SANTA CLARA — The Rams took care of their first order of business, signing coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead to contract extensions, the team announced Monday.
McVay, 40, and Snead, 55, were entering the final years of their contracts.
McVay, who was hired in 2017, and Snead, who has been the general manager since 2012, had previously been extended after Super Bowl appearances in the 2018 and 2021 seasons. They had offers on the table before this season but did not sign them.
The Rams have made two Super Bowl appearances and have been in the playoffs seven times in McVay’s nine seasons.
The Rams finished 12-5 this season and advanced to the NFC championship game before losing to the Seattle Seahawks, who play the New England Patriots on Sunday in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
The Rams will now turn their attention to possible extensions for receiver Puka Nacua, defensive lineman Kobie Turner, edge rusher Byron Young and offensive lineman Steve Avila.
UCLA coach Cori Close constantly reminds her players to ignore every mention of a streak and any hint that they have arrived.
The Bruins are hoping to extend one streak and avenge another this season, but the only way Close and her players believe they can accomplish that is ignoring all of it.
No. 2 UCLA was in complete control during an 88-65 win over No. 8 Iowa Sunday, extending its winning streak to 15 games. As we reach February and inch closer to March, is this veteran UCLA team with tremendous depth ready to avenge its streak of losing to the eventual national champion during three consecutive seasons?
Hawkeyes coach Jan Jensen suggested yes, she just lost to the best team in the country.
“We played Connecticut, ranked No. 1, and we’ve now played UCLA,” Jensen said during her postgame interview on Hawkeye Radio Network. “There’s no question in my mind who No. 1 is. I haven’t played three and four, but I wouldn’t argue against UCLA. They just have so many weapons and they’re so efficient.”
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Close joked she expected Jensen’s endorsement, but knocked the suggestion the Bruins are ready to play for a national championship.
“We’re not yet,” Close said with no hesitation. “We’re not. I think that one of the things that last year taught me as a leader is that you can never feel like you’ve arrived at your standard. The team that starts reading what the outside world is saying about them or starts settling into a comfort zone, they’re the ones that lose their momentum and lose their edge.
“I think that the edge is a really good place because it’s where your talent is not the factor. It’s when you’re forced to develop the discipline and the skill that it takes to really be successful. And I want our team to live on that edge every day.”
During seemingly every media interview this season, her experienced players have echoed that message.
UCLA assistant coach Tasha Brown was the latest to inspire the team, drawing on her experience during a safari. Her group saw friendly lions during the day, but they were warned they had to leave by dusk because that’s when the lions began to hunt.
The Bruins agreed they could be friendly before and after games, but during games, they must hunt.
“The target is not on our backs, we have a target on other people,” said Angela Dugalic, who led the Bruins with 22 points off the bench against Iowa on Sunday. “… We’re not taking anybody or any team, any game for granted. I don’t care where you’re ranked, or who you are, at the end of the day, you’re our opponent and that’s it.”
Speaking of streaks
John Wooden in 1972.
(Associated Press)
The UCLA women’s basketball team’s 15-game winning streak stirs memories of the most iconic winning streak in Bruins history.
It began with a UCLA men’s basketball victory over UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 23, 1971. And it continued for an NCAA-record 88 remarkable games. Notre Dame rallied from a 17-point deficit to earn a 71-70 win over UCLA to end the streak on Jan. 19, 1974.
“It’s the continuation thing that makes you proud,” UCLA coach John Wooden said. “It’s not something one team could do all by itself.”
The Times revisited the Bruins’ streak in great detail in 2010. Read more here.
Google him?
Bob Chesney, center, with athletic director Martin Jarmond, left, and Chancellor Julio Frenk during his introduction in December.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
New UCLA football coach Bob Chesney spent the last week running some of the same motivational plays that vaulted Indiana coach Curt Cignetti to a national title.
Like Cignetti, Chesney won big at James Madison before earning a head coaching job at a Big Ten school nobody expected to contend for a conference title, much less a national championship.
Cignetti famously stated: “I win. Google me” during a new introducing him as the Hoosiers’ new head football coach. He followed it up by setting championship expectations at a school that held the record for most losses in NCAA history.
During a Wooden Athletic Fund fundraiser last week, Chesney told donors: “When we as a staff talk to these recruits, we want UCLA to be considered the greatest place in the world to play football. Period. That’s it. The greatest place in the world to play football. Which means the greatest place in the world to then watch a football game. And it’s the greatest place in the world to be connected with the players and the coaches and the community within it. It really does take a village, and there’s never been a time in the history of sports you that you can affect that team. Let’s go be great and make this the greatest place in the world to play football.”
Chesney followed it up by firing up a broader audience during a UCLA men’s basketball game at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday.
“It’s an honor to be here. I’d like to introduce you to our staff, the best staff in the world. … I’ve been here about a month now. Looking around, there’s nothing average that I see about UCLA. There is nothing average. And I did not come here to be average. This is the team of the future. That future starts now. Go Bruins.”
Perfect again
Jordan Chiles competes in floor exercise on her way to a perfect score.
“I think I’m understanding my body,” Chiles said. “… I’ve been sick for the past two days. Obviously last week our team was pretty down and I was the last one to get it. And so I think what really helps me get to this point is really my teammates. Understanding that no matter where I’m at, no matter the circumstance, we all have each other’s back.”
No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (6-0) won the Tritan Invitational, defeating No. 2 USC (8-1) Sunday at the Canyonview Aquatic Center at UC San Diego.
The Bruins have defeated five teams ranked in the top 10 and improved to 57-42 in the series against the Trojans.
Senior Taylor Smith led UCLA with a game-high five goals and added an assist. Senior Bia Mantellato and freshman Katherine O’Dea finished with two goals apiece. Mantellato drew a penalty, an exclusion and tallied a steal in the win. O’Dea drew an exclusion and recorded two assists for a total of four points in her first matchup against the Trojans. Junior Lauren Steele earned 13 saves and one steal while surrendering nine goals.
Survey time
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Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. It’s the final week of regular-season high school basketball before playoff pairings are announced Saturday.
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With basketball playoff pairings coming Saturday, there has been few changes at the top for boys or girls.
Sierra Canyon (21-1) and Redondo Union (24-3) have stayed No. 1 and No. 2 for weeks. Sierra Canyon still likely has two challenging games left in the Mission League tournament Monday and Wednesday, but both would be at home. Redondo Union faces rival Mira Costa for a second time Tuesday at Mira Costa.
Kaleena Smith of Ontario Christian.
(Nick Koza)
In girls, Ontario Christian (26-1) closes out the regular season on Tuesday at Rancho Christian. Sierra Canyon (24-2) has never lost in the Mission League and came away Saturday with a win over a very good Oak Park team. Etiwanda (26-2), the defending state champion, continues to be the danger for Ontario Christian and Sierra Canyon.
Rising teams in boys basketball: Village Christian had an 11-game winning streak snapped but remains dangerous. Corona del Mar (26-1) has a final game left against Newport Harbor and can be a top seed in Southern Section Division 1. Damien has been surging with a 26-4 record. Palisades (14-11) is on a six-game winning streak and the heavy favorite to win the City Section Open Division title. The Dolphins might might be a surprise team in state playoffs depending on what division they are placed.
Rising teams in girls basketball: Sage Hill (23-4), despite a coaching change in the middle of the season, will be an Open Division team and has Texas-bound Amalia Holquin in top form. Brentwood won the Gold Coast League title. Mater Dei, despite losing its best player to injury, has won the Trinity League title.
Boys basketball
Brentwood’s Ethan Hill.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Brentwood (24-3) is tied for first place in the Gold Coast League with Crossroads going into the final week of the regular season.
Orange Lutheran pulled off the biggest upsets of the week, knocking off St. John Bosco. The Trinity League tournament begins Monday. Orange Lutheran coach Nate Klitzing, despite having little size on his team, has done a remarkable job getting his team close to a playoff spot.
The Mission League tournament continues Monday with Loyola at Sierra Canyon and Crespi at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. The winners play Wednesday. All four teams have earned automatic playoff berths. Loyola first-year coach Cam Joyce got his team into the playoffs with a must-win against St. Francis on Saturday. Otherwise, the Cubs’ record would have been below .500.
Heritage Christian knocked off Village Christian 74-71 with two freshmen and three sophomores in the starting lineup.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
A young Heritage Christian team is getting dangerous and upset Village Christian. Here’s the report.
Cleveland is headed to the West Valley League championship. San Pedro hosts Narbonne on Friday to decide the Marine League championship.
The Toyota Arena in Ontario will host the Southern Section Open Division finals Feb. 27 or Feb. 28.
Ed Waters of Crenshaw earned his 300th coaching victory.
Ventura upset Mater Dei on Saturday to add some interest in the Southern Section girls pairings.
Sierra Canyon is the new school for standout guard Hamiley Arenas, the sister of Alijah Arenas. She averaged 23.3 points for Sherman Oaks Notre Dame as a freshman. She hasn’t played for the Knights this season after a stress fracture injury and hasn’t been medically cleared to return. She attended Sierra Canyon in middle school.
The Trailblazers are 24-2 and routed Oak Park behind Jerzy Robinson, who scored 29 points.
Amalia Holguin of Sage Hill turned in a 64-point performance on senior night against Laguna Beach.
Birmingham (22-3) plays Granada Hills (18-7) on Monday at Granada Hills to decide the West Valley League championship.
Palisades played its first home basketball game since the Palisades fire in January of 2025. Here’s the report.
When the baseball season begins next month, three of the top senior pitchers will come from the Bay League in Garrett Jacobs (left) of Mira Costa, Robby Zimmerman of Redondo Union and Kai Van Scoyoc of Palos Verdes.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The Bay League held a media day last week, and it’s clear the league has three of the top senior pitchers for the coming season in Garrett Jacobs,Robby Zimmerman and Kai Van Scoyoc. Two are UCLA commits, the other a USC commit.
Get ready for big sophomore season from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s Dru Wilson. An outfielder who will be one of the team’s closers. pic.twitter.com/JZWpV0Mg2T
There will be few teams in Southern California with more pitchers who can throw with high velocity than Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. The Knights have two closers in sophomore Dru Wilson and senior Malakye Matsumoto, who throw in the 90s. The starting pitching is also pretty good with Beckett Berg, A.J. LaSorta, JuJu Diaz-Jones and Peter Jackson. Have no sympathy for the Knights if they have to play a doubleheader with their pitching depth.
Former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame pitcher Hunter Greene returned to his alma mater to present two scholarships to students. Here’s the report.
Four freshmen ready to contribute immediately for UCLA baseball. Angel Cervantes (Warren), Zach Strickland (Maranatha), Dominic Cadiz (SO Notre Dame), Aiden Aguayo (La Mirada).
Palisades football coach Dylen Smith is the NFL Don Shula coach of the year.
(Steve Galluzzo)
Palisades football coach Dylen Smith has been named one of two high school football coaches of the year and winner of the NFL Don Shula High School Coaching Award. He guided the Dolphins to 10 consecutive wins in the wake of the Palisades fire. . . . .
There’s growing speculation that Orange Lutheran will announce that football coach Rod Sherman and the school are parting ways. He has been head coach since 2021 and his team eliminated top-seeded St. John Bosco in the Division 1 playoffs last season. Sherman said last week that he was still coach. School officials have declined comment. . . .
South East has an opening for football coach. The athletic director is seeking applicants at: drc0906@lausd.net.
Austin Montoya is the new football coach at St. Paul. He was head coach at Schurr last season. . . .
Dave Ramos is returning as football coach at Schurr. . . .
Former Warren and Cathedral football coach Kevin Pearson has been hired as the offensive coordinator at Long Beach Poly. He has worked for some outstanding quarterbacks through the years, including Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young. . . .
Frankie Valdez is the new girls volleyball coach at Viewpoint. . . .
Mater Dei is seeded No. 1 for the Southern Section girls water polo playoffs. Here are the pairings. . . .
Aaron Castillo is the new flag football coach at Mater Dei. . . .
Former Franklin High baseball coach Rick Campbell has died. He took his team to three appearances at Dodger Stadium in City finals, winning twice. . . .
Birmingham won City Section wrestling dual meet championships for boys and girls on Saturday. . . .
One of the best freshman girls soccer players has been St. Genevieve’s Mia Rizo. Here’s the report. . . .
The Chen brothers, JT (left), a sophomore, and Ollie, a freshman, have helped Harvard-Westlake clinch the Mission League boys soccer title.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Harvard-Westlake clinched its third Mission League soccer title in four years and Cathedral won the Del Rey League. Here’s the report. . . .
South East is looking like a City Section soccer title contender. Here’s the report.
From the archives: George Holani
Boise State RB George Holani runs into the secondary at the 2023 L.A. Bowl.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Former St. John Bosco running back George Holani is going to the Super Bowl as a back-up running back for the Seattle Seahawks. He was a star for the Braves and at Boise State.
He had back-to-back years rushing for more than 1,000 yards for St. John Bosco before graduating in 2019.
From ESPN.com, a story on a survey asking youth coaches why they quit.
From the Washington Post, a story on a high school basketball coach in Maryland in his 39th season.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the positive reception high school coaches have for new UCLA football coach Bob Chesney.
Tweets you might have missed
This is pretty amazing. The official is Drew Spooner. The coach is Derek Fisher. Spooner’s father, Bill, was an NBA official when Fisher was a player and coach. pic.twitter.com/sOS1bZbtp1
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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“I’ve been sniffing and knocking on the door for a couple of majors since those decisions have been made, and those moments did validate that decision.
“It’s good to see people wanting to play where it motivates them to be their best.”
Rose finished 23 under at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, beating the tournament’s previous best winning score of 22 under by Tiger Woods in 1999 and George Burns in 1987.
Rose also became the oldest player to secure a wire-to-wire finish on tour – leading in all four rounds – since Rocco Mediate in October 2010 aged 47.
“I want to play in and among the best players in the world; that’s what keeps me motivated, keeps me hungry, keeps me pushing,” Rose continued.
“It would have been easy to potentially do other things but none of that excited me and none of that gave me access to what I wanted to achieve.
“I always felt my childhood self wouldn’t feel very good about making that decision and giving up on those dreams.”
Five-time major champion Koepka, 35, made his comeback at Torrey Pines under a new returning member programme.
The also opened the door to the return of other major winners Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith but all three pledged their commitment to LIV before the 2 February cut-off date to apply to get on the programme.
Koepka agreed to make a $5m (£3.7m) charitable donation as part of his return, while 35-year-old Reed, who is planning to play on the DP World Tour this year, is eligible to begin competing on the PGA Tour in August, 2026 with a view to reinstating his membership for the 2027 season.
The seventh in an occasional seriesof profiles on Southern California athletes who have flourished in their post-playing careers.
Tai Babilonia’s life changed forever when she was asked to hold a boy’s hand.
At first she resisted.
“I didn’t want to,” she remembered. “He’s a yucky boy.”
But Mabel Fairbanks, Babilonia’s skating coach, wouldn’t take no for an answer, bribing the 8-year-old with stickers and a Barbie doll if she would just reach out and grab the hand of 10-year-old Randy Gardner.
It would be another 40 years before she let go.
By then Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner had become one of the most decorated pairs in U.S. figure skating history, their individual names eventually melding into one.
“My last name is ‘and Randy,’” Babilonia said. “And I embrace it.”
U.S. pairs figure skating duo of Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner in 1979.
(Tony Duffy / Getty Images)
As a pair “Tai and Randy” won five U.S. championships, medaled in three world championships and qualified for the Olympics twice, all before Babilonia’s 21st birthday. Their success also pushed open doors that had long been closed since Babilonia, Black on her mother’s side and part Filipino and Native American on her dad’s side, was the first U.S. skater from any of those ethnic groups to compete in the Olympics or win a world title.
Among those to follow her were Debi Thomas, a two-time U.S. champion and a bronze medalist at the 1988 Winter Olympics, and Elizabeth Punsalan, a two-time Olympian and five-time national champion in ice dancing.
At about the same time Babilonia and Gardner were moving from competitive skating and the Olympics to the Ice Capades, another young girl was just starting to pursue her own Olympic dreams. Tiffany Chin would go on to win a national championship, two Skate America titles and just miss a medal in the 1984 Winter Games, retiring before she was old enough to legally drink.
In that brief but brilliant career, Chin changed U.S. figure skating forever. She was the country’s first Asian American national champion and first Chinese American Winter Olympian, paving the way for Olympic medalists Kristi Yamaguchi, Nathan Chen, Michelle Kwan and siblings Alex and Maia Shibutani.
After retiring from skating, Babilonia, now 66, dabbled in coaching and sportswear design, became a motivational speaker, an activist and, most importantly, a grandmother. But the legacy Babilonia and Chin created will be on display in Italy this month when the U.S. fields one of the most eclectic Olympic figure skating teams ever, with 12 of the 16 athletes having immigrant parents.
Five of the six singles skaters — Alysa Liu, Isabeau Levito, Ilia Malinin, Maxim Naumov and Andrew Torgashev — are first-generation Americans while the other, women’s national champion Amber Glenn, identifies as pansexual. Pairs skaters Emily Chan, Spencer Howe and Ellie Kam and ice dancers Anthony Ponomarenko, Christina Carreira, Vadym Kolesnik and Emilea Zingas are also immigrants or first-generation Americans while Madison Chock, the reigning Olympic champion in ice dancing, has Hawaiian, Chinese, German, English, Irish, French and Dutch ancestry.
At a time when diversity, equity and inclusion programs are being dismantled, immigrants are being attacked and diversity is labeled a weakness, America’s Olympic figure skaters have come to mirror the country at large.
“It’s wonderful and so important,” said Babilonia. “Especially now.”
Nearly 60 years after Babilonia and Gardner skated together for the first time, the decision to pair them seems inspired, even providential.
It was neither. Fairbanks, Babilonia learned later, simply needed a couple to skate in a club show at the Culver City Ice Arena.
“We just happened to be similar in height. And I guess we were cute,” Babilonia said last month during a lengthy interview at the Colonial Revival-style mansion in the West Adams District that houses the LA84 Foundation.
Gardner was already an excellent skater, as strong and athletic as he was outgoing and friendly; Babilonia was shy and far less steady on the ice. But that wasn’t the only thing that made their pairing unusual.
Gardner was white and Babilonia was Black. And in 1968, asking them to hold hands in public was scandalous, even in Culver City. However, Fairbanks, a legendary coach who had spent much of her life pushing back against convention, didn’t see color. She focused only on talent.
Randy Gardner and Tai Babilonia roller skating together in May 1979.
(Tony Duffy / Getty Images)
“Mabel was the coach who taught all races, Hispanic, Black, mixed, Jewish,” Babilonia said. “Mabel broke down that wall.”
Fairbanks, who was Black and Seminole, was born in the Deep South at a time when ice rinks were segregated. Even after moving to New York, where she bought a pair of skates for $1 at a pawn shop, then taught herself how to use them, she skated mostly in nightclub shows, where she was limited to jumps and moves that wouldn’t show up the white skaters.
She soon moved to Los Angeles, touring internationally with the Ice Capades and Ice Follies, before becoming a coach and mentoring hundreds of young skaters, including Olympic medalists Scott Hamilton, Yamaguchi and Thomas.
“If it weren’t for Mabel Fairbanks, you wouldn’t have any color in the predominantly white skating world,” said Babilonia, who is shopping a biopic of Fairbanks, who died in 2001.
“People don’t really know her. She’s like a hidden figure.”
Yet three years after Fairbanks made Tai and Randy a pair, they left her for John Nicks, who was coaching at the Paramount Iceland.
“He took our skating to a whole different level. And it happened really quick,” said Babilonia, who still calls her former coach Mr. Nicks. “That’s when we started winning and improving and just really became a great pair of skaters.”
Two years later Babilonia and Gardner won the U.S. junior nationals and three years after that they won the first of five national championships, qualifying for the 1976 Winter Olympics in Austria, where they finished fifth. Gardner wasn’t old enough to vote and Babilonia didn’t have a driver’s license. But together they were holding their own against the best pairs skaters in the world.
“Such an incredible year,” Babilonia said. “We won our first U.S. title, became Olympians, I got my learner’s permit and had a crush on Peter Frampton.”
But they were just getting started. Gardner and Babilonia wouldn’t lose in the U.S. championships for the rest of the decade. And 11 months before the next Olympics, they won their first world championship, then celebrated by skating for the queen of England at Wembley Stadium.
Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner compete at the World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo in March 1977.
(Tony Duffy / Getty Images)
With the Winter Games coming back to the U.S. at Lake Placid, the Americans were favored to keep the Soviet Union off the top step of the medal platform for the first time since 1960, the last time the Olympics were held in the U.S.
Only they never made it to the ice.
Nicks had moved his skaters from Paramount to the Ice Capades Chalet, a buff-colored concrete-block building in Santa Monica, five blocks from the Pacific Ocean. During a training session there, Gardner inflamed a groin injury that had plagued him for months.
It got worse when they got to Lake Placid and Gardner had a Xylocaine injection, but the anesthetic was too strong and it only made things worse; the pain was gone, but now Gardner couldn’t feel his leg at all. They pulled out of the competition moments before it was supposed to begin.
The next morning, with the skaters, their parents and their coach perched on the stage at a high school auditorium for a hastily arranged news conference, hundreds of reporters tried to get a shattered Babilonia to turn on her partner. She didn’t take the bait.
“She totally had my back,” Gardner said. “There was so much camaraderie and trust and love between the two of us. She understood that it was a major injury and it was devastating. It changed the path of our career.”
“I’m not going to say it ruined it,” he added. “It just changed the path.”
Two months after leaving Lake Placid in sorrow, Gardner and Babilonia, who had gone from “Tai and Randy” to the “Heartbreak Kids,” turned pro, signing a three-year contract with the Ice Capades that included endorsement deals.
They never skated in the Olympics again. And while the money was good, the pace was punishing, with eight shows a week on a 30-week tour.
“You’re performing every night, weekends two shows a day,” Babilonia said. “If you don’t pace yourself, which I didn’t, it will rock your world in a negative way.
“You can’t do all the tricks you did as a teenager every night.”
Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner skating in 1979, the same year they won the pairs world championship.
(Tony Duffy / Getty Images)
Babilonia had never truly dealt with the emotional pain of the Olympic withdrawal. Now she was also dealing with the strain and fatigue of the ice show schedule as well as an identity crisis.
“Randy figured out how to put Tai and Randy in a box and leave them there and go on with his life,” Babilonia said. “I didn’t know how to separate them from me.”
So she sought answers in amphetamines, heavy drinking and a number of brief but high-profile romances before hitting rock bottom just before her 29th birthday, when she tried to kill herself with an overdose of sleeping pills. Her recovery started seven months later with an emotional first-person account of her fall in People magazine.
“I did it because I knew I had to,” Babilonia, still fit and youthful, said of a confession in which she blamed no one but herself. “I had to stop what I was doing and this was part of my recovery process. I couldn’t say yes quick enough.
“Something inside of me said, ‘This is your moment. Get it out. It may help some people,’” she continued. “And it did.”
The magazine cover story was followed 19 months later by the prime-time NBC movie “On Thin Ice,” which went over much of the same territory, with Babilonia and Gardner playing themselves in many of the skating scenes.
“It took me a while to watch the whole thing. Some scenes were hard,” said Babilonia, who speaks in a confident, careful cadence. “It was just part of my recovery process.”
She’s been sober 17 years and her relationship with Gardner, who came out as gay in 2006 — also in People magazine — has lasted longer than her marriage. Along the way, Babilonia matured from the shy withdrawn child who refused to hold a boy’s hand into a bold, strong and confident woman.
“She’s totally mature. She is worldly. And she’s an advocate for equality in sports, people of color and all that,” said Gardner, 68, whose home in Manhattan Beach is about 10 miles from the Culver City ice rink where he and Babilonia learned to skate once stood.
The former teammates still meet at least once a month and talk on the phone frequently, although they haven’t been on the ice together since Gardner underwent surgery on his back a year ago.
Flames from a olympic torch passes in front of Tai Babilonia at LA84 Foundation in January.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
When she stopped skating Babilonia tried coaching, but that didn’t work because she didn’t know how to teach the moves she had so easily mastered. Instead, she launched a clothing line, became a motivational speaker, volunteered with various groups promoting diversity on and off the ice, co-hosted a TV interview show taped in Santa Barbara and, for the last nine years, has co-hosted a holiday skate party for kids from the Union Rescue Mission. She also continues to skate in charity events.
All that in addition to her work with Atoy Wilson, a former U.S. novice champion, on the Mabel Fairbanks biopic, tentatively titled “Black Ice: The Mabel Fairbanks Story.”
“I want to try everything,” she said. “I want to experience everything.”
But her real job, she quickly adds, is being a grandmother to Ryett, her son’s 2-year-old boy in Arizona.
“I love being a grandmother,” she said. “Absolutely love it.”
She is also a prolific presence on social media, where most of her posts are either trenchant comments on the politics of today or black-and-white photos from back in the day, when she and Gardner — Tai and Randy — were winning medals and opening doors, helping to change U.S. figure skating forever.
“I appreciate what we did more as I get older,” Babilonia said. “We were pretty good and we made our mark. We worked hard. We became two-time Olympians. We met the queen of England.
MELBOURNE, Australia — Carlos Alcaraz is 22, he’s the youngest man ever to win all four of the major titles in tennis, and he had to achieve what no man previously has done to complete the career Grand Slam in Australia.
The top-ranked Alcaraz dropped the first set of the Australian Open final in 33 minutes Sunday as Novak Djokovic went out hard in pursuit of an unprecedented 25th major title, but the young Spaniard dug deep to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.
“Means the world to me,” Alcaraz said. “It is a dream come true for me.”
Djokovic had won all 10 of his previous finals at Melbourne Park and, despite being 38, gave himself every chance of extending that streak to 11 when he needed only two sets to win.
Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after defeating Novak Djokovic to win the Australian Open on Sunday.
(Asanka Brendon Ratnayake / Associated Press)
Alcaraz rose to the challenge.
“Tennis can change on just one point. One point, one feeling, one shot can change the whole match completely,” he said. “I played well the first set, but you know, in front of me I had a great and inspired Novak, who was playing great, great shots.”
A couple of unforced errors from Djokovic early in the second set gave Alcaraz the confidence.
He scrambled to retrieve shots that usually would be winners for Djokovic, and he kept up intense pressure on the most decorated player in men’s tennis history. There were extended rallies where each player hit enough brilliant shots to usually win a game.
Djokovic has made an art form of rallying from precarious positions. Despite trailing two sets to one, he went within the width of a ball in the fourth set’s ninth game of turning this final around.
After fending off six break points in the set, he exhorted the crowd when he got to 30-30. The crowd responded with chants of “Nole, Nole, Nole!”
When Djokovic earned a breakpoint chance — his first since the second set — he whipped up his supporters again. But when Djokovic sent a forehand long on the next point, Alcaraz took it as a reprieve.
A short forehand winner, a mis-hit from Alcaraz, clipped the net and landed inside the line to give him game point. Then Djokovic hit another forehand long.
Alcaraz responded with a roar, and sealed victory by taking two of the next three games.
As he was leaving the court, Alcaraz signed the lens of the TV camera with a recognition: “Job finished. 4/4 Complete.”
Men: Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie, Hammy McMillan, Kyle Waddell (alternate)
Women: Rebecca Morrison, Sophie Jackson, Jennifer Dodds, Sophie Sinclair, Fay Henderson (alternate)
Mixed: Mouat and Dodds
In Beijing four years ago, curling was the only sport to return to Britain with medals. Eve Muirhead’s rink took women’s gold and Mouat’s men claimed silver.
Muirhead is no longer playing – instead, she will lead the overall GB team as chef du mission – but her Bejing team-mate Dodds is.
“Jen and the kids” is how the women’s rink this time label themselves and, while their inexperience means they are not among the favourites, they could find themselves in contention for a podium place if things go their way.
Edinburgh duo Dodds and Mouat will be fancied in the mixed, though, having lost the bronze-medal match last time.
And Mouat’s rink are the team to beat in the men’s event. For them, anything less than gold would be a disappointment.
Angela Dugalic scored 22 points off the bench, Kiki Rice had 17 and Lauren Betts added 16 as the UCLA women’s basketball team recorded its eighth win against a ranked opponent with a dominant 88-65 victory over No. 8 Iowa on Sunday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.
“I’m proud to be part of this team,” Dugalic said. “It’s fun to play with these girls. We’re not taking any team for granted. At the end of the day, if you’re our next opponent, that’s who we’re concentrating on.”
The No. 2 Bruins (21-1 overall, 11-0 Big Ten) won their 15th straight game and improved to 10-0 at home. They lead the conference by one game over No. 9 Michigan, which beat No. 13 Michigan State in overtime Sunday.
Charlisse Leger-Walker finished with 10 points, five assists and five rebounds. Gianna Kneepkens added 10 points, four assists and four rebounds, and Rice dished out seven assists for UCLA, which improved to 3-1 all time against Iowa and 3-0 under coach Cori Close.
“I’m thrilled for Angela getting a career high today, but what I’m happy about most is how many different people are stepping up,” Close said. “We’ve got plenty of weapons. This group couldn’t have been more happy for Angela. I love the way they celebrate each other’s growth.”
Ava Heiden netted 19 points and Hannah Stuelke added 13 for the Hawkeyes (18-4, 9-2), who were trying to rebound from Thursday night’s 81-69 loss to unranked USC at Galen Center.
It was supposed to be UCLA’s toughest game since its defeat to No. 4 Texas in December. Instead the Bruins made it look easy by getting every player involved. They racked up 29 assists and were 50% from three-point range and eight for eight at the free-throw line.
UCLA guard Gabriela Jaquez drives to the basket against Iowa in the first half.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
No. 1 Connecticut routed No. 15 Tennessee by 30 to stay undefeated while Texas, No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 6 Louisiana State and No. 7 Louisville also won Sunday.
Having lost to the top two teams in the country, Iowa coach Jan Jensen was asked to compare them.
“Both are outstanding at every position,” Jensen said. “Lauren [Betts] is so hard to guard. One difference is UConn’s full-court pressure. You could put your money on both of them to be there at the end. Maybe a slight edge to UConn, only because they press, but I have all the respect in the world for Cori and her staff. They do it the right way. UCLA is really good. They saw what we were trying to do and made us not play our best.”
Close said her team is not where she wants it to be quite yet.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice, right, looks for a pass in front of Iowa guard Chit-Chat Wright during the first half Sunday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
“Losing to UConn in the tournament last year taught me that you can never be satisfied,” Close said. “The edge is a really good place and I want us to live on that edge every day, not rely on our talent.”
Rice’s layup capped a 6-0 run to put the Bruins up by 13 with 4:21 left in the first half. Iowa closed within eight before Kneepkens drained a corner three at the buzzer to give UCLA a 39-28 lead at halftime. UCLA outscored Iowa 28-10 in the paint in the half.
Betts’ jumper increased the Bruins’ lead to 22 with 3:10 left in the third, but she picked up her fourth personal foul two minutes later and Iowa took advantage while scoring the final five points of the quarter. Dugalic’s third three-pointer gave UCLA its largest lead, 86-59, with a little more than three minutes left.
“The confidence we have is mainly because we know we put in the work in practice,” Betts said. “Coach never lets up in terms of playing to our standard. We try to get ball inside because we have amazing post presence. We want to do that.”
UCLA hosts Rutgers on Wednesday before its showdown with Michigan next Sunday.
“Angela earned everything she got today,” Close said. “Sure, she benefits from how dominant Lauren is, but we posted her up, we ran plays to get her three … show me a more versatile forward in the country than her.”
NEW YORK — Lakers star LeBron James made the NBA All-Star team for a record 22nd time Sunday after being selected as a Western Conference reserve by NBA coaches.
James had been selected as an All-Star starter 21 consecutive times, an NBA record, but fans didn’t choose him this season. The 41-year-old James is just the second player to earn multiple All-Star selections after the age of 40, joining Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Denver’s Jamal Murray, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, Houston’s Kevin Durant, Phoenix’s Devin Booker and Portland’s Deni Avdija also were named Western Conference reserves.
The Eastern Conference reserves are Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson, New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns, Indiana’s Pascal Siakam, Miami’s Norman Powell, Toronto’s Scottie Barnes and Detroit’s Jalen Duren.
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, seventh in scoring at 28.7 points per game and first in steals (2.1), could be chosen by commissioner Adam Silver to replace Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who’s a starter but is injured.
James was averaging 21.9 points, 6.6 assists and 5.8 rebounds over 33.1 minutes per game. He was shooting 50.2% from the field and 34.9% from three-point range through 30 games.
James missed the first 14 games because of sciatica and started slowly when he returned, but has been playing at a higher level recently.
In January, James scored 109 fourth-quarter points, tied with Durant for the most in the NBA. James helped the Lakers post a league-best 14-2 record in clutch games entering Sunday’s game at New York.
James will join Lakers teammate Luka Doncic, who had the most All-Star votes, in the Feb. 15 game at the Clippers’ home arena, Intuit Dome.
The new All-Star format will be a three-team tournament that features two U.S. teams and one world team. The U.S. teams will have 16 players and the world will have eight. Doncic, who is from Slovenia, will play for the world team.
The teams play a round-robin of 12-minute games, with the top teams advancing to the final 12-minute championship.
Chris Kreider scored two goals, Lukas Dostal made 27 saves and the Ducks swept their three-game season series with the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-3 victory on Sunday night.
Cutter Gauthier scored and Ryan Poehling added an empty-net goal for the Ducks. Anaheim earned its eighth victory in 10 games overall despite nearly blowing an early 3-0 lead during a third period dominated by Vegas.
Mitch Marner and Ivan Barbashev scored goals in their third straight games for the Golden Knights, who have lost five straight and seven of eight. Vegas has gone on two five-game skids since Christmas, with an 8-2-0 surge sandwiched between them.
Tomas Hertl scored with six seconds to play and Adin Hill stopped 19 shots for Vegas.
Kreider put Anaheim up 2-0 with his first multigoal game since Nov. 6 for the Ducks, who acquired him last June from the New York Rangers.
He opened the scoring late in the first when a puck from Poehling hit his leg and went in. He tipped home his 19th goal early in the second.
Gauthier scored his 24th goal a few minutes later, beating Hill at the near post for the Ducks’ fifth power-play goal in five games.
Marner took advantage of a lucky deflection when Mark Stone’s pass from behind the net ricocheted off two Ducks and went straight to him.
Vegas took control in the third period, and Barbashev tapped home a stationary puck in the crease after Dostal couldn’t smother Jack Eichel’s shot.
Anaheim right wing Troy Terry returned from an 11-game absence with an upper-body injury, and center Mason McTavish also returned after missing five games.
The Ducks had their eighth consecutive sellout as they returned from a five-game road trip to begin a nine-game homestand. Anaheim doesn’t play another road game until March 10.
Up next for the Ducks: vs. Seattle at Honda Center on Tuesday.
Leonard, who was left off the Western Conference All-Star reserves announced earlier Sunday, had eight rebounds as well as his 27th consecutive game with 20 or more points. Ivica Zubac had 20 rebounds as the Clippers bounced back from a loss at Denver on Friday and dominated the inside, outrebounding Phoenix 63-35 and outscoring the Suns 64-18 in the paint.
Jordan Miller had 20 points, John Collins scored 16, Zubac had 14 and Kobe Sanders had 12 for the Clippers, who shot 51.8% from the field. Sanders started for Harden, who missed the game for personal reasons.
Since starting the season 6-21, the Clippers have won 17 of 21 and are just two games under .500. The Suns had won three straight before Sunday, and are still 15-7 since Dec. 21.
Grayson Allen led the Suns with 23 points and eight assists, and Dillon Brooks scored 22 points. Phoenix shot just 33.3% from the field and was held under 100 points for just the sixth time in 50 games this season. Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin each finished with 12 points.
The Suns were without Devin Booker (right ankle sprain) and Jalen Green (right hamstring, left hip). Booker was selected as a reserve for his fifth All-Star Game earlier Sunday.
The teams split the season series 2-2.
Up next for the Clippers: vs. Philadelphia at Intuit Dome on Monday night.
NEW YORK — Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the Lakers’ acquisition of Luka Doncic.
Coach JJ Redick acknowledged he felt “stressed” knowing about the trade before the Lakers played the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden that night in 2025.
While his stress may have faded, Redick couldn’t have liked what he saw from the Lakers on the same floor one year later.
Despite a strong effort from Doncic, the Lakers struggled with their shooting and lost 112-100 to the Knicks on Sunday night.
After Landry Shamet made his second straight three-pointer to give the Knicks a 112-99 lead with 59.3 seconds left, Redick pulled his starters. The Lakers led 56-52 at halftime but were outscored 38-26 in the third quarter after New York went on a 15-5 run to take a 90-82 lead into the fourth quarter.
Doncic finished with 30 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Lakers’ 45% shooting from the field and 29% shooting from three-point range.
LeBron James, named an NBA All-Star for the 22nd time before the game, had 22 points, six assists and five rebounds, but he fell to 23-9 in regular-season games at Madison Square Garden, and the Lakers slipped to 4-3 on their season-high eight-game trip, which ends Tuesday in Brooklyn.
Deandre Ayton had 13 points and five rebounds, and Marcus Smart had seven points and three assists.
OG Anunoby had 25 points, eight rebounds and three assists to lead the Knicks (31-18) who have won six straight. Shamet scored 23 points and Josh Hart had 20 points and four rebounds. Jalen Brunson finished with 12 points and season-high 13 assists.
Match of the Day pundits Danny Murphy and Troy Deeney analyse how Spurs mounted a superb second-half comeback in their 2-2 draw against Manchester City.
The USC women’s basketball team rolled to a 71-39 win over Rutgers on Sunday at Galen Center.
The Trojans (13-9, 5-6 Big Ten) got off to a slow start, ending the first quarter trailing by three points. Rutgers (9-13, 1-10) held the lead until the 5:39 mark in the second quarter when Kara Dunn hit a pair of free throws. USC picked up its defensive pressure in the second quarter, which helped ignite its offense. The Trojans held a six-point lead at halftime and extended it during a second-half surge.
Dunn led USC with 18 points and six rebounds. Jazzy Davidson contributed 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Kennedy Smith added 11 points and four assists. Laura Williams anchored the glass with 11 rebounds and Malia Samuels finished with seven points and four rebounds.
Imani Lester scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds for Rutgers. Zachara Perkins recorded 12 points and four rebounds and Faith Blackstone added six points.
USC outscored Rutgers 23-8 in the third quarter and kept the pressure up in the fourth, outscoring the Scarlet Knights 19-8. The Trojans dominated the battle on the boards, 57-32. USC made the most of Rutgers’ 20 turnovers, scoring 21 points off the miscues.
USC will look to extend its two-game win streak at Northwestern (8-14, 2-9) at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The game will air on the Big Ten Network.
Sebastian Aho scored early in overtime to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 win over the Kings on Sunday.
Brandon Bussi made 11 saves to continue his dominant rookie season, while Jordan Staal and Alexander Nikishin also scored for the Hurricanes, who have earned at least a point in eight straight games (6-0-2).
Samuel Helenius and Quinton Byfield scored for the Kings and Anton Forsberg made 31 saves. The Kings wrapped up their road trip with a 3-1-1 record with one game (last Monday at Columbus) postponed because of severe winter weather.
A winter storm dumped snow all around North Carolina but Raleigh was mostly spared, which made it easier for about 14,000 fans to make it to the arena for the afternoon start.
A day after squandering a three-goal lead in a 4-3 overtime loss at Washington, Aho made sure the Hurricanes didn’t blow a 2-0 lead against the Kings. He beat Forsberg 1:25 into the overtime period after the Kings’ goalie had made two tough saves on Seth Jarvis.
Bussi, a 27-year-old rookie claimed off waivers four days before the season started, continues to be a revelation. He has won 21 of his 25 starts (21-3-1) to help the Hurricanes to first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Nikishin put the Hurricanes up 2-0 with 7:03 to play in the third period. Helenius responded 24 seconds later to cut the lead to 2-1. Byfield finished a beautiful pass from Adrian Kempe with 3:11 left in regulation to tie the game at 2-2.
Staal tipped in Andrei Svechnikov’s pass for his third power-play goal of the season at 6:25 of the first period. Staal has matched last year’s scoring output with 13 goals but in 23 fewer games.
Up next for the Kings: vs. Seattle at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night.
Luke Littler won the World Masters for the first time and became the joint-third most successful player in PDC history with a 6-5 win over Luke Humphries.
The teenager now has 11 major PDC titles, leaving him level with James Wade and behind only Michael van Gerwen (48) and Phil Taylor (79).
The win for Littler, which followed on from beating Gerwyn Price 5-4 in a terrific match in the semi-finals, has left the European Championship as the only major television PDC title still to be won by the two-time world champion.
A high-quality finale saw 25 maximums thrown as the lead changed hands multiple times before Littler eventually nailed his favourite double 10 to seal the £100,000 first prize.
After a semi-final that saw Price miss a match dart, Littler upped his level from the start. A stunning 153 checkout laid down the gauntlet to Humphries, but the world number two came into the final having beaten Gian van Veen 5-0 in the last four and continued in that form by winning the opening set.
Littler, who averaged 104.72 to Humphries’ 105.51 in the final, then powered into a 3-1 lead, hitting a 121 finish along the way. But Humphries did not want to concede the title he won last year and levelled the match.
With the score at 3-1 to the world champion, Humphries rallied with 10 and 13-dart legs on his way to levelling the match.
Littler missed three darts to move into a 5-3 lead and Humphries capitalised to level again before hitting his first 100-plus checkout on his way to moving one set away from another title.
But Littler was not done there. The 19-year-old reeled off legs in 13 and then 12 darts to force a deciding set.
A break of throw in the first leg of the deciding set gave Littler control and he did not let it slip. One dart at double 10 was all he needed to land his first World Masters title.
All four of the semi-finalists will be back in action when the 2026 Premier League starts in Newcastle on Thursday.
The Rams have a successful season and other NFL teams raid his coaching staff.
Mike LaFleur, the Rams’ offensive coordinator for the last three seasons, is the latest to parlay his time with McVay into an NFL head coaching opportunity.
LaFleur, 38, is the seventh former McVay assistant to land an NFL head coach job.
LaFleur’s brother Matt, was the Rams’ offensive coordinator in McVay’s first season in 2017 and then called plays for the Tennessee Titans in 2018 before he was hired by the Green Bay Packers.
The LaFleurs are the second tandem of head-coaching brothers currently in the NFL along with Jim (Chargers) and John Harbaugh (New York Giants).
Rams assistants who made the jump directly to head coach were Zac Taylor of the Cincinnati Bengals, Brandon Staley (Chargers), Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings), Raheem Morris (Atlanta Falcons) and Liam Coen (Jacksonville Jaguars).
This will be Mike LaFleur’s first job as a head coach at any level. LaFleur, like McVay, began his coaching career working under Kyle Shanahan.
LaFleur coached with the Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers before he became offensive coordinator and play-caller for the New York Jets in 2021.
LaFleur was let go after the 2022 season and joined McVay’s staff in 2023. McVay is the Rams’ play-caller.
With the Cardinals, LaFleur inherits a team that finished at the bottom of the NFC West in 2025 with a 3-14 record — well behind the Seahawks, Rams and 49ers at the top of the division.
LaFleur’s Rams exit could create an opportunity for passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase to move into the offensive coordinator role. Scheelhaase has interviewed for multiple head coaching positions.
MILAN, Italy — Two years before the Los Angeles Olympics, the United States is already dominating the narrative in the run-up to the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
International Olympic Committee officials, including President Kirsty Coventry, couldn’t avoid questions relating to ICE and the Jeffrey Epstein files at a news conference in Milan, Italy, on Sunday.
Coventry tried to fend them off by saying it was not the IOC’s place to comment on the issues, but when pressed remarked it was “sad” that such stories were deflecting attention away from the upcoming Olympics.
“I think anything that is distracting from these Games is sad, right? But we’ve learned over the many years … there’s always been something that has taken the lead, leading up to the Games,” Coventry said. “Whether it has been Zika, COVID, there has always been something.
“But what is keeping my faith alive is that when that opening ceremony happens and those athletes start competing, suddenly the world remembers the magic and the spirit that the Games have and they get to suddenly remember what’s actually important and they get to be inspired, and so we’re really looking forward to that.”
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Saturday in Milan to protest the deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during the upcoming Winter Olympics, although agents would be stationed in a control room and not operating on the streets.
Meanwhile, the latest collection of government files released on Epstein includes emails from 2003 between Casey Wasserman, the head of the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, and Epstein’s one-time girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“From all the information that we have and I believe that the U.S. authorities, as the other authorities, have made all the clarifications needed, so from our side that’s not for us to further comment on that part of the security. But we’re really looking forward to the Games,” Coventry said when asked about the presence of ICE agents in Milan.
She was even less responsive when asked about Wasserman.
“We didn’t discuss it yesterday and I believe Mr. Wasserman has put out his statement and we now have nothing further to add,” said Coventry, who was elected just over 10 months ago as the first female IOC president.
The upcoming Olympics run from Friday through Feb. 22. U.S. Vice President JD Vance will lead an American delegation to the Milan-Cortina Games and attend the opening ceremony.
