ARLINGTON, Texas -- Maybe Landon Donovan was right after all. Maybe he really did need a three-month winter vacation to take his game to a higher level.

We’ll never know for sure what would have happened had he not taken a break this year to restore his passion for soccer. But we do know that, after he did, he’s come back playing as well as he has at any time in his career.

And that’s saying something considering he went into his sabbatical as arguably the greatest player in U.S. soccer history.

Donovan was at his most dominant Wednesday, scoring twice and adding an assist to lead the U.S. to a 3-1 dismantling of Honduras in a Gold Cup semifinal at a packed Cowboys Stadium. The victory extends the Americans’ win streak to a record 10 matches and sends them on to Sunday’s title game in Chicago against the winner of Wednesday’s second semifinal between Panama and Mexico.

The U.S. may have gotten there without Donovan; it was clearly the dominant team in...

Orlando Cruz was in the middle of training for his world featherweight title fight Tuesday when he heard of Emile Griffith’s death.

Cruz, who announced he was gay last year, had previously attempted to meet personally with the ailing former world welterweight and middleweight champion who died at age 75 Tuesday in New York.

Griffith struggled for years over questions about his sexuality, and was taunted viciously by 1962 opponent Benny Paret. Griffith unloaded repeated unanswered punches on Paret in their Madison Square Garden fight, and Paret died of brain injuries days later.

“I wanted to see Griffifth after my last fight,” in March, “but my grandma died and I missed him,” Cruz told the Times on Wednesday in a telephone call from Florida. “I’m very sad for his loss.

“Griffith meant a lot to me. When he was alive, things didn’t get as far for gay people who wanted to come out in the open. Still, he was very brave and had much...

The Angels have removed Joe Blanton from their starting rotation, moving the pitcher who leads the major leagues in losses into their bullpen.

Garrett Richards will replace Blanton in the rotation, starting with Saturday’s game against the first-place Oakland Athletics. Richards has started four games this season -- the last one a 10-6 loss to Oakland on April 30 -- and has been in the Angels’ bullpen since then.

Blanton, 32, is 2-13 with a 5.66 earned-run average. No major league pitcher has given up more hits, runs or home runs.

He is under contract for $6.5 million this season and $7.5 million next season, with a  $1-million buyout
guaranteed for the 2015 season.

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia met with General Manager Jerry Dipoto and pitching coach Mike Butcher to discuss the team’s pitching situation Wednesday morning, after which Blanton was informed of the decision to remove him from the rotation.

Scioscia said there is no timetable for Blanton to return to the...

Tim Salmon, whose career coincided with the height of the steroid era, said Wednesday he is delighted that the current generation of players has risen up and spoken up against the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

“What I’m really proud of in our game right now,” Salmon said, “is the groundswell of players taking a stand and saying they’re frustrated with the situation.”

Salmon, the Angels’ franchise leader in home runs, spent his entire career (1992-2006) in Anaheim. He said players often would suspect steroid use among their peers but would be reluctant to confront anyone based on, say, “big muscles coming out of his neck.”

Said Salmon: “It was all kind of hearsay. We didn’t have the proof and the evidence these guys have today.”

That was largely because the players’ union resisted drug testing -- in part, union leaders said then, because there was no proof steroids were rampant. The testing that would...

Sylvester Stallone announced on his Twitter account that Ultimate Fighting Championship star Ronda Rousey and former welterweight boxing champion Victor Ortiz will appear in the third “The Expendables” film.

Rousey, scheduled to defend her women’s bantamweight belt for the second time Dec. 28 against Miesha Tate, reportedly signed with the talent agency William Morris  this year.

Ortiz, who hasn’t fought since getting his jaw broken in a June 2012 loss to Josesito Lopez at Staples Center, recently performed on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.”

“Expendables 3” is aiming for an August 2014 release, according to IMDB. The series has starred Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Jackie Chan, Dolph Lundgren, former UFC champion Randy Couture and Steven Seagal in the past.

The franchise has generated more than $180 million in ticket sales.

UFC President Dana White, who previously decried UFC fighter Quinton “...

Jered Weaver outpitched Mike Pelfrey with eight innings of two-hit ball and Albert Pujols drove in the only run, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 1-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.

Weaver (5-5) struck out nine and walked one in his first home start against the Twins since his no-hitter on May 2, 2012. The three-time All-Star right-hander retired 19 consecutive batters during one stretch — just four days after teammate C.J. Wilson set down 18 in a row during his 2-0 win against Oakland.

Weaver improved to 8-2 lifetime against the Twins with a 3.28 ERA. Doug Bernier, a 33-year-old rookie who got his first major league hit and RBI in Minnesota's 4-3 win on Monday, singled on an 0-2 pitch with one out in the first. The Twins didn't get another baserunner until Ryan Doumit walked on four pitches with two out in the seventh, and rookie Aaron Hicks singled with two out in the eighth.

BOX SCORE: Angels 1, Minnesota 0

Ernesto Frieri got three outs for his 25th save in 27...

Get ready for the new BCS (Bottom Championship Series).

Washington State Coach Mike Leach, speaking to ESPN on Wednesday during the Pac 12 coaches' eastern media swing, stated: "The bottom half of the Pac-12 is better than the bottom half of the SEC."

Well, throw down that gauntlet.

It's an interesting argument, sort of like Ford saying saying years ago its worst cars are better than clunkers spit out by Chevrolet (Pinto vs. Vega, which one do you take?).

Technically, overall, USC at 7-6 finished tied for seventh in the Pac 12 so I'd probably have to give the Trojans the nod over a Kentucky or Auburn.

Since the Pac 12 has two fewer teams that the SEC, let's use the bottom six of each based on last year's league standings:

Colorado (1-8) vs. Kentucky (0-8).

Boy, there are not many programs worse than Colorado right now. Winner: Kentucky.

Washington State (1-8) vs. Auburn (0-8).

Hot dog, this game is actually being played Aug. 31 at Auburn: Winner: Auburn.

(I'd have taken Washington...

New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick broke his silence on the Aaron Hernandez situation Wednesday, calling it “really a sad day on so many levels. But the coach repeatedly declined to say anything specific about Hernandez, the former star tight end for the Patriots now facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of Odin Lloyd.

“A young man lost his life,” Belichick said, addressing the media on the first day of training camp. “His family has suffered a tragic loss and there’s no way to understate that.”

Belichick, who was out of the country when Hernandez was arrested, defended the way the franchise evaluates prospects. That issue is significant because many people outside the organization saw red flags in the case of Hernandez, who was widely regarded as a first-round talent who slipped to the fourth round because of character concerns.

“Our players are generally highly motivated and gifted athletes,” Belichick said. “...

Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer took the witness stand, I mean the podium, at Wednesday's Big Ten media day to defend himself and his last two programs.

Life should be good for a coach coming off a 12-0 season as he enters a season in which is team is one of the favorites for the last Bowl Championship Series championship.

Meyer, though, has faced an off-season of scrutiny on a myriad of issues. The biggest, by far, was the arrest of former Florida star Aaron Hernandez on murder charges. Hernandez played for Meyer in Gainesville, Fla. Meyer was also accused by Florida of turning in his former school for secondary NCAA violations.

He also has had to deal with other off-field issues involving his Ohio State Buckeyes.

Meyer, entering his second season in Columbus, was asked how he viewed his own reputation.

"I guess a reputation is what others think of you," Meyer responded.

And there lies the crux. Meyer has openly espoused discipline in college football and criticized the ills of the...

Chivas USA issued a news release Wednesday defending the club's ethnic mix and expressing disappointment over those who would criticize it.

Only problem was, the release never said who was criticizing the team and why.

A team spokeswoman later confirmed that the statement was issued in response to a Tuesday segment on HBO's "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel" that focused on a lawsuit that two former Chivas coaches had filed against the team claiming discrimination and wrongful termination.

The coaches, Daniel Calichman and Theothoros Chronopoulos, charged the team with racism, claiming they were fired in March partly because they were not Latino and did not speak Spanish.

"One of the biggest strengths we have at Chivas USA is the talented and dedicated employees that make up our community, in which diversity prevails by having different nationalities, cultures and beliefs," the release began. "Therefore, we are disappointed by the intend [sic] of some individuals who have chosen to use...

The Angels claimed right-handed reliever J.C. Gutierrez on waivers from the Kansas City Royals, giving them another bullpen option.

Gutierrez, 30, had a 3.38 earned-run average in 25 appearances in Kansas City. The Royals designated him for assignment last week.

Gutierrez underwent Tommy John surgery in 2011. This is his first full season since the surgery.

Gutierrez has a 4.58 ERA in 175 career appearances, most of them for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2009-11. Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto was a Diamondbacks executive then, including a short stint in 2010 as interim general manager.

The Angels made no immediate announcement of a roster move Wednesday, but Gutierrez is out of options.

ALSO:

Another chance missed for Angels in 10-3 loss

When Ryan Braun returns, can he duplicate past success?

Don't let Joe Blanton into the 20-loss club; he's not good enough

Tennessee Titans rookie Jonathan Willard was driving to his first NFL training camp Tuesday when he noticed something wrong up ahead.

“I saw this car in front of me, and it had all kinds of black smoke coming out of it,” the former Clemson star  told TigerNet that night. “I tried to speed up and get up next to the car to let them know the car was on fire.”

By the time the car pulled over, Willard said, it was in flames. The undrafted free-agent signee said he and another man got three children and their dog to safety before finally persuading the kids' mother to leave the vehicle.

“The driver, she acted like she was in some kind of daze or something," Willard said. "She told me that she didn’t stop because she didn’t think it was her car that was on fire."

But when it was all over, the player said she couldn't have been more grateful.

“She just kept thanking me,” said Willard, who tweeted a photo of the engulfed car producing...