The first hour of “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” convinces you that the King is the greatest entertainer who ever lived. By the end of it, he’s a god. Director Baz Luhrmann claims he made this Imax documentary so that any poor souls who never got to see the King live can worship him in action. Really, I think Luhrmann is praying that in a thousand years, some alien civilization will discover this footage and build a whole religion around the thrall Elvis’ hip thrusts had over a crowd.
If that future comes to pass, then Luhrmann himself will be elevated as a key disciple. He’s so devoted to Elvis that this is his second tribute in four years, the other being, of course, his 2022 biopic “Elvis,” starring Austin Butler, who was good in the role if not quite iconic. That more traditional film hewed to the genre’s standard rise-and-fall narrative and was dinged mostly because the King’s life represents so many things to so many people — race, class, controlling relationships — that it’s impossible to please everyone or for any actor to fill his blue suede shoes.
“EPiC” sticks to the surer footing of documentary footage: the man himself performing over two dozen tunes — including “That’s All Right,” “Burning Love” and “In the Ghetto” — plus twice that number on the background soundtrack. (I’m not into his gospel hits, but they suit the mood.) A dream concert that’s longer and larger than what fans could have seen in reality, the movie is stitched together primarily from Elvis’ Las Vegas appearances in 1970 and 1972. You can tell which year it is by the amount of rhinestones on his costumes, which become increasingly maximalist.
When Elvis retook the stage in 1969, he hadn’t performed before a live audience in nine years and he’d gotten a little uncool. Beatlemania had dinged his appeal so perilously that editor Jonathan Redmond splices its arrival with images of car crashes and missile attacks. Reporters at that comeback show noted that most of his fans were now — horrors! — over 30, with the exception of a 25-year-old who said he attended out of nostalgia.
Luhrmann quickly sets up the essential framework, then Luhrmann picks up a year after Elvis proved he was still a smash. No longer constrained by moral panic, the Army draft or the decade he spent trapped within the Hollywood industrial complex, this is the King at arguably the high point of his career, right in that sweet spot before his 1973 divorce from Priscilla Presley, after which his mood and health started to flag.
This Elvis comes across confident, breezy, comfortable and funny. In one scene, he jokes about the difficulty of lunging to the ground in a tight jumpsuit (an outfit he adopted because he was nervous of ripping his pants). Later, he switches up the lyrics to “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” to croon, “Do you gaze at your forehead and wish you had hair?”
The camera often seems to be right under his chin, gazing as the sweat on his cheeks and lashes shimmers under the Vegas lights like diamonds. His spell over the crowd feels at once intimate and volcanic. You get the best look at his charisma when Elvis targets his energy at an unsuspecting back-up singer in the middle of “Suspicious Minds.” Slowly striding toward the girl, he hypnotizes her as skillfully as a snake charmer and then, as a punchline, lunges in her direction. She jumps and giggles.
While we become familiar with the faces of his band members, the film doesn’t bother to mention any of their names, not even in the credits. They deserve better, but the film is about how the concert felt, not how it came to fruition. Still, once you get over the contact high of Elvis’ psychedelic neon pink paisley shirt in the rehearsal studio, it’s delightful to see that he gives as much of himself when performing in a small setting as he does in a massive one. He loses himself in thrall to the beat, gyrating his pelvis so fast it resembles a machine gun.
Naturally, there’s a montage of the women in the audience overwhelmed by joy, from a sobbing little girl who won’t let go of his arm to a glamazon in a dangerously low-cut minidress who scoots under the curtain before it closes. The ladies tug on his scarves and toss bras at him, one of which he wears on his head. Surprisingly to modern eyes, when his female fans grab and kiss him, Elvis smooches them back, even after he wades into a sea of his admirers and emerges with the chains on his jumpsuit torn off. If you happen to spot your mother or grandmother in the crowd, well, good for her.
In lieu of mentioning Elvis’ off-stage reality, Luhrmann deepens a song’s effect by cutting to personal photographs that are a little out of context. As Elvis wails the line, “And I miss her,” from his cover ballad about a bad husband, we see a shot of Elvis’ dead mother, Gladys. “Always on My Mind” becomes a brisk yet moving acknowledgment of Priscilla and his infant daughter Lisa Marie. Otherwise, Lurhmann only wants to celebrate the good stuff. There’s no tragedy here. It’s ecstasy minus the agony.
If Elvis was ever cranky, that’s been stripped out. Though we hear him get hound-dogged by nosy questions from the press, the closest Elvis comes to snark is when he sits on a stool to play “Little Sister.” He sings the chorus, then cranks up the tempo a notch and suddenly starts belting the Beatles’ “Get Back,” before smoothly transitioning once more into his own song. Point made: Don’t give those Brits too much credit for revolutionizing rock ‘n’ roll.
Lurhmann’s got his own score to settle. In the Butler version of “Elvis,” he made the case that, as big an artist as Elvis was, he should have been bigger. Colonel Parker, Elvis’s manager, kept his cash cow on a leash, tethering him first to middling B-pictures, then to casinos. The Beatles invaded his country; he never played a single gig in theirs. We never got to find out who Elvis, with his magpie love for all music, might have become if he’d traveled the world and gotten to pick up an ashram sitar.
And while that argument got a little drowned out in the biopic by Tom Hanks’ double-phony put-on accent as Parker, this rapturous salute to the King’s majesty wants to make sure we don’t miss it now. Lurhmann even scores his footage of the Colonel to “The Devil in Disguise.” Hey, every religion needs a heel.
That was the toughest thing to watch. That was what seared into the mind. That’s what made you want to fire Mick Cronin on the spot.
It was a look of embarrassment. It was a look of confusion. It was the look of a young man who had just been cruelly pushed around by someone with more power.
Mick Cronin is a classic bully, and the fact that UCLA continues to empower him with new contracts and no questions is misguided malfeasance.
So, he wins games. He doesn’t win enough to compensate for incidents like Tuesday night in East Lansing, Mich., where Cronin became perhaps the first college coach in history to eject his own player from the game and order him to the locker room in the middle of the game.
Yes, Cronin holds players accountable. That’s fine, as long as he also holds himself accountable, but that didn’t happen when, after his team was beaten by 23 points by Michigan State in a second consecutive humiliating loss, he publicly criticized Jamerson for the hard foul that led to the ejection incident and then wrongly assailed a reporter for allegedly raising his voice during postgame questioning.
From Ryan Kartje: Alijah Arenas sank into a folding chair, his face buried in a towel, his breathing heavy.
For the last few days, smack dab in the middle of his long-awaited breakthrough at USC, Arenas was sick. He’d spent the last few days worn down and missed practice Tuesday, leaving his status for Wednesday night’s critical tilt with No. 10 Illinois uncertain until a few hours before. But the Trojans star freshman refused to sit out, resolving instead to tough it out against a true Big Ten contender, even if he wasn’t at 100%.
“That takes real courage,” USC forward Jacob Cofie said.
Indeed, it was a noble effort, albeit one that meant little by the time Arenas collapsed into the bench, breathless, midway through the first half Wednesday. By that point, Illinois was already rolling, well on their way to a 101-65 victory that left USC gasping for air.
“It’s pretty simple,” USC coach Eric Musselman said. “We were not good enough tonight. We’ve got to get better in all aspects.”
From Jack Vita: A slimmer Teoscar Hernández reported to Camelback Ranch this week, willing to take on a new role in the Dodgers’ quest for a three-peat.
Hernández acknowledged Tuesday that he played through a nagging left groin injury last year, which forced him to miss time early in the season.
“I didn’t get back in my health,” Hernández said. “When I got back from the injury, I was fighting through it. Obviously, I didn’t say anything. I just wanted to be on the field and try to help the team.”
Hernández says he was overweight in 2025, and took better care of his body this past winter.
“It’s a combination of eating really good or knowing what you’re eating, and working a little harder than normal,” Hernández said. “But, right now I’m feeling really good. Back to the way I used to be. My whole career I used to be 204-205 [lbs.], in that range. Last year, I was a little over [that], but I’m back to normal right now.”
Galaxy ready for another season without Riqui Puig
From Kevin Baxter: On Jan. 1, Galaxy coach Greg Vanney sent a text to his best player, wishing him a happy new year. The next day Riqui Puig responded, but his answer didn’t alter the resolutions Vanney had made for 2026.
Puig, who missed all of 2025 because of a torn ACL in his left knee, told his coach he needed another surgery, one that will sideline him this season as well. Yet after the shock wore off, Vanney and general manager Will Kuntz decided to stick with the plans they took into the offseason rather than blowing them up because Puig would again be sidelined.
“We wanted to reinforce the back line. We needed to look for a [striker]. We’ve done both of those things successfully,” Vanney said. “The difference is that we don’t have Riqui’s qualities, which I think over the course of last year we learned a little bit about ourselves and how to deal with it.”
Indeed, after going winless in their first 16 games — the worst start ever for a reigning MLS champion — the Galaxy figured out how to play without their playmaker in the second half, going 7-6-5 in MLS and beating three of Mexico’s top teams in the Leagues Cup.
1928 — Canada wins the gold medal in ice hockey at the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Canada, represented by the 1926 Toronto University team, receives a bye to the final round. The Canadians beat Sweden 11-0, Britain 14-0 and Switzerland 13-0.
1955 — Bernie Geoffrion of the Montreal Canadiens scores five goals in a 10-2 victory over the New York Rangers.
1977 — Rod Gilbert of the New York Rangers gets his 1,000th point with a goal in a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders.
1982 — Atlanta’s 127-122 four-overtime win over Seattle equals the fourth-longest game in NBA history and the second-longest since the institution of the 24-second clock.
1984 — Phil and Steve Mahre of the United States become the first brothers to finish 1-2 in an Olympic event, the men’s slalom, at the Winter Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union beats Czechoslovakia 2-0 to win the gold medal in hockey.
1984 — Cale Yarborough sweeps into the lead two turns before the finish to win the Daytona 500. He becomes the second driver to win consecutive Daytona 500s; Richard Petty was the other.
1993 — Wendel Suckow edges two-time world champion Georg Hackl of Germany by 0.106 seconds to capture the first world luge championship medal of any kind for the United States.
1994 — Speedskater Bonnie Blair wins the fourth gold of her Olympic career with her third consecutive 500-meter victory.
2002 — In Salt Lake City, bobsledders Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers give the United States 21 medals in the Winter Games.
2005 — Lindsay Kennedy becomes the first woman to play in a Major Indoor Soccer League game. Kennedy, a St. Louis forward, participates in the final 76 seconds of Milwaukee’s 7-3 win over the Steamers at Savvis Center.
2005 — Schreiner ends its NCAA-record losing streak at 83 games, beating Sul Ross State 75-69 in a women’s basketball game. It’s the Division III Mountaineers first win since Jan. 17, 2002, when they also beat Sul Ross.
2012 — American star Hannah Kearney’s all-discipline record for consecutive FIS World Cup victories ends at 16 with a semifinal loss in a dual moguls event at Naeba, Japan. Kearney’s streak began in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Jan. 22, 2011.
2012 — Steven Holcomb and brakeman Steve Langton win the two-man bobsled in Lake Placid, N.Y., the first time the U.S. captures this event at the world championships.
2014 — Norway wins the first Olympic mixed relay in biathlon at the Sochi Games and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen becomes the most decorated Winter Olympian ever with 13 medals. Ted Ligety wins the giant slalom with a dominating performance, becoming the first American man to win two Olympic gold medals in Alpine skiing.
2017 — Laura Dahlmeier wins the world title in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start, becoming the first to win five gold medals at a single biathlon world championship.
2017 — Anthony Davis scores 52 points, 10 more than Wilt Chamberlain’s All-Star record that had stood for 55 years. The Western Conference beats the Eastern Conference 192-182 in the highest-scoring game in league history.
2021 — In a softening of 4-year WADA ban on Russia from all international sport, Russia to compete under acronym “ROC” after name of the Russian Olympic Committee.
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.
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the former UK prince and younger brother of King Charles, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office as police investigate claims he shared confidential material with convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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From Jack Vita: Position players reported to spring training at Camelback Ranch for the Dodgers on Monday, but manager Dave Roberts revealed that the team will be without its versatile second baseman and utilityman Tommy Edman when it opens the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks at home on March 26.
The 30-year-old Edman underwent ankle surgery during the offseason after being limited to 97 games in 2025 in his first full season with the Dodgers.
“I think just looking at where his ankle is at, trying to play the long view that you don’t want to have any regression or setbacks,” Roberts said. “So, how can we be methodical with it? Just for me, knowing that he’s just taking swings is enough. We’re not going to rush it. We want to put him in the best position, so I think it just kind of became [clearer] very recently.”
Edman will open the season on the injured list, something he is at peace with. He felt that a return before opening day was a bit ambitious, and that it would be better to err on the side of caution.
Mike Trout says he would prefer to return to center field for the Angels, and the star slugger says he will skip the World Baseball Classic because of insurance issues.
The 11-time All-Star who been plagued by injuries since 2021 says his familiar position isn’t as physically demanding as the corner outfield spots, contrary to traditional thinking.
Trout played his most games since 2019 last season, finishing at 130. The three-time American League MVP started 22 of his first 29 games in right field before a knee injury sidelined him for a month. The 34-year-old was exclusively a designated hitter when he returned in late May.
“I feel like I’m at my best when I’m in center,” Trout told reporters at the club’s spring training facility Monday. “If I have to go to the corner, I’ll go to the corner.
“When I was in center, it was less on my body than the corners. To be honest, in right field I felt I was running a lot. Talking to some other outfielders and they’re saying that they feel the same way sometimes, center is less on your legs. I just feel … confident in center.”
1923 — Cy Denneny of the Ottawa Senators becomes the NHL’s career scoring leader. He scores his 143rd goal to surpass Joe Malone in a 2-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
1924 — Johnny Weissmuller sets a world record in the 100-yard freestyle swim with a time of 52.4 seconds.
1926 — Suzanne Lenglen beats Helen Wills 6-3, 8-6 in Cannes, France, in their only tennis match against each other.
1928 — Sweden’s Gillis Grafstrom successfully defends his 1920 and 1924 Olympic figure skating title, with Austrian Willy Bockl finishing in second place as he did four years earlier.
1941 — Joe Louis knocks out Gus Dorazio in the second round in Philadelphia to defend his world heavyweight title.
1955 — Mike Souchak establishes the PGA 72-hole scoring record with a 257 at the Texas Open. Souchak starts with a record-tying 60 at San Antonio’s Brackenridge Park course and ends with a 27-under-par, beating the previous low for a 72-hole event by two shots.
1968 — The Basketball Hall of Fame opens in Springfield, Mass.
1974 — Richard Petty wins his second straight Daytona 500. It’s the fifth Daytona 500 title for Petty, who also won in 1964, 1966, 1971 and 1973.
1992 — Raisa Smetanina wins a gold medal with the Unified Team in the 20-kilometer cross-country relay to set the career Winter Olympics medal record with 10. Smetanina, 39, also becomes the oldest champion and the first to win a medal in five straight Winter Games.
1994 — San Antonio’s David Robinson records the fourth quadruple-double in NBA history with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 blocks in the Spurs’ 115-96 win over Detroit.
1998 — The U.S. women’s hockey team wins the sport’s first Olympic gold medal. Sandra Whyte scores on an empty-netter with eight seconds left to give the United States a 3-1 victory over Canada.
2010 — Americans Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso finish 1-2 in the downhill at the Vancouver Olympics. It’s the first time since 1984 that the U.S won gold and silver in a women’s Alpine event.
2013 — Danica Patrick wins the Daytona 500 pole, becoming the first woman to secure the top spot for any Sprint Cup race.
2014 — Meryl Davis and Charlie White win the gold medal in ice dance, the first Olympic title in the event for the U.S..
2018 — Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu becomes the first man to successfully defend his Olympic figure skating title since Dick Button in 1952.
2020 — 62nd Daytona 500: Denny Hamlin wins second straight title by 0.014 seconds over Ryan Blaney on the second restart in overtime; his third Daytona victory
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.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. The high school baseball season begins this week, and it’s the sport that produces the most future pro athletes in Southern California. While everyone thinks they are a scout and thousands of dollars are spent on private coaches, travel ball and showcases seeking any kind of edge, the bottom line is whether a player can produce results against quality competition. And throwing 90 mph without throwing strikes means nothing to the programs that win.
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St. John Bosco High teammates celebrate with a dogpile on the field after winning the regional baseball title last season.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Baseball is the sport in Southern California where you think the best team can win a championship but doesn’t because there’s always another team with equally good pitching Corona was the certain team last season to win it all (just like the Dodgers), but St. John Bosco beat the Panthers in the playoff semifinals and won the Southern Section Division 1 championship.
Now St. John Bosco is the Corona of 2026: Everyone’s No. 1 team to start the season because of numerous returnees, including the Clark twins, James and Miles; closer Jack Champlin; top hitters Jaden Jackson and Noah Everly; plus the addition of a healthy pitcher, Julian Garcia, who was supposed to be the No. 1 thrower last season until an injury.
Just like Corona, however, St. John Bosco is no sure thing because there’s lots of teams with the kind of standout pitching to beat the Braves in a one-game playoff situation.
The Mission League alone has so many pitchers throwing 90 mph and above that if you don’t have a radar gun at a game, you look out of place. Harvard-Westlake, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Sierra Canyon and Loyola all have formidable pitchers capable of winning big games against top opponents.
St. John Bosco faces immediate challengers in the Trinity League, led by Orange Lutheran, which has another team filled with all-star players, including 6-foot-8 pitcher Gary Morse and Huntington Beach infielder transfer CJ Weinstein. Texas commit Brady Murrietta will be a four-year standout. The Lancers can tell anyone that being ranked No. 1 hardly guarantees success in the postseason. They haven’t been able to win a section title despite lots of great teams.
Royal has a group of pitchers with big arms ready to see where they stand. Who’s going to inflict a loss on Huntington Beach junior Jared Grindlinger? Striker Pence of Corona Santiago has been clocked throwing 101 mph.
Cypress, El Dorado, JSerra, Santa Margarita, Mater Dei, Aquinas, La Mirada, Arcadia, Norco, Gahr and Huntington Beach have no fear of taking on the big boys this season.
As far as pro prospects, outfielder Blake Bowen of JSerra, outfielder Anthony Murphy of Corona, infielder Trey Ebel of Corona and infielder Brody Schumacher of Santa Margarita are among the top players to watch.
And prepare for one of the most talented group of players from the class of 2029, led by the hero of the El Segundo Little League World Series team,Louis Lappe, who makes his freshman debut for Harvard-Westlake.
OJ Popoola of Palisades has made major contributions after transferring with his twin brother from Detroit.
(Nick Koza)
The City Section Open Division semifinals are set for Saturday at L.A. Southwest College. Palisades will face San Pedro at 6 p.m. and Cleveland will take on Fairfax at 4 p.m.
Fairfax upset No. 3-seeded Birmingham. San Pedro eliminated Coliseum League champion Washington Prep. San Pedro has the kind of veteran team that might be able to stay with the top-seeded Dolphins for a little bit if its zone is working.
The top seeds are mostly holding in Division I. The semifinals will have No. 3 Venice at No. 2 Chatsworth and No. 5 L.A. Jordan at No. 1 Granada Hills.
In Division II, No. 10-seeded Marquez is making noise behind football standout Elyjah Staples, upsetting No. 2 Eagle Rock 57-50. Marquez will be at Sylmar in the semifinals. King/Drew coach Lloyd Webster has his team in semifinals after a 52-50 win over Downtown Magnets. He also was smiling because his son, Josahn, scored 22 points for Rolling Hills Prep in its win over Orange Lutheran in Southern Section Division 1.
La Mirada got a breakthrough win in the Southern Section Open Division. Here’s the report. On Tuesday, Corona Centennial is playing at Redondo Union to determine No. 1 in its pool and ditto for Harvard-Westlake at Santa Margarita.
Blair upset top-seeded Bonita in Division 4. Blair is coached by Derrick Taylor, who’s won championships at Taft and St. John Bosco. Here’s the report.
Mater Dei and JSerra continue to dominate in Division 2 and Division 1, respectively. JSerra will face a challenge in the quarterfinals on Tuesday from Rolling Hills Prep at North Torrance. Rolling Hills Prep inflicted a loss to Orange Lutheran last week.
Girls basketball
One of the best coaching jobs this season has been turned in by Birmingham’s Victor Koopongsakorn. The Patriots are 27-3 and seeded No. 2 in the City Section Open Division despite being a young team with few returnees. Next up is a semifinal game against Hamilton on Saturday. The other semifinal has top-seeded Westchester facing Venice. Three of the four remaining teams are from the Western League.
In the Southern Section Open Division, there’s no sign any opponent is going to threaten Ontario Christian, Etiwanda or Sierra Canyon among the 12 teams in pool play. All three are preparing to inevitable meetings in the next two weeks.
Oak Park came through with a 67-44 win over Corona Centennial to make itself the likely No. 4 team to challenge the big three. Karisma Flores had 17 points and Ava Rogerson 15.
Two veteran coaches, Charlie Solomon of Brentwood and Kevin Kiernan of Troy, faceed with their teams on Saturday in Division 1. Troy won 61-48. Kiernan is the winningest coach in California history. He came out of retirement to return for a second stint at Troy. Mei-Ling Perry had 19 points and nine rebounds to advance Troy to the quarterfinals. Kelsey Sugar had 20 points for Brentwood.
Softball
Garden Grove Pacifica continues to take pride in all of its former players playing college softball. The list is at 16 for this season. As they say, “Once a Mariner, always a Mariner.”
Norco, the defending Southern Section Division 1 champions, is expected to be the preseason No. 1 with the return of pitcher Coral Williams. The Cougars open the season Tuesday at home against Aquinas.
Defending City Open Division champion Granada Hills has to find a pitching replacement for Addison Moorman, but has lots of hitters, including Zoe Justman, who batted .442, and Elysse Diaz, who hit .470. The Highlanders will try once again to prepare for City competition by playing Southern Section teams in nonleague and tournament games.
Wrestling
Birmingham’s Henry Aslikyan, seen here last year, became a four-time City Section champion on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Henry Aslikyan of Birmingham capped off a remarkable four-year run in City Section wrestling by winning his fourth City individual title. This time it was at 120 pounds, sending him on to the state championships. He has won two state titles but the 120-pound division will be the toughest in state with three returning state champions competing.
El Camino Real, South East, Marquez and Palisades are the four teams that have made it to the City Section Open Division boys soccer semifinals. On Thursday, top-seeded El Camino Real will host Palisades and No. 2 South East will host Marquez.
On Wednesday in City Open Division girls semifinals, No. 1 Cleveland plays host to Palisades and Thursday, No. 6 New West Charter hosts Granada Hills.
In Southern Section Open Division boys, the quarterfinals begin Tuesday with Orange Lutheran hosting Placentia Valencia and JSerra hosting Mater Dei. In Division 1, Servite is the fourth Trinity League still alive and plays host to Santa Monica.
In Southern Section Division 1 girls, Mission League rivals Harvard-Westlake and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame will face off in Wednesday’s quarterfinals at Harvard-Westlake.
Competitive equity playoffs
The CIF governs high school sports in California.
(CIF)
There’s still coaches unhappy with the Southern Section competitive equity playoff system using computer algorithms to place teams in divisions.
The Southern Section says no system is perfect, but it’s clear the system used for basketball is flawed. How in the name of sanity (just go ask coaches) was Mater Dei placed in Division 2? They were in Division 1 all season until taking a free fall from Jan. 27 until the time the next rankings were released during seeding announcements. They happened to need an at-large berth to qualify for the playoffs and wouldn’t have earned one in Division 1, causing conspiracy theories. I don’t believe there was a conspiracy, just that the computer system got it badly wrong. Mater Dei has won its first two Division 2 playoff games by scores of 83-63 and 85-59. And look for more to come because they are a Division 1 team.
St. John Bosco has already won the transfer portal in high school football with the announcement that standout sophomore offensive tackle Elisha Mueller of Servite has arrived at the Bellflower school. Leuzinger sophomore quarterback Russell Sekona has transferred to Mater Dei. Leuzinger sophomore defensive back Pakipole Moala has transferred to Santa Margarita. Here’s the transfer portal list. . . .
Russell White has stepped down after 10 years coaching eight-man football at Flintridge Prep. He’d like to try 11-man football. White led Crespi to a Division 1 football title in 1986 playing running back and went on to star at Cal before being drafted by the Rams. . . .
Rick Garretson is the new football coach at Servite. He’s a 1974 graduate of Servite, was once a long-serving assistant coach and served as head coach at Chandler in Arizona from 2019-2024. Here’s the report.
Kicker Jacob Kreinbring of Loyola has committed to Stonybrook. . . .
Chaparral returns receivers Tycen Johnson (Arizona State commit), Michael Farinas (UCLA) and Eli Woodard (USC), all of whom get to catch passes from quarterback Dane Weber. If the line can block, maybe Corona Centennial will get some competition this fall.
Football coach James Stewart of La Quinta has resigned. Lucas Alexander will be the new coach. . . .
Randy Luna is the new football coach at Canoga Park. . . .
Fred Gambrell has resigned after two years as head football coach at Sunny Hills. . . .
Junior receiver Eli Woodard of Chaparral has committed to USC. . . .
Golfer Charlie Woods, the teenage son of Tiger Woods, has committed to Florida State as part of the class of 2027. . . .
Two top high school baseball tournaments for this spring have been finalized. The Boras Classic will begin April 7 at Mater Dei and JSerra. The National Classic also will be held in Orange County starting March. 30. Here’s the link.
St. John Bosco twins Ethan and Justin Coach, standout linebackers, have committed to Washington. . . .
Henry Polanco is the new girls flag football coach at Schurr. . . .
Kiyoshi Harris is the new football coach at JW North. . . .
Benjamin Siff, an assistant baseball coach at St. Margaret’s since 2016, has been named the head coach effective at the end of the 2026 season. Long-time coach Scott Wallis is leaving out of Orange County at the end of this season. . . .
Richard Masson has announced his retirement from coaching basketball. What a journey he’s had coaching boys and girls after winning more than 700 games. He was boys coach at L.A. Jordan for seven years, Carson boys coach for 22 years, Rolling Hills Prep girls coach for seven years, Carson girls coach for four years. He’s won championships and coached lots of great players. “Blessed to have had great players, assistant coaches and support system,” he said.
From the archives: LaMelo Ball
Chino Hills guard LaMelo Ball pulls up for a shot over Mater Dei’s Michael Wang and Matthew Weyand (21) in 2017.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
It’s been nine years since LaMelo Ball scored 92 points as a 15-year-old sophomore for Chino Hills in a 146-123 win over Los Osos in February of 2017, so why not look back.
The big debate was whether it was an accomplishment that should be celebrated or criticized.
“As a coach, if I see a player doing well, who am I to stop his shine?” Stephan Gilling, Chino Hills’ first-year coach, said in 2017.
“About the third quarter, my dad said, ‘Keep shooting,’” LaMelo said during a radio interview on KLAC-AM (570). “If I knew I was going to score that much, I would have shot more in the first half.”
From the Seattle Times, a story on former NBA guard Jamal Crawford coaching his son in high school.
From the Tennessee Bar Assn., a story on how the state is moving to loosening transfer rules with one free sports transfer.
From the Pleasantonweekly, a story from last December from a high school sportswriter detailing his frustration with the transfer issues in California high school sports.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on how Brentwood School’s athletic facilities are facing a challenge from the Veterans Administration.
Fram Angelusnews, a story on the turnaround at St. Bernard.
Tweets you might have missed
This week Clippers host NBA All-Star Game at Intuit Dome. Time to give kudos to Steve Ballmer. He has virtually every high school in California represented by their jersey in exhibit. Team is giving away thousands of free hoops to L.A. County residents. He’s making a difference.
Being in Los Angeles, 2026 baseball season is rizz. The Dodgers, UCLA, St. John Bosco, Mike Trout, Roch Cholowsky, elite freshmen like Louis Lappe and Jordan Leon. Enjoy the weather and the baseball.
Redondo Union coach Reggie Morris Jr. is the guest on Friday Night Live Thursday at 5 p.m. via X. Here’s a tribute clip to his father, Reggie Sr., a City Section coaching legend who was at Manual Arts. pic.twitter.com/Lr7UoRqSM3
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Welcome to your daily review and preview of this year’s Milan-Cortina Olympics. My name is John Cherwa and I’m your tour director for the Games as the U.S. finds a new star in speed skater Jason Stoltz. The U.S. got the trifecta on Saturday with a gold, silver and bronze.
Going into the Games, the U.S. had its usual cadre of star power that was supposed to propel the country to the top of the medal standings. But then reality set in. Ilia Malinin had a good lead heading into the free skate in men’s figure skating. Then, he had a ghastly performance, falling twice, and slipping to eighth. Chloe Kim, two-time Olympic champion in the women’s halfpipe, struggled for repeated clean runs and finished second. Then, dreamers believed Lindsey Vonn, skating with a torn ACL, could navigate the women’s downhill to the medal podium. She crashed high in the course.
Enter the latest star for the United States. Speed skater Jordan Stolz, who picked up his second gold of the Games by winning the men’s 500 meters to go with his gold in the 1,000 meters. Both were set in Olympic record time. The 21-year-old from Wisconsin still has at least two events to go, hoping to up his personal and the U.S. medal count. He’s set to compete in the men’s 1,500 (Thursday), and the men’s mass start (Saturday).
The only other medals the U.S. won on Saturday were in the freestyle skiing women’s dual moguls. An Aussie was the winner, but Jaelin Kauf got the silver and Liz Lemley (not to be confused with 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon) won the B final for the bronze. This was the first appearance of dual moguls in the Olympics.
Catching up on the men’s hockey stage, the Kings suffered a severe blow when forward Kevin Fiala sustained a season-ending injury playing for Switzerland on Friday. Fiala had a tough collision with Canada’s Tom Wilson with only a couple of minutes to play in the game. He was stretchered off with a lower leg injury. He had surgery in Italy on Saturday morning and was said to be done for both Olympic and NHL competition the rest of this season.
The Kings are on the cusp of making the playoffs and this, no doubt, will make their road to the postseason that much more difficult. Fiala had 18 goals and 40 points so far this season in 56 games.
NBC should ask Today show personalities Craig Melvin, Al Roker and Dylan Dryer to turn in their journalistic credentials after an embarrassing, saccharine interview with IOC President Kirsty Coventry on the Third Hour of “Today” on Friday. There should have been a warning that watching the interview could cause an immediate increase in blood sugar. The trio, doing the interview from New York, covered such difficult topics of how much fun everyone is having in Italy, how the Olympic spirit is pervasive and, of course, how cuddly the mascots are.
But in no way did they address what would have been the first question any legit journalist would ask, Coventry’s barring of Ukranian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych for wanting to honor his fallen Ukranian athletes with stickers on his racing helmet was never mentioned. We’ll give you that Roker and Dryer are meteorologists, but there is no excuse for Melvin’s lack of journalistic chops.
Elsewhere on Saturday
— Good day for U.S. curlers as the women (2-1 record) beat Japan 7-4, while the men (2-2) beat Germany 8-6. (Valentine’s Day moment at restaurant. My wife: “Are you the only one here straining to see the curling score on TV?” Answer: “Yes.”)
— The U.S. men’s team (2-0) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat Denmark 6-3. Germany is next.
— Brazil topped three Swiss skiers, who finished second through fourth, to win the men’s giant slalom. River Radamus of the U.S. was 17th.
— Norway, on its way to its 10th gold medal, won the women’s 4×7.5 km cross country relay, upsetting Sweden. The U.S. managed a fifth-place finish.
— Austria upset Germany, which finished second and third, in the women’s skeleton. Kelly Curtis of the U.S. was 12th.
—- Slovenia picked up its first gold of the Games in the men’s ski jumping, large hill. Tate Frantz of the U.S. was 19th.
— Norway — who else? — won the women’s 7.5 km sprint in the biathlon. France got silver and bronze. Deedra Irwin was the top U.S. competitor in 47th.
Best Thing to Watch on TV today
We went off the board yesterday and picked the men’s 500 in speed skating as our best bet. Turned out a wise choice. Today, let’s make another swerve and look to the mixed team snowboard cross, in which the U.S. is the defending gold champion. You’ve got returnee Nick Baumgartner, 44, with new partner Faye Thelen. He won gold in Beijing with Lindsey Jacobellis, who is taking a break this year. The qualification starts at 4:45 a.m. PST, with the finals at 5:35 a.m. PST. After a day off, the figure skating gets back on the ice with the pairs short program. The U.S. team of Ellie Kim and Danny O’Shea is going 14th of 19th pairs with a 10:15 a.m. PST start for competition. The U.S. men’s hockey team (2-0) plays Germany at 12:10 p.m. PST.
Favorite photo of the day
The Netherlands’ speedskater Jenning de Boo clutches his head after losing to American Jordan Stolz in the 500 final in Milan on Saturday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Times photographer Robert Gauthier is at the Winter Olympics. Each day Times newsletter editor Houston Mitchell will select a favorite photo from the many he has taken.
Sunday’s Olympic TV and streaming schedule
Sunday’s live TV and streaming broadcasts for the Milan-Cortina Olympics unless noted (subject to change). All events stream live on Peacock or NBCOlympics.com with a streaming or cable login. All times Pacific. 🏅 — medal event for live broadcasts.
MULTIPLE SPORTS 8 p.m. — “Primetime in Milan” (delay): Skiing, figure skating, bobsled, speedskating and more. | NBC
ALPINE SKIING 1 a.m. — Women’s giant slalom, Run 1 | USA 4:30 a.m. — 🏅Women’s giant slalom, Run 2 | NBC
CURLING Men (round robin) 12:05 a.m. — U.S. vs. Sweden | Peacock 12:05 a.m. — Germany vs. Britain | Peacock 12:05 a.m. — Norway vs. Italy | Peacock Women (round robin) 5:05 a.m. — U.S. vs. China | Peacock 5:05 a.m. — Denmark vs. Italy | Peacock 5:05 a.m. — Britain vs. Sweden | Peacock 5:05 a.m. — Japan vs. South Korea | Peacock 5:30 a.m. — U.S. vs. China (in progress) | CNBC Men (round robin) 8 a.m. — U.S. vs. Sweden (delay) | CNBC 10:05 a.m. — U.S. vs. Norway | Peacock 10:05 a.m. — China vs. Canada | Peacock 10:05 a.m. — Britain vs. Switzerland | Peacock 10:05 a.m. — Italy vs. Czechia | Peacock
FIGURE SKATING 8:20 a.m. — Pairs, short program, warmup | Peacock 10:30 a.m. — Pairs, short program | USA Noon — Pairs, short program | NBC
FREESTYLE SKIING 1:40 a.m. — 🏅Men’s dual moguls, final | USA 9:30 a.m. — Men’s dual moguls, final (re-air) | NBC 10:40 a.m. — Men’s big air, qualifying | NBC
HOCKEY Men (group play) 3 a.m. — Switzerland vs. Czechia | CNBC 7:40 a.m. — Canada vs. France | USA 10 a.m. — Denmark vs. Latvia | CNBC 12:10 p.m. — U.S. vs. Germany | USA
SKELETON 9 a.m. — 🏅Mixed team event | Peacock 10:15 a.m. — Mixed team event (delay) | NBC
SKI JUMPING 8:30 a.m. — 🏅Women’s large hill, finals | Peacock
SNOWBOARDING 4:45 a.m. — 🏅Mixed team snowboard cross, finals | USA 5:30 a.m. — Mixed team snowboard cross, finals | NBC
SPEEDSKATING 7 a.m. — Men’s team pursuit, qualifying | NBC 8 a.m. — 🏅Women’s 500 meters | NBC
In case you missed it …
Check out the following Milan-Cortina Olympics dispatches from the L.A. Times team on the ground in Italy:
That concludes today’s Sports Report Olympic Edition newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email newsletter editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here and select the Sports Report.
Welcome to the Olympic Edition of the Sports Report, an L.A. Times newsletter published every morning during the Winter Olympics. To sign up to receive it via email (it’s free), go here and select The Sports Report. If you’ve already signed up for the Sports Report, you will receive the Olympics edition as well.
Welcome to your daily review and preview of this year’s Milan-Cortina Olympics. My name is John Cherwa and I’m your tour director for the Games as we learn how thin the line is between greatness and failure.
In the most shocking moment of the Games so far, U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin had the gold at his doorstep but instead had a dreadful performance, falling twice and giving the gold to Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan. The feeling in the arena was that there with no way Malinin could lose with his big lead after the short program. Then his main competitor, Yuma Yagiyama of Japan, had a subpar skate just before Malinin took the ice as the last skater of the night.
But Malinin missed his first combo and could never regain his composure in what was likely his worst performance in a major competition in quite some time. He finished eighth but at age 21, we could see him in a future Olympics. It was Malinin’s first loss since Nov. 2023.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, we thought we should look at some of the athlete couples at the Games. We compiled the list from People, so we take no responsibility for last-minute fights or splits (other than time splits, of course).
Madison Chock and Evan Bates: U.S. ice dancers. Won the silver with a gold-medal performance.
Brittany Bowe and Hilary Knight: U.S. speedskater Bowe finished fourth in the women’s 1,000 meters and has the 1,500 and team pursuit to go. Knight plays for the U.S. women’s hockey team, which is in the semifinals.
Nicole Silveira and Kim Meylemans: Both are in the women’s skeleton with Silveira competing for Brazil and Meylemans for Belgium. After two of four heats, Meylemans is eighth and Silveira is 12th.
Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey: Both are members of the Canadian women’s hockey team, who, despite losing to the U.S. in pool play, is expected to contend for a medal.
Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien: This pair’s love is on the rocks … or stones if your prefer. They are curlers for Norway. They finished sixth in the mixed competition.
Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant: It’s another curling pair swept to each other’s brooms. The Canadians finished fifth in the mixed competition.
Ronja Savolainen and Anna Kjellbin: These hockey players play for two different countries, Savolainen for Finland and Kjellbin for Sweden. Both countries made the quarterfinals with Sweden already advancing to the semifinals.
Hunter Powell and Kaysha Love: This U.S. bobsledding couple will see competition soon, Powell in the four-man and Love in both singles and doubles.
Emily and Dominik Fischnaller. This luge couple will bring back some hardware. Dominik, who sleds for Italy, took bronze in singles and team relay. Emily, who competes for the U.S., was 12th in singles.
There are certainly others, and some in the making as we speak, but this is a sampling.
Elsewhere on Friday
Italy is on fire at these Games but were not hot enough to beat the U.S. in women’s hockey. The U.S. won 6-0 and will move to the semifinals.
France, followed by two from Norway, won the biathlon men’s 10-kilometer sprint. The best U.S. finisher was Campbell Wright in 12th.
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, the GOAT of cross-country skiing, won his eighth lifetime gold for Norway by winning the men’s 10-kilometer interval start free. He is tied for most lifetime gold medals in the Winter Games and has three more events. John Steel Hagenbuch of the U.S. was 14th.
The U.S. and Canada played each other in both men’s and women’s curling. The women won, 9-8, (now 2-1) and the men lost, 6-3, (1-2).
The U.S. was shut out on snowboard with Australia winning gold in women’s snowboard cross and Japan getting gold and bronze in men’s halfpipe.
Matt Weston, the world champion from Britain, won men’s skeleton. Germans won silver and bronze. Austin Florian of the U.S. was 12th.
A 19-year-old from Czechia won the men’s 10,000 meters in speedskating. The U.S. did not compete.
Best Thing to Watch on TV today
Today is the day to take a breath from figure skating. It also seems to be a good time for your tour guide to admit something: I have absolutely no idea if the skaters are doing three, three and a half, four or four and a half rotations when they are in air in real time. OK, I said it. Are you nodding your head in affirmation right now? Thought so. OK, let’s go to something different for today.
The best bet will be the men’s 500 meters in speed skating. Jordan Stolz, the winner of the 1,000 for the U.S., will be in the 12th pair in the event which starts at 8 a.m PST. This isn’t his best event but he should have confidence and momentum going his way. If you need your hockey fix, the U.S. men play Denmark around 12:10 p.m.
Favorite photo of the day
France’s Adam Siao Him Fa performs a backflip while competing in the figure skating men’s free skate Friday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Times photographer Robert Gauthier is at the Winter Olympics. Each day Times newsletter editor Houston Mitchell will select a favorite photo from the many he has taken.
Saturday’s Olympic TV and streaming schedule
Saturday’s live TV and streaming broadcasts for the Milan-Cortina Olympics unless noted (subject to change). All events stream live on Peacock or NBCOlympics.com with a streaming or cable login. All times Pacific. 🏅 — medal event for live broadcasts.
MULTIPLE SPORTS
8 p.m. — “Primetime in Milan” (delay): Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, speedskating and more. | NBC
ALPINE SKIING 1 a.m. — Men’s giant slalom, Run 1 | USA 4:30 a.m. 🏅Men’s giant slalom, Run 2 | NBC
CURLING Women (round robin) 12:05 a.m. — Britain vs. Canada | Peacock 12:05 a.m. — Italy vs. China | Peacock 12:05 a.m. — Switzerland vs. Japan | Peacock 4:30 a.m. — Britain vs. Canada (delay) | USA Men (round robin) 5:05 a.m. — Germany vs. U.S. | Peacock 5:05 a.m. — Czechia vs. Britain | Peacock 5:05 a.m. — Sweden vs. China | Peacock 5:05 a.m. — Switzerland vs. Canada | Peacock Women (round robin) 5:30 a.m. — Italy vs. China (delay) | CNBC Men (round robin) 10 a.m. — Germany vs. U.S. (delay) | CNBC Women (round robin) 10:05 a.m. — Japan vs. U.S. | Peacock 10:05 a.m. — Canada vs. Switzerland | Peacock 10:05 a.m. — Italy vs. Sweden | Peacock 10:05 a.m. — South Korea vs. Denmark | Peacock 2:30 p.m. — Japan vs. U.S. (delay) | CNBC
HOCKEY Men (group play) 3 a.m. — Germany vs. Latvia | CNBC 3:10 a.m. — Sweden vs. Slovakia | Peacock 7:40 a.m. — Finland vs. Italy | USA Women (quarterfinals) 7:40 a.m. — Canada vs. Germany | CNBC 12:10 p.m. — Finland vs. Switzerland | CNBC Men (group play) 12:10 p.m. — U.S. vs. Denmark | USA
SKELETON 9 a.m. — Women, Run 3 | NBC 10:35 a.m. — Women, final run | Peacock 2:30 p.m. — Women, runs 3-4 (delay) | USA
SHORT TRACK SPEEDSKATING 11:15 a.m. — 🏅Men’s 1,500 meters final and more | Peacock 3:15 p.m. — 🏅Men’s 1,500 meters final and more | USA
SKI JUMPING 8:30 a.m. — Men’s large hill, trial round| Peacock 10 a.m. — 🏅Men’s large hill, final round | USA
SPEEDSKATING 7 a.m. — Women’s team pursuit, qualifying | USA 8 a.m. — 🏅Men’s 500 meters | NBC
In case you missed it …
Check out the following Milan-Cortina Olympics dispatches from the L.A. Times team on the ground in Italy:
That concludes today’s Sports Report Olympic Edition newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email newsletter editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here and select the Sports Report.
A small village in the Yorkshire Dales is just as picturesque as it is welcoming, especially when it comes to good food and drink.
The village is most frequented by walkers (Image: AndyRoland via Getty Images)
Tucked away amidst the breathtaking greenery of the Yorkshire Dales lies a charming grey stone village that serves as an excellent launching pad for countryside expeditions.
Boasting numerous campsites, Kettlewell provides the perfect pit stop for keen ramblers and explorers seeking somewhere to put their feet up and enjoy quality food and refreshments.
The village features three historic inns – a testament to its previous role as a key transport centre – which continue to operate as pubs today.
One visitor described it as having “views beyond compare” in a TripAdvisor review. They said: “Driving around the dales was an absolute delight; we had to keep stopping to take piccies of stunning scenery. Any town or village is worth visiting.”
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Famous for its dramatic landscapes, historic cities, hearty food, and rich cultural heritage Yorkshire is just waiting to be explored. Sykes Cottages has a large number of properties to choose from with prices from £31 per night.
Another shared: “Beautiful village with 3 amazing pub restaurants and two tea rooms. The properties and scenery are amazing. We have stayed on 4 occasions over the years and plan on another visit soon.”
Dining Options
What secures Kettlewell’s special place in walkers’ affections is its array of dining and drinking establishments. The Blue Bell stands as the oldest, positioned at the village centre beside the water.
Complete with crackling log fires and exposed timber beams, this traditional pub offers travellers a perfectly pulled pint year-round. Their menu features classic pub fare including fish and chips and humble pies – ideal for recharging following an extensive day’s hiking.
Sitting alongside them are the village’s two other beloved watering holes, The Kings Head and Racehorses Hotel, an 18th-century establishment that has retained its character throughout the decades.
However, it’s actually the Kings Head that claims the top spot for dining on TripAdvisor, with patrons describing it as a “proper Dales pub”.
One review said: “We’ve been to this pub several times over the last few years. It’s compact and very cosy; it can get crowded with only 20 or 30 visitors, but that’s one of the things we love about it. The locals are friendly; they love this place and are very welcoming to everybody who supports it.”
The culinary delights don’t end there, as this peaceful village boasts two charming cafes as well, with the more traditional option being The Cottage Tea Room. A few streets away sits And Then – Tasting Deli, praised by guests for its “outrageously good coffee” and warm hospitality.
One customer said: “We visited a couple of times during our stay in Kettlewell and were impressed with the quality of the food and drink, and we found the service very friendly from the owner and all the staff.”
They added: “Prices were reasonable given how good everything was, and we enjoyed our visits sat in by the cosy log burner. Our takeout Wensleydale sandwiches were top-notch too!”.
Summit
Right on its doorstep lies an extensive selection of rambles through the stunning Dales, yet the most popular route from Kettlewell remains the trek to Great Whernside. This peak’s highest point looms majestically over the village and attracts keen walkers from across the nation.
It wasn’t until 1997 that public access to the summit was officially established, leading to the construction of two footpaths reaching the top. One route starts directly from Kettlewell, whilst the other follows along the summit ridge.
The challenging walk can take up to four hours, though the route is clearly marked with well-defined footpaths and signage throughout the ascent. Upon reaching the summit, you’ll find yourself at an elevation of approximately 1,800 feet.
Part of Yorkshire’s tourist attractions is the ‘Dales 30’ – a collection of 30 mountains with some exceeding 2,000 feet in height, and this happens to be amongst them. Though the climb shouldn’t be mistaken for Whernside, which forms one of Yorkshire’s three highest peaks, located on the Cumbrian border.
MILAN — Kings left wing Kevin Fiala sustained a leg injury and was taken off the ice on a stretcher late in Switzerland’s game against Canada at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Friday.
Fiala went down when he collided with Tom Wilson with just less than three minutes left in Canada’s 5-1 victory.
Fiala backed into a hit on Wilson near the boards, their legs got tangled and both players fell to the ice. Fiala couldn’t get up and after a stoppage in play medical personnel attended to him.
Fiala was placed face down on a stretcher and his left leg appeared to be in an air cast as he was wheeled out.
“I haven’t seen him yet. I think he went to the hospital. Obviously it doesn’t look very good,” Swiss coach Patrick Fischer said. “Tough moment for Kevin and the whole team, obviously.”
No penalty was assessed on the play.
“It was an accident,” Fischer said.
The 29-year-old Fiala is in his 12th NHL season and fourth with the Kings. He has 40 points in 56 games this season.
From Steve Galluzzo: As the NBA has evolved, so too has its midseason showcase.
The league’s 75th All-Star Game takes place Sunday at Intuit Dome and Kelly Flatow, executive vice president and head of the events group at the NBA noted how things have changed since the last time the event was in Los Angeles.
“This will be my 20th All-Star and I joined the events group in 2016, so I was responsible for All-Star when it was here at Staples Center in 2018,” she said. “So it’s great to be back in L.A.”
There is plenty in store for the public this year — both in Inglewood and the downtown area.
One key component of the All-Star spectacle is NBA Crossover — a chance for fans to experience the sport through pop culture, fashion, technology, music and entertainment.
“Every year All-Star grows in different shapes and forms,” Flatow said. “What we used to call a weekend is now an entire week. In fact, the Clippers have done an incredible job making All-Star an entire season long celebration of the game.”
Lauren Betts had 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists and No. 2 UCLA pushed its winning streak to 18 games by thumping No. 13 Michigan State 86-63 on Wednesday night.
Kiki Rice finished with 18 points and seven rebounds for the Bruins (24-1, 14-0 Big Ten). Gabriela Jaquez added 13 points, all in the first half, and Gianna Kneepkens chipped in 12.
UCLA now has nine wins over ranked opponents, six in conference play.
Rashunda Jones scored 15 points and Emma Shumate had 12 for the Spartans (20-5, 9-5), who have dropped three of their last four games. Grace VanSlooten and Kennedy Blair, the team’s top scorers entering the game, were held to a combined 18 points on six-for-25 shooting.
Bruce Thornton scored 21 points and hit two late throws to help Ohio State secure an 89-82 win over USC on Wednesday.
Ohio State (16-6, 8-6 Big Ten) trailed 43-40 at halftime after opening two of 13 at the free-throw line, but Thornton steadied the Buckeyes in the second half. He became the fifth player in program history to reach 1,935 career points and moved into fifth all-time in Ohio State scoring.
The Buckeyes grabbed their largest lead at 67-60 with eight minutes left after a Devin Royal layup and a John Mobley Jr. three-pointer. USC (18-7, 7-7) answered with a 7-0 run capped by a Jordan Marsh three to cut it to 70-69, but Christoph Tilly scored inside, and Royal added a jumper to push the margin back to five.
Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points and his three-point play with two seconds remaining lifted the Clippers to a 105-102 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
Leonard, who had 12 rebounds, scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to extend his career-best streak of 20-point games to 33.
The Clippers (26-28) led by four points when Kevin Durant made one of two free throws before a layup by Alperen Sengun cut the lead to 102-101 with 43 seconds left. Leonard missed a three-pointer and Jabari Smith Jr. grabbed a rebound to give Houston (33-20) the ball.
1937 — Cleveland is granted an NFL franchise. The Rams play in Cleveland for nine years before moving to Los Angeles. After the 1994 season, the Rams move to St. Louis.
1947 — Boston’s Bill Cowley becomes the NHL all-time scoring leader when he scores a goal and an assist for the Bruins in a 10-1 win over the New York Rangers. Cowley’s 529 points is one more than Syd Howe, who retired one year earlier.
1958 — Boston’s Bill Russell scores 18 points and grabs 41 rebounds to lead the Celtics to a 119-101 victory over the Syracuse Nationals.
1968 — Jean-Claude Killy of France wins the men’s giant slalom in the Winter Olympics at Grenoble, his second gold medal en route to the Alpine triple crown.
1972 — The Soviet Union ice hockey team wins the gold medal with a 5-2 victory over Czechoslovakia at the Winter Olympics. The United States is awarded the silver because it had beaten and tied Czechoslovakia.
1982 — Wayne Gretzky scores 153rd point of season, breaking NHL record.
1985 — Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux becomes the first rookie to be named most valuable player at the NHL All-Star game. The 19-year-old center scores two goals, including the game-winner, and has an assist to lead the Wales Conference to a 6-4 win over the Campbell Conference.
1989 — The largest crowd (44,735) in NBA All-Star Game history turns out at the Houston Astrodome to watch the West beat the East 143-134. Utah’s Karl Malone win MVP honors after scoring a team-high 28 points.
1993 — The San Jose Sharks tie an NHL record by losing 17 straight games, the latest a 6-0 defeat by the Edmonton Oilers.
1994 — Loy Allen Jr. becomes the first Winston Cup rookie to win a pole in the Daytona 500. Allen is .031 seconds quicker than six-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.
1995 — Sacramento’s Mitch Richmond scores a game-high 22 points and wins MVP honors in leading the West to a 139-112 triumph over the East in the NBA All-Star Game at America West Arena in Phoenix.
1997 — Morocco’s Hicham el Guerrouj breaks indoor track’s oldest record, winning the mile in 3 minutes, 48.45 at the Flanders meet held in Ghent, Belgium. Ireland’s Eamonn Coghlan ran 3:49.78 in 1983 in New York.
2005 — Allen Iverson scores 60 points, a career high, to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 112-99 victory over the Orlando Magic.
2007 — Duke, saddled by its first four-game losing skid in 11 years, falls out of The Associated Press men’s poll for the first time since the end of the 1995-96 season. The Blue Devils had been in the media poll for 200 straight weeks — the second longest streak behind UCLA’s record 221 weeks.
2014 — Tina Maze of Slovenia and Dominique Gisin of Switzerland tie for gold in the Olympic women’s downhill. Both speed down the Rosa Khutor course in 1:41.57 seconds for the first gold-medal tie in Olympic alpine skiing history.
2018 — Virginia is ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press men’s basketball poll for first time since 1982, when Terry Holland was the coach and Ralph Sampson was the Cavaliers’ star player.
2018 — Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst becomes first Winter Olympian to win an individual gold medal in 4 straight Games with victory in the 1,500m at Pyeongchang; first speed skater to win 10 Olympic medals.
2023 — Super Bowl LVII, State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona: Kansas City Chiefs beat Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35; MVP: Patrick Mahomes, KC, QB.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Welcome to the Sports Report, our weekday morning newsletter covering L.A. sports. To sign up to receive it via email (it’s free), go here.
From Broderick Turner: In the eyes of Lakers coach JJ Redick, every team his group faces is a test. Still, many wondered if the Lakers’ litmus test would come from facing the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
Even with All-Star and league most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out with a strained abdominal, the Thunder are still a problem for most of the league. And the Lakers had to play OKC with their own MVP candidate, Luka Doncic, sitting out for the second straight game with a left hamstring strain.
In the end, it came down to the Lakers not being able to hold off the champion Thunder in the decisive fourth quarter of a 119-110 loss at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers (32-19) had six players score in double figures, but the Thunder had seven.
The Lakers shot 50% from the field, but the Thunder shot 48.3% from the field and 42.4% from three-point range.
“I think when you play the best teams, and Oklahoma City is clearly, you know they’re the best team, you have to have a really high level of effort, and you have to have a really high level of execution,” Redick said.
From Steve Galluzzo: The NBA All-Star Game at Intuit Dome is days away, and no one is looking forward to it more than Barbara Bush, daughter of former President George W. Bush and the NBA’s vice president of social impact. She found her “dream job” and is loving every minute of it.
“I played basketball until fifth grade. I grew up in Dallas and everyone watched the Mavericks. Then when I moved to Austin it was all about UT,” she said, referring to the University of Texas. “I never thought I’d work in basketball. For most of my career I’ve worked in global health with nonprofits. During COVID, I started paying more attention to the NBA as it utilized its arenas for vaccination sites and voting centers since you could be socially distanced and compliant by using them.”
While representing the foundation for which she worked, Bush attended meetings with NBA executives and sought ways to work together.
1908 — Tommy Burns knocks out Jack Palmer in the fourth round to defend his world heavyweight title in London.
1949 — Joe Fulks of Philadelphia scores 63 points in a 108-87 win over Indianapolis to set an NBA scoring record which would last for nearly a decade.
1952 — The Baltimore Bullets play the 48-minute game without making a substitution and beat the Fort Wayne Pistons 82-77.
1962 — Jim Beatty becomes the first American to break the 4-minute mile indoors with a 3:58.9 in Los Angeles.
1968 — Peggy Fleming wins the women’s Olympic figure skating gold medal in Grenoble, France.
1969 — LSU’s Pete Maravich scores 66 points in a 110-94 loss to Tulane.
1971 — Former first baseman Bill White becomes the first Black announcer in major baseball league history, signing to join the New York Yankees WPIX broadcast team.
1972 — Guy Lafleur becomes the first rookie in the NHL’s modern era to have three hat tricks in a season. Lafleur scores three goals and adds an assist in the Canadiens’ 7-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks.
1989 — K.C. Jones of the Boston Celtics and Lenny Wilkens of the Cleveland Cavaliers are elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Also elected is William “Pop” Gates, who played during the game’s barnstorming years in the 1930s and 1940s.
1991 — Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers, playing with a stress fracture in his left foot, becomes the NBA All-Star MVP with 17 points and 22 rebounds after leading the East to a 116-114 victory.
1992 — Bonnie Blair becomes the first woman to successfully defend an Olympic gold medal in 500-meter speed skating and the first American woman in any sport to win gold medals in consecutive Olympics.
1998 — Picabo Street, Alpine skiing’s comeback kid, overcomes a mistake about midway through her run and charges to an Olympic gold by one-hundredth of a second in the women’s super-G — the games’ first Alpine medal after three days of snow-related postponements.
2003 — Detroit’s Brett Hull becomes the sixth NHL player to score 700 regular-season goals. Hull beats San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov with a wrist shot in a 5-4 win over the Sharks.
2007 — Jaromir Jagr has three assists in the New York Rangers’ 5-2 win over Washington and becomes the 12th player in NHL history to score 1,500 points.
2017 — Golden State’s Draymond Green becomes the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double with fewer than 10 points scored. Green had 12 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 steals and 4 points in a 122-107 win over Memphis. Green also had five blocks, which made him the first player to record 10 steals and five blocks in a game since steals and blocks were first tracked in 1973-74.
2018 — Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla wins the first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Games and Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen takes silver in the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon to become the most decorated female Winter Olympian ever. Bjoergen captures her 11th career medal, breaking a three-way tie with Russian Raisa Smetanina and Italian Stefania Belmondo.
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.
Megan Grant laughs after hearing that at one point during her basketball career, she was shooting .500 from field-goal range, better than her career .348 batting average.
The two-time NFCA All-American utility player has made softball look easy during her time with UCLA. She holds a career .727 slugging percentage, .978 fielding percentage and hit 26 home runs during the 2025 season, a Big Ten single-season record.
Is basketball just that much easier for her?
“I wouldn’t say easy but I would always say fun,” Grant said. “It’s something where I can just easily lose myself in the competitive nature and just the process of things.”
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Grant has been a member of the Bruins’ women’s basketball team this season, an opportunity brought to her by her softball coach. When coach Kelly Inouye-Perez asked her if she would be interested in joining the team for the Bruins’ current season, she felt like she couldn’t turn down the opportunity.
Training with the basketball team would allow her to add new skills to her game. While developing, she would be doing it at a high level of college basketball competitiveness — it was a win-win situation.
“Just being able to say I played basketball at such a high level collegiately, it’s always an honor to say,” Grant said.
UCLA forward Megan Grant (43) is surrounded by teammates while celebrating after a win over North Carolina on Nov. 13 in Las Vegas.
(Steve Marcus / Associated Press)
Throughout the season, Grant has played 33 minutes off the bench and made three of nine field goal attempts. The No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball team is 22-1 and undefeated in Big Ten play.
Softball season began Friday, so her time on the court has come to an end. As she transitions to the diamond, Grant is entering her senior season with ambition, gratitude and a new sense of leadership.
“I feel like all programs all throughout our campus, we just have this competitive greatness about all of us that we know we will do whatever it takes to win,” she said. “It’s really refreshing to even see that from [women’s basketball] coach Cori [Close’s] side and just to get to learn her little nuggets.”
No. 7 UCLA softball is 5-0 after the opening weekend, including a record-setting 17-0 rout of UC Riverside.
The Bruins were the runner up in last year’s Big Ten tournament after falling 2-0 to Michigan in the championship game. In the Women’s College World Series, after Grant hit a two-run home run to tie a game against Tennessee, UCLA lost in extra innings.
The Bruins begin the season with a versatile and close-knit roster, Grant said. The team spent the fall getting to know each other, on and off the field.
“I feel like almost every single player is playing both infield and outfield and that kind of depth that we have is something that we haven’t had in a while,” she said.
Grant says even during her stint with the women’s basketball, her goal remained the same — winning softball Big Ten and national championships. Ultimately, she just wants to have the best time with her teammates along the way.
“If that moment were to come, I know in my heart, I have the confidence to just be able to say, ‘Yup, I worked on this and I’m ready,’” Grant said.
Rose Bowl scores a court win
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge denied a request from UCLA last week seeking to move its dispute with the Rose Bowl Operating Co. and the city of Pasadena to arbitration as it stated was required by their lease contract.
Officials who operate the Rose Bowl filed a lawsuit against UCLA after it learned the Bruins were heavily considering ending their lease early and instead playing home football games at SoFi Stadium. The Rose Bowl is seeking to enforce terms of a lease that runs through 2044, arguing taxpayers are backing costly renovations at UCLA’s request and the Bruins’ departure would cause irreparable harm.
Arbitration proceedings would limit the Rose Bowl’s right to obtain records related to the stadium lease and would be closed to the public. City of Pasadena and Rose Bowl attorneys argued public funds were at stake and the dispute should play out in court proceedings open to the public.
Judge Joseph Lipner ruled the contract’s arbitration clause contains “unusual and exceeding narrow language,” with evidence to suggest both sides did not want to use arbitration to settle disputes over termination of the agreement.
The next case hearing is scheduled for Feb. 27.
The streak continues
Lauren Betts pulls a rebound away from two Michigan players Sunday.
(Lon Horwedel / Associated Press)
No. 2 UCLA faced its toughest test of Big Ten play so far this season, earning a 69-66 win at No. 8 Michigan and extending its win streak to 17 games.
“What I’m proud of is, … our team in the midst of situations we haven’t been in very much this season, we found ways to win,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “To go into a hostile environment, and really in the second half, do it with our defense.”
The Bruins close out a tough trip at No. 12 Michigan State on Wednesday at 5 p.m. PST. The game will be streamed on Peacock.
A Prince tribute
Jordan Chiles earlier this season.
(Jesus Ramirez / UCLA Athletics)
UCLA gymnast Jordan Chiles dusted off last season’s floor routine set to Prince’s music in honor of the team’s meet at Minnesota on Saturday. Chiles nailed the routine, scoring a perfect 10 for the fourth consecutive week. After the meet, Chiles addressed the crowd, saying that the Prince routine was a tribute to the Minnesota fans who have endured immigration raids.
“I know it has been a lot of tough weeks going on here and I just want to say we stand with you,” Chiles told the crowd. “The Prince routine was meant for you guys and I wanted to bring that energy here and so I hope it uplifted you guys in this very dark time and that the Bruins will always be by your side.”
UCLA won the meet 197.550-197.275, with Chiles winning her fourth consecutive individual all-around title.
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. Playoff pairings have been announced for high school basketball. There’s only one unbeaten team left and what an intriguing story.
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There’s only one unbeaten team in the Southern Section basketball playoffs. And what an intriguing story regarding 28-0 Elsinore.
Back in 1974, when Elsinore when 27-0 until losing at the L.A. Sports Arena in the Division 1-A final, Peter Rettinger rode to the game as a middle school student on the rooter bus and Rick Wolter played in the game as a sophomore.
They’ve been co-head coaches at Elsinore for 32 years. This season, they have a top junior guard in Kamrynn Nathan, averaging 25.2 points. “He’s fun to watch because he’s really creative,” Rettinger said.
Elsinore won the Mountain Pass League and has wins over Chino Hills, Murrieta Valley and Murrieta Mesa. Elsinore was placed in the Division 2 playoffs and opens at home Wednesday against Sonora.
Much has changed since Rettinger was a student at Elsinore, which used to be the only high school in the “Valley” from Corona to Temecula. Now there’s two new high schools in Elsinore, three in Temecula and three in Murrieta.
Wolter retired from teaching and Rettinger is still teaching.
“We’ve always had a positive experience,” Rettinger said. “The parents realized we are the product of the valley and tried to do the best we can with whatever we team have.”
They’re a true neighborhood team supported by loyal neighborhood families.
Boys basketball
The Southern Section playoff pairings released Saturday includes Sierra Canyon as the No. 1 seed for the Open Division. There are 12 teams and four divisions for pool play. Here’s a look.
Kaiden Bailey of Santa Margarita had zero points against St. John Bosco but contributed eight assists.
(Dylan Stewart / 1550 Sports)
The McDonald’s All-America Game revealed its rosters for the boys and girls games. Here’s the report.
Santa Margarita won the first Trinity League tournament with a 57-56 win over St. John Bosco. Here’s the report.
St. Bernard won the Del Rey League title behind junior guard Brandon Granger. Here’s the report.
Thousand Oaks’ Dylan McCord has had a great senior year shooting threes. He had 43 points and 10 threes in a win over Newbury Park. Here’s a report.
Palisades won its first Western League title in 30 years and gained the No. 1 seed for the City Section Open Division playoffs. Here’s the City playoff seedings.
Sun Valley Poly coach Joe Wyatt guided his team to a 12-0 record in the East Valley League and 28 consecutive league wins. Here’s the report.
Sophomore forward Kiara Wakabi helped Birmingham win its 32nd West League game in a row.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Birmingham won the West Valley League title in a close game over Granada Hills and is seeded No. 2 for the City Section Open Division playoffs behind Westchester. Here’s a look at the Patriots’ win over Granada Hills.
Andrea Antonio, a freshman at Hamilton, scored 54 points in her team’s 85-83 overtime win over Palisades.
The Southern Section Open Division pairings were released, and the top three seeds are Ontario Christian, Etiwanda and Sierra Canyon.
Darby Dunn | Canyon HS 28’ | 5’7” PG
Regular season: 26 Points Per Game 7.4 Rebounds 4.4 Assists 3.6 Steals
CIF SS Rankings: #3 Free Throws #4 Field Goals #7 Points Per Game
Reggie Morris Jr., in 2013. He has a collection of bow ties he brings out for the playoffs.
(Nick Koza)
It’s time to break out the bow ties for Reggie Morris Jr., the head basketball coach at Redondo Union. He has won Southern Section titles coaching at Redondo, Leuzinger and St. Bernard. He won a City title at Fairfax.
Here’s what Morris has to say about preparing to challenge Sierra Canyon and others in the Open Division playoffs.
Super Bowl connections
Patriots special teams player Brenden Schooler during his high school days at Mission Viejo.
(Los Angeles Times)
Southern California was well represented in Sunday’s Super Bowl, with former local high school players on the rosters of the Seahawks and Patriots.
During Super Bowl week, the two NFL rookies of the year announced were from Southern California. Receiver Tetairoa McMillan from Servite and the Carolina Panthers and linebacker Carson Schwesinger from Oaks Christian, UCLA and the Cleveland Browns.
Wrestling
The City Section boys and girls wrestling championships will be held Saturday night at Roybal. Admission is $12. There’s a $5 parking charge.
The Southern Section individual championships will have six divisional finals Friday and Saturday at Westminster, Fountain Valley, Canyon Springs, Great Oak, Moorpark and Glenn. It will help determine qualifiers for the Masters Meet at Sonora on Feb. 20. Admission is $14.
Redondo Union won its first Southern Section Division 6 boys wrestling championship. El Modena won Division 5. Corona took Division 4. South Torrance took Division 3. Temecula Valley won Division 2. St. John Bosco won Division 1.
Santa Ana won the Diviison 1 girls title. Chaparral won Division 2. Oxnard Pacifica took Division 3. Sonora won Division 4.
Soccer
Palos Verdes is seeded No. 1 for the Open Division boys competition. Mater Dei is seeded No. 2.
The City Section playoff pairings will be announced Monday.
Notes . . .
Orange Lutheran coach Rod Sherman.
(Nick Koza)
There will be three new head football coaches in the Trinity League this fall after Orange Lutheran announced that Rod Sherman was no longer the football coach and Chris Reinert resigned at Servite. JSerra hired Hardy Nickerson as its new coach. Here’s the report on Sherman’s departure. Here’s the report on Reinert’s departure and the many changes happening in the nation’s toughest football league. . . .
The National Federation of State High School Assn. football rules committee has clarified and strengthened a rule that prohibits slapping the head of any player on offense or defense. Here are the rule changes for 2026. . . .
High school volleyball teams will now be permitted to designate up to two libero players during each set, creating additional participation opportunities without needing to use a substitution. Effective next season.
Noah Thayer, who was one of the best kickers in the Southland until suffering an injury at JSerra, has committed to Cal Poly. . . .
Junior receiver Michael Farinas of Chaparral has committed to UCLA. . . .
Junior linebacker Mike Davis Jr. of Mater Dei has committed to UCLA. . . .
At the winter track championships at Arcadia, Servite’s Jaelen Hunter ran the 300 in 33.02. Rosary girls had a big day sweeping the 60 and 150. Maliyah Collins won the 60 in 6.38 and 150 in 17.59.
Jaslene Massey of Aliso Niguel had the seventh-best girls shot put effort in state history at the winter championships at Arcadia High with a mark of 52-10 1/4,
Junior receiver Tycen Johnson of Chaparral has committed to Arizona State. . . .
Sophomore all-league linebacker Allen Kennett V has transferred from Servite to Santa Margarita. . . .
Spud O’Neil, the baseball coach at Lakewood since 1984, has announced 2026 will be his final season. He has 970 victories over 52 seasons that includes stints at St. Anthony and Colton. . . .
RIP to former Lakewood basketball coach Tim Sweeney Sr., who died on Wednesday. The school gym is named after him. He was 241-140 at Lakewood and won a CIF title. His son, Tim Jr., was head coach at Riverside King for many years.
The Coliseum League is getting a change for football in the fall. Moving out are Dymally and Fremont, which will be switching to the Metro and Exposition leagues. Moving in is Marquez, which will join Crenshaw, Dorsey, King/Drew and Washington Prep. . . .
Lorenzo Hernandez, who was football coach at Garfield from 1999 through 2024, is the leading candidate to become head coach at Whittier, which has Garfield’s former principal. Hernandez served as athletic director at Garfield since the fall. He’d be taking over a program that is headed to a new league if they select him. . . .
Eddie Ficklin has resigned as football coach at Cantwell Sacred-Heart. . . .
Matt Casey is the new football coach at Arlington. . . .
Eric Carnohan is the new director of aquatics at Servite. . . .
Chace Holley from Bay League champion Redondo Union has committed to Pepperdine.
From the archives: Robert Garcia
Former San Fernando football coach Robert Garcia is now an assistant coach at Bishop Alemany.
(Robert Garcia)
Former San Fernando football coach Robert Garcia has joined Dennis Keyes’ staff as an assistant coach at Bishop Alemany.
He was head coach at San Fernando from 2011 until the summer of 2021, winning two City Section Division II titles and a Division I title. He left to run a family restaurant business. He has helped coach with Keyes before since both have sons playing youth football.
From the Daily Breeze, a story on new Bishop Montgomery coach Oscar McBride.
From The562.org, a story on Lakewood baseball coach Spud O’Neil announcing this will be his final season after 52 years coaching baseball.
From the Oklahoman, a story on the governor supporting open transfers in high school sports.
Tweets you might have missed
A month shy of his 91st birthday, Harold Mulhern is still coaching high school basketball at Wisconsin’s Osseo-Fairchild High School. Asked when he’ll know it’s time to stop, Harold said wryly, “When I’m dead.” #land10kstoriespic.twitter.com/hZ0eN3NxEU
Emotional scene tonight in Colfax as beloved boys basketball head coach Reece Jenkin, battling stage 4 cancer, returned to the gym not to coach, but to support son Adrik on Senior Night. Colfax capped an undefeated regular season and Adrik led the way with 38 points in the win. pic.twitter.com/XdS8FNyrik
Class of 2026 Signing Day ✍️🐾 Jakob McKindley – NAU Ben Tameifuna – EWU Tyler George – Penn Caleb Rye – Air Force Boogie Williams – Wyoming Keawe Browne – Boise St. JD McKinley – Cal Lucky Schirmer – Cal Fifita Moore – Princeton Zander Lewis – VMI #Cen10Division1
Dennis Keyes, new Alemany football coach, is guest tonight at 5 on Friday Night Live. Here’s an excerpt and great lesson for high school athletes how important it is to not just rely on your sport for life. He became artist and teacher. pic.twitter.com/kLj168UXna
Seahawks QB Sam Darnold on his hoops background: “Playing multiple sports was huge for me growing up. I was always in the moment. Whenever I was playing football, football was my favorite sport … and right when I transitioned into basketball, basketball was the main thing.”
The next generation of Clausen boys are in first and second grade. Casey and Jett. The dads are going to have sore arms by the time the boys reach high school. pic.twitter.com/PZra58o1T2
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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Welcome to your daily review and preview of this year’s Milan-Cortina Olympics. My name is John Cherwa and I’m your tour director for the Games wondering when the United States will get off the schneid and win a medal. Educated guess alert: How about today? Can you say team figure skating?
Saturday was the first day that medals were awarded at the Milan-Cortina Games and not unexpectedly, the host country is doing the best, sweeping all three medal types with a gold in the women’s 3,000 speed skating (Francesca Lollobrigida—before you ask, yes, a grand-niece to Gina) and silver and bronze in the men’s downhill (Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris).
The U.S. squeezed out a 21st in speed skating with Annika Belshaw and 10th in the downhill courtesy of Kyle Negomir.
There is no doubt there is a home country advantage for a variety of reasons: familiarity with the competition venues, easier qualification (the home country gets in every event) and enthusiastic crowds urging them on.
Let’s look. 2022 Beijing, China had 15 medals, only nine in South Korea; 2018 PyeongChang, 17 in 2018, eight in Sochi; 2014 Sochi, Russia had 29 that year to 13 four years earlier; 2010 Vancouver, closer with a 26-24 edge for Canada; 2006 Turin, no edge as Italy had 11 compared to 13 in Salt Lake City; 2002 Salt Lake City, the U.S. had 34 medals in Utah and only 13 in 1998 in Nagano.
Italy had 17 medals in Beijing, meaning it has only 15 more medals to top 2022.
— The U.S. mixed curling team, after starting 2-0, lost both matches on Saturday to Britain (6-4) and South Korea (6-5).
— Sweden went 1-2 in the women’s 10K skiathlon as Jessie Diggins topped the U.S. team finishing eighth after a crash on the first lap. The U.S. has never won a medal in cross-country skiing and Diggins was a pre-race medal contender.
— Norway won the women’s normal hill ski jumping competition, with Annika Belshaw being the tops at 21st for the U.S.
— Japan won gold and silver in the men’s snowboard Big Air competition. Ollie Martin of the U.S. was bounced off the stand by the last competitor and finished fourth.
— Despite a mediocre second-place performance by the “Quad God” Ilia Malinin, the U.S. holds the lead with one day to go in the team figure skating. Madison Chalk and Evan Bates of the U.S. won Saturday’s ice dance competition.
NBC GoldZone gets demoted
We have taken the unusual step to demote NBC’s GoldZone (on Peacock) to the SilverZone after a dreadful gaffe on Saturday. In the U.S.-South Korea mixed team curling match, the U.S. rallied with three points in the final frame to tie South Korea sending it to an extra frame. It was down to the last stone to be sent by South Korea with the match on the line. GoldZone, at this moment, cuts to commercial seconds before the final throw. When it came back from the break it went to a canned package on Malinin before picking up figure skating coverage. South Korea won on the last stone and the U.S. and NBC (now) SilverZone lost. Another big gaffe and they could drop to the BronzeZone. Presumably, NBC won’t repeat and pull a Heidi (from 1968) during today’s Super Bowl game.
In case you were wondering
During the Games, we’ll try and answer some questions you might have but didn’t know who to ask. Now you have a spot. We’ll generate a lot of the questions but if you have one, please send to my boss, newsletter editor Houston Mitchell at his email. He prefers to be called Mr. Mitchell as he’s really tired of people saying “Houston, we have a problem.”
In honor of today’s big events:
— Why do they indicate winners when only about a fourth of the downhill field has gone down the course? Unlike sports in which the best people start last (like golf, figure skating etc.) the best skiers go first . So, if you are seeded higher than 15th, your chances of winning are small and highly unusual. The seeding is decided by FIS points and a random bib draw of the top 15 skiers. There are two reasons, the course gets choppier every time a skier goes down the hill so the earlier you run the better chance of fresh and fair snow you have. And, the later in the day it is, the less firm the snow is because of the sun.
— What’s the difference between ice dancing and pairs in figure skating? In short, pairs is way more athletic. In ice dance there are generally no jumps or throws as there are in other disciplines. Skaters also have to stay within two lengths of each other, unlike pairs. Ice dancing is also the most scandal plagued discipline because of the subjectivity of scoring since there are few jumps, throws or lifts. There have also been rumors of deals made between countries. There have been fixing scandals in 1998, 2002 and 2014.
Best Thing to Watch on TV today
It’s going to sound a lot like Saturday, but the big story today is the likely first medal for the United States in the team competition in figure skating. It starts with the pairs at 10:30 a.m. PST and ends with the men’s singles, starring Ilia Malinin , at 2:55 p.m. Anything short of a gold will be a disappointment. If you are up early enough, the other big event is the women’s downhill with the return of Lindsey Vonn, who tore her ACL last week. It starts at 2:30 a.m. PST with Vonn being the 13th woman down the hill. If you want to just hang all day, there are four medal events today in snowboard, starting around 4 a.m. PST and going until about 6 a.m. PST.
Sunday’s full Olympic TV and streaming schedule
Sunday’s live TV and streaming broadcasts for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics unless noted (subject to change). All events stream live on Peacock or NBCOlympics.com with a streaming or cable login. All times Pacific. 🏅 — medal event for live broadcasts.
MULTIPLE SPORTS 7:45 p.m. — “Primetime in Milan” (delay; after Super Bowl): Figure skating, skiing, luge, curling, cross-country skiing and more. | NBC
CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING 3:30 a.m. — 🏅Men’s skiathlon | USA 8:50 a.m. — Men’s skiathlon (re-air) | USA
CURLING Mixed doubles (round robin) 1 a.m. — Norway vs. Czechia | Peacock 1 a.m. — South Korea vs. Estonia | Peacock 1:55 a.m. — Mixed doubles highlights | USA 5:30 a.m. — U.S. vs. Estonia | USA 5:35 a.m. — Canada vs. Sweden | Peacock 5:35 a.m. — Britain vs. Switzerland | Peacock 5:30 a.m. — Italy vs. Czechia | Peacock 10 a.m. — U.S. vs. Sweden | Peacock 10 a.m. — Canada vs. South Korea | Peacock 10 a.m. — Italy vs. Britain | Peacock 10 a.m. — Switzerland vs. Norway | Peacock 2 p.m. — U.S. vs. Estonia (re-air) | CNBC 4 p.m. — U.S. vs. Sweden (delay) | CNBC 6 p.m. — Italy vs. Britain (delay) | CNBC
FIGURE SKATING 🏅Team competition 10:30 a.m. — Pairs, free skate | USA 11:45 a.m. — Women’s free skate | USA 12:55 p.m. — Men’s free skate | USA 10:30 p.m. — Team competition, final day (re-air) | USA
HOCKEY 7:40 a.m. — France vs. Sweden | Peacock 12:10 a.m. — Czechia vs. Finland | Peacock 2 p.m. — Czechia vs. Finland (delay) | USA 5:30 p.m. — France vs. Sweden (delay) | USA
LUGE 4:30 a.m. — Men’s doubles, training | Peacock 8 a.m. — Men’s singles, Run 3 | USA 9:45 a.m. — 🏅Men’s singles, final run | USA 7:30 p.m. — Men’s singles, runs 3-4 (re-air) | USA
SKI JUMPING 10 a.m. — Men’s normal hill, training | Peacock
SNOWBOARDING Midnight — Men’s and women’s parallel giant slalom, qualifying | USA 4 a.m. — 🏅Men’s and women’s parallel giant slalom, finals | Peacock 4:30 a.m. — 🏅Men’s and women’s parallel giant slalom, finals (in progress) | NBC 4:30 a.m. — Men’s big air, final (re-air) | USA 7:30 a.m. — Men’s and women’s parallel giant slalom, finals (re-air) | USA 10:30 a.m. — Women’s big air, qualifying | Peacock 3:30 p.m. — Women’s big air, qualifying (delay) | USA
SPEEDSKATING 7 a.m. — 🏅Men’s 5,000 meters | NBC
In case you missed it …
Check out the following Milan-Cortina Olympics dispatches from from the L.A. Times team on the ground Italy:
That concludes today’s Sports Report Olympic Edition newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email newsletter editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here and select The Sports Report.
SACRAMENTO — Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had seven assists to lead the Clippers to a 114-111 victory over Sacramento on Friday night, sending the Kings to their 11th straight loss.
John Collins added 22 points and Brook Lopez and Kris Dunn each had 15 for the Clippers, who ended a two-game skid.
Darius Garland, acquired from Cleveland earlier in the week, remained out. He hasn’t played since Jan. 14 because of a sprained big toe on his right foot.
Malik Monk had 18 points to lead Sacramento, which hasn’t won since beating Washington at home on Jan. 16. Nique Clifford had 16 points and Dylan Cardwell and Devin Carter each had 14 for the Kings. De’Andre Hunter, also acquired from the Cavaliers this week, had six points in his second game for Sacramento.
The Clippers went into halftime trailing 49-48, but took the lead for good with 9:50 left in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer from Lopez to make it 86-84.
From Broderick Turner: The biggest news for the Lakers on Thursday was that All-Star guard Luka Doncic was unable to play in the second half against the Philadelphia 76ers because of left leg soreness, the team announced in the third quarter.
Doncic left the game in the second quarter of the Lakers’ 119-115 win at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers were undaunted by Doncic’s departure, coming back from 14 points down and holding on for the win by following the lead of Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and a strong defensive effort led by Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt.
After the game in which Reaves led the Lakers in scoring with 35 points off the bench, the biggest concern for the Lakers was the health of Doncic.
“He felt some soreness in his hamstring so he didn’t feel like it was good enough to go back in [and] neither did [our medical team,] ” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “So, we held him out and they [are] going to do some imaging. It’s too early to say if there’s an injury, but [he] just had a sore hamstring.”
And he’ll do it as the reigning NFL most valuable player.
On Thursday night, Stafford was announced as the MVP during NFL Honors at the Palace of Fine Arts.
And then he made a big announcement of his own.
Stafford, wearing a black tuxedo with a black shirt and black bow tie, accepted the award on stage with his four young daughters, who attended most games this season. He thanked his wife, Kelly; family; teammates; coaches; and those who helped him reach the milestone.
“I’m so happy to have you at the games on the sideline with me and I can’t wait for you to cheer me on next year when we’re kicking a—,” Stafford said to his daughters, before turning his attention to the audience.
“And so I’ll see you guys next year,” he said as a crowd that included coach Sean McVay and several teammates began to roar. “Hopefully, I’m not at this event and we’re getting ready for another game at SoFi.”
U.S. women’s hockey makes history as it wins Olympic opener
From Kevin Baxter: Laila Edwards finally got out from under the spotlight and onto the ice for the U.S. women’s hockey team Thursday. It was a simple act, but one that made history.
Yet for Edwards, it was just another day at the office.
“It didn’t feel different at all,” she said. “It’s still hockey at the end of the day. Even though it’s the highest level, it’s still hockey.”
With her first shift in Thursday’s 5-1 win over Czechia, on the first day of hockey at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, Edwards became the first Black woman to play for the U.S. national team in an Olympic tournament. On a team full of record-breakers, it was a significant milestone, one that has become a storyline for the world’s top-ranked team.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to be seen,” Liu said. “It’s just I had nothing to show.”
The 20-year-old now proudly presents Alysa Liu 2.0.
Four years after shocking the sport by retiring as a teenage phenom, the Oakland native could win two gold medals at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. She is a title contender in her individual event that begins Feb. 17 as the United States tries to end a 20-year Olympic medal drought in women’s singles figure skating, and she will skate Friday in the women’s short program of a team competition the United States is favored to win.
Starting Saturday, you will receive a separate newsletter containing all the Olympics news from our reporters in Italy, including a medal count and TV listings. Sports Report subscribers will automatically get this newsletter, and it should arrive around 3 a.m. in your inbox.
Friday’s Olympic TV/streaming schedule
Friday’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.
OPENING CEREMONY: 11 a.m.| NBC, Peacock (replay at 8 p.m. on NBC)
MULTIPLE SPORTS 7 p.m. — “Primetime in Milan” (delay): Figure skating, curling, hockey, skiing and more.| NBC
ALPINE SKIING 2:30 a.m. — Men’s downhill, training | Peacock 2:30 a.m. — Women’s downhill, training | Peacock
CURLING Mixed doubles (round robin) 1:05 a.m. — U.S. vs. Canada | Peacock 1:05 a.m. — Italy vs. Switzerland | Peacock 1:05 a.m. — Sweden vs. Britain | Peacock 5:35 a.m. — Czechia vs. U.S. | Peacock 5:35 a.m. — Estonia vs. Italy | Peacock 5:35 a.m. — South Korea vs. Britain | Peacock 5:35 a.m. — Sweden vs. Norway | Peacock 5:55 a.m. — Czechia vs. U.S. (in progress) | USA
FIGURE SKATING Team competition 1 a.m. — Rhythm dance | USA 2:35 a.m. — Pairs, short program | USA 4:35 a.m. — Women, short program | USA
HOCKEY Women (group play) 3:10 a.m. — France vs. Japan | Peacock 5:40 a.m. — Czechia vs. Switzerland | Peacock
USC extends its winning strea
From The Times staff: The USC women’s basketball team rolled to an 83-65 victory over Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday night, extending their win streak to three games.
USC freshman Jazzy Davidson and redshirt freshman Laura Williams helped the Trojans open the game on an 11-0 run, claiming a lead they would never relinquish.
“I feel like as a team with these last couple of games, we’ve improved a lot,” sophomore guard Kennedy Smith said. “We’ve stayed consistent and are playing together and growing as a team, and that starts in practice. Just a lot of conversations about being better, obviously through that stretch of losses, but that doesn’t define us. I think the games matter the most in February and March, so we’re here to be better from here on out.”
From the Associated Press: Mark Stone had a goal and two assists and the Vegas Golden Knights took control early Thursday night by scoring four times on their first six shots for a 4-1 victory over the Kings.
Vegas heads into the Olympic break with back-to-back victories after losing seven of eight games. The Kings have lost four of five.
Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev each had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights. Mitch Marner scored a goal for his 799th career point and Ivan Barbashev extended his points streak to five games with two assists.
Barbashev’s four-game goal streak, however, ended. Eichel extended his points streak to four games and now has 200 assists in a Golden Knights uniform.
1943 — Montreal’s Ray Getliffe scores five goals to lead the Canadiens to an 8-3 triumph over the Boston Bruins.
1958 — Ted Williams signs a contract with the Boston Red Sox for $135,000, making him the highest paid player in major league history.
1967 — Muhammad Ali successfully defends his world heavyweight title with a 15-round decision over Ernest Terrell in the Houston Astrodome.
1970 — The NBA expands to 18 teams with the addition of franchises in Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston and Portland.
1981 — Wayne Gretzky scores three goals and three assists in a 10-4 Edmonton victory over the Winnipeg Jets, giving him 100 points in the season.
1985 — Seventeen-year-old Dianne Roffe becomes the first U.S. woman to win a gold medal in a World Alpine Ski Championship race, capturing the giant slalom in 2:18.53.
1988 — Chicago’s Michael Jordan wins the NBA Slam Dunk contest with a perfect score of 50 on his final dunk, in front of a hometown crowd at Chicago Stadium.
1990 — Brett Hull of the St. Louis Blues scores his 50th goal, making him and his Hall of Famer father, Bobby Hull, the only father-son combination in NHL history to reach that milestone.
1993 — Riddick Bowe easily wins his first defense of his WBA and IBF heavyweight boxing titles by beating Michael Dokes in the first round of their championship bout held at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
2000 — Randy Moss sets records with nine catches for 212 yards, and Mike Alstott scores three touchdowns in the NFC’s 51-31 victory over the AFC, the highest-scoring Pro Bowl.
2000 — Pavel Bure records the 11th hat trick in All-Star history and goalie Olaf Kolzig plays a shutout third period as the World team routs North America 9-4 in the NHL’s 50th All-Star game.
2005 — The New England Patriots win their third Super Bowl in four years, 24-21 over the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s their ninth straight postseason victory, equaling Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers.
2011 — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady becomes the first unanimous choice for The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Brady gets all 50 votes since the AP began using a nationwide panel of media members who cover the league.
2011 — Aaron Rodgers throws three touchdown passes and Nick Collins returns an interception for another score, leading the Green Bay Packers to a 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl.
2022 – NFL Pro Bowl, Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada: AFC beats NFC, 41-35; MVPs: Justin Herbert, QB LA Chargers; Maxx Crosby, DE LV Raiders.
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 newsletter editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
From Kevin Baxter: 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.
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Amber Glenn achieved a lifelong goal, sealing her Olympic bid by winning her third consecutive U.S. championship last month. Her first celebration came with her opponents.
“We all deserve it,” Glenn said with her arms wrapped around national silver medalist Alysa Liu and bronze medalist Isabeau Levito.
The spirit of collaboration has brought U.S. figure skating into a new golden age. The 16-athlete team the United States sent to Milan may be the country’s strongest Olympic team in decades. With three reigning world champions and three current Grand Prix final champions, the United States is poised for one of its best Olympic Games ever in figure skating.
Starting Saturday, you will receive a separate newsletter containing all the Olympics news from our reporters in Italy, including a medal count and TV listings. Sports Report subscribers will automatically get this newsletter, and it should arrive around 3 a.m. in your inbox.
Thursday’s Oly TV/streaming schedule
Thursday’s live TV and streaming broadcasts. 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) 1:05 a.m. — Norway vs. U.S. | Peacock 1:05 a.m. — Britain vs. Estonia | Peacock 1:05 a.m. — South Korea vs. Italy | Peacock 1:05 a.m. — Sweden vs. Czechia | Peacock 5:35 a.m. — U.S. vs. Switzerland | USA 5:35 a.m. — Norway vs. Canada | Peacock 10 a.m. — Canada vs. Italy | USA 10:05 a.m. — Czechia vs. Britain | Peacock 10:05 a.m. — Estonia vs. Sweden | Peacock 10 a.m. — Switzerland vs. South Korea | Peacock 2 p.m. — Norway vs. U.S. (delay) | CNBC
HOCKEY Women (group play) 3:10 a.m. — Sweden vs. Germany | Peacock 5:40 a.m. — Italy vs. France | Peacock 7:40 a.m. — U.S. vs. Czechia | USA 12:45 p.m. — Finland vs. Canada | USA
SNOWBOARDING 10:30 a.m. — Men’s big air, qualifying | USA
Checking in on Dodgers’ commitment
From Bill Shaikin: 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.
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.
From Gary Klein: If he returns for an 18th NFL season, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford will almost certainly demand a significant raise. And receiver Puka Nacua is positioned to potentially break the bank with an extension.
Those are just two issues Rams general manager Les Snead will deal with in the coming weeks and months as the franchise retools for the 2026 season.
Snead, who along with coach Sean McVay signed extensions this week, said Wednesday during a videoconference with reporters that the “opportunity to continue shouldering my responsibility” along with McVay and other executives for owner Stan Kroenke was “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
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.
Darius Garland could not have been more in transition than he was Wednesday night on his first day with his new team.
Officially traded earlier in the day from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Clippers for 11-time All-Star James Harden, Garland talked about his upheaval during halftime of Wednesday’s game between his current and former teams, a game the Cavaliers won, 124-91.
“I knew about it. It wasn’t a shock, though,” the two-time All-Star said. “It’s the business of basketball. Cleveland was great to me and my family, and I have respect for all of those guys over there. … Seven years was a really long time, and it was great. I’m glad I’m here now. The next chapter in my book.”
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.
The Kings acquired high-scoring left wing Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers on Wednesday for a conditional third-round draft pick and prospect Liam Greentree.
The Kings then signed Panarin to a two-year, $22-million contract that will keep the Russian forward in Los Angeles through the 2027-28 season.
The trade ends weeks of uncertainty around the future of the 34-year-old Panarin, who hadn’t played since Jan. 26 while the Rangers held him out in anticipation of trading their top scorer in each of the past seven consecutive seasons. He currently leads New York with 57 points in 52 games.
Shane Wright scored twice to lead the Seattle Kraken to a 4-2 win over the Kings on Wednesday night.
Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson also scored and Chandler Stephenson and Frederick Gaudreau each had two assists for the Kraken, who have won five of their last six games. Joey Daccord made 25 saves.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored both of the Kings’ goals and Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves.
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
1913 — The New York State Athletic Commission bans boxing matches between fighters of different races.
1919 — Charges against Cincinnati’s Hal Chase of throwing games and betting against his team are dismissed by National League president John Heydler. Two weeks later, Chase is traded to the New York Giants.
1948 — After landing the first double axel in Olympic competition, Dick Button becomes the first American to win the Olympic gold medal in figure skating. Gretchen Fraser becomes the first U.S. woman Olympic slalom champion.
1960 — Bill Russell grabs 51 rebounds in the Boston Celtics’ 124-100 victory over the Syracuse Nationals. Russell is the first player in NBA history to pull in 50 or more rebounds.
1972 — Bob Douglas is the first Black person elected to Basketball Hall of Fame. Known as “The Father of Black Professional Basketball,” Douglas owned and coached the New York Renaissance from 1922 until 1949.
1976 — Austrian Franz Klammer wins the Olympic gold medal in the downhill at Innsbruck, Austria. Bill Koch wins a silver in the 30-kilometer cross-country race to become the first American to win a medal in a Nordic event.
1980 — Gordie Howe plays his 23rd and final All-Star Game. Howe doesn’t score, but sets up the final goal of the game, by Real Cloutier, in the Wales Conference’s 6-3 win against the Campbell Conference at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
1990 — Notre Dame bucks the College Football Association and becomes the first college to sell its home games to a major network, agreeing to a five-year contract with NBC beginning in 1991.
1991 — Dave Taylor of the Kings has two assists in a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers to become the 29th player in NHL history with 1,000 points.
1999 — Patrick Roy, at 33, becomes the youngest goalie in NHL history to earn 400 wins when he makes 26 saves in the Colorado Avalanche’s 3-1 win against the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.
2003 — Bode Miller of the United States captures his first major title, winning the gold medal in the combined at the world championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
2006 — Pittsburgh wins a record-tying fifth Super Bowl, but its first since 1980 with a 21-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks.
2009 — Tennessee’s Pat Summitt becomes the first Division I basketball coach — man or woman — to win 1,000 games after her Lady Vols beat Georgia 73-43.
2011 — Dejen Gebremeskel of Ethiopia wins the men’s 3,000 at the Boston Indoor Grand Prix, after losing his right shoe at the start of the race. Gebremeskel stays close to the lead throughout the race and takes over on the final lap to finish in 7:35.37. Britain’s Mo Farah finishes second in 7:35.81.
2012 — Eli Manning and the Giants one-up Tom Brady and the Patriots again, coming back with a last-minute score to beat New England 21-17 for New York’s fourth Super Bowl title.
2017 — Tom Brady leads one of the greatest comebacks in sports, let alone Super Bowl history, lifting New England from a 25-point hole to the Patriots’ fifth NFL championship in the game’s first overtime finish. The Patriots score 19 points in the final quarter, including a pair of two-point conversions, then marches relentlessly to James White’s two-yard touchdown run in overtime beating the Atlanta Falcons 34-28.
2022 — Six days before his 50th birthday, 11-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater wins his eighth Pipeline title beating 22-year old Hawaiian Seth Moniz in the final.
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.
Shane Wright scored twice to lead the Seattle Kraken to a 4-2 win over the Kings on Wednesday night.
Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson also scored and Chandler Stephenson and Frederick Gaudreau each had two assists for the Kraken, who have won five of their last six games. Joey Daccord made 25 saves.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored both of the Kings’ goals and Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves.
The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 7:42 of the first period when Kuzmenko scored on the power play.
Wright tied it at 1 at 9:16 on a backhander for his first goal of the game and Larsson put Seattle up 2-1 at 10:14 on a one-timer. Dunn made it 3-1 on the power play at 15:21.
Kuzmenko cut it to 3-2 on the power play at 10:27 of the second period, but Wright gave the Kraken a two-goal lead again with a power-play score at 5:50 of the third.
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.”
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
Will quarterback Matthew Stafford decide to return and join them for an 18th NFL season?
“Our hope is that he does,” McVay said Monday during a videoconference with reporters, “But I think that with respect to his timetable … whenever he feels ready to make that announcement we’ll let him be able to do that.”
McVay spoke minutes after the Rams announced that McVay and Snead had signed extensions, ensuring the most important combination in the organization remains intact.
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.
“As we enter their 10th season together, it is only fitting to reflect on the tremendous success Sean and Les have brought to this franchise, and the indelible impact they have made on Los Angeles and the NFL,” Rams owner Stan Kroenke said in a statement. “They continue to embody the standard of this franchise to compete for championships, consistently delivering a product that our fans and city can be proud of.”
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
Clippers lose to 76ers
Tyrese Maxey scored 29 points, including seven 3-pointers, Dominick Barlow added 26 points and 16 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Clippers 128-113 on Monday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
The game featured two big names who weren’t selected as All-Star reserves: Joel Embiid of the Sixers and Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers.
Embiid had 24 points as he continues to gain full strength after a right ankle injury. The Sixers improved to 11-10 without Paul George, who is serving a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug program.
Díaz, who signed a three-year, $69-million contract in December as the most sough-after reliever in free agency, pitched for Puerto Rico in the 2023 WBC but tore the patellar tendon in his right knee while celebrating a win over the Dominican Republic that pushed the team into the quarterfinals. He missed the entire 2023 MLB season as a result.
The 31-year-old Díaz has a 2.82 ERA and 253 saves over his nine-year career. In that time, no other MLB reliever tops him in strikeouts (839), while only Kenley Jansen has recorded more saves (334). With the New York Mets last season — his second since returning from knee surgery — Díaz also had one of his best career campaigns, posting a 1.63 ERA with 28 saves in 31 opportunities and 98 strikeouts in 66 ⅓ innings.
1944 — Syd Howe of the Detroit Red Wings scores six goals in a 12-6 victory over the New York Rangers. Howe is the first player to score six goals in a game since Cy Denneny of the Ottawa Senators in 1921.
1956 — Austria’s Toni Sailer wins the men’s downhill to become first Olympic skier to sweep three Alpine events.
1976 — Washington’s Dave Bing, in his final NBA All-Star game apperance, wins the MVP and leads the East to a 123-109 victory over the West in Philadelphia. Bing has 16 points and four assists.
1980 — Larry Bird hits the first three-point shot in the history of the NBA All-Star Game.
1982 — Steve Mahre, twin brother of overall champion Phil Mahre, becomes the first American male skier to win a gold medal in an Olympics or world championship competition when he edges Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark in the giant slalom at the worlds.
1990 — Bill Shoemaker, the world’s winningest jockey, finishes fourth on Patchy Groundfog in his final ride at Santa Anita. The 58-year-old Shoemaker finishes his 40-year career with $123,375,524 in earnings, a record 8,833 wins, 6,136 seconds and 4,987 thirds in 40,350 starts.
1998 — Dino Ciccarelli becomes the ninth NHL player to reach 600 goals when he scores on a power play with 5:09 remaining in the third period to give the Florida Panthers a 1-1 tie against the Detroit Red Wings.
2000 — World Wrestling Federation mastermind Vince McMahon unveils his latest creation: the XFL, a new pro football league.
2001 — One year later, the XFL muscles its way onto the national sports scene with its first two games. With exuberant cheerleaders and trash-talking players, the Las Vegas Outlaws beat the New York/New Jersey Hitmen 19-0, while the Orlando Rage beat the Chicago Enforcers 33-29 before a crowd of 35,603 in Orlando.
2002 — Adam Vinatieri’s 48-yard field goal as time expires gives Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots their first Super Bowl title with a 20-17 win over the two-touchdown favorite St. Louis Rams.
2006 — Martin Brodeur becomes the third goaltender in NHL history to reach 100 shutouts when New Jersey blanks Carolina 3-0. Brodeur joins Terry Sawchuk (115) and George Hainsworth (102).
2008 — Eli Manning and the New York Giants end New England’s unbeaten season and pull off one of the great Super Bowl upsets. Manning throws a 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left to beat the Patriots 17-14.
2013 — The Baltimore Ravens survive a power outage at the Super Bowl to edge the San Francisco 49ers 34-31. Jacoby Jones returns the second-half kickoff 108 yards, a Super Bowl record, to give Baltimore a 28-6 lead. Moments later, lights lining the Superdome fade. When action resumes 34 minutes later, Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers score 17 consecutive points, getting as close as 31-29. Baltimore stops San Francisco on fourth-and-goal from the 5 with under 2 minutes left when Kaepernick’s pass sails beyond Michael Crabtree in the end zone.
2017 — Tara VanDerveer becomes the second NCAA women’s coach to reach 1,000 victories when No. 8 Stanford beats USC 58-42 to give the Hall of Famer a milestone before a home crowd at Maples Pavilion.
2019 — Super Bowl LIII, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA: New England Patriots beat Rams, 13-3; MVP: Julian Edelman, NE Patriots, WR; Patriots’ 6th SB victory
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.
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.
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.
With the Lakers in sixth place in the uber-competitive Western Conference at 29-19, Doncic was asked where he thought they stood in their pursuit of an NBA championship.
“We’re in a good spot,” Doncic said. “Obviously, got some work to do. But I think today we obviously missed a lot of good looks, but I think we have a great group.”
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.
No. 2 UCLA women have little problem with No. 8 Iowa
From Steve Galluzzo: 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.
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.
From Bill Shaikin: In 1970, two years before he died, Jackie Robinson spoke at his son’s high school graduation.
“In a land where we declare that we have liberty and justice for all,” Robinson said, “it seems that slogan really means liberty and justice for all as long as you do and say what some people want you to do and say.”
Those words ring uncomfortably true today.
Robinson often spoke out on civil rights, challenging both political parties. If you visit the Jackie Robinson Museum, as the Dodgers did when the museum opened in 2022, you see displays on civil rights and economic opportunity and social justice before you get to the baseball showcases.
“Jackie’s passion was civil rights and equality, and more so than baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said then. “It was more of, baseball was just a vehicle for him to use his voice, which is pretty cool to see and actually pretty inspiring.”
In these perilous times, in which “indivisible” has been replaced by “you’re with us, or you’re the enemy within,” Robinson’s team will have the opportunity to celebrate its latest World Series championship at the White House.
From Kevin Baxter: 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.
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 on just 13 shots by L.A. 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.
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, who earned their eighth victory in 10 games overall despite nearly blowing an early 3-0 lead during a third period dominated by Vegas.
Ducks 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 trip to begin a nine-game homestand. Anaheim doesn’t play another road game until March 10.
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.
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
1876 — The National League forms, consisting of teams in Philadelphia, Hartford, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis and New York.
1936 — Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson are the first members elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1954 — Bevo Francis of Rio Grande College scores 113 points in a 134-91 victory over Hillsdale. Francis, breaking his own record for small colleges (84) set two weeks earlier against Alliance College.
1959 — Vince Lombardi signs a five-year contract to coach NFL’s Green Bay Packers.
1962 — Using a fiberglass pole, John Uelses becomes the first man to vault more than 16 feet, indoors or out. Uelses, a Marine Corps corporal, clears 16¼ during the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York.
1970 — Pete Maravich becomes first to score 3,000 college basketball points.
1977 — Toronto’s Ian Turnbull scores five goals to set an NHL record for defensemen, leading the Maple Leafs past the Detroit Red Wings 9-1.
1991 — New Hampshire’s basketball team ends its 32-game losing streak at home with a 72-56 win over Holy Cross. The NCAA-record streak started on Feb. 9, 1988.
1994 — Lenny Wilkens gets his 900th NBA victory, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Orlando Magic 118-99. Wilkens runs his regular-season mark to 900-760, trailing only Red Auerbach’s 938 in NBA regular-season victories.
1999 — Austria’s Hermann Maier and Norway’s Lasse Kjus ski to an unprecedented tie in the super-G to mark the start of the world championships.
2001 — Stacy Dragila breaks her world indoor pole vault record by a half-inch with a 15-2 1/4 vault at the Millrose Games.
2003 — Atlanta Thrashers star Dany Heatley joins Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux by scoring a record-tying four goals in the NHL All-Star Game. His Eastern Conference team loses the first All-Star shootout 6-5.
2009 — Kobe Bryant breaks the current Madison Square Garden record with 61 points to lead the Lakers to a 126-117 victory over New York. Bryant, who hits all 20 of his free throws, tops the previous visitor record of 55 points held by Michael Jordan and the overall record of 60 by Bernard King.
2012 — Sam Gagner has four goals and four assists in the NHL’s first eight-point game in 23 years, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 8-4.
2013 — California Institute of Technology’s baseball team ends a 228-game losing streak with a 9-7 victory against Pacifica, the Beavers’ first win in nearly 10 years. Caltech hadn’t won since Feb. 15, 2003, 5-4 against Cal State Monterey Bay.
2014 — The Seattle Seahawks win their first Super Bowl title, crushing the favored Denver Broncos 43-8. The Seahawks led 36-0 before Denver finally scored on the last play of the third quarter.
2017 — Patrick Marleau scores his 500th career goal, Chris Tierney tallies twice and San Jose beat Vancouver 4-1. Marleau becomes the 45th NHL player to reach 500 goals, scoring in the first period on a power play.
2020 — Super Bowl LIV: Kansas City Chiefs beat San Francisco 49ers, 31-20; MVP: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs, QB; Chiefs’ first Super Bowl victory in 50 years.
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.
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.
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