SPORT

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

BOYS
CITY SECTION
AMIT 51, Discovery 26
Angelou 85, West Adams 55
Animo Bunche 56, Aspire Ollin 41
Birmingham 74, Cleveland 66
Bravo 60, Eagle Rock 56
CHAMPS 66, Bert Corona Charter 52
Community Charter 54, Lakeview Charter 37
East Valley 57, Fulton 32
El Camino Real 54, Granada Hills 43
Fairfax 77, LA Hamilton 49
Foshay 87, Larchmont Charter 55
Granada Hills Kennedy 62, Panorama 43
Grant 49, Verdugo Hills 47
Harbor Teacher 59, Port of LA 46
Hawkins 70, Locke 38
Hollywood 90, Belmont 21
Huntington Park 58, South East 44
Jefferson 56, Diego Rivera 42
LA Jordan 70, Dorsey 27
LA Roosevelt 53, Bell 31
LA Wilson 55, LA Marshall 52
Lincoln 73, Franklin 45
MSAR 47, Sun Valley Magnet 43
MSCP 71, New West Charter 53
Palisades 76, Westchester 40
Rancho Dominguez 67, Gardena 53
San Fernando 65, Van Nuys 59
San Pedro 78, Wilmington Banning 35
Simon Tech 66, AHSA 22
Smidt Tech 48, Stern 42
South Gate 53, Legacy 38
Sun Valley Poly 65, Arleta 49
Sylmar 95, Reseda 25
University Prep Value 63, Sotomayor 58
Valor Academy 73, Lake Balboa College Prep 33
Venice 64, LA University 31
View Park 60, Dymally 20

SOUTHERN SECTION
Ambassador Christian 84, Summit View West 44
Anaheim 53, Savanna 52
Arroyo 75, Mountain View 46
Banning 61, Cathedral City 31
Bassett 59, Workman 45
Big Bear 72, Indian Springs 62
Blair 78, Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 71
Buckley 84, North Hollywood 77
California 83, Whittier 50
Canyon Country Canyon 90, Castaic 53
Carpinteria 66, Santa Barbara Providence 43
Charter Oak 70, Covina 33
Colony 56, San Dimas 45
Compton 78, Muir 66
Corona Centennial 59, Corona Santiago 38
Crossroads 64, Murrieta Mesa 55
CSDR 45, Sherman Indian 40
Desert Hot Springs 70, Desert Mirage 35
de Toledo 80, International School of LA 33
Eastvale Roosevelt 72, Riverside King 54
Elsinore 82, Temecula Prep 67
Faith Baptist 55, Grace 50
Gabrielino 57, El Monte 21
Garden Grove 41, Buena Park 39
Gardena Serra 54, Verbum Dei 53
Glendora 80, Walnut 67
Hacienda Heights Wilson 50, Northview 43
Hart 64, West Ranch 53
Heritage 68, San Jacinto Valley Academy 45
Heritage Christian 80, Burbank Providence 44
Hesperia 81, Serrano 52
Highland 63, Palmdale 48
Highland Hall 61, Pilgrim 53
JSerra 87, Mater Dei 66
Keppel 70, Alhambra 49
Knight 68, Eastside 42

Lancaster 57, Antelope Valley 46

La Puente 62, Edgewood 60
Long Beach Wilson 59, Long Beach Cabrillo 51
Mesrobian 72, Le Lycée 70
Montebello 53, San Gabriel 41
Nordhoff 52, Villanova Prep 38
Oak Hills 101, Apple Valley 32
Orange County Pacifica Christian 50, Fairmont Prep 46
Pacific 51, Miller 46
Quartz Hill 53, Littlerock 48
Rancho Mirage 68, Palm Desert 63
Redlands Adventist Academy 67, Packinghouse Christian 50
Ridgecrest Burroughs 58, Sultana 44
Rosemead 53, Pasadena Marshall 44
San Bernardino 96, Entrepreneur 46
San Fernando Valley Academy 89, Campbell Hall 43
San Gabriel Academy 73, Capistrano Valley Christian 40
Santa Clara 80, Del Sol 55
Santa Fe 51, El Rancho 50
Santa Margarita 57, St. John Bosco 56
Schurr 59, Bell Gardens 50
SEED: LA 80, EF Academy 67
Segerstrom 52, Godinez Fundamental 48
Summit Leadership Academy 59, Victor Valley Christian 56
Thousand Oaks Hillcrest Christian 68, Newbury Park Adventist 54
Twentynine Palms 64, Silver Valley 59
United Christian Academy 74, Bethel Christian 51
Valencia 68, Golden Valley 63
Verbum Dei 54, Gardena Serra 53
West Covina 41, Rowland 39
Westmark 64, Summit View 40
Wildwood 60, Lennox Academy 52
Woodcrest Christian 60, Loma Linda Academy 54

INTERSECTIONAL
Buckley 84, North Hollywood 77
South Pasadena 56, Garfield 49

GIRLS
CITY SECTION
AMIT 23, Discovery 8
Arleta 58, Sun Valley Poly 21
Aspire Ollin 28, Animo Bunche 24
Bell 57, LA Roosevelt 13
Birmingham 54, Cleveland 44
Carson 36, Narbonne 23
Crenshaw 62, GALA 57
Diego Rivera 51, Jefferson 20
Gardena 58, Rancho Dominguez 14
Granada Hills 50, El Camino Real 32
Granada Hills Kennedy 61, Panorama 11
Harbor Teacher 80, Port of Los Angeles 21
Lake Balboa College Prep 28, Valor Academy 15
Lakeview Charter 25, Community Charter 21
Larchmont Charter 56, Foshay 29
Mendez 33, Roybal 13
Monroe 41, Chavez 18
MSAR 38, Sun Valley Magnet 29
New West Charter 66, MSCP 15
San Pedro 66, Wilmington Banning 38
South Gate 47, Legacy 41
Stern 32, Smidt Tech 19
Sylmar 58, Reseda 17
Taft 64, Chatsworth 45
Van Nuys 50, San Fernando 37
Vaughn 44, VAAS 25
Verdugo Hills 45, Grant 37
West Adams 43, Angelou 25

SOUTHERN SECTION
AAE 47, Webb 32
Arroyo 52, Mountain View 6
Banning 53, Cathedral City 26
Bethel Christian 37, La Sierra Academy 26
Canyon Country Canyon 65, Castaic 10
Carpinteria 52, Villanova Prep 30
Cate 31, Dunn 22
Charter Oak 58, Covina 31
CSDR 44, Sherman Indian 31
Desert Hot Springs 55, Desert Mirage 27
Eastside 56, Knight 49
Edgewood 40, La Puente 20
EF Academy 45, SEED: LA 33
El Modena 50, Katella 37
Gabrielino 53, El Monte 14
Ganesha 27, Pomona 16
Hacienda Heights Wilson 68, Northview 61
Hart 46, West Ranch 33
Hesperia 59, Serrano 36
International School of LA 44, Mesrobian 32
Keppel 64, Alhambra 23
Lancaster 53, Antelope Valley 23
Laguna Hills 43, Tustin 42
La Sierra 24, Jurupa Valley 17
Lancaster 53, Antelope Valley 23
Le Lycee 37, Archer 29
Loma Linda Academy 50, Woodcrest Christian 40
Lucerne Valley 38, Big Bear 25
Marymount 47, St. Genevieve 35
Miller 28, Pacific 24
Montebello 43, San Gabriel 40
Newbury Park Adventist 69, Thousand Oaks Hillcrest Christian 20
Oak Hills 68, Apple Valley 21
Packinghouse Christian 43, Redlands Adventist Academy 35
Palmdale 42, Highland 21
Palm Desert 73, Rancho Mirage 14
Quartz Hill 60, Littlerock 14
Rancho Christian 68, Fairmont Prep 64
Ridgecrest Burroughs 71, Sultana 16
Rosemead 48, Pasadena Marshall 17
Samueli Academy 30, Southlands Christian 22
San Bernardino 23, Entrepreneur 10
San Dimas 64, Colony 38
Santa Clarita Christian 52, Legacy Christian Academy 26
Santa Fe 55, El Rancho 37
Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 45, Burbank Providence 36
Schurr 33, Bell Gardens 24
Segerstrom 63, San Clemente 61
Sherman Indian 31, CSDR 44
Silver Valley 61, Twentynine Palms 59
Temecula Prep 41, San Jacinto Valley Academy 33
Valencia 82, Golden Valley 21
West Covina 44, Rowland 34
Westridge 27, Santa Clara 25
Whittier 62, California 33
Wildwood 33, Lennox Academy 15
Workman 30, Bassett 20
Yorba Linda 36, Sunny Hills 34

The engines are still 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrids, as they have been since 2014, but one of the two electrical motors that recovered energy has been removed.

The total amount of electrical energy has been increased by a factor of three, but the battery is more or less the same size. If the battery is fully depleted, the engine loses 350kw (470bhp), leading to potentially dramatic speed differentials.

Drivers will be backing off towards the end of straights – and being careful about when they apply the throttle – to ensure the most efficient energy usage, even on a qualifying lap.

The cars are also smaller and lighter, have less downforce and have ‘active aerodynamics’ – where both front and rear wings open on the straights to increase speed and the possibility for energy recovery.

Norris said the new car “certainly feels more powerful and quicker” on the straight.

“The biggest challenge at the minute is battery management and knowing how to utilise that in the best way,” he said.

“It’s not simple. You can explain it in quite simple terms. It’s just you have a very powerful battery that doesn’t last very long, so knowing how to use it in the right times, how much energy, how much of that power you use, how you split it up around the lap…

“The biggest challenge is how you can recover the batteries as well as possible, and that’s when it comes down to using the gears, hitting the right revs.

“Obviously, you’ve got some turbo lag now, which we’ve never really had before. All of these little things have crept back in, but I don’t think that changes too much.

“In a perfect world, I probably wouldn’t have [all] that in a race car, but it’s just F1. Sometimes you have these different challenges.”

His team-mate Oscar Piastri said the cars were “not as alien as I think we might have feared” and insisted he “didn’t think F1 had lost its identity at all”.

The Australian added: “There’s going to be some things to get used to but in terms of some of the fears that maybe we had before we got on track, a significant majority of those have been alleviated now.

“There’ll be some differences, but I think fundamentally they’re still the fastest cars in the world.”

Headlined by first and third quarter dominance, No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball picked up a 86-46 win over Rutgers (9-14, 1-11) at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday night.

Kiki Rice led the Bruins (22-1, 12-0 Big Ten) with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Gabriela Jaquez got things started, scoring 10 of her 14 points in the first quarter.

Rutgers, playing without its two leading scorers in Nene Ndiaye and Imani Lester, committed 18 turnovers that the Bruins converted into 25 points.

During the Bruins’ first possession of the game, Rice stepped back from the three-point line, shooting an air ball. But she followed that miss with the Bruins’ next three scores from the field, all three coming off the break.

UCLA center Lauren Betts shoots while being guarded by Rutgers’ Kaylah Ivey Wednesday at Pauley Pavilion.

(Caroline Brehman / Associated Press)

And while the Scarlet Knights got on the scoreboard first with a three-pointer, they missed five layups and committed five turnovers, with the Bruins taking advantage for 11 points in the quarter. The Scarlet Knights’ six first-quarter points were the fewest scored by a Bruin opponent in the first period this season.

UCLA jumped to a 26-6 lead over the Scarlet Knights by the end of the first quarter, but it couldn’t extend that lead in the second, scoring just 14 points to Rutgers’ 13.

The Bruins also struggled to hold onto the ball in the second quarter, committing seven turnovers — although the Scarlet Knights scored just three points off the miscues. And while UCLA went three for eight on three pointers in the first period, it couldn’t bury one in the second off five attempts.

UCLA struggled to separate itself from Rutgers during the fourth quarter when the Bruins substituted in their bench players. UCLA was outscored 19-18 in the final period.

Two-thirds of the way through conference play, UCLA has six games remaining before the Big Ten tournament, with a game at No. 8 Michigan at noon PST Sunday.

As much as the mood has undoubtedly improved this season, the root causes of Cardiff’s recent troubles have not simply disappeared.

Tan remains a divisive figure, as do chairman Mehmet Dalman and chief executive Ken Choo.

They were the target of numerous protests last season, some of which saw hordes of supporters marching to Cardiff City Stadium, holding banners and singing songs demanding that Tan and his fellow board members leave.

Some of the ill feeling can be traced back to Tan’s highly controversial rebranding of the club’s colours from red to blue in 2012, even though he reversed the decision three years later.

More recently, the anger relates to his perceived lack of interest, with Tan having not attended a home game for more than two years.

Then, perhaps most damningly, there is the way he, Dalman and Choo have run the club.

Fans, former players and pundits have all highlighted the startling lack of football knowledge at board level, with no layer of expertise between Tan and the many managers he has hired and fired.

Cardiff at least tried a new method in their appointment of Barry-Murphy, forming a one-off sub-committee which included the club’s academy manager Gavin Chesterfield, former Swansea City sporting director Mark Allen and members of the Wasserman agency. However, the final decision still belonged to Tan.

“They didn’t plan to get relegated,” says Perry. “And in hiring Barry-Murphy, is it really a thorough process that we’ve got to the outcome of getting him? I don’t think so.

“It’s a filtering system, a few people narrowing it down to five choices, and those five choices go then to the owner.

“The problem will always be the owner, simply because he hasn’t got that knowledge to pick out of those five. Nathan Jones was in there [on the shortlist], there were others who weren’t similar to Barry-Murphy.

“I’ll only start calling it a process if Barry-Murphy goes and the next appointment is very similar. Then it becomes a process, get another coach who puts a team out that we can identify with as supporters and is also successful.

“But you must have knowledge of what you’re looking for. The same problems are here at this club, and they need to change for us to have success continuously.”

Given how well the Barry-Murphy appointment has gone so far, then, might Tan be convinced to use a director of football or similar on a permanent basis?

“The total opposite,” Perry says. “I think he’ll get carried away, so much so that it will reinforce his own opinion of himself, that he is the right man because of what we’re seeing now.

“He will not look at the process and put his hands up and go, ‘possibly we’re fortunate here because it wasn’t our first choice’.

“You have to be honest, reflection is a key part of football or any big business, but when you reflect you have to be honest and you have to look at your skillset. Then you have to either improve that skillset or you bring somebody in that has those skills. Unfortunately, at City we don’t have that and that is my concern.”

There is no guarantee of an instant return to the Championship. It took Cardiff 18 years to get back to that level when they were last relegated to the third tier in 1985.

Of the 30 teams to have been in the Premier League and relegated to League One, six have never made it back to the Championship.

Given how Cardiff are going this season, they should not add to that number.

Promotion will not fix everything, though.

“I came into this season determined to enjoy it,” says Perry.

“We’re doing well, playing a brand that we identify with and everybody’s happy.

“But you’ve only got to look around the football club and I still see the same mistakes.”

“You buy a player for a lot of money and he is not able to play for a rule I don’t understand. Hopefully they can change it,” he added.

City’s other January signing, winger Antoine Semenyo, arrived at the club from Bournemouth four days prior to their trip to the north east for the first leg against Newcastle, in which he scored.

“Antoine arrived before the first [game] so could play. And now it’s the final. Why should he [Guehi] not play? Why not? We pay his salary, he is our player,” Guardiola added.

“I said to the club, they have to ask, definitely. I don’t understand the reason why he cannot play in the final in March, when I have been here for a long time.

“The rules to buy a player depends on Fifa, Uefa, the Premier League who say, OK the transfer window is open, when you buy a player you have to play, no? It’s logic. Of course we are going to try to ask [for] him to play. Pure logic.

Asked what he thought the answer will be from the EFL, City’s Spanish boss, added: “No. But we will try.”

City have already benefited from one rule change this season that allowed players to play for two teams in the same competition, instead of being cup tied.

That allowed Semenyo and Max Alleyne to feature in the semi-final matches, despite appearing for Bournemouth and Watford respectively in previous rounds.

Win-win might be overstating the outcome. But when the Dodgers emailed their roughly 55 tour guides Wednesday to say they were getting the pay raise they sought during a failed attempt to unionize, there must have been more smiles than frowns.

The Dodgers and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees reached an agreement in October, but ratification of the pact by the union failed by one vote. A second vote also narrowly failed. Then in January the tour guides voted to decertify the union, meaning the pay raise and increased stadium security on non-game days IATSE and the Dodgers had agreed upon were off the table.

Not for long. The Dodgers bumped up the guides’ pay from $17.87 to $24 an hour — the same increase they would have gotten under the scrapped union contract.

That’s hardly Kyle Tucker money: The Dodgers’ new right fielder signed a contract for $240 million over four years, an average annual value of $60 million. The Dodgers will pay the tour guides a grand total of about $650,000 in 2026 — $170,000 of that reflecting the raise of about $3,000 per person. Tucker will make 92 times the entire tour guide payroll annually.

Dodger Stadium tours have become increasingly popular — generating more than $1 million a year in revenue — because of recent stadium renovations, two consecutive World Series championships and the signings of Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.

“The tour program has grown so much in the age of Ohtani,” said Ray Lokar, a veteran Dodgers tour guide whose full-time career was as a high school coach and athletic director for nearly 40 years. “The visibility and security responsibilities have been amplified. It’s grown from a mom‐and‐pop operation of a dozen people showing folks around the stadium to a multimillion-dollar asset.”

Tours now take place every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The burgeoning demand has caused breaches in stadium security, with guides flagging instances of tour participants entering the top deck with backpacks and even rolling suitcases going unchecked.

The union agreement included a promise by the Dodgers to beef up security. Some guides worried that the decertification would mean the team might continue to ignore their safety concerns. However, the letter to tour guides announcing the raise also addressed stadium security without offering specifics.

“I want you to know that we hear you, team, and we see you,” wrote Kayla Rodiger, Dodgers senior manager of tours. “Your concerns are valid, and I’ll be working closely with our front office colleagues to ensure we make a sincere and meaningful effort to address them.

“That being said, we are actively discussing security issues around the stadium, and I hope to have an update for you on your Top Deck concerns soon.”

Nicole Miller, president of IATSE Local B-192, led the union negotiations that fell short of a contract but likely nudged the Dodgers into addressing the pay and security issues on their own.

“Make no mistake, our IATSE Local B-192 bargaining team’s efforts were crucial in the tour guides obtaining a significant wage increase, and we hope they follow up on their promise to increase security,” Miller said.

The letter from Rodiger also said that the Dodgers’ longtime practice of offering tour guides comp tickets would continue. The perk of four reserve-level tickets for each of the 13 homestands in a season is worth $2,600 assuming the tickets are valued at $50 each. Miller said that in 2024 only three tour guides took all 52 tickets; on average, each guide took 32.

The Dodgers refused to mention free tickets in the union agreement because they said other part-time union employees would demand the same perk. Still, the uncertainty surrounding the tickets kept several guides from voting for union representation.

The contentious negotiations and near 50-50 split among the membership prompted veteran tour guide Cary Ginell to retire, sending a letter Jan. 23 to several of the Dodgers’ top executives.

“I’m writing to let you know that the tour program has become a dysfunctional battle between pro and anti-union factions with resentment and animosity on both sides,” wrote Ginell, a Grammy-nominated author of more than a dozen books on American music. “As an executive, you should be concerned about this, because it reflects on the entire Dodger organization.

“Above all, I wanted what was best for the tour guides, especially the younger ones who struggle to earn a living by working multiple jobs, but come to work afraid of who will be reporting on them and what threats might occur due to the absence of building security.”

Less than two weeks later, the Dodgers responded.

“Over the past two years, our department has thrived, earning recognition across the Dodgers organization, the league, and the City of Los Angeles,” Rodiger wrote to the tour guides. “Your ability to stay focused and uphold our standards to continue to give World Champion level tours has not gone unnoticed, and I promise you all that your contributions to this organization are not taken for granted.”

Moore’s team-mates created just seven chances between them at Hibs on Sunday.

He registered five alone on Wednesday, while his seven dribbles were also higher than any other player.

Game state has to come into that, of course. At the weekend, Rangers were playing against 11 men, away to a top-six side. Struggling Kilmarnock were a man and a goal down after a few minutes on Wednesday.

A goal-scoring performance from the England youth international in the Old Firm derby win at Celtic last month looked set to ignite his Ibrox career, but seven games without a goal contribution followed.

Despite that, the Ibrox side just appear a livelier and more unpredictable proposition with Moore in the line-up.

A mid-season injury and squad rotation has meant Moore has failed to feature in 12 of Rangers’ 25 league matches, but Rohl is now demanding consistency as his side attempt to reel Hearts in.

“We know Mikey, that should be the level for him again and again,” the Rangers head coach told BBC Scotland.

“This is the next step for him, consistency. But I will not speak about individual performances, it’s about the team.”

There have certainly been glimpses of what this team could be in recent weeks.

There was a devastating first-half display against Chelsea, a spirited hour away to Paris St-Germain and a fine opening half an hour or so at Anfield.

But games are not won in snatches.

It has been a frustration of the coaching staff that they have lacked the training time during an unrelenting run of fixtures to really work on things and piece it all together like they have during previous sticky spells.

Instead the players have come to rely on meeting rooms, analysis sessions and walk-throughs.

This is the reality of life at clubs who aspire to fight on multiple fronts, of course, but competing in four competitions was an unprecedented feat for Newcastle going into February.

The relentless nature of the schedule has had a knock-on effect on the squad – Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Tino Livramento and Fabian Schar are all currently sidelined, while Anthony Gordon hobbled off with a hamstring issue on Wednesday night.

It has also had an impact on the adaptation of Newcastle‘s summer signings who, aside from defender Malick Thiaw, are still finding their feet at the club.

Thiaw, Jacob Ramsey, Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa all joined in the final fortnight or so of a turbulent window, in which the club operated without a sporting director and missed out on a host of top targets.

Newcastle, remarkably, are still searching for a settled combination in the final third despite spending £179m on forwards.

Elanga enjoyed a lively second-half cameo at the Etihad, but Woltemade was substituted at half-time – having failed to score since December – while the rusty Wissa missed a host of good chances in both legs.

It leaves Newcastle with more questions than answers as they embark on a crunch run of fixtures.

“Where does that leave our season?” Howe asked. “We’re still fighting on several fronts.

“The games are coming thick and fast. There’s no let-up for us. We need to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible. It’s the only thing that gives you new energy.”

Former Baltimore slugger and cancer survivor Trey Mancini is taking another shot at a major league comeback after agreeing to a minor league contract with the Angels that includes an invitation to big league spring training.

The Angels on Wednesday listed the infielder among their 27 non-roster invitees to camp in Tempe, Ariz.

The 33-year-old Mancini has batted .263 with 129 homers and 400 RBIs over parts of seven seasons, but he hasn’t played in the major leagues since 2023. He began his career by playing parts of six seasons with the Orioles, hitting a career-high 29 homers in 2019.

Mancini then missed the 2020 season after surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his colon. He made a successful return to the Orioles in 2021, and he won a World Series ring in 2022 after Baltimore traded him to the Houston Astros.

He spent part of the 2023 season with the Chicago Cubs. He has since played in the minor-league systems of the Reds, Marlins and Diamondbacks.

Mancini opted out of a minor-league deal with Arizona last July after batting .308 with 16 homers for triple-A Reno.

SANTA CLARA — Drake Maye did not wait long to earn a spot on the NFL’s grandest stage.

In only his second season, the New England Patriots’ quarterback led his team to the Super Bowl.

Now Maye, 23, will try to join four other second-year quarterbacks who won Super Bowl titles.

“I’m not too great at my history,” Maye said when asked if he knew the other second-year winners. “I know there’s been some young ones.”

Kurt Warner of the Rams, Tom Brady of the Patriots, Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks won titles in their second seasons.

Maye correctly identified the player he called “Big Ben.” Apprised that Brady, who won six of his seven Super Bowl titles with the Patriots, also was part of the group, Maye quipped, “Brady, he wasn’t a bad one either.”

On Sunday, Maye will lead the Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

It’s a “full-circle” moment, said Maye, who attended Super Bowl Bowl L at Levi’s Stadium with his father in 2016.

The Patriots are seeking their first title since the 2018 season, when they defeated the Rams in Super Bowl LII in Atlanta.

“The thing that makes it so special for me, at such a young age, is to cherish such a moment,” Maye said.

Maye has been nursing a right shoulder injury but he said he would be “just fine” for Sunday when the Patriots go against the Seahawks’ “Dark Side” defense.

Maye is in the Super Bowl after making a huge leap from his rookie season.

The Patriots selected the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Maye out of North Carolina with the third pick in the 2024 draft. Under first-year coach Jerod Mayo, Maye passed for 15 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions, and rushed for 421 yards and two touchdowns for a team that finished 4-13.

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye speaks during a news conference on Monday.

(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired Mayo after the season and replaced him with Mike Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker who won three Super Bowls with the team as a player and coached the Tennessee Titans to three playoff appearances in six seasons from 2018 to 2023.

Vrabel brought back Josh McDaniels, the offensive coordinator for three Patriots Super Bowl championship teams, and Maye flourished.

“Give a lot of credit to the people around me,” Maye said. “Coaches, players, new teammates, another year with people I did play with, and just finding confidence in myself.”

Maye completed a league-high and franchise-record 72% of his passes, 31 for touchdowns, with eight interceptions. He also rushed for 450 yards and four touchdowns while leading the Patriots to a 14-3 record and the AFC East title.

Maye is a finalist for NFL most valuable player and for offensive player of the year.

“It all starts with talent,” Vrabel said of Maye, adding, “He plays the position athletically, and that allows him to be accurate with the football, whether that’s in the pocket or extending plays. He … continues to build and develop as a leader, so his success and his performance is a large part of why we’re here.”

Receiver Kayshon Boutte concurred.

“It’s pretty much as simple as that,” he said.

The 2020 season that Cam Newton played for the Patriots provided “useful” material for designing an offense that took advantage of Maye’s mobility, McDaniels said. Maye’s ability to learn quickly and not repeat mistakes has helped him thrive.

“We’ve added a lot this year,” McDaniels said, “and I still think we’re just scratching the surface of where this is going.”

Receiver Stefon Diggs is Maye’s favorite target. The 11th-year pro caught 85 passes for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns.

“To be that young and be that mature and be able to play at a high level is something I always wanted as a young player,” Diggs said. “He’s cool with all his teammates. … If you play football, you know. He has that quarterback mindset, that quarterback energy.

“Yeah, he’s cool.”

Tight end Hunter Henry said Maye embodies consistency as a person and a player.

“He’s got a routine, he works really hard, he wants to be great,” said Henry, a 10th-year pro. “He’s never really satisfied. He just wants to continue to improve.”

Maye helped lead the Patriots to playoff victories over the Chargers and the Houston Texans before defeating the Denver Broncos, 10-7, in the AFC championship game.

Containing Maye in the pocket will be a challenge, Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV said.

“Man, he can flat out run,” Jones said. “Can’t sleep on his speed. … When he gets out of the pocket, he’s running, running, running, and he just throws one.”

Patriots defensive lineman Milton Williams played last season for the Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles. Maye and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, he said, are similarly selfless.

“They never take any credit for anything they did even though they’re both special players,” Williams said. “It’s all about the team with those guys, and guys respect that and guys go out there and play hard for ‘em knowing they’re capable of taking games over and winning games in big moments.”

Maye appears ready for the moment. He is not thinking about age or experience going into the biggest game of his life.

“It’s winning the game,” he said, “and enjoying the time with my teammates.”

Christophe Dubi, the IOC executive director for the Olympic Games, added: “We make a point to receive those petitions, and we have to recognise climate is a challenge for all of us.

“What we have to do as an organisation is to be at the forefront of sustainability, and our principles are very clear.”

One area the IOC is aiming to make the Olympics more sustainable is having Games take place over a wider area with more pre-existing facilities, and Coventry said Milan-Cortina is an acid test for whether this is a viable future.

Milan-Cortina takes place in three hubs spread across northern Italy – in Milan, Cortina and Livigno – with only two newly built sporting facilities: the Santagiulia ice hockey arena and Cortina Sliding Centre.

The next two Winter Olympics – French Alps 2030 and Utah 2034 – will also have sports spread more widely, while the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane is will have venues across Queensland.

This has caused issues however, with Brisbane organisers saying, external they will go beyond the originally stated budget of $4.9bn (£3.6bn).

“We are really experiencing a spread out Games here for the first time – we are going to learn a lot,” Coventry said.

“We have taken this decision for sustainability reasons, climate and not having to have new venues. We are seeing there is an impact on National Olympic Committees because of the spreadness [sic], also for broadcast and media, making it harder to get around.

“What is really cool is that you get to see iconic venues in beautiful places – but now we have to weigh this up, the balance between a spread games for sustainability reasons but not shifting complexity and sustainability to different areas.”

While the action got underway on Wednesday with the start of the curling events, the 2026 Winter Olympics will officially start with the opening ceremony on Friday.

Coventry said she hoped all nations would be treated with respect by spectators, including the USA team amid criticism from Italian authorities about the presence of ICE agents in Milan.

“I hope the opening ceremony is seen by everyone as a chance to be respectful,” she said.

“For me, when we went to the Olympic village that is the best reminder of how the Games should be. I hope the opening ceremony will do that.”

The pounding music and disco lights lent a sense of occasion to the first action of this year’s Games in the high-end Italian resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The snow which had hammered down all day in the Dolomites had turned to sleet by the time the four matches started in front of a healthy crowd inside the 3,500-capacity arena.

But many of those spectators were cast into darkness for four or five minutes early on until someone put some change in the meter, the scoring screens flickered back into life and play resumed.

“I didn’t mind the lights going off,” said Mouat. “It was a bit of a boogie, a rave… it was like a nightclub.”

When the dancing stopped, Norway’s husband and wife team of Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien initially took control before the sides fell into a cagey contest.

Mouat and Dodds seized the initiative in a splendid second end – the final accounting reached after some lengthy deliberation with the measuring stick – and led 4-3 at the break after edging a tight fourth against the 2002 silver medallists.

The interval did check the momentum of the childhood friends a little, as Norway – who also won bronze in 2018 – drew level again.

Nedregotten’s flawless play was keeping Norway in it – wife Skaslien’s struggles threatening a little domestic disharmony – but even his efforts could not prevent Team GB snatching three in the sixth end thanks to a stunning Dodds throw.

That opened a three-shot lead with two ends to play.

And, although the Norwegians invoked the powerplay to cut the deficit to one, Mouat and Dodds did likewise in the last end to close out a statement 8-6 win.

“It took us a bit of time to work out one end was curling more than the other, but once we did we took a step up in performance and took control from there,” Dodds said.

“It’s a good confidence builder to start the week.”

Not long after Pacific Palisades and Altadena had burned, Gov. Gavin Newsom summoned reporters and television cameras to Dodger Stadium. Newsom stepped behind a podium dropped within a stadium parking lot, with a commanding view of Los Angeles as the backdrop.

He was there to unveil LA Rises, a signature initiative under which the private sector and philanthropists could unite to help Southern California rebuild and recover.

The most valuable player that day: Mark Walter, the Dodgers’ chairman and controlling owner. The big announcement: Walter and two of his associated charities — his family foundation and the Dodgers’ foundation — would contribute up to $100 million as “an initial commitment” to LA Rises.

“We should clap for that,” Dodgers co-owner Magic Johnson told the assembled media. “A hundred million dollars, that’s an outstanding thing.”

One year later, Newsom’s initiative has struggled to distinguish itself amid a panoply of wildfire relief efforts. LA Rises has delivered $20 million to date, including $7.8 million from Walter’s family foundation, according to Newsom’s office.

“If it’s a number of 20 million after one year, after such a severe occurrence, and with Los Angeles having the giving capacity to meet that goal, I would have expected to hear that there had been more commitments, at a minimum,” said Casey Rogers, founder of Santa Barbara-based Telea Insights, which advises philanthropists and leaders of nonprofit organizations.

“Maybe not all of those commitments would have been paid. Maybe they would have been commitments over a number of years. But it would have been closer to the goal.”

Walter stands by his pledge, Dodgers president Stan Kasten said. A representative of Newsom’s office said Walter’s pledge did not come with a timeline.

“I know we haven’t spent the full 100 yet,” Kasten said, “but this is a long-term commitment.”

Rather than solicit large donations up front and determine how to use the money later, LA Rises prefers to identify “impactful opportunities for investment” as they arise and then “coordinate financial support from a variety of private, public and philanthropic donors, including the Walter Family Foundation,” said Dee Dee Myers, director of Newsom’s office of business and economic development.

Of the Walter foundation contributions, $5 million went toward grants for impacted small business, workers and nonprofits, with $2.8 million to Pasadena City College for modernizing and expanding technical education programs to train workers that can help rebuild their own communities.

LA Rises also funded programs that include day camps and mental health intervention to children affected by the fires; streamlined architectural planning and permits for survivors wishing to rebuild; and support for Habitat for Humanity in building new homes and rebuilding damaged ones.

“The administration is incredibly grateful for any philanthropic dollars that have gone towards the rebuilding efforts in Los Angeles,” Myers said.

The competition for those dollars is fierce. The Milken Institute reported that private giving toward wildfire relief — from individuals, corporations and other entities — hit nearly $1 billion last year.

“I know there has been a lot of money that has been paid to various programs,” Kasten said, “and there has also been some rethinking about how LA Rises is deployed and what foundational money from the Dodgers is used for. We continue to work hard with a lot of groups on that tragedy.

“There are talks ongoing about a variety of programs and a variety of ways of funding things. We are still very involved with this, both with LA Rises and other entities.”

Kasten did not rule out Walter shifting some or all of his remaining funding commitment to an organization outside LA Rises.

“I don’t know exactly what entity we will be formally engaged with — or doing it separately — but we’re absolutely committed to helping out those programs that need that kind of help,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of it already, and we can do a lot more.”

Swansea Council had said it would publish the minutes of the meeting, which took place on 22 January, but in its statement claimed they had not done so because the WRU, Y11, and Ospreys objected to it.

The meeting included officials from Swansea Council, the WRU chief executive Abi Tierney, and Ospreys chief executive Lance Bradley.

In a statement, the council listed a number of what it called “key facts” that it claims were said at the meeting.

The statement includes that the Ospreys chief executive Lance Bradley confirmed that there would not be a professional Ospreys team playing regional rugby after 2027 if the takeover of Cardiff by Y11 went through.

It is claimed that Mr Bradley also said a merger with Swansea RFC could follow, which would see a merged team competing in the semi professional Super Rygbi Cymru instead of the United Rugby Championship (URC).

The council statement said: “Council representatives left the meeting with a clear understanding that the basis of the WRU’s and Y11’s proposals for the future, if the acquisition of Cardiff Rugby by Y11 is completed, was that the Ospreys would not continue as a professional regional team after 2026-27.”

“The council expressed deep frustration that, despite extensive and recent discussions about the redevelopment of St Helen’s, it had not been informed earlier of these proposals. This lack of transparency and engagement is wholly unacceptable.”

The council claim that the WRU’s restructuring proposals would breach UK competition law and has issued pre-action letters to the WRU and Y11 requesting that they pause their plans.

The WRU has proposed cutting one of its four men’s professional sides – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets – to three.

The WRU has stated there will be one licence in Cardiff, one in the west and one in the east, with Llanelli-based Scarlets, and Dragons in Newport, expected to be handed those.

Alpine skiing: Women’s downhill (10:30-12:50)

This race marks the return of legendary American skier Lindsey Vonn, six years after her retirement from the sport.

Downhill is the 41-year-old’s speciality and she’s won a record 45 World Cup races in this event, plus her only Olympic gold medal in 2010.

We will have to see how much of an affect crashing in the final World Cup downhill before the Winter Olympics hinders Vonn’s bid.

Keep an eye out for her superbly-named compatriot Breezy Johnson, who is the 2025 world champion.

The host nation will be hopeful of at least one podium place, although World Cup champion Federica Brignone only returned to action in January, nine months after breaking multiple bones in her left leg and tearing her ACL during a giant slalom crash at the Italian Championships.

Bergamo native Sofia Goggia took downhill silver four years ago despite suffering a knee injury just 23 days before the event.

Cross country skiing: Men’s skiathlon (11:30-12:50)

It’s a fifth Winter Olympics for Britain’s Andrew Musgrave, whose best Olympic result is seventh in the skiathlon in 2018.

In this event, competitors complete 10km using the classical technique before changing skis and doing 10km using the freestyle technique.

Johannes Hosflot Klaebo is the world champion and this could be the first of a bobble-hatful of golds for the Norwegian at these Games.

Snowboard: Women’s big air qualification (18:30-20:45)

Britain’s Mia Brookes has every chance of becoming Britain’s youngest Winter Olympic medallist for 78 years.

The rider from Cheshire has just turned 19 but has already won back-to-back big air World Cup titles and comes to Italy fresh from winning medals in the X Games.

But she will face a stacked field, including Japan’s Kokomo Murase, Reira Iwabuchi and Mari Fukada, who formed a clean sweep of the medals at last year’s World Championships.

Austria’s Anna Gasser is aiming to win the event for the third Games in a row at the age of 34.

Maisie Hill, whose career was almost ended by a horrific training accident three years ago, will be Britain’s other representative.

Figure skating: Team (20:55)

The team figure skating competition concludes with the men’s free skate.

The USA won gold after the Russian team was demoted in Beijing in a protracted saga that delayed the medal ceremony by over two years.

The USA are the reigning World Team Trophy champions and won three of the four individual events at last year’s World Championships but Japan and Georgia will be pushing them hard.

From Broderick Turner: It had been just about 5 1/2 weeks since Austin Reaves last played for the Lakers, a total of 19 games he was out because of a left calf strain, an injury he and the Lakers were being cautious about until he was ready to play against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.

Reaves was on a minutes restriction, but at least he was playing for the first time since getting injured against the Houston Rockets on Christmas night.

He came off the bench and entered the game with 1 minute and 30 seconds left in the first quarter with the Lakers holding a 17-point lead that grew to 39 points in L.A.’s 125-109 win over the Nets.

Reaves scored his first points on two free throws with 1.7 seconds left in the first quarter, threw his first assist to LeBron James for a lob dunk in the second quarter and scored his first field goal with 9:38 left in the second quarter.

Reaves, who started the second half, finished his night with 15 points, one assist and four rebounds in 21 minutes.

“I wanted to make sure I was 100% good,” Reaves said. “Really wanted to play the other night against the Knicks. Love playing there. Wish I could have been able to get out there and help the team, but just didn’t feel right and woke up this morning and felt really good and gave it the go right before the game and had fun.”

Continue reading here

Lakers box score

NBA standings

Clippers trade James Harden

James Harden is headed to the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the Clippers agreeing to send the 11-time All-Star back to the Eastern Conference during his highest-scoring season in six years, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Tuesday night.

The Cavaliers are giving up point guard Darius Garland and a second-round pick, said the person, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not yet been approved by the NBA.

That approval could come by Wednesday, when the Cavaliers and Clippers face off at Intuit Dome.

Harden is averaging 25.4 points this season, his most since averaging 34.3 points in 2019-20. He’s been a huge part of the Clippers’ resurgence back into playoff — or, at least, play-in — contention after a dismal 6-21 start.

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NBA All-Star rosters set: Kawhi Leonard added to the game

UCLA men rout Rutgers

From Steve Galluzzo: After its gut-wrenching double overtime loss to Indiana three days before, a home game against struggling Rutgers was just what the doctor ordered for the UCLA men’s basketball team.

The Bruins took their frustrations out on an overmatched opponent Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion, winning 98-66 in the fifth of a six-game West Coast swing that is crucial to their NCAA tournament aspirations.

All five starters scored in double figures for the Bruins (16-7, 8-4 Big Ten), who had their second-highest scoring output this season. Center Xavier Booker made 10 of 11 shots, including all four of his three-point tries, to finish with a career-high 24 points, Tyler Bilodeau scored 19, Eric Dailey Jr. scored 17, Donovan Dent had 13 points and 11 assists and Trent Perry added 10 points.

“Everything felt good today from the first shot, my teammates kept feeding me,” said Booker, who also had five rebounds, three assists and a block in 29 minutes. “I’m trying to improve on my defense staying low, in my stance and staying in front of my man.”

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UCLA box score

Big Ten standings

Alijas Arenas has big night in win

From Sean Campbell: After USC leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara went down early in the second half with what appeared to be a knee injury, freshman Alijah Arenas knew what he needed to do. When Trojan starters Ezra Ausar and Jacob Cofie fouled out late in the second half, nothing changed.

USC’s game against Indiana (15-8, 6-6 Big Ten) Tuesday night at the Galen Center was close early. Arenas, who had struggled with efficiency since debuting for the Trojans in mid-January, started four of 14 from the field and one of six on three-point attempts.

During the ensuing 19 minutes, Arenas showed why he was a five-star recruit, delivering a team-high 29 points and helping the Trojans (17-6, 6-6) hang on for a 81-75 win over the Hoosiers. It was Arenas’ first double-digit scoring game of his college career.

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USC box score

Big Ten standings

Ducks beat the Kraken

Cutter Gauthier scored his 25th goal and the Ducks defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-2 on Tuesday night to win their final game before the Olympic break.

Jacob Trouba, Alex Killorn and Ross Johnston also scored as the resurgent Ducks built a 4-0 cushion before fending off a late Seattle push. They have won nine of 11 after a nine-game losing streak (0-8-1).

The Ducks climbed within one point of the Pacific Division lead and moved two ahead of the Kraken for third place. Seattle holds a game in hand over the Ducks.

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Ducks summary

NHL standings

2028 Oly soccer sites set

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: LA28 announced Tuesday the six U.S. stadiums that will host Olympic soccer group stage games while revealing a plan to have preliminary games move East to West to minimize travel demands. Instead of criss-crossing the country for the group-stage games, teams will advance in the tournament and move progressively closer to the knockout rounds held at the Rose Bowl.

The country-wide tournament footprint begins in New York at New York City FC’s new Etihad Park, which is scheduled to open in 2027. The venue in Queens is the first soccer-specific stadium in New York City.

Purpose-built stadiums were the focus of the venue plan, with five of the six stadiums being primarily affiliated with Major League Soccer clubs. The Columbus Crew’s ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, Nashville SC’s Geodis Park, St. Louis CITY SC’s Energizer Park and the San José Earthquakes’ PayPal Park were also selected for group games.

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Lindsey Vonn says knee injury won’t stop her

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: A partial knee replacement in her right leg wasn’t enough to stop Lindsey Vonn from pursuing her Olympic comeback. Neither will a recent left torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Vonn revealed Tuesday she suffered a completely ruptured ACL in a crash last week but remains focused on racing in the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

“If my knee is not stable, I can’t compete and at the moment, it is stable and it is strong,” Vonn said during a virtual news conference from Cortina d’Ampezzo. “… So far so good but we have to take it day by day. But if it remains the way it is now, I think I’m pretty solid.”

Continue reading here

Hilary Knight is a hockey role model

From Kevin Baxter: If Hilary Knight is the GOAT of women’s ice hockey, then Caroline Harvey is the kid.

That isn’t just a reference to her age, 23, which makes her the seventh-youngest player on the U.S. Olympic team. The term is also used for baby goats. And with Knight, the oldest player on the U.S. team, expected to retire from Olympic competition after the Milan Cortina Games, that makes Harvey the GOAT in waiting.

“Hilary is a great role model,” Harvey said. “She did blaze that trail. It’s been exciting to see what she did, the legacy she left.”

Like the 10 world championship gold medals, most by a hockey player of either gender; the soon-to-be five Olympic appearances, most by any American hockey player; the scoring titles and MVP awards. But the real legacy she’ll leave will have little to do with any of that.

Continue reading here

Wednesday’s Oly TV/streaming schedule

Wednesday’s live TV and streaming broadcasts unless noted (subject to change). All events stream live on Peacock or NBCOlympics.com with a streaming or cable login. All times Pacific.

The first day of full competition begins Saturday.

ALPINE SKIING
2:30 a.m. — Men’s downhill, training | Peacock

CURLING
Mixed doubles (round robin)
10:05 a.m. — Sweden vs. South Korea | Peacock
10:05 a.m. — Canada vs. Czechia | Peacock
10:05 a.m. — Estonia vs. Switzerland | Peacock

Super Bowl

Sunday
at Santa Clara
Seattle vs. New England
3:30 p.m. PT, NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, KLAC AM 570
Halftime show: Bad Bunny
National anthem: Charlie Puth
Odds: Seahawks favored by 4.5 points
Over/Under: 45.5 points

This day in sports history

1861 — The Philadelphia Athletics beat Charter Oak 36-27 in a baseball game played on frozen Litchfield Pond in Brooklyn, N.Y., with the players wearing ice skates.

1924 — The first Winter Olympics close in Chamonix, France. Sixteen countries competed in 17 events from seven sports.

1932 — The Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, N.Y., the first Winter Games in the United States.

1957 — Joe McCarthy and Sam Crawford are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1969 — The 24 major league owners unanimously select Bowie Kuhn as commissioner for a one-year term at a salary of $100,000.

1971 — The Baseball Hall of Fame establishes a separate section for players from the Negro Leagues. In July, commissioner Bowie Kuhn, along with Hall president Paul Kirk, announce a change of heart and scrap plans for the separate section.

1976 — U.S. District Court Judge John W. Oliver upholds the ruling of arbitrator Peter Seitz that declared Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally free agents.

1977 — Rick Martin scores two goals in the third period, including the game-winning goal with under two minutes to play, to lead the Wales Conference to a 4-3 win over the Campbell conference in the NHL All-Star game at Vancouver.

1979 — Denver’s David Thompson scores 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting to lead the West Conference to a 134-129 victory over the East at the 1979 NBA All-Star Game in Detroit. Thompson also grabs five rebounds and is named the games MVP. Philadelphia’s Julius Erving leads all scorers with 29 points and San Antonio’s George Gervin adds 26 for the East.

1987 — The Sacramento Kings have the worst first quarter since the inception of the shot clock in 1954. The Kings set the NBA record with only four points in the opening quarter of a 128-92 loss to the Lakers.

1987 — Stars & Stripes, skippered by Dennis Conner, sweeps Kookaburra III 4-0 at Fremantle, Australia, to bring sailing’s America’s Cup back to the United States.

1991 — The doors of Cooperstown are slammed shut on Pete Rose when the Hall of Fame’s board of directors votes 12-0 to bar players on the permanently ineligible list from consideration.

1997 — Mario Lemieux scores his 600th goal, an empty netter, to help the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-4 win against the Vancouver Canucks. Lemieux is the first player to score 600 goals while spending his NHL career with one team.

2003 — Jaromir Jagr scores three goals, including his 500th, for his 11th career hat trick as Washington beat Tampa Bay 5-1.

2007 — Peyton Manning is 25-of-38 for 247 yards and a touchdown as he rallies Indianapolis to a 29-17 Super Bowl victory over Chicago in the South Florida rain. Tony Dungy becomes the first Black coach to win the championship, beating good friend and protege Lovie Smith in a game that featured the first two Black coaches in the Super Bowl.

2012 — Lindsey Vonn captures her 50th World Cup victory, winning the downhill with temperatures plunging to minus 13 on the demanding Kandahar course in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

2017 — Gregg Popovich becomes the winningest coach with a single franchise in NBA history, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 121-97 victory over the Denver Nuggets. Popovich earns his 1,128th victory to pass former Utah coach Jerry Sloan for the mark.

2018 — The Philadelphia Eagles win a record-setting shootout between Nick Foles and Tom Brady in the Super Bowl. Foles, the backup quarterback, leads a pressure-packed 75-yard drive to the winning touchdown, 11 yards to Zach Etrz with 2:21 to go. Then the defense makes two final stands to win 41-33.

2022 — XXIV Olympic Winter Games open in Beijing, China.

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. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Super Bow LX is set for Sunday in Santa Clara, and don’t be surprised if someone who played high school football in the Southland on the Seattle Seahawks or New England Patriots makes a big play or even becomes the game MVP.

In fact, if you want to make a hunch bet in Las Vegas, former Narbonne linebacker Uchenna Nwosu of the Seahawks might be someone to consider. He’s the only athlete from the City Section competing, and two former Super Bowl MVPs were John Elway from Granada Hills and Malcolm Smith from Taft.

Nwosu has quite a story. He never started at Narbonne until his senior year. He was a junior varsity player focused on basketball.

His football coach, Manuel Douglas, remembers a meeting with Nwosu, who wanted to give up the sport.

“Coach, I’m not going to make it in football,” Nwosu told him.

“What are you an idiot?” Douglas said. “You’re 6-2 and too small for basketball.”

Douglas said, “He always had the grades. He just had to wait his turn. He had a moment he was going to quit and I wasn’t going to let him.”

Nwosu started 14 games his senior year in 2013, became the captain at USC and was a second-round draft pick of the Chargers.

“Perseverance,” is the word Douglas used to describe how Nwosu finds himself starting in the Super Bowl.

“He’s had to work from the beginning,” Douglas said. “People have their moments when they falter, but he never gave up.”

Among the other Southland high school graduates:

In 2017, USC quarterback Sam Darnold visits his former teammates at San Clemente High.

(Los Angeles Times)

Sam Darnold, quarterback, San Clemente: The hero of the Seahawks’ offense and the first former USC quarterback to play in a Super Bowl has been a legend in San Clemente for years.

Said San Clemente coach Jaime Ortiz: “Sam has continued to be the same Sam he was in high school. He is the leader of the locker room where he sets the example and makes everyone around him better. He is a man of few words and lets his actions do the talking. He is the ultra competitor and when he steps onto the field or basketball court, he was there to win.”

Former St. Monica receiver Kyle Williams now plays for the Patriots.

(St. Monica Yearbook)

Kyle Williams, receiver, St. Monica: The Patriots took a chance on a 5-foot-10 receiver, making him a third-round pick from Washington State.

Said St. Monica coach Thomas Barnes: “He is living and walking proof that a kid from St. Monica Prep can make it all the way to the big time. You don’t have to go to one of the big name schools, go to St. Monica and become the big name.”

Former St. John Bosco running back George Holani in 2023 for Boise State. He plays for the Seahawks.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

George Holani, running back, St. John Bosco: A backup running back for the Seahawks who’s filled in for the injured Zach Charbonnet, Holani twice ran for more than 1,000 yards at St. John Bosco before starring at Boise State.

Said coach Jason Negro: “I’m not surprised one bit in George’s journey from Bosco to the Super Bowl. He took the lessons he learned here and the ones that were instilled in him by his family and continued to climb the professional sports ladder.

“George is one of the most humble and hard-working individuals I’ve ever encountered in my career. He’s built on loyalty and culture, which is why he took the path from Bosco to Boise State.

“He trusted the process and understood he needed to be rooted in who he was to get to his ultimate destination, which is playing in the biggest game in the world.”

Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins (27) attempts to evade a tackle by Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai (48) in 2024.

(Greg M. Cooper / Associated Press)

Jahlani Tavai, linebacker, Mira Costa: Just looking at the family history of the Tavai family in the South Bay means there will be plenty of people cheering for him and the Patriots. There are six brothers, all of whom played football.

Said coach Don Morrow: “Jahlani deserves a lot of credit. He was a great athlete coming out of Mira Costa but wasn’t the biggest guy. He was tall and lanky. He really changed his body at Hawaii and got really strong and moved to linebacker.”

Mission Viejo wide receiver Brenden Schooler looks for room to run against Norco in 2015.

(Los Angeles Times)

Brenden Schooler, safety, Mission Viejo: The Patriots once had one of the most famous special teams player in Matthew Slater from Servite. Now Schooler is getting noticed after being signed as a free agent in 2022. He made the Pro Bowl in 2024.

Said defensive coordinator Brett Paton: “Brenden was alway the guy who did extra, first in and last out. Made everyone around him a winner, held his teammates to a higher standard, really good leader. And always came up with the big play when we needed it. In the CIF championship game versus Vista Murrieta, he had the game-changing pick at safety.”

Heart of Midlothian manager Derek McInnes believes James Wilson has made a mistake by joining Tottenham Hotspur on loan in a deal that could be made permanent at the end of the season.

Arsenal were in talks with the Scottish Premiership leaders over a move for the 18-year-old but the Scotland striker joined Spurs instead.

Wilson, who became the youngest man to represent Scotland when he came on in their Nations League play-off tie against Greece last March, will play for Spurs’ Under-21s side.

He has scored eight goals in 45 appearances since making his Hearts breakthrough last season but he has struggled for game time this term.

“James wanted to go, so you don’t want to keep a player who then becomes unhappy,” said McInnes.

“I couldn’t guarantee him minutes, such is the way it’s been. I told him and his agent that our preference was to stay, fight for his place, be part of something.

“We’d get him a loan in Scotland if need be, to top his minutes up, and we can maybe recall him – still get the best of both worlds.

Snooker legend and BBC commentator John Virgo has died aged 79. Virgo enjoyed an 18-year professional career, but is perhaps best known for presenting popular snooker TV show Big Break alongside comedian Jim Davidson from 1991 to 2002.

READ MORE: Snooker legend Virgo dies aged 79

MILAN — Many of the officials supporting the nearly 250 U.S. athletes competing in this month’s Winter Olympics arrived in Italy last weekend to a greeting they may not have expected: Hundreds of demonstrators packed a square in central Milan to protest the reported plan to deploy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during the Games.

The first events in the 18-day competition, which will be shared by Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Italian Alps, begin Thursday and the opening ceremony is scheduled for Friday. Against that background, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry called the agents’ involvement “distracting” and “sad.”

“This is a militia that kills. They are not welcome in Milan,” Mayor Giuseppe Sala said on local radio ahead of the protests, which took place beneath the neoclassical Porta Garibaldi arch in the Piazza XXV Aprile, named for the date of Italy’s liberation from Nazi fascism in World War II.

Many demonstrators blew whistles and carried signs of the five Olympic rings rendered as handcuffs above the words “No ICE in Milan.” One woman held a handmade poster featuring photos of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the two Minnesotans killed by federal agents last month, alongside Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old boy in the blue bunny hat who was taken from his home in Minneapolis to a detention facility in Texas.

Anti-ICE protests take place in Piazza XXV Aprile ahead of the Olympics in Milan.

(Lucia Buricelli / Associated Press)

“All the videos are public and everyone can see what’s happening,” Bruna Scanziani, an 18-year-old demonstrator told reporters. “The perception of America has changed.”

Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed the presence of ICE agents in Italy to the Athletic, leaving her department, the U.S. Consulate and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to try to cool the controversy.

DHS said the agents dispatched to Milan are not immigration agents but come from a unit known as Homeland Security Investigations, which specializes in cross-border crime. They commonly provide intelligence and security at large sporting events, both in the U.S. and overseas, but in Milan their role will be strictly advisory and intelligence-based, Ambassador Tilman J. Fertitta said.

Travelers pass through the lobby of Milan Linate Airport M4 Metroline train station Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, meanwhile, said it is working with the Diplomatic Security Service, which is under the umbrella of the State Department, unlike ICE, which is part of Homeland Security. The Diplomatic Security Service has been providing security for U.S. delegations at every Olympics since 1992.

“The USOPC does not work with U.S. domestic law enforcement or immigration agencies in the planning or execution of the Games, including agencies within the Department of Homeland Security often referred to as ICE,” the committee said in a statement. “Italian authorities are solely responsible for all security operations at the Games.”

Despite the tensions, in the days before the Games there were few signs of the kind of heavy security presence that marked the Paris Olympics 17 months ago. At Linate Airport, the closest of Milan’s three airports to the city center, two camouflage-clad Italian soldiers with long guns milled outside the arrival gates Monday evening. They were gone by Tuesday afternoon.

Five miles away at the Piazza del Duomo, the cultural and social heart of Milan, two pairs of soldiers stood on either side of the massive square, huddling under white awnings on either side of a pop-up Olympic souvenir tent and ignoring the hundreds of international tourists raising their phones to take photos of the ancient Gothic cathedral that gives the square its name.

A building located in the heart of Piazza del Doumo is lit up with animated Olympic competitors Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Up the street, where the trolley tracks curve before the trendy shops and restaurants that line the busy Via Orefici, groups of city police and Carabinieri, the national police known by their black Giorgio Armani-designed uniforms, joked among themselves. They were far less menacing than the roving patrols of soldiers and police officers that were ubiquitous in France.

A local woman shrugged at the officers’ presence.

“Being the iconic and most touristy place of Milan,” she said “there are always lots of police and soldiers.”

It’s unclear how American athletes will be received during Friday’s opening ceremony, which Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expected to attend.

“When they have the flag and when they have the tracksuit and they’re announced as the U.S., that’s obviously an opportunity for the spectators to make known their feelings about the U.S.,” said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a fellow for Middle East studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute and an expert on sports and international relations.

Europeans have strong feelings about the U.S. right now, feelings spurred by more than the images of ICE agents that have led TV newscasts and have filled social media feeds for months in Italy and beyond. In the last few months, President Trump has sent forces into Venezuela to removes its president, threatened military action against Iran, fired on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, and disparaged Europe as “decaying” and its leaders as “weak.”

Demonstrators in Milan hold signs protesting ICE in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis on Saturday.

(Alessandro Bremec / Associated Press)

“Without us,” he said in a combative speech before the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, “you’d all be speaking German.”

What has upset the continent most amid the chaos, however, is Trump’s insistence that the U.S. take control of Greenland from Denmark, a loyal North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally, warning the Danes and seven other countries that they would be hit with 25% tariffs if they didn’t relent. Many in Europe’s far-right parties, whose members are often supportive of Trump, now consider the U.S. president an “enemy of Europe,” according to a poll published by the Paris-based platform Le Grand Continent.

As a result of the blowback, Trump has backed away from the tariff threat and said he wouldn’t take control of Greenland by force, but the fallout from tensions remains.

“Greenland, especially, has really touched a nerve. That’s unfortunate coming right in the run-up to the Olympics,” said Coates Ulrichsen, who was born in Greece to English and Norwegian parents.

And that makes the U.S. team and its 232 athletes, the largest contingent at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, a convenient foil for European wrath.

“The national team is symbolic of the nation. That just makes it such a target for any potential political frustration,” Coates Ulrichsen said. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

During the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, for example, which opened 17 months after the American-led invasion of Iraq, the U.S. team was roundly booed.

“The Olympics have been no stranger to politics,” Coates Ulrichsen said. “And obviously the key element [of athletes] walking out behind a flag is a very easy target in a way.”

Some Italians aren’t so sure.

“My personal view is that U.S. athletes will not be targeted by the protests,” said one woman who asked that her name not be used because she works with many international clients, including some in the United States. “It is more of a political subject.”

She also said the attitude of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, among the European leaders most supportive of President Trump, has blunted public opposition to the U.S.

The Olympic Rings ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Tuesday.

(Mattia Ozbot / Getty Images)

Because this month’s Games, the first Winter Olympics to officially have co-host cities, will be spread across four clusters covering about 8,500 square miles in northern Italy, there will be four opening ceremonies Friday, with the main one at San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan beginning at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Smaller events will take place simultaneously in the mountain venues of Cortina d’Ampezzo, Valtellina and Val di Fiemme.

Bobsledder Azaria Hill, a first-time Olympian whose mother, father and aunt all competed in the Summer Games, said marching in the opening ceremony has long been a dream of hers. And she doesn’t think politics will spoil that Friday.

“Olympics brings all the nations together,” she said. “That’s one of the special things about the Olympics, and you really see that in the unity. I think everything will be fine.”

In an effort to separate athletes from politicians, the U.S. governing bodies for three winter sports — figure skating, speedskating and hockey — changed the name of their Milan hospitality space to the Winter House.

They had planned to call it the Ice House.

We are inching towards a sliding doors moment in the life of Gregor Brown.

The day is surely fast approaching when Brown is no longer quizzed about being Blair Kinghorn’s cousin and when the Scotland full-back is instead asked what it is like being related to the Glasgow forward.

It is not exactly clear which position Brown is going to play for Scotland in the Six Nations, or indeed, if he starts or is on the bench, but there is one certainty – he is going to be pivotal to the team’s hopes.

The 24-year-old is only really 18 months into his time as a top-level player – a whirlwind of progress that he calls “insane” – but his impact has been enormous.

He has played Test matches with four, five, six and seven on his back. He has started against France at lock and against New Zealand and Argentina at blindside flanker.

He was Jonny Gray’s understudy in the Six Nations last season and by the summer had played some minutes for the British and Irish Lions in Australia.

“If I went back 18 months and you told me that I would have done all this, I would have laughed at you. Like, no way. It’s just been absolutely mental,” he says.

True, but Brown is a pivotal figure now for Townsend, a guy who gives the coach some questions to answer.

Townsend’s natural inclination for Rome on Saturday might be a second row of Grant Gilchrist and Scott Cummings. That would leave Brown either starting at six or, more likely, on the bench covering lock and blindside.