spent the last four years desperately trying to launch. His effort to get a program partnered with General Motors into F1 was approved last week, a month after he stepped aside from his teams. F1’s decision to expand its grid for Cadillac F1 came amidst a federal antitrust investigation into why Liberty Media refused to admit Andretti Global and after Andretti partners Dan Towriss and Mark Walter claimed controlling interest of the fledgling effort. Ryan Poles to remain Bears general manager and lead search for new head coach LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears president Kevin Warren said Ryan Poles will remain the general manager and serve as the point person in the search for a head coach to replace the fired Matt Eberflus. He says Poles will have the “final say” if the two have differing opinions on who should get the job. Chicago had never fired a coach during a season. But a six-game losing streak marked by questionable coaching decisions spurred the founding NFL franchise to change course. The Bears let Eberflus go Friday and replaced him on an interim basis with offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to records Friday after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation . The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, just enough top the all-time high set on Wednesday, as it closed a third straight winning week in what looks to be one of its best years since the 2000 dot-com bust. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 123.19 points, or 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8% to set its own record. The quiet trading came after the latest jobs report came in mixed enough to strengthen traders’ expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again at its next meeting in two weeks. The report showed U.S. employers hired more workers than expected last month, but it also said the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%. “This print doesn’t kill the holiday spirit and the Fed remains on track to deliver a cut in December,” according to Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector investing within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The Fed has been easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high since September to offer more help for the slowing job market, after bringing inflation nearly all the way down to its 2% target. Lower interest rates can ease the brakes off the economy, but they can also offer more fuel for inflation. Expectations for a series of cuts from the Fed have been a major reason the S&P 500 has set an all-time high 57 times so far this year. And the Fed is part of a global surge: 62 central banks have lowered rates in the past three months, the most since 2020, according to Michael Hartnett and other strategists at Bank of America. Still, the jobs report may have included some notes of caution for Fed officials underneath the surface. Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, pointed to average wages for workers last month, which were a touch stronger than economists expected. While that’s good news for workers who would always like to make more, it could keep upward pressure on inflation. “This report tells the Fed that they still need to be careful as sticky housing/shelter/wage data shows that it won’t be easy to engineer meaningfully lower inflation from here in the nearer term,” Wren said. So, while traders are betting on an 85% probability the Fed will ease its main rate in two weeks, they’re much less certain about how many more cuts it will deliver next year, according to data from CME Group. For now, the hope is that the job market can help U.S. shoppers continue to spend and keep the U.S. economy out of a recession that had earlier seemed inevitable after the Fed began hiking interest rates swiftly to crush inflation. Several retailers offered encouragement after delivering better-than-expected results for the latest quarter. Ulta Beauty rallied 9% after topping expectations for both profit and revenue. The opening of new stores helped boost its revenue, and it raised the bottom end of its forecasted range for sales over this full year. Lululemon stretched 15.9% higher following its own profit report. It said stronger sales outside the United States helped it in particular, and its earnings topped analysts’ expectations. Retailers overall have been offering mixed signals on how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain amid the slowing job market and still-high prices. Target gave a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season, for example, while Walmart gave a much more encouraging outlook. A report on Friday suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers may be improving more than economists expected. The preliminary reading from the University of Michigan’s survey hit its highest level in seven months. The survey found a surge in buying for some products as consumers tried to get ahead of possible increases in price due to higher tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump has threatened. In tech, Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped 10.6% for one of the S&P 500’s larger gains after reporting stronger profit and revenue than expected. Tech stocks were some of the market’s strongest this week, as Salesforce and other big companies talked up how much of a boost they’re getting from the artificial-intelligence boom. All told, the S&P 500 rose 15.16 points to 6,090.27. The Dow dipped 123.19 to 44,642.52, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 159.05 to 19,859.77. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.15% from 4.18% late Thursday. In stock markets abroad, France’s CAC 40 rose 1.3% after French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to stay in office until the end of his term and to name a new prime minister within days. Earlier this week, far-right and left-wing lawmakers approved a no-confidence motion due to budget disputes, forcing Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his cabinet to resign. In Asia, stock indexes were mixed. They rallied 1.6% in Hong Kong and 1% in Shanghai ahead of an annual economic policy meeting scheduled for next week. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.6% as South Korea’s ruling party chief showed support for suspending the constitutional powers of President Yoon Suk Yeol after he declared martial law and then revoked that earlier this week. Yoon is facing calls to resign and may be impeached. Bitcoin was sitting near $101,500 after briefly bursting above $103,000 to a record the day before. AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh briefly addressed Diontae Johnson's future with the team during a Monday press conference.
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