Two weeks ago, Donovan Mitchell looked unlikely to make the Team USA roster for September’s FIBA World Cup.

Mitchell ranked fourth or fifth among Team USA shooting guards in terms of experience, behind Houston’s James Harden and Eric Gordon, Washington’s Bradley Beal, and Portland’s C.J. McCollum. If the 22-year-old Jazzman was to make the 12-man squad, it needed to be on the back of his defensive efforts as a role player.

“The thing that we’re looking for is defense, and he has the ability to be a real factor,” Team USA Jerry Colangelo said then. "That could be the best way for him to make a roster spot, is to play incredible defense.”

But then, in a hurry, everything changed. Over the course of a few days, every single shooting guard on the roster ahead of Mitchell pulled out of the competition. Harden said he wanted to “spend the remainder of the offseason to focus on preparing for the retooled Rockets.” Gordon followed suit with his Houston teammate, and McCollum chose to do the same for Portland. Meanwhile, Beal will miss the tournament due to the expected birth of his child.

The upshot? Mitchell now looks like the expected starter for Team USA at the shooting guard spot, as training camp opens in Las Vegas on Monday. Daily practices will try to get USA’s team gelling as they ramp up for international basketball’s second-biggest tournament behind the Olympics, including a televised scrimmage game on Friday.

The two-guard isn’t the only weaker-than-expected position for USA Basketball, though. Other stars that have withdrawn from the competition include Portland’s Damian Lillard, Los Angeles’ Anthony Davis, Philadelphia’s Tobias Harris, Cleveland’s Kevin Love, Detroit’s Andre Drummond, Denver’s Paul Millsap, and even role players like the Clippers’ Montrezl Harrell and New Orleans’ J.J. Redick. Meanwhile, elite players like LeBron James, DeMar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Karl Anthony-Towns and others rejected invites earlier in the process, skipping withdrawal entirely.

Instead, Team USA figures to be headlined by backcourt players Kemba Walker and Mitchell carrying the scoring load, with Kyle Lowry — returning mid-camp from a thumb surgery — and Marcus Smart behind them. The bigger wing candidates are headlined by Khris Middleton, Jaylen Brown, and P.J. Tucker, while Harrison Barnes, Thaddeus Young, Kyle Kuzma, Julius Randle compete for spots at the four. The team also has to choose between some internationally-unproven centers: Myles Turner, Bam Adebayo, and Mason Plumlee.

Of those on the roster, there’s only one player who made one of the 15 All-NBA slots: Walker. Only Walker and Khris Middleton were named as All-Stars, and only Walker, Mitchell, and Randle scored over 20 points per game in the NBA last season. Colangelo, though, says he isn’t worried about the overall level of Team USA:

“I think we’re going to be fine,” Colangelo told the New York Times. "Out of this — I don’t want to call it adversity — out of these circumstances comes opportunity for the young guys. Some young guys who I think are ready to bust out.”

Mitchell isn’t the only Jazzman who will start in the FIBA World Cup. Rudy Gobert, of course, figures to start and play a huge role for France, while Joe Ingles will be a big part of Team Australia, the “Boomers," as Australians call their national basketball team. Miye Oni was also named to Nigeria’s 44-man preliminary roster list. Bojan Bogdanovic won’t participate for Croatia because they failed to qualify for the event.

But Gobert and Ingles too will be leading somewhat weakened squads. Dante Exum won’t play for Australia due to the knee injury he’s still recovering from — though he is expected to be ready by the start of the Jazz’s training camp. Ben Simmons is also out for Australia, as are NBAers Thon Maker and Ryan Broekhoff. France hasn’t had as many withdrawals, but still is without some of its signature figures: Tony Parker and Boris Diaw are gone after retirement, big men Ian Mahinmi and Joakim Noah aren’t on the roster, and Joffrey Lauvergne is injured.

There should also be plenty of Jazz-on-Jazz battles to watch down the stretch of games. Team USA plays two separate exhibition games against Australia in Melbourne on August 22 and 24, pitting Mitchell and Ingles against each other. Then, once the event actually begins in China on August 31, Australia and France look poised for a critical matchup at the end of the competition’s group phase, for either seeding or qualification to the knockout tournament.

USA Basketball is certainly still favored in the knockout stages, but anything is possible there. Mitchell has faced the bright lights of the NBA Playoffs before, but this summer, he figures now to have an opportunity to show he can carry a load on an international stage.

Spirits were soaring, and Tyler Huntley had no doubt. No burden of doubt. He was bursting with confidence, cocksure that the Utah offense, under his direction, was on its way to not just being adequate, no, no, no, no, it would be absolutely all-fired awesome. He was convinced of it.

Asked to rate the upcoming Ute offense on a scale from zero-to-10, 10 being most explosive, zero being what everyone around here had come to expect from a Utah attack whose primary task had seemed in the ragged past to be protecting the defense, not putting it in tough spots, he answered like this:

“We’re going to be a 10. We’re not going to be just Pac-12 explosive, we’re going to be nation-wide explosive. When you turn on SportsCenter, you’re going to see the Utah Utes on there.”

That wasn’t at practice yesterday.

It was after a spring scrimmage in April, 2016, back before Huntley had ever played in a game for the Utes. He was a skinny freshman then, one of three quarterbacks trying to win the starting job.

And yet, he had the swagger, the bravado, the bearing of a senior QB who already had been crowned.

That’s what and where he is today, three seasons later, two of those spent as the starter, on the threshold of commencing his final go-round at leading the lesser half of Utah football. And he’s as sure now as he ever was that the Utes are on the edge of something big, something memorable, something worth watching, and that the offense will not drag anchor on a defense that is projected to be one of the program’s all-time best.

Thus far at his last preseason camp, Huntley has stressed that he’s learned — and determined to follow — the demands and instruction of new offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig, that he intends on being a complete quarterback, a maestro, not a singular trumpet player in the brass section, not one who too often hears only his own music inside his head, depending on his own athletic ability to churn yardage.

That mental aspect of truly leading an offense, even one that’s bound to run the ball more than pass it, is a big deal for Huntley. He plans on showing his maturity, his command of the attack in its entirety, getting the ball where it’s supposed to go — whether that means simply handing it off to Zack Moss or lining up under center, initiating play-action and firing spirals to Britain Covey, Bryan Thompson and Samson Nacua. He aims to freely spread the ball around, finding balance in an offense that may not be equal in the aforementioned run-pass ratio, but rather will pose a threat to hit any and all quadrants on the field.

Whether the Utes pass the ball a lot or a little, especially the latter, the veteran will have to be efficient, completing pass plays and extending drives on, say, 3rd and five, after run attempts are sniffed out by defenses and stopped.

To do that, Huntley is fully aware he must read and recognize situations properly, make his way through his progressions, and on occasion still utilize his athleticism to keep defenses guessing.

As for that last part, Huntley said he has put on 25 pounds — and he wants to put on five more — since his injury last season, one that interrupted his previous ascent, with the goal of staying healthy and making more plays.

“It makes me more durable,” he said. “You can take more hits.”

Asked if those gains have impeded his quickness and elusiveness, obvious positive qualities in his game, Huntley said: “I’m not going to lose that.”

Instead, he said he’s going to “continue to eat.”

“I started eating four full meals before noon every day. I’m pretty tired of it. [But] I wanted to get ready for my senior year and end it off right. I feel strong.”

It’s early, but he’s looked strong, too.

“It’s always easy to just come out here and work,” he said. “That’s what we plan on doing every day.”

The lofty expectations for this Utah team — picked as it is to win the Pac-12 — will be fulfilled only if contributions come from all corners. That’s a given. But no corner is more important than the one that touches the ball on every offensive play, every offensive possession.

Making correct decisions will be every bit as significant as the escapability and the arm strength of a quarterback who already could fling passes deep before he started waking up in the middle of the night to pound a couple of protein shakes.

It will be meaningful to the Utes for Huntley to stay healthy this season — even with a capable backup in Jason Shelley — with the intent to keep the offense consistent. It’s been a while, tracing back to when Brian Johnson ran the show, since Utah has had the kind of commander on the field with the presence to guide it when that was all that was necessary and rescue it when that was called for.

It’s Huntley’s opportunity this season to be and do that for a team that has the capacity, if fully realized, to achieve something extraordinary, to be seen on SportsCenter, spirits soaring, winning games and, ultimately, lifting a Pac-12 championship trophy.

GORDON MONSON hosts “The Big Show” with Jake Scott weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone.

A 9-year-old Idaho girl has died after falling out of a tree and getting impaled in the head by a steel bar, her family said Friday.

Shaylyn Bergeson was playing in her backyard Monday near the city of Rexburg when she fell, Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries said. Officers found the girl unconscious under a tree near the family's home after a piece of steel poking out of the ground impaled her. The girl was airlifted a hospital in Utah, where she underwent surgery.

Shaylyn died Thursday evening at a hospital in Utah, said her mother Jesi Bergeson.

Bergeson said the energetic little girl loved to jump rope and do gymnastics. She joked to her parents that her talents would take them to jump rope competitions around the world one day. Shaylyn also loved arts and crafts, especially projects involving glitter, Bergeson said. They recently banned glitter from the house, she joked.

Shaylyn was a very active child, she added, who enjoyed riding her first mountain bike on country roads and climbing up trees.

"She loved everything and everyone," Bergeson said. "She's had more positive life experiences than some people do in 80 years of living."

Bergeson said she and Shaylyn had spoken a few months ago about organ donation. Shaylyn told her mother that she wanted to donate her organs if she ever passed away.

When she died Thursday evening, Bergeson said they were able to donate her liver, kidneys, heart valves and other body parts to patients in need.

“It just speaks to her giving nature,” she said.

Looking through the medical chart in the emergency department, it was clear before even seeing her that Ms. C would be admitted to the hospital today. Her blood sugar was four times the normal value, and her blood tests were starting to show signs of diabetic ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition that arises when the body does not have adequate insulin to usher carbohydrates into its cells.

As I entered her room she looked up with a tired smile. I learned that she had lost her insurance two months ago when she was laid off from her job. Without health insurance, the cost of her insulin — a drug that has been in use for nearly 100 years and costs pennies to make — had skyrocketed to over $200 per month. Unable to afford her medications and still provide for her two children, she had been giving herself just half of her prescribed dose in order to stretch out her remaining supply.

Now uninsured, she was unable to make an appointment with her primary care doctor when the tale-tell symptoms of high blood sugar developed, and she had no choice but to come to the emergency room. Her greatest concern was that she would lose the part-time job she had just acquired if she had a prolonged hospital stay.

Stories like Ms. C’s play out in emergency departments across the state and the nation every day, disrupting lives, harming people and costing our health care systems vast sums of money. In Ms. C’s case, her hospital admission would likely cost thousands of dollars (not counting the societal cost of missed days of work and school for her and her children) and could have been prevented had she been able to access a few dollars’ worth of her prescribed insulin.

More discouraging still, Ms. C had no means to acquire health insurance before her hospital discharge, setting her up for a tumultuous pattern of emergency department visits and hospital readmissions as she was no longer able to access the necessary resources to manage her diabetes.

For many people caught in this chaotic cycle, holding a job is nearly impossible. Stable health has to come before other societal roles can be filled. That is why the backwards logic of Medicaid work requirements, based on a harmful myth that Medicaid recipients are lazy and unwilling to work, stands to cause great harm if enacted in our state.

Indeed, we just need to look at last year’s catastrophic experiment with work requirements in Arkansas for a preview. The program cut off insurance benefits from thousands of Arkansas’s Medicaid recipients — many of whom were meeting the work requirement and were simply confused about how to do the required reporting — before ultimately getting stymied in the federal courts. Yet, with no infrastructure to help people re-enroll, the majority of those affected remain without insurance, especially in rural areas. There were no winners, just failed policy causing human suffering.

Yet as Utah lawmakers regroup in the wake of SB96’s rejection at the federal level, they have expressed intent to continue pursuing work requirements and other unproven barriers to insurance access for Utah’s most vulnerable groups.

As a physician who is privy to the immense societal costs and personal harms that arise from being uninsured, unrestricted Medicaid expansion is an obvious choice. We know that it improves the health of communities, reduces health care spending at the state level and reduces health disparities by looking at rigorous studies from over 30 other diverse states that have gone before us.

We also know that experiments with restricting access such as Arkansas’ work requirement mandate have failed, hurting people along the way.

As we move on to the Legislature’s first contingency plan for implementation of Medicaid expansion in Utah, we need to again make sure our voices are heard loud and clear: Good health and compassion are priorities for Utahns, without restriction.

Michael Incze, M.D., MSEd, is a a member of the faculty at the University of Utah School of Medicine and a primary care physician at the University of Utah with a clinical interest in homelessness, addiction and health disparities. The views expressed here are his own and not necessarily those of the University of Utah.

"Moscow Mitch" was red hot.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, on the Senate floor Monday, denounced critics (including me) who say his recent blocking of efforts to fortify defenses against another Russian attack on U.S. elections are aiding and abetting Vladimir Putin.

"For decades, I have used my Senate seat to stand up to Russia," the Kentucky Republican protested.

Unfortunately for McConnell, two days later came a reminder that he has taken a rather different posture toward Russia of late. Indeed, it appears, he has been key to helping Russian oligarchs with ties to Putin skirt U.S. sanctions and invest in an aluminum mill in McConnell's home state of Kentucky.

Citing Senate lobbying disclosures, Politico reported Wednesday that two former McConnell staffers had signed on as lobbyists for the Braidy Industries mill, which is 40 percent owned by Russian aluminum giant Rusal. That company has long been controlled by Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch who, the United States alleges, has said “he does not separate himself from the Russian state.” Braidy also hired a PR firm founded by yet another former McConnell aide, the outlet reported Friday.

It is well established in Washington that, as Politico's Anna Palmer noted in 2014, "there's little difference between the McConnell confidants who used to be on his payroll and those who still are." The article specifically cited former McConnell chief of staff Hunter Bates, who is now one of the Braidy lobbyists.

A McConnell spokesman said that the lobbyists, hired by Braidy on May 20, requested two meetings but that those were declined, and no meetings have been held "to date."

McConnell himself had championed the oligarchs' cause before. After the Trump administration last year exempted Deripaska-related enterprises from sanctions, a bipartisan rebellion attempted to reinstate the sanctions (House Republicans joined Democrats in a 362-to-53 vote), but McConnell led a successful effort in the Senate to thwart the rebellion, which he called a "political stunt."

Three months later, the Russian aluminum giant announced its $200 million investment in Kentucky. McConnell declared in May that his vote to exempt Deripaska enterprises from sanctions was "completely unrelated."

Of course.

It was also unrelated, no doubt, to the fact that Len Blavatnik, a Ukrainian American whose firm owns 22.5 percent of Rusal, contributed $3.5 million to the McConnell-affiliated Senate Leadership Fund between 2015 and 2017, making McConnell his top recipient. Blavatnik -- whose partner in the Rusal investment, Putin-allied oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, has also been hit by U.S. sanctions -- gave millions more to other Republicans and to Trump's inauguration.

Now, Russia-backed Braidy is seeking up to $1 billion from U.S. taxpayers in low-cost debt financing, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

A McConnell spokesman said the notion that McConnell helped Russian oligarchs skirt sanctions and invest in the mill is "an entirely false narrative that has zero basis in actual fact." He acknowledged that the McConnell-affiliated PAC has received contributions from Blavatnik's Access Industries and Al Altep Holdings, but he said Democrats have also received contributions from Blavatnik.

Beyond Blavatnik's contributions and Rusal's investment, McConnell's venture-capitalist brother-in-law, Jim Breyer, who has made vast political contributions to McConnell, has invested extensively with Putin-tied Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner.

McConnell was a Russia hawk for decades. But that hasn’t been so clear lately, with the Deripaska sanctions, the Russia-tied political contributions, the tepid support for investigating Russia (“case closed,” he pronounced, before the Intelligence Committee finished its investigation), and his allergy to aggressive action to protect U.S. elections.

I exaggerated last week in saying McConnell has blocked “all” election-security bills since Congress authorized $380 million for the purpose last year; senators unanimously passed, for example, relatively minor measures clarifying that hacking a voting system is a federal crime and denying entry to foreign nationals who have violated U.S. election law. But by the Trump administration’s own assessment, not enough has been done, and McConnell has resisted action on more substantive efforts. As Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said in explaining why election-security bills aren’t moving: “The majority leader is of the view that this debate reaches no conclusion.”

But that's no excuse for preventing the debate from happening. If Americans don't have confidence our elections are free and fair, nothing else in our democracy has value.

McConnell is free to take any position he likes on oligarchs and Russian money. But if he wishes to shed the "Moscow Mitch" moniker, he'll stop blocking the Senate from even considering ideas to protect democratic elections.

Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank.

Moscow • Police cracked down hard on an unsanctioned demonstration in Moscow for a second weekend in a row, detaining about 600 people protesting the exclusion of some independent and opposition candidates from September city council elections.

The issue taps growing dissatisfaction with a political environment dominated by the Kremlin-aligned United Russia party, in which dissenting voices are marginalized, ignored or repressed.

An arrest-monitoring group, OVD-Info, said 685 people were detained Saturday. The Russian Interior Ministry said the number was about 600.

The detentions came a week after authorities arrested nearly 1,400 people at a similar protest.

Lyubov Sobol, one of the excluded candidates and a driving figure of the current wave of protests, was among those detained. She was grabbed by police in central Moscow and hustled into a police van, loudly demanding to know why she was being held.

Demonstrators were aiming to hold a march along the Boulevard Ring, which skirts central Moscow and is a popular locale for people to walk around, despite repeated warnings that police would take active measures against a protest.

The Interior Ministry said the total number of protesters was about 1,500, although the police are widely believed to understate crowd estimates for opposition events.

Helmeted riot police lined the route and started seizing demonstrators from a scattered crowd on Pushkin Square and pushing them back from another square further along the route.

Some of the detentions were harsh, including one young bicyclist who was beaten with truncheons as he lay on the pavement still straddling his bike. Some other detainees appeared nonchalant, smirking or checking their phones as police led them to buses.

The demonstrations dissipated after about four hours as a steady, cold rain began falling.

Once a local, low-key affair, the September vote for Moscow's city council is now emblematic of the division within Russian politics and the Kremlin's ongoing struggles with how to deal with strongly opposing views in its sprawling capital of 12.6 million people.

In the past month, the issue has provoked a surprisingly large outcry for a local election. On July 20, about 20,000 people turned out for a demonstration that was the largest in the city in several years.

On Saturday, about 2,000 people attended another rally in St. Petersburg supporting the Moscow protests, the local news site Fontanka.ru reported.

The Moscow city council, which has 45 seats, is responsible for a large municipal budget and is now controlled by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. All of its seats, which have a five-year-term, are up for grabs in the Sept. 8 vote.

Also Saturday, Russia's Investigative Committee announced it was opening a criminal case against the Foundation for Fighting Corruption, headed by the Kremlin's most prominent foe Alexei Navalny. The committee said the organization was suspected of receiving funding that had been criminally acquired.

Navalny is serving 30 days in jail for calling last week's protest. The head of the foundation also is jail in connection with that protest.

___

This story has been corrected to show there were 2,000 protesters at the St. Petersburg crowd, not 3,000.

Update: Police have identified the man who was shot and killed after reportedly charging officers with a knife during a burglary in Roy. He is 37-year-old Donald Joseph Lee.

---

Ogden • An Ogden police officer early Wednesday shot and killed a man who used a hammer to burglarize a Roy medical clinic and pharmacy and then charged officers with a knife, police chiefs from two cities said.

The suspect’s name was not released Wednesday morning. No police officers were injured nor was the janitor who called police. The burglary and shooting happened at Tanner Clinic, 3443 W. 5600 South in Roy, though it was an Ogden police officer who killed the suspect.

At a joint news conference later Wednesday at Ogden’s Public Safety Building, Roy Police Chief Carl Merino described how about 1:30 a.m. a janitor at the clinic saw a masked burglar break into the clinic with a hammer.

“She was in a terrible situation,” Merino said of the worker. “She saw him burst through a window masked up with a hammer.”

The woman barricaded herself in an office and called 911, Merino said. Roy police, as well as officers from the county sheriff’s office, Ogden and Weber State University responded to the clinic.

Ogden Police Chief Randy Watt said officers quickly decided to enter the clinic to protect the janitor. An Ogden officer and his or her K9 were among those who entered to look for the suspect. Watt said the officers were sure to take “less lethal” weapons with them.

Watt said officers found the suspect in a hallway and gave him multiple commands to drop the hammer. An officer also fired bean bag rounds from a shotgun, Watt said. The rounds deliver a blow to the body without penetrating it.

The suspect ran into an office. As officers were looking for him again, Watt said, the man emerged from the office with a knife he was holding in what Watt called a threatening manner as he approached officers.

“The contact was at such close quarters,” Watt said, “the officers had no choice but to fire rounds from the pistols to defend themselves.”

Watt said one Ogden officer fired from a 9 mm pistol. Watt and Merino said they believed an officer from another department, though not theirs, also fired, but they seemed unsure. The Weber County Attorney’s Office is investigating the shooting. The Ogden officer is on administrative leave pending that investigation.

Watt said the suspect fell to the floor with the police dog biting his leg. The dog had to be pulled away so officers could aid the suspect.

The man was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Merino said after breaking into the clinic, the suspect stole medications from its pharmacy. Merino didn’t know what kind of medications were taken.

Watt said his officers and those from Roy had body cameras and those are being reviewed.

Investigators were still at the clinic late Wednesday morning. The clinic was closed and yellow police tape cordoned the building and half the parking lot. The clinic’s emergency lights were still flashing on the exterior fire alarms.

Tribune reporter Scott D. Pierce contributed to this report.

Provo, Utah • Provo police arrested a 37-year-old homeless man after residents reported returning home to find their house had been burglarized and that a man was camping in the backyard.

Police said Harley Hess was arrested Thursday on suspicion of burglary of a dwelling and other crimes.

Hess remained jailed Saturday and online court records don't list a defense attorney for Hess who could comment on the allegations.

According to police, the residents of the house found four windows broken and personal items missing when they returned home and one resident saw a man in a "transient camp" set up behind the house.

An officer arrested Hess on a nearby hillside.

Freddie Whittingham’s boss interrupted the question in its developing stage, as someone started to suggest the assistant coach was doing good work with Utah’s young tight ends.

“Don't give Freddie too much credit,” Kyle Whittingham said.

That’s all part of the brotherly dynamic of the Ute football staff, a collaboration now in its eighth year overall and a fourth season of Freddie Whittingham’s coaching on the field. The younger brother understands.

“You spend a lifetime of ‘big brother’ mentality, I’m sure it’s hard to break away,” he said. “But everything in the [Eccles Football Center], it’s professional. He treats me just like one of the other assistant coaches — demanding every bit as much from me, is just as hard on me, but also is every bit as lenient on me when he needs to be.”

Fred Whittingham Jr. is the third of four brothers in the family; they have a younger sister. The first three sons followed their late father into the coaching profession. Kyle Whittingham is entering his 15th season as Utah’s coach. Cary Whittingham won three state championships in this decade as Timpview High School’s coach before stepping away.

Freddie Whittingham was a successful executive in the textbook publishing industry before taking what he labels “a leap of faith to change careers at age 45,” becoming Utah's director of player personnel in 2012. He directed on-campus recruiting efforts, while hoping for an opportunity to coach someday. “I understood I needed to start in an operations role,” he said, “and I feel like some of the things we've done in recruiting helped grow our program to the point we are right now.”

He’s developing a diverse, talented group of tight ends who will be featured in offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig’s scheme. Whittingham originally worked for co-coordinators Aaron Roderick and Jim Harding in 2016. He was the program’s tie to the next coordinator, with his son having played for Troy Taylor at Folsom (Calif.) High School. Taylor is now Sacramento State’s head coach.

Tight ends Cole Fotheringham and Brant Kuithe emerged as capable freshmen last season in Taylor's system. They'll be even more prominent under Ludwig in 2019, both as blockers and receivers. Fotheringham had a quick transition back to football last August after returning from a church mission and has maximized his offseason training this year. “He looks like a whole different guy,” Kyle Whittingham said. “I think he's going to be a big-time player.”

Southern Methodist transfer Hunter Thedford also will have a role in Ludwig’s personnel packages. Redshirt freshman Thomas Yassmin, an Australian who’s new to American football, is “still kind of in ‘project phase,’ ” Freddie Whittingham said, while veterans Bapa Falemaka and Ali’i Niumatalolo also look for their opportunities.

Ute tight end Cole Fotheringham, asked who he thinks of when someone mentions "Coach Whittingham." pic.twitter.com/AA6O6VAUto

— Kurt Kragthorpe (@tribkurt) August 3, 2019

“It’s great to have a diverse group, because you can do a lot of different things with them,” Whittingham said. “I love working for coach Ludwig. It’s a tight end-friendly offense. He’s brought a mentality to our offense that I’m really excited about.”

And at 53, Whittingham is becoming established in the on-field phase of his second career. “Four years into it, I feel comfortable,” the former BYU running back said. “I understand I don’t have all the answers; I’m still learning the game. That’s one thing I picked up from my dad, that you’re always learning.”

Fotheringham labeled his position coach “very passionate; someone that is going to give his all to make sure we have a great experience, not only on the football field, but through the university as a whole.”

A family theme is not uncommon on a football coaching staff. Luke Wells worked at Utah State for all six seasons that his brother, Matt, coached the Aggies. They're now together at Texas Tech. BYU coach Kalani Sitake hired his cousin, Fesi Sitake; they have described themselves as brothers.

Some extra scrutiny and occasional teasing accompany those relationships. Freddie Whittingham knew what he was getting into when his brother gave him the support-staff position and then promoted him to the field. If it means some kidding in interviews, as happened with Kyle Whittingham this week, that's OK.

“What a lot of people don't see about him is he's got a sense of humor, joking around a lot,” Freddie Whittingham said.

And, it should be noted, Kyle Whittingham eventually allowed the question to be completed, and responded with a compliment: “He’s done a nice job.”

Provo • Temperatures were in the high 90s Friday afternoon as the BYU Cougars practiced for the first time in shoulder pads, but one of the newest, yet oldest, members of the team wasn’t complaining one bit.

Anything beats standing on hot pavement in the Utah summer sun, holding up road construction traffic control signs as unhappy motorists whiz by.

That’s what tight end Joe Tukuafu did earlier this year, while waiting to see if he would be re-admitted back into BYU. The news came about a month ago that the former East High star had been accepted, and since then all he can think about is how grateful he is to get another chance playing the game he loves.

“I can only give thanks to BYU’s administration, to coach Kalani [Sitake] and to everyone for what they’ve done for me,” he said. “I was out and they helped me and influenced me to just keep the fire burning and keep wanting to play football and wanting to come back. I’m thrilled to be back.”

Tukuafu, a sophomore in eligibility, says he ballooned to nearly 300 pounds in his two years away from the game, but dropped more than 30 pounds the past few months and is listed at 265 now.

“I was pretty much working out in the sun, doing construction, and doing traffic control,” he said. “So I love it. It has been a positive to lose that much weight. I love the way I am playing with my new weight. I feel faster, and smoother. So I will just continue to lose a few more pounds [of fat], then bulk up with muscle.”

When it was learned that Tukuafu was returning to the Cougars, many surmised it would be as an offensive lineman, but Sitake quickly dispelled that notion last week.

“He has a No. 87 jersey on,” Sitake said. “It is still a little tight. But he’s a tight end for us. We will need his presence on the line of scrimmage.”

Tukuafu’s story is familiar to most Cougar fans.

He originally signed with Utah State after helping East win 4A state titles in 2013 and 2014, then went on a church mission to Argentina. When he got home and Sitake had replaced Bronco Mendenhall as BYU’s head coach and defensive coordinator Iliaisa Tuiaki had also arrived in Provo, Tukuafu wanted to reunite with two “mentors” who he first met in 2010.

In BYU’s 2017 spring game, Tukuafu shined, along with fellow tight end Matt Bushman, and it appeared the Cougars were going to have a potent one-two punch for second-year OC Ty Detmer. However, then-Utah State head coach Matt Wells blocked the transfer, and Tukuafu had to redshirt.

Early in spring camp of 2018, Tukuafu sustained a fractured hand. When media day rolled around in June, he was no longer on the roster. He said “academics” and “other issues” were to blame, but declined to elaborate.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake talks about day 3 of camp, first practice in shoulder pads pic.twitter.com/V7lO55dulY

— Jay Drew (@drewjay) August 3, 2019

Now he’s back, eager to make up for lost time.

“Other schools [inquired], but I have always wanted to come back to BYU,” he said. “I stayed close to the coaches. I have always had the passion to play football again.”

He said he doesn’t blame USU or Wells in the least bit for not releasing him immediately to BYU so he could have played that first year.

“Even when that whole thing was going down, I didn’t have any hard feelings against them,” he said. “That’s just how it all worked out.”

The Cougars have no fewer than 10 tight ends on their roster — although Darius McFarland and Kyle Griffits are more like fullbacks, or H-backs — but Tukuafu says he’s been welcomed back warmly. A couple expected contributors — Moroni Laulu-Pututau and Hank Tuipulotu — are coming off ACL surgery and aren’t at full strength yet.

“Really, really happy [he’s back],” said tight ends coach Steve Clark. “And not just because he is a good football player. I really like Joe, love Joe. He’s really good, and he’s strong, but we gotta get him into shape. He’s not in great shape.”

But he’s in a much better place — than standing on the side of a road, holding a sign.

The theory behind having a representative democracy, instead of the direct kind where all major decisions are put to a vote of the whole people, is that a body of elected representatives will do a better job of governing.

The assumption is that a small cross-section of the populace, chosen by democratic means, can study the issues, hear from advocates and experts, weigh the pros and cons, take the long view and make better choices than would be the result of any plebiscite.

That was a fairly common, and well-grounded, assumption. Until the last 10 days or so.

Now there is reason to argue that, at least when the representative body in question is the Utah Legislature, the people can be counted upon to make better decisions.

Exhibit 1: Proposition 3. That was the ballot initiative, passed last November, in which a majority of Utah voters told the state to stop fooling around and accept, without strings, conditions or exceptions, the full expansion of Medicaid authorized by the federal Affordable Care Act.

But wait, said Gov. Gary Herbert and the Utah Legislature. We don’t want to do the decent, economically sensible and legally greased thing. We want to come up a plan that is plainly inferior, both in the number of households covered and the amount of money that will be added to the state’s economy, because we don’t like the whole idea.

And the voters were told that they should not worry their pretty little heads about it because the fact that their alternative to Prop 3 — Senate Bill 96 — did not conform to the ACA was a mere detail. The new Republican administration, we were assured, would grant the necessary waivers for this Utah Exceptionalism.

Until last week. When it was reported that the feds will not grant the requested waivers.

Which means, even under the provisions of SB96, the whole process resets to Prop 3, and the basic ACA-granted expansion of Medicaid should kick in.

Sadly, if predictably, Herbert and other state officials said the other day that they haven’t given up on getting the waivers and are still not ready to heed the will of the voters.

Or to pay attention a new study finding that if all 50 states had expanded Medicaid from the beginning, rather than the 37 jurisdictions that did so, some 15,000 deaths would likely have been prevented. Something that one might expect would be meaningful in a state where many leaders describe themselves as “pro-life.”

Meanwhile, it was brought to the attention of the powers that be that, in replacing Proposition 2, a structure to make marijuana available for medial purposes, with a different plan, House Bill 3001, the Legislature changed a distribution plan that would have been allowed by the federal government to one that won’t.

The lawyers are still quibbling over the details, and the Legislature may yet be able to tweak their preferred law into compliance. But prosecutors in Salt Lake and Utah counties warned the other day that by making a government agency — specifically some county health departments — not just licensing authorities but actual distributors of a Schedule 1 drug, the state plan might be in violation of federal law. Something that Prop 2, with its reliance on private distributors, would not have been.

It is a matter of process. To get an initiative on the ballot, advocates have to jump through a series of hoops that includes having their drafts approved, costs calculated and a series of public hearings held. To overturn an initiative, legislators just have to show up.

In the matter of Prop 2 and Prop 3, the Legislature should have listened more and acted less. Because the people had already made the right decisions.

For decades, Big Pharma has raised drug prices with impunity. Here in Utah, the average annual cost of brand name prescription drug treatment increased 58% between 2012 and 2017, while the annual income for Utahns increased only 8%. Prescription drugs don’t work if patients can’t afford them.

That’s why the Senate needs to pass the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act when it returns from August recess. It’s time. We urge Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney to back this vital legislation, which passed the Senate Finance Committee in July with strong bipartisan support.

For too long, drug companies have been price gouging seniors and hardworking Americans. Consider insulin, which people with diabetes rely on. Its price nearly tripled from 2002 to 2013. But it isn’t a breakthrough drug. Insulin was invented nearly a century ago, yet modern formulations remain under patent, thanks to drug makers manipulating the system. Some patients trek to Canada, while others risk their lives by rationing or skipping doses.

Even those of us who don’t need insulin or other prescription drugs are affected by skyrocketing drug prices. We pay not only at the pharmacy counter, but through higher insurance premiums, and through the higher taxes we need to pay to fund programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

Older Americans are hit especially hard. Medicare Part D enrollees take an average of 4-5 prescriptions per month, and their average annual income is around $26,000. One in three Americans has not taken a medication as prescribed because of the cost.

The root cause of the problem is clear: The high prices of prescription drugs set by pharmaceutical companies when they first come on the market, which then increase faster than inflation year after year.

In March AARP launched a nationwide campaign called “Stop Rx Greed” to rein in drug prices for all Utahns and all Americans. The bill under consideration in the Senate would cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors and crack down on drug makers whose price hikes outpace inflation. The nation clearly needs this reform: the average drug price increase in the first six months of 2019 was 10.5% — five times the rate of inflation. Utahns, like all Americans, already pay among the highest drug prices in the world.

Meanwhile, Big Pharma is fighting for the status quo — and blocking needed improvements to the system that could bring relief to seniors, families, and small businesses. Drug giants Merck, Amgen and Eli Lilly actually sued the Trump administration so they could keep the list prices of their drugs secret from the public. The industry is spending record sums to hire Washington lobbyists, and they are running ads claiming that more affordable drugs will actually harm consumers.

But the tide is turning. The National Academy for State Health Policy reports that, so far this year, 29 states have passed 47 new laws aimed at lowering prices for prescription medications. Utah has considered legislation to lower Rx drug costs as well. Ultimately, drug costs are a national issue, so federal action is equally essential.

In D.C., there is rare bipartisan agreement that something must be done. President Trump addressed the issue in his State of the Union, saying: “It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place. This is wrong, unfair, and together we can stop it.” Utah’s congressional delegation is in the position to lead on this issue and make a difference for every Utahn.

We urge the Senate to pass the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act in the fall, when the House is expected to act on its own drug pricing bill. While there is reason to be hopeful that drug prices will come down, hope is not enough. Too much is at stake. No Utahn should be forced to choose between putting food on the table or buying a lifesaving medication. Congress needs to act to stop Rx greed. This legislation should be at the top of the agenda when the Senate returns to Washington.

Alan Ormsby is the Utah state director of AARP.

El Paso, Texas • A gunman wielding an assault-style rifle killed at least 20 people and injured 26 more on Saturday at a busy Walmart and shopping mall not far from the Mexican border, authorities said, in the latest mass shooting to shatter a community and shake the country.

The attack, just before 10 a.m. on a scorching Texas summer day, sent shoppers racing for cover in a chaotic but all-too-familiar scene of carnage that prompted a massive police and medical response.

One official said the specific number of people killed and injured was subject to change, noting that some of the victims were in critical condition. It was not known how many of the injured were shot or were hurt trying to escape the scene.

Two law enforcement officials familiar with the inquiry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, identified the suspect as Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old man from a suburb near Dallas. He was taken into custody without incident.

As the shooting quickly became fodder on the presidential campaign trail - Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke of Texas canceled events in Las Vegas to return home — federal and local authorities were scrambling to identify a motive.

One avenue of inquiry is a manifesto that includes remarks attacking immigrants and is sympathetic to a man charged with killing 51 people earlier this year at Christchurch in New Zealand, according to the two officials. Authorities believe the gunman posted the anti-immigrant diatribe, but are still gathering evidence to prove it, according to law enforcement officials.

In a statement issued Saturday evening, Attorney General William Barr that "those who commit such atrocities should be held accountable swiftly and to the fullest extent the law allows." If investigators determine that Crusius did write the posting, he could be charged with violations of federal hate crimes laws.

The shooting in El Paso was the deadliest American mass shooting since November 2017, when a gunman killed 26 people in a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. It comes just days after a gunman opened fire at a garlic festival in California, killing three and wounding 12 others. One of those killed was a 6-year-old boy.

The scene of the most recent carnage — a Walmart — is likely to become important symbolically in the debate over gun control. Walmart is one of the largest gun retailers in the world and has been under pressure to curtail sales.

Last year, the store announced it was changing the minimum age required to buy a firearm or ammunition at Walmart from 18 to 21 “in light of recent events,” according to a statement released by the company. The decision came two weeks after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 people dead.

The suspect in Saturday’s shooting sounds very much like past shooters — quiet, antisocial and a bit “strange,” according to people who grew up with him in Plano, Tex.

Crusius attended school with his twin sister Emily Crucius. The school collectively thought of Patrick Crusius as “the strange one” of the sibling duo, according to two people who attended with them — both of whom requested their names not be published.

It is not clear how Crusius got from the Dallas area to El Paso, a roughly nine-hour drive.

City police said the shooting began about 10 a.m. local time and quickly warned that people should avoid the area of Hawkins and Gateway East boulevards. The department said in another tweet at 10:09 a.m. that the shooter remained active.

The shooting apparently began outside the Walmart.

Vanessa Saenz, a 37-year-old El Paso resident, was turning into the Walmart parking lot, with her mother and son, to buy the family’s weekly groceries when she heard a few pops that sounded like fireworks.

She looked over and saw a man who seemed to be “dancing” in the air — and then she noticed a woman sprinting.

Saenz realized that the man had been shot and that these were no fireworks.

"My mom yelled, 'Just go! Speed and just go!' but of course there were people trying to dodge the bullets and running through the parking lot," Saenz said in an interview with The Post.

She also caught a glimpse of the shooter, who she said was wearing dark cargo pants, a black T-shirt, and some sort of earmuffs. He was around 5-foot-10-inches tall, thin and carrying a rifle, she said.

He was just "shooting randomly," Saenz said, and then he walked into the store and she lost sight of him.

Inside the Walmart, shoppers and employees raced to exit the store or even hide in shelves. Witnesses said Good Samaritans used their own cars to transport victims to hospitals.

Utahns offered love and support Saturday for the world’s refugees, urging elected officials to reject a Trump administration proposal that would all but shut down their resettlement in the United States by next year.

In an event timed with similar “Rise for Refuge” rallies in other cities, about 80 Salt Lake City residents gathered outside City Hall to join in prayers for a welcoming approach to the estimated 70 million people displaced by violence in their home nations.

Faith leaders and others repeatedly called for Americans to put the idea of loving their neighbors into action and turn aside bans on those seeking asylum at the U.S. southern border or in countless refugee camps or war-racked regions of the world.

“These are people who are really suffering and we need to share our love with them,” said the Rev. Gabriel Garang Atem, a Sudanese refugee who is now assistant rector at All Saints Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City.

While President Donald Trump and his supporters contend that limits on immigration are vital to national security and economic vitality, speakers on Saturday said that view ignored a long-held tradition of the United States as a sheltering haven for “huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” as inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.

“Hate has never made a nation great,” said Pastor Marlin Lynch, founder of a traveling Christian ministry called Kingdom Huddle. He called instead for grace and compassion in U.S. immigration policy and invoked the Bible’s command to treat others as we would ourselves.

“It sounds beautiful — and it is — when we all follow it,” Lynch said.

Similar demonstrations were planned in nearly two dozens U.S. cities — including outside Trump Tower in New York City. They were organized by two immigration groups, We Are All America and Refugee Congress, which are pressing to end deportations, family separations at U.S. borders and bans on asylum seekers.

Nearly a dozen immigration advocates, religious leaders and public officials spoke at Saturday’s rally, which also featured dancing and musical performances and was sponsored by the office of Mayor Jackie Biskupski.

Though she did not appear at the event, the mayor noted in a statement that Salt Lake City’s tradition of being a home to refugees extends back 172 years to the arrival in Utah of Mormon pioneers seeking refuge from persecution.

She is among U.S. mayors who have vowed to limit participation by their city police forces in a series of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids recently announced by Trump officials.

“To hold true to our values we must do all we can to protect modern-day refugees — pioneers — who are seeking protection and looking for opportunity to grow,” Biskupski said in her statement.

The event at City Hall also featured booths for voter registration, immigration assistance and post card-writing campaigns to members of Congress on behalf of refugees.

Carl Moore, a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes in Arizona, gave a prayer and ceremonial dance to the Great Creator on behalf of all marginalized peoples.

“We all need to realize we’re all related,” Moore told the audience. “All humans have value.”

Gloria Arredondo, a poet and immigrant to Utah from Mexico, recalled getting caught up in an immigration raid two decades ago that saw officers try to separate her from her infant daughter. She said recent stories about similar separations today at the Mexican border had rekindled her sense of trauma.

“Today, I am every single mother at the border,” Arredondo said tearfully.

According to Politico, Trump is reportedly discussing a new system of caps that would all but shut down refugee resettlement by 2020, with the potential of stranding thousands who are seeking to come to this country.

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson told rally attendees Saturday that the diversity immigrants bring to Utah “is the engine that drives our innovation.”

Wilson likened the array of language and economic-assistance services offered by the county to help refugees to “building bridges” for those who have sacrificed to reach a better life.

“I can't imagine the strength it would take to bring your family across forests, deserts or oceans to come to America to be met with the idea that we would be closing our borders for good,” Wilson said.

President Trump, she said, “is wrong. He doesn’t understand family. He doesn't understand sacrifice. And he does not understand the values that we fight for in Utah.”

Through immigration limits Trump has already put into effect by executive order, the number of refugees resettled in Utah has dropped dramatically in recent years, falling from 1,319 in 2016 to 366, according to numbers provided by Biskupski’s office.

Jesse Sheets, development manager for International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City, said “zeroing out” refugee resettlement as currently proposed threatened to divide families, many of whom are far along in the process of reaching the United States legally.

Sheikh Yussuf Awadir Abdi, imam of Salt Lake City's Madina Masjid, escaped violence in his native Somalia and lived for 10 years in a Kenyan refugee camp before coming to Utah nearly 15 years ago.

Now a U.S. citizen, Abdi was temporarily prevented from returning home from a trip to Kenya to collect his family in 2017. His detention came on the heels of Trump’s executive orders blocking or restricting refugees and travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries.

On Saturday, Abdi intoned verses from the Quran and called on members of the audience to convey peace and understanding to people who are suffering.

“All of us are immigrants,” the Muslim leader said. “If you support them and give them an opportunity, they will do a lot of work that will benefit humanity.”

If you’re arachnophobic, read no further.

Spider enthusiasts and the curious gathered Saturday for a one-day festival at Antelope Island State Park, celebrating the arachnids’ crucial role in ecosystems on the desolate island on the Great Salt Lake.

Millions of spiders known as Western Spotted Orb Weavers inhabit the island west of Centerville this time of year, feasting on brine flies hatched in the lake’s salty waters. The quarter-sized crawlers typically lay their eggs and die by September.

The festival draws hundreds yearly.

The 2019 event included guided tours on the island, along with art and food vendors, costume contests, musical performances and poetry readings at the park’s amphitheater. Experts also gave a series of presentations on spider biology, web weaving and their role in the island’s food chain.

St. George • A Utah sheriff’s official says the creator of the YouTube channel “King of Random” shot video that showed his fatal paragliding crash and that it indicates the craft crashed quickly after its chute collapsed.

Washington County sheriff's officials are investigating the death Monday of 38-year-old Jonathan Grant Thompson, whose videos of experiments and hands-on tips have been watched over a billion times.

Sheriff’s Lt. David Crouse told The Associated Press on Saturday that it appears a change of wind caused the paraglider’s chute to collapse and that Thompson tried to deploy a reserve chute but didn’t have time before plunging about 100 feet to the ground.

Crouse said Thompson never regained consciousness after crashing and that the video belongs to Thompson’s family and won’t be released by authorities.

The Utah Royals FC might have just reached its lowest point of the season.

At least that’s what midfielder Veronica Boquete intimated after the team’s 2-0 loss to the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday at SeatGeek Stadium.

“Every team during the season you always go through bad moments,” Boquete said. “Obviously this is our bad moment.”

The Royals not only extended their winless streak to six games. The loss against Chicago also marked the third straight game in which Utah has conceded two goals. And in the last five games, URFC has been scoreless three times.

With 10 games remaining in their 2019 National Women’s Soccer League season, the Royals are seventh in the nine-team league standings. And Utah will be on short rest Wednesday when it plays Sky Blue FC at home. Boquete said that game has turned into the most important one of the season.

“Now it’s up to us and up to the players that we have, to show our character,” Boquete said. “We know that we are good footballers and we work hard every day. But that is just not enough. We have to show it during 90 minutes.”

Scoring has never been Utah’s strong suit. Instead, the club has hung its boots on being a stingy defensive team. But in recent weeks, the defense has slipped while Utah created more scoring chances.

The Royals felt Saturday’s game against the Red Stars was an opportunity to get back on the right track. But the opposite happened instead.

It was the same story for the Royals: a game replete with scoring opportunities, but devoid of balls in the back of the net.

The goals for Chicago came on opposite ends of the match. Forward Sam Kerr, who gets out of bed scoring at least one goal, put one away on a rebound in the fifth minute after her initial shot was saved by Royals goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart.

Eighty minutes later, Savannah McCaskill attempted a shot that Barnhart saved. But Brooke Elby was there on the rebound, her strike clipping Barnhart on its way into the goal for the 2-0 result.

The Royals did not get much of anything going in the attack in the first half, mustering four shots to Chicago’s nine. The second half was a different story, at least initially. In the first few minutes, both Katie Stengel and Gunnhildur Jonsdottir had good chances at a goal. Jonsdottir’s was a header off a corner kick that hit the crossbar in the 49th minute.

In the span of about two minutes, Kerr had two clear chances to extend Chicago’s lead before Elby did it herself. In the 64th, she received a diagonal pass in transition from Vanessa Di Bernardo. Kerr’s subsequent shot was saved by Barnhart.

In the 66th, Kerr got a long pass from Danielle Colaprico, putting her with only Barnhart in front of her. This time, Kerr placed her shot wide left.

An equalizer looked inevitable in a 75th-minute sequence for Utah. Jonsdottir’s shot was saved by Red Stars goalkeeper Emily Boyd. On the rebound, Boquete’s shot was blocked. Then Jonsdottir had a good look at the goal, but her shot went wide left.

Thousands ate, drank and voted on Saturday during Salt Lake City’s third annual Food Truck and Brewery Battle. The all-ages bash featured 18 food trucks, 12 brewers and music.

It was sponsored by The Gateway, The Food Truck League, U-92 Radio and The Salt Lake Tribune.

Throughout the night, attendees voted by text for their favorites, with Fry Me to the Moon and Bohemian Brewery winning People’s Choice Awards. Fry Me to the Moon was last year’s People’s Choice, too, bringing back-to-back wins.

Sgt. Pepper’s Fat Burrito earned Best New Food Truck, an award selected by The Tribune. Sgt. Pepper’s, where the food is named for favorite Beatles songs, impressed judges with its “hefty” jalapeno blackberry burrito filled with tender chicken and flavors that were “balanced with sweet and heat.”

Toasted Barrel Brewery, which specializes in fruity, bright sour beers, earned The Tribune’s Best New Brewery Award. Judges gave high marks to its black currant kettle sour. With a purple hue and tartness it was a refreshing beverage on a warm August night.

Sandy • Kyle Beckerman may have notched two assists. Albert Rusnák may have scored the goal that gave Real Salt Lake the lead for good.

But it was reserve midfielder Nick Besler who stole the show.

Besler provided the final 3-1 scoreline in RSL’s win Saturday over New York City FC with a shot that could end up on the Top 10 of ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Jefferson Savarino, who scored earlier in the game, took a shot that found Besler, who had his back turned from the goal. Besler lifted his foot up and connected with his heel, straight into the back of the net.

With the win, RSL moved back above the playoff line to sixth in the Western Conference.

When asked if he had just three words to describe Besler’s goal, center back Justen Glad said he only need one: “Spectacular.”

Assistant coach Tyrone Marshall said Besler is the type of player that attracts the ball.

“He’s like the [San Jose forward Chris] Wondolowski of our team,” Marshall said, referencing the top goal scorer in Major League Soccer history. “Nick is always in a good position.”

Besler accepted Marshall’s comparison, but with one caveat.

“I think I’m a few goals behind Wondo,” Besler said. “But I guess I’ll take it. I’m kind of a poacher in a sense. You just kind of have to have a sense where the ball might go. That’s what happened on that one.”

Here’s #RSL midfielder Nick Besler (@BickisBack) on his back-heel goal from last night’s win. pic.twitter.com/eYTk6XQ9TL

— Alex Vejar (@AlexVReporting) August 4, 2019

Besler’s goal may have been the most impressive moment of the match, but RSL had the game in hand at that point. Thirteen minutes earlier, Real earned a free kick from about 40 yards from the goal after Alexander Ring was given a yellow card. The ball bounced around the field, from Real player to Real player, before finding Beckerman.

The RSL captain passed to his left to Rusnák. He took a couple of dribbles to his right and pounded a shot between two NYCFC defenders and into the goal for a 2-1 lead. It was Beckerman’s second assist of the night.

Beckerman credited his two helpers to the way the team has worked on moving off the ball, particularly in the attacking third.

“If we’re moving and we have good movement, then the passes are just pretty simple — play, move, play, move — and then they’re chasing us all over,” Beckerman said. “So that was all it was about today.”

RSL gave up a goal before five minutes of game time passed. Alexandru Mitrita delivered a strike that needed both of goalkeeper Nick Rimando’s gloves to spot. Seconds later, however, Anton Tinnerholm beat Corey Baird one-on-one and dropped it to Ring, who turned past Everton Luiz and converted a wide-open shot for the 1-0 lead.

Marshall said after RSL conceded the first goal, it actually calmed them down a bit.

“After they scored, I thought we dominated,” Marshall said.

In the 37th minute, Real put together a series of passes to that led to an equalizer. Baird floated a pass from the midfield into the attacking third. There, Damir Kreilach was waiting. He headed a pass to Rusnák, who then gave it to Beckerman. The RSL captain touched to Jefferson Savarino, who only needed one settling touch before scoring the goal.

After those first two goals, both teams had their fair share of chances to take the lead. One or RSL came in the 69th minute. Rusnák gave a well-weighted pass to Savarino who attempted the shot from the left side both the goal. But NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson was right there to collect it.

Holladay • Unified Fire Authority crews continue to fight a fire at a house in Holladay on Saturday night.

According to FOX 13, the emergency call came in just before 8:30 p.m. for the fire at 6085 S. 2930 East.

The house was deemed unsafe for firefighters when the floor begin to give in. Firefighters kept battling the blaze from outside the house by hosing the structure down.

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is unknown.

For more, visit FOX 13.

Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune and FOX 13 are content-sharing partners.