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Sports

Aaron Donald gets a reported $40 million raise to stay with the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams

LOS ANGELES — All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald is getting a big raise to stay with the Los Angeles Rams under a reworked contract through 2024.The Super Bowl champion Rams announced Donald’s return Monday. The team didn’t disclose terms of the new deal, but NFL Network reported Donald is getting a $40 million raise that will make him the highest-paid defensive player in the league.AdvertisementDonald was already under contract for $55 million over the next three seasons, but he openly contemplated retirement after he won his first ring in February. The Rams realized Donald deserved a hefty raise, and he will get $65 million guaranteed in the next two seasons.The deal means the seven-time All-Pro will be back to torment offenses for the Rams, who will be among the Super Bowl favorites again in the upcoming season. They already signed quarterback Matthew Stafford to a contract extension during the offseason, and the rest of the team’s championship core is largely intact.AdvertisementThe 31-year-old Donald has stayed at home in Pittsburgh during the Rams’ offseason workout programs, but he is expected to attend when the team opens its mandatory minicamp Tuesday.Donald is widely considered the most dominant defensive player in the sport, and he demonstrated his power again last season. He capped four excellent postseason games by making the final defensive play to stop the last drive by the Rams opponents in both the NFC title game and the Super Bowl.Donald finished the regular season with a career-high 84 tackles and 12½ sacks, his fifth straight season in double digits. He also became the Rams franchise leader in career sacks while earning his eighth consecutive Pro Bowl selection.He is a three-time winner of the AP’s Defensive Player of the Year award, claiming it in 2017, 2018 and 2020.

Sports

A penalty kick and a post: Lewis recruit Mariana Pinto reflects on Benet’s second-place finish in Class 2A. ‘What we’ve done is amazing.’

At a time when tears would have been understandable, Benet’s Mariana Pinto was all smiles.The senior forward’s sunny disposition was on full display as the Redwings accepted their medals and the Class 2A second-place trophy at North Central College in Naperville.AdvertisementThe Lewis-bound Pinto, so reliable in leading Benet in scoring and assists this spring, got the Redwings to the brink of their second state championship in three seasons.But her potential game-tying penalty kick hit the left post with 4:17 remaining in the second half Saturday and defending state champion Troy Triad hung on for a 1-0 win.AdvertisementBenet’s Mariana Pinto (10) takes a penelty kick in the second half during the Class 2A state championship game at at North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville on Saturday, June 4, 2022 (H. Rick Bamman / Naperville Sun)“That’s the way soccer works,” Pinto said. “The greatest players miss their moments or they make history, so it’s all a part of the game.“What we’ve done is amazing, so there’s no reason to be sad.”There was no reason to think Pinto, who finished the season with 25 goals and 13 assists, wouldn’t come through when senior midfielder Katie Lewellyan was knocked down in the box for Benet (22-5).Lewellyan was the only remaining player from the 2019 state title game for the Redwings, who scored the tying goal with 1:46 left in regulation before beating Wauconda 2-1 in overtime.Was she thinking of that moment when she got fouled?“Yeah, I was,” Lewellyan said.Benet’s Keira Petrucelli (9) takes a shot in front of Troy Triad’s Macy Mell (11) during the Class 2A state championship game at at North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville on Saturday, June 4, 2022 (H. Rick Bamman / Naperville Sun)Triad goalkeeper Reagan Chigas guessed wrong on Pinto’s shot, but the ball struck the left post.Junior forward Anna Casmere actually beat a defender to the rebound for the Redwings but missed a shot wide under pressure.AdvertisementBenet coach Gerard Oconer was as shocked as everyone else about the near-miss.“She’s made all of her penalty kicks throughout the entire season, our leading goal scorer, so you have every confidence that she’s going to make it,” Oconer said of Pinto. “That’s just the cruelty of the game sometimes.“You need a little bit of luck. In 2019, we had that little bit of luck and unfortunately (Saturday) we just didn’t.”Triad (25-1) had nearly no luck against Benet’s defense of Annastacia Thiel, Sadie Sterbenz, Nora Hanson and Bailey Abbott.Benet’s Reese MacDonald reacts to a penalty against Troy Triad during the Class 2A state championship game at at North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville on Saturday, June 4, 2022 (H. Rick Bamman / Naperville Sun)The Knights, who have won 49 of their last 50 games since losing to Benet in the 2019 state semifinals, mustered only three shots.But Maryville-bound senior Gina Catanzaro made a steal and scored on a 25-yard shot at the 22:33 mark of the second half.AdvertisementThe Redwings had two scoring chances after that. Pinto missed a 26-yard free kick just over the crossbar with 9:00 remaining. Then came the penalty kick.“At the end of the day, it is OK,” Lewellyan said. “Mariana had a great shot — was just unlucky to hit the post. There was nothing else she could have done.”Naperville SunTwice-weeklyNews updates from the Naperville area delivered every Monday and WednesdayThere also was little more the Redwings, who had a 13-game winning streak snapped, could have accomplished this season.Their previous four losses were one-goal decisions to Class 3A opponents, including state champion Metea Valley.Benet’s Mariana Pinto (10) heads the ball in front of Troy Triad’s Jackie Barkus (6) during the Class 2A state championship game at at North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville on Saturday, June 4, 2022 (H. Rick Bamman / Naperville Sun)“I’m just so proud of the way they’ve continued our strong tradition,” Oconer said. “There were a lot of expectations coming into this season after finishing last year with an undefeated regular season and making it to a sectional final in 3A.“Obviously, moving down to 2A gives you a really good opportunity to win. I told the girls that after starting our season 2-2, you could have gone another direction, but we had the resolve to turn things around.”AdvertisementThey did it despite having only four seniors. Pinto and Lewellyan led them to within inches of the top.“We had such a new group I don’t think we realized we could work together so well,” Pinto said. “But the way we did do that is incredible, and I’m super proud of everyone.”Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.

Sports

Phil Mickelson the latest golfer to sign up for the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational — ending his 4-month hiatus

LONDON — Phil Mickelson, a chief recruiter for a Saudi-funded rival league to the PGA Tour, is ending his four-month hiatus by adding his name to the 48-man field for the LIV Golf Invitational that starts Friday outside London.Mickelson will be joining Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and three other former major champions in a 54-hole tournament at Centurion Golf Club with $25 million in prize money and $4 million going to the individual winner.Advertisement“I am ready to come back to play the game I love but after 32 years this new path is a fresh start, one that is exciting for me at this stage of my career,” Mickelson said in a statement posted on social media.Mickelson also said he would be playing the last two majors, starting June 16 in the U.S. Open at The Country Club outside Boston.AdvertisementHe said the “transformative” new league would allow him to focus on a healthier approach to life on and off the course. Mickelson did not mention the signing fee, which is likely to be every bit of the $125 million or more reportedly paid to Johnson.It will be Mickelson’s first time playing since Feb. 6 at the Saudi International, where he first began to draw attention to how he was leaning when he accused the PGA Tour of “obnoxious greed” in an interview with Golf Digest.Two weeks later, Alan Shipnuck published excerpts from his unauthorized biography on Mickelson in which the six-time major champion acknowledged Saudi Arabia’s human rights atrocities, including the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, but said it was worth getting involved if it meant getting leverage to make changes on the PGA Tour.Mickelson also said he and three other top players paid attorneys to write the operating agreement of the new league. He apologized for what he said were reckless comments, without mentioning the PGA Tour.But then he was out of view for four months, skipping the Masters and the PGA Championship, which he had won the year before at age 50 to become the oldest major champion in history.Mickelson apologized again in Monday’s statement, adding that he “empathizes” with those who disagree with his decision to leave the PGA Tour for a league funded primarily by the Public Investment Fund in Saudi Arabia.“His contributions to the sport and connection to fans around the globe cannot be overstated and we are grateful to have him,” said Greg Norman, the CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf Investments. “He strengthens an exciting field for London where we’re proud to launch a new era for golf.”The PGA Tour did not grant releases for any of its 14 members who have signed up for the rival series, a list that also includes Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer and Charl Schwartzel.AdvertisementFive other players from the Asian Tour were added as exemptions.Even as Mickelson was the leader in trying to get players to join, his name was left off the original field list that was released on Tuesday. The Daily Telegraph reported Johnson, at No. 15 the highest-ranked player in the world, received upward of $125 million to join.The decision likely means the end of Mickelson’s career on the PGA Tour as players who defect are likely to face suspensions for violating tour regulations by playing overseas without a release.Mickelson has 45 career PGA Tour victories and has amassed nearly $100 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. He won his first tour event in 1991 when he was an amateur at Arizona State and his most recent title last year at the PGA.The LIV Golf Invitational is the first of eight such tournaments, with five of them scheduled for the United States, two of them on courses owned by former President Donald Trump.At least six players in the field already have resigned their PGA Tour memberships. Kevin Na announced his decision on social media. The manager for Garcia, Oosthuizen, Schwartzel and Branden Grace said they have resigned, too.AdvertisementAs much as he was promoting a new concept, Mickelson appeared to be the one who caused the Saudi league to lose momentum with his interviews in February that disparaged the Saudis (“scary mother-(expletives)”) and the PGA Tour (“A dictatorship. They divide and conquer.”)All the top players — including Johnson — pledged their support for the PGA Tour. Johnson later changed his mind.