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From Gary Klein: If there was still any debate, it’s over.
Patrick Mahomes is not only the best quarterback of his generation, he is among the best of all time.
Before Sunday, only four quarterbacks had won three or more Super Bowls.
Tom Brady. Terry Bradshaw. Joe Montana. Troy Aikman.
Now Mahomes has joined the exclusive club. And, of course, he did it in glitzy fashion.
The Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback brought his team back from several deficits and tossed a touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman Jr. in overtime to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium.
“This is awesome,” Mahomes said from a podium on the field. “This is legendary.”
The Chiefs and coach Andy Reid have now won three titles in five seasons. They are the first team to win consecutive titles since the New England Patriots achieved the feat in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.
“I’m gonna celebrate tonight,” Mahomes said. “I’m gonna celebrate at the parade. And then I’m gonna do whatever I can to be back in this game next year and try to go for that three-peat.”
Mahomes completed 34 of 46 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns, with an interception. He also rushed for 66 yards in nine carries, including a 19-yard scramble that set up the winning touchdown.
Sound familiar?
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From Sam Farmer: The hottest show in Sin City?
Not U2, but “You Too.”
You too, San Francisco? It happened again Sunday evening, another team clawed its way to a 10-point lead over the Kansas City Chiefs only to be systematically dismantled by the play-calling of coach Andy Reid and sleight-of-hand brilliance of quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
This time, the Chiefs dug their way out of that familiar hole to win in overtime, 25-22, with Mahomes not only winning his third Vince Lombardi Trophy, but his third Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Chiefs trailed by 10 against the 49ers four years ago, and against the Philadelphia Eagles last season, and won both of those games.
“Never a doubt,” said Reid’s wife, Tammy, standing outside Kansas City’s locker room after the game and wearing a pair of glittering championship rings that looked as big as donuts. She wasn’t ruffled when the Chiefs fell behind 10-0.
“I told everybody [in the suite to calm down], we got this,” she said. “I’m sick of that. I want us to be ahead by five touchdowns at all times. I’ve told the players, I’ve told him and nobody listens.”
On the other side of the locker room doors, nobody could hear anyway. The air was filled with cigar smoke, champagne spray, thumping music and team chants.
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When and where will Super Bowl LIX be played in 2025?
Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes is quickly catching up to Tom Brady
How many Super Bowls have the Kansas City Chiefs won?
When was the last time the Super Bowl went into overtime?
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DODGERS
From Dylan Hernández: Listed by the Dodgers at 5-foot-10, Yoshinobu Yamamoto is small on paper. The most expensive pitcher in baseball history might be even smaller in person.
“He’s your height,” a colleague told me after watching me stand a couple of feet to the right of Yamamoto on Sunday, when he addressed reporters for the first time this spring training.
I’m 5-8, according to my driver’s license.
For what it’s worth, I thought Yamamoto was a couple of inches taller than me, making him a legitimate 5-10.
That would still make the 25-year-old Yamamoto considerably shorter than the other pitchers the Dodgers have in camp. The relatively undersized Walker Buehler looked like a giant when standing next to Yamamoto the other day.
“Everyone has really strong-looking bodies,” Yamamoto said in Japanese.
How Yamamoto uses his less-imposing body to generate fastball velocities in the high 90s is a source of fascination in the clubhouse.
“I’m excited to see somebody [with] Yamamoto’s frame throw 100,” reliever Blake Treinen said. “It’s crazy to me.”
From Ben Bolch: UCLA has cast a wide net in its hopes of reeling in the big one for its next football coach.
Bruins athletics officials have corresponded with more than a dozen potential candidates for the vacancy created by the departure of Chip Kelly to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, according to one person familiar with the search process who was not authorized to discuss the details publicly.
Among those UCLA is believed to have had contact with who remain possible candidates are Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White, Las Vegas Raiders running backs coach DeShaun Foster and Stanford coach Troy Taylor.
The search committee also is expected to have possible interest in Cleveland Browns tight ends coach and pass game specialist Tommy Rees and Baltimore Ravens special teams coordinator Chris Horton.
UCLA BASKETBALL
It’s been a tough February so far for the UCLA Bruins. They suffered a 20-point loss at No. 4 Stanford and were without center Lauren Betts, as well as two other players.
“We need to get our family back whole,” coach Cori Close said Sunday.
Betts scored 18 points on nine-of-10 shooting from the field in her second game back and the ninth-ranked Bruins used a big third quarter to pull away from Arizona State, winning 78-45 for a weekend sweep.
Charisma Osborne lead the Bruins (19-4, 8-4 Pac-12) with 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Kiki Rice added 12 points with seven rebounds.
NBA
KINGS
From Helene Elliott: In the few days since Jim Hiller took over as the Kings’ interim coach, he has deliberately worked more on changing players’ mood than on changing the team’s strategy.
His first directive Thursday, after he led them through practice for the first time, was simple and not revolutionary: Have fun. Work hard. Work for each other, and it will become enjoyable and build camaraderie, so you’ll have an easier path toward returning to a solid early-season form. Players liked what they heard.
“We’ve been through ups and downs this year. It’s time to have fun again. It’s time to come to the rink with a smile on our faces,” was Pierre-Luc Dubois’ summation. “Excited to get back on the ice for practice, excited to get back on the ice for games. Doing it together.”
Hiller’s second directive is tricky to quote directly. “I can’t really say it because there’s a swear word in it,” Quinton Byfield said.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1937 — Cleveland is granted an NFL franchise. The Rams play in Cleveland for nine years before moving to Los Angeles. After the 1994 season, the Rams move to St. Louis.
1947 — Boston’s Bill Cowley becomes the NHL all-time scoring leader when he scores a goal and an assist for the Bruins in a 10-1 win over the New York Rangers. Cowley’s 529 points is one more than Syd Howe, who retired one year earlier.
1968 — Jean-Claude Killy of France wins the men’s giant slalom in the Winter Olympics at Grenoble, his second gold medal en route to the Alpine triple crown.
1972 — The Soviet Union ice hockey team wins the gold medal with a 5-2 victory over Czechoslovakia at the Winter Olympics. The United States is awarded the silver because it had beaten and tied Czechoslovakia.
1982 — Wayne Gretzky scores 153rd point of season, breaking NHL record.
1993 — The San Jose Sharks tie an NHL record by losing 17 straight games, the latest a 6-0 defeat by the Edmonton Oilers.
1994 — Loy Allen Jr. becomes the first Winston Cup rookie to win a pole in the Daytona 500. Allen is .031 seconds quicker than six-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.
1997 — Morocco’s Hicham el Guerrouj breaks indoor track’s oldest record, winning the mile in 3 minutes, 48.45 at the Flanders meet held in Ghent, Belgium. Ireland’s Eamonn Coghlan ran 3:49.78 in 1983 in New York.
2005 — Allen Iverson scores 60 points, a career high, to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 112-99 victory over the Orlando Magic.
2007 — Duke, saddled by its first four-game losing skid in 11 years, falls out of The Associated Press men’s poll for the first time since the end of the 1995-96 season. The Blue Devils had been in the media poll for 200 straight weeks — the second longest streak behind UCLA’s record 221 weeks.
2014 — Tina Maze of Slovenia and Dominique Gisin of Switzerland tie for gold in the Olympic women’s downhill. Both speed down the Rosa Khutor course in 1:41.57 seconds for the first gold-medal tie in Olympic alpine skiing history.
2018 — Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst becomes first Winter Olympian to win an individual gold medal in 4 straight Games with victory in the 1,500m at Pyeongchang; first speed skater to win 10 Olympic medals.
2023 — Super Bowl LVII, State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona: Kansas City Chiefs beat Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35; MVP: Patrick Mahomes, KC, QB.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.