The Sports Report: Former USC Song Girls describe a toxic culture

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

Ryan Kartje on the USC Song Girls: Before she put on that iconic white sweater and saw for herself how the wholesome dreams it sold could turn to nightmares, Josie Bullen didn’t worry about her weight. She didn’t count calories or diet. She rarely, if ever, stepped on a scale.

All her life, she’d been a dancer, keenly aware of her body. Dancing was how she best expressed herself. “I was just so in love with dance,” Bullen says. “It was my entire life.”

When Bullen arrived at USC in 2017, the allure of extending her dancing dreams, of performing in stadiums to roaring fans, of wearing the pleated skirt, the red shoes and the white sweater — with all its stature and symbolism — naturally drew her to the Trojans’ prestigious spirit squad, the Song Girls.

Bullen auditioned that October. Just 13 women were chosen for USC’s 2018 Song Girl squad, 10 of them newcomers. She was among the select few. It felt like everything was falling into place.

But her experience with the Song Girls would turn out to be among the darkest and most distressing of her life. Within a year, she would seek intensive outpatient treatment for an eating disorder. Soon after, she stopped dancing altogether.

Bullen is one of 10 former Song Girls who described to The Times a toxic culture within the famed collegiate dance team that included longtime former coach Lori Nelson rebuking women publicly for their eating habits, personal appearance and sex lives.

Their stories spanning nearly a decade — supported by emails, text messages, the Song Girls contract and other Title IX investigation documents obtained by The Times — reveal a program that was largely unchecked by the university or Nelson, who former students said went to great lengths to uphold her own carefully crafted image of what a Song Girl should be.

All 10 of the women who spoke to The Times said Song Girls faced serious body image issues within the program that went beyond normal fitness required to be on a spirit squad. Three, including Bullen, said their experiences led to some form of eating disorder. Another recalled feeling so depressed she considered suicide.

Read the rest here.

DODGERS

Jorge Castillo on the Dodgers: The latest installment in the rivalry between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres, an intense feud that has routinely provided captivating thrills over the last week, came down to a roller-coaster eighth inning in the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

It began with the Padres mustering a run against reliever Blake Treinen on a double play to break a tie in the top of the inning.

Justin Turner then led off the bottom half for the Dodgers with a single off right-hander Nabil Crismatt. Will Smith followed with a flyball that landed down the left-field line, just beyond a diving Jurickson Profar’s reach. The ball was initially called foul, but the Dodgers challenged the play.

The video showed the ball bouncing off the chalk, leaving a brown spot behind, and into the seats. Smith was given a ground-rule double. The crowd roared as Turner and Smith jogged to their stations with no outs. It was the break the struggling Dodgers offense needed.

The Padres replaced Crismatt with left-hander Tim Hill to face the left-handed-hitting Max Muncy. He got Muncy to hit a groundball to second baseman Jake Cronenworth, who was drawn in, and Turner didn’t try scoring.

AJ Pollock then worked a 2-0 count before he was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up the double play. The strategy worked by a few inches.

Sheldon Neuse followed by smashing a 105-mph groundball to Cronenworth, who sprawled to somehow stop the ball on one hop. He recovered to underhand it to second base. Fernando Tatis Jr. corralled it, just kept his foot on the bag and whipped the ball to first base, where Eric Hosmer stretched just far enough to snatch it before Neuse’s foot hit the base.

LAKERS

Dan Woike on the Lakers: Anthony Davis walked off the floor. And even though his team was down, it was a monumental victory. Because Anthony Davis was able to walk off the floor.

Before Thursday, the last time Davis headed off an NBA court was in mid-February in Denver, the Lakers’ superstar big man walking with a limp, shaken up by what he had just felt.

One wrong step had Davis feeling a pain he’d never felt before, a ripping sensation bouncing up and down the back of his right leg. He knew it was bad. He could only hope that he’d be back.

Davis wasn’t sharp in his first game back after sitting out the last 30, making just two of 10 shots in part-time duty. But at least he was back — the Lakers perfectly comfortable with Davis easing himself back into action.

Still, it all made for some awkwardness — the Lakers having Davis for only the first half in a 115-110 loss Thursday in Dallas.

ANGELS

Jack Harris on the Angels: The Angels were facing a pitcher not exactly known for racking up strikeouts. They were facing a Houston Astros lineup amid a weeklong slump. They were trying to bounce back from a gut-wrenching defeat the day before.

Instead, they stumbled to their fifth loss in their last seven games.

In an 8-2 defeat at Minute Maid Park, the Angels saw few things go right. They recorded just eight hits and struck out 15 times, including eight through the first three innings against Astros starter Cristian Javier. Their own starter, Alex Cobb, lasted just 2 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs (four earned) with six hits, three walks and four strikeouts.

Worst of all, Mike Trout left the game in the fifth inning with a left elbow contusion after getting hit by a pitch the inning before.

Luckily for the Angels, it doesn’t seem as though Trout’s injury is serious. Manager Joe Maddon said he thinks Trout should be able to play Friday. Trout said his bruised elbow was already getting better.

LAFC

Kevin Baxter on LAFC: LAFC is the first team in MLS history to start a season with back-to-back Golden Boot winners on its roster. Now if it could only start a game with both of them in the lineup.

Carlos Vela, who broke the MLS single-season scoring record in 2019, and Diego Rossi, last year’s scoring leader, have started just four MLS games together in the last 18 months. And that number is unlikely to change Saturday afternoon when LAFC faces the Seattle Sounders at Banc of California Stadium.

LAFC coach Bob Bradley said Thursday that Vela has not participated in full training since coming out of last Saturday’s 2-0 win over Austin FC midway through the first half with a muscle injury in his right thigh. Rossi is still slowed by the left hamstring injury that kept him out of that game.

Defender Kim Moon-hwan, who also missed the opener with Austin because of a knee injury, could see limited time Saturday in what would be his MLS debut.

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1903 — The New York Highlanders, later renamed Yankees, win their first game as a major league team, 7-2 over the Washington Senators.

1946 — Ed Head of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitches a no-hitter against the Boston Braves 5-0 at Ebbets Field.

1950 — The Detroit Red Wings edge the New York Rangers 4-3 in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup.

1950 — The Minneapolis Lakers become the first team to win back-to-back NBA championships by defeating the Syracuse Nationals 110-95 in Game 6 of the finals. George Mikan leads the Lakers with 40 points in a game marred by three fights, four Minneapolis players fouling out, and Nats coach Al Cervi being ejected for complaining too vociferously about a call.

1954 — The NBA adopts the 24-second shot clock.

1969 — Jerry West scores 53 points to lead the Lakers over Boston 120-118 in the opening game of the NBA finals.

1993 — The Dallas Mavericks avoid matching the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers as the worst team in NBA history, beating Minnesota 103-100 for their 10th triumph of the season.

1993 — Orlando’s Nick Anderson scores 50 points in the Magic’s 119-116 win over the New Jersey Nets at The Meadowlands. Anderson’s feat is overshadowed by Shaquille O’Neal, who rips down the backboard in the first quarter, delaying the game 45 minutes.

1999 — Fernando Tatis hits two grand slams in one inning to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 12-5 win over the Dodgers. Tatis becomes the first player in major league history to hit two grand slams in one inning and set the record with eight RBIs in an inning.

2002 — Brent Johnson of the St. Louis Blues ties an NHL record with three straight shutouts in the playoffs. That had not happened in 57 years. Johnson reaches the milestone with a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

2008 — The Chicago Cubs win their 10,000th game, joining the Giants as the only franchise to reach that mark with a 7-6 victory in 10 innings at Colorado.

2011 — The Portland Trail Blazers rally from 23 points down in the second half, including an 18-point deficit to start the fourth quarter to defeat Dallas 84-82 and tie the first-round series at 2-2. Portland’s Brandon Roy scores 18 in the fourth quarter, including a 4-point play and the go ahead jumper with 39 seconds left. Roy outscores Dallas 18-15 in the quarter.

2017 — Kenyan runner Mary Keitany breaks Paula Radcliffe’s women-only marathon world record with a third victory in London. Keitany completes the 26.2-mile course in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 1 second to shave 41 seconds off Radcliffe’s 12-year-old mark.

And finally

Fernando Tatis hits two grand slams in one inning. Watch it here.