The Sports Report: Dodgers want to keep Clayton Kershaw and Justin Turner

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

From Jack Harris: They are the two longest-tenured players on the Dodgers.

But as Major League Baseball’s offseason began in earnest Tuesday, kicking off with the league’s general manager meetings, the futures of Clayton Kershaw and Justin Turner remained in doubt.

Kershaw is a free agent for the second straight winter and appears once again likely to pick between a return to the Dodgers — who have until Thursday to decide whether to extend him a qualifying offer — or a homecoming with the Texas Rangers.

Turner, meanwhile, has a club option with the Dodgers worth $16 million for next season. The team has until Thursday to decide whether to pick it up, although the Dodgers also could explore the possibility of buying out Turner’s current deal (which would cost $2 million) and re-signing him at a lesser salary.

The one thing Andrew Friedman, the team’s president of baseball operations, made clear while talking to reporters Tuesday: The Dodgers hope both are back with the team next season — even if it’s currently unclear exactly how, or when, their situations will be resolved.

“It is a priority for him to come back,” Friedman said of Kershaw, “and we’ll figure that out.”

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

From J. Brady McCollough: USC and UCLA will settle the debate on the field Nov. 19 in the Rose Bowl, but, until that fateful Saturday in Pasadena, the weekly College Football Playoff rankings unveiling will have to suffice fanning the flames between the crosstown rivals.

And Tuesday’s second release of the CFP top 25 provided some pretty good fodder.

UCLA, despite winning by two touchdowns on the road at Arizona State without star running back Zach Charbonnet to improve to 8-1, stayed put at No. 12.

USC, despite giving up five touchdowns to a tepid California offense during a 41-35 win at the Coliseum, moved up one spot to No. 8, taking advantage of losses by Alabama and Clemson, which dropped to No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.

Last week, CFP selection committee chair Boo Corrigan said the group used its “football judgment” in placing the Bruins behind the Trojans. Corrigan, the athletic director at N.C. State, indicated that UCLA’s margin of defeat in its 45-30 loss at Oregon hurt the Bruins compared to the Trojans, who lost by just one point at Utah.

WORLD CUP

From Kevin Baxter: Landon Donovan was the young leader of a talented U.S. team that hadn’t won a World Cup game in eight years when he made his tournament debut in 2002.

That’s the same situation Christian Pulisic will face Nov. 21 when the U.S., which didn’t qualify for the last World Cup, opens play in this year’s tournament in Qatar.

And speaking from experience, Donovan said even Pulisic may not realize what he’s in for.

“I don’t think people can really understand how difficult the position he is in is,” Donovan said. “He’s depended on to sort of carry this team, meanwhile he’s never played in a World Cup. It’s really, really difficult.”

The pressure, Donovan said, can crush you or it can inspire you. Pulisic is taking the latter approach.

“I try embrace to it and use it positively. That pressure wouldn’t be there if people didn’t expect us to do great things,” he said. “There’s always pressure to do great and perform at the highest level every time you step onto the pitch.”

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When it comes to World Cup referees, FIFA is showing a red card to its old ways

ANGELS

From Sarah Valenzuela: Shohei Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, are focused on 2023. Anything beyond next season with the Angels continues to be just wait and see.

“We haven’t really given that a lot of thought because we are just focused on the one year, which we accomplished and that’s what we did,” Balelo of CAA said after being asked during the general manager meetings Tuesday whether they would be open to having extension discussions during spring training or in the middle of the season. “So to be honest with you, that’s our main focus.

“Now that we have that over and behind us, we’re comfortable with the one-year deal and we’re just going to kind of focus on that right now.”

KINGS

Gabe Vilardi scored his second consecutive game-winning goal, Jonathan Quick made 22 saves and the Kings defeated the Minnesota Wild 1-0 on Tuesday night.

Vilardi beat Marc-Andre Fleury between his legs on a one-timer from the high slot with 6:03 left.

That was all Quick needed as he posted his second shutout against the Wild and the 57th of his distinguished career. He is second among active goalies in shutouts.

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1912 — The lateral pass is used as an offensive weapon for the first time by Worcester Tech coach William F. Carney. Carney’s team beats Amherst 14-13.

1946 — Second-ranked Notre Dame fights to a 0-0 tie with No. 1 Army at Yankee Stadium to snap the Cadets’ 25-game winning streak. The Irish defense holds Army’s running backs Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis to a combined 79 yards.

1953 — The U.S. Supreme Court rules 7-2 that baseball is not subject to antitrust laws, maintaining the game is a sport, not a business.

1972 — John Bucyk of the Boston Bruins scores his 1,000th point with a goal in an 8-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

1984 — Larry Holmes scores a 12th-round technical knockout of Bonecrusher Smith to retain the IBF heavyweight title in Las Vegas.

1989 — The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Seattle SuperSonics 155-154 in five overtimes, matching the second-longest game in NBA history. The game is the longest game since the advent of the 24-second shot clock in 1954.

1991 — Marshall Faulk of San Diego State returns after missing three games due to injury and breaks the NCAA record for touchdowns by a freshman with his 20th in a 42-32 win over Colorado State.

1991 — Houston’s Roman Anderson becomes the first player in NCAA history to surpass 400 points by kicking a 32-yard field goal in the Cougars’ 23-14 victory over Texas.

1996 — Evander Holyfield pounds Mike Tyson into submission at 37 seconds of the 11th round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Las Vegas. Holyfield, a 7-1 underdog, becomes the second man to hold a piece of the heavyweight title three times.

2001 — Detroit’s Luc Robitaille scores in the first period against Anaheim, becoming the 13th player in NHL history to reach 600 career goals.

2005 — Carolina’s Erik Cole is the first player in NHL history to be awarded two penalty shots in one game. He scores on the first, helping the Hurricanes defeat Buffalo 5-3.

2011 — Joe Paterno is fired by the Penn State board of trustees despite saying he would retire as coach after the football season ended. Paterno is brought down by the growing furor over the handling of child sex abuse allegations against assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Penn State President Graham Spanier is also ousted.

2014 — Aaron Rodgers throws six touchdown passes to tie the Green Bay game record and match the NFL record for a half in a 55-14 rout of the Chicago Bears. Rodgers ties the NFL mark for TD passes in a half set by Oakland’s Daryle Lamonica in 1969.

2014 — Landon Donovan scores three goals and sets up Robbie Keane’s goal, propelling the Galaxy into the Western Conference finals with a 5-0 victory over Real Salt Lake.

2016 — Golden State makes 17-of-33 three-pointers in a 116-95 blowout of the Dallas Mavericks, with teammates Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green all making four apiece. The Warriors are the first team to have four players hit four three-point shots.

2021 — 105-year-old Julia Hawkins sets a world record as the first woman and first American her age to run 100 meters in the Louisiana Senior Olympic Games.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

105-year-old Julia Hawkins sets a record. Watch and listen here.