In his postgame interviews analyzing the play of his basketball team, UCLA coach Mick Cronin is spot on. The problem is that as the coach, his prime duty is to fix these identified shortcomings, not to blame his players for the mounting problems.
If NIL funds are lacking, discuss this with the wealthy donors. If the offense is to generate more points, he needs to devise a new scheme. Quality coaches are able to change their approaches on the fly. If Cronin is unable to get the Bruins back on the winning track, his status in Westwood needs to be reassessed. But I guess Martin Jarmond performed an assessment when he secretly extended Cronin’s contract.
Neal Rakov Santa Fe, N.M.
The great John Wooden passed almost 16 years ago but he still watches UCLA from heaven. After Tuesday’s bad loss to Wisconsin he turned to his first Bruins athletic director, Wilbur Johns, and asked “Did we really give Mick Cronin a five-year extension?”
A HOTEL owned by a major British sports star has closed ahead of a huge transformation.
Three-time tennis Grand Slam winner Andy Murray has closed the hotel he owns, just three miles from his hometown of Dunblane, in Scotland.
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The Cromlix Hotel in Scotland is owned by Andy Murray and his wife, KimCredit: HandoutInside, the hotel has Traitors-style decorCredit: InstagramAnd the hotel is currently closed to build a new restaurantCredit: Linkedin/@cromlix
The closure comes ahead of a major transformation to the hotel, which sits on a Victorian country estate sprawling over 34 acres with its own chapel and small loch.
Over the coming months, the hotel will remain closed while a new 80-seat restaurant with a ‘living’ roof covered in plants is built.
As for accommodation, three bedrooms will be added and there will be a new wellness cottage too.
Back in 2023, planning permission was also granted for nine new cabins to be built in the woodland, though whether these are going ahead is unclear.
The hotel is then expected to reopen in May of this year.
The tennis player and his wife, Kim, purchased the mansion back in 2013 for a rumoured £1.8million.
Via the hotel’s Instagram account, Cromlix said: “Our team is all set to pack away the house, but we’re already counting down to 15th May when we’ll welcome you back.
“While our doors are closed, our team is still here and ready to take your bookings for spring and beyond.”
Inside the hotel, guests will find a billiards room with vaulted wooden ceilings adding to The Traitors feel of the mansion.
Guests can also request in-room spa treatments such as a back, neck and shoulder massage from £80 or a full body massage from £95.
In the grounds, visitors will be able to spot beehives, chickens, deer and red squirrels across a number of woodland trails.
In classic Murray style, the hotel of course has outdoor tennis courts where guests can have private coaching sessions.
There are a number of different rooms in the hotel including ‘Turret Suites’ – though, they aren’t as small as The Traitors turret.
Inside the rooms, visitors will find statement furniture, country house patterns and botanical features.
When it reopens in May, there will be another smaller restaurant tooCredit: InstagramAs well as three new bedrooms and a ‘wellness cottage’Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
In total there are 10 bedrooms and five suites, and they have different views, including of the garden and woodland.
Though, if you fancy something a little more private then you can book The Laurel Gate Lodge.
Inside there is a small turret, kitchen, living room, king-size bedroom and a family bathroom with a walk-in shower and separate bath.
If you do want to bring your kids, there is a pull-out sofa bed too.
Though it isn’t cheap, as it costs from £555 to stay in the lodge.
Prices for rooms and suites in the main building vary from around £300 a night.
For wider exploring, the hotel is sat between Glasgow and Edinburgh, with both cities just an hour away.
The mansion was previously passed down generations of the Drummond family.
In that time it has even survived a fire in 1878 and then later was transformed from a house into a hotel.
In other hotel news, these are 12 of our favourite UK hotels to visit this year – from cosy farm retreats to £55 all-inclusives in London.
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
The year 2025 was more tumultuous than any silly football game and its accompanying overwrought metaphors. It was a year that knocked me flat, tearing me apart from so many things that once anchored me, setting me afloat in a sea of guilt and despair and ultimate uncertainty.
Today, I have a home but no home. My days are filled with the beeps and growls of bulldozers. My nights are draped in the silence of emptiness. What was once one of the coolest secrets in Los Angeles has become a veritable ghost town, the vast empty spaces populated by howling coyotes and scrounging bears.
And I’m one of the lucky ones.
A lot has changed in the 12 months since the Eaton Fire spared my house but destroyed my Altadena neighborhood. I say a daily prayer of thanks that I did not endure the horror of the 19 people who lost their lives and thousands more who lost their homes. I am beyond fortunate to live in what was left behind.
But virtually nothing was left behind. Venerable manicured homes have been replaced by weed-choked vacant lots. Familiar local businesses are now empty parking lots. There is the occasional sighting of new construction, but far more prevalent is “For Sale” signs that have seemingly been there for months.
After living in the limbo of hotels and Airbnbs for two months while my home was remediated, I was blessed to return to four walls and running water, but beset with the guilt of having a front-row seat to the pain of so many who lost everything. I was spared, but nobody in Los Angeles was spared, and it wasn’t until halfway through the year that I noticed a consistent light from the strangest source.
Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani points as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during Game 3 of the World Series.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Every night, I would watch the Dodgers. At least once every couple of weeks, I would attend a Sparks game with my daughter, MC. Soon, there would be Saturdays with one of our college football teams, then Sundays with the NFL then, the baseball playoffs, leading to the insane Game 7 and morphing into the annual Lakers winter drama.
By the final weeks of December, I realized that one thing has consistently kept my spirits strong, perhaps the same thing that has helped keep our city upright through trials much tougher than mine.
Sports.
The highs, the lows, the dramatics, the desperation, it was all there when nothing was there, it was the feeling that even with everything gone, you still belonged to something.
UCLA women’s basketball players celebrate as confetti falls after they beat USC to win the Big Ten tournament title.
It is sports that kept me grounded, kept me steady and somehow kept me believing.
In the worst year of my life, it was sports that saved me.
The path back to normalcy began two weeks after the Eaton fire, when I left my temporary hotel room to attend a press conference for the Dodgers’ latest Japanese import, Roki Sasaki.
I came back to the hotel after the press conference, wrote my story then, like thousands of others in my situation, packed up and moved to another hotel.
Lakers guard Luka Doncic claps hands with forward LeBron James during a game against the Clippers on March 2.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Soon thereafter I was awakened late one night with the news of the Lakers stunning acquisition of Luka Doncic. I wrote this column from a rental house while preparing to move to yet another new place. My clothes were in a plastic grocery bag. My house was still in shambles. In Doncic, as least, there was hope.
Several days later I attended the Doncic press conference, asked a question, and Doncic asked me to repeat it. Turns out, it wasn’t a language barrier, it was a sound barrier. I was speaking too softly. It was then I noticed that the trauma from the fire had exacerbated my Parkinson’s Disease, which affected my voice, one of the many symptoms which later led me to acknowledging my condition in a difficult mid-summer column.
Yeah, it was a helluva year.
Good news returned in early March when it was announced that the Dodgers had made Dave Roberts the richest manager in baseball, giving him a new four-year, $32.4 million contract. In a bit of dumb luck that hasn’t stopped me from bragging about it since, 10 years ago I was the first one to publicly push for Roberts’ hiring. In such unstable times in our city, Roberts had become the new Tommy Lasorda, and his presence became a needed jolt of smile.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts salutes fans during the team’s World Series celebration at Dodger Stadium on Nov. 3.
By then, writing stories about Laker conflicts was a refreshing respite from dealing with fire hassles. We were back in the house, but were we safe? Did we test enough for toxins? And how can we look our next-door neighbor in the eye when she comes to examine the giant empty scar where her house once stood?
Two weeks later I wrote about my new family, the group of boxers I have joined in my fight against Parkinson’s. That was the toughest column I have ever written, as I was acknowledging something I refused to admit for five years. But the fire had seemingly set the disease ablaze, and I could hide it no longer.
All of which led to a series of Dodger playoff columns that hopefully reflected the building energy of a town enthralled. After their Game 7 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays, I was so spent that I hyperventilated for what felt like an hour.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto holds up the MVP trophy after beating the Blue Jays and winning the World Series.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“In the end, they not only ran it back, they sprinted it back, they slugged it back, and then, finally, they literally Will-ed it back,” I wrote.
In hindsight those words could have been written not only about a team, but a city, fighting back, staying strong, the results of its struggle mirroring the Dodgers’ consecutive championships, punching through desperation, from struggle to strength.
In 2025, sports showed me that life can get better, life will be better, that if we hang in there long enough we can all hit that Miggy Ro homer, make that Andy Pages catch, stay forever young.
And thus I offer a heartiest and hopeful welcome to 2026.
It’s time to peer into my crystal ball to see what 2026 has in store for the Southland’s high school athletes (and a few former ones), coaches and fans:
JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, armed with passports from the United States, Israel and Australia, will soar so far past 7 feet in the high jump that national organizations from three different countries will fight to have him represent their team. …
Striker Pence, a sophomore pitcher at Corona Santiago with a 100-mph fastball, will receive an endorsement deal from a radar gun company. …
The UCLA-USC women’s basketball games will have so many celebrities and former players wanting to be seen that TMZ won’t need to pay for video. …
The high school soccer debut of incoming freshman Zoe Thompson, sister of Alyssa and Giselle, will be so big that Harvard-Westlake will need to give out red bibs to photographers to identify who’s real media. …
Norco junior shortstop Dylan Seward will hit for the cycle. …
Jaden Soong celebrates after winning the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship at Saticoy Club in Somis on July 11, 2024.
(SCGA)
St. Francis sophomore golfer Jaden Soong will win a second straight CIF championship, then have to answer the same question over and over, “When are you turning pro?” …
Gary Morse, a 6-foot-8 senior pitcher at Orange Lutheran, should be one of the best in the Southland in 2026.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Orange Lutheran 6-foot-8 senior pitcher Gary Morse will throw a no-hitter, then find a hoop and celebrate with a dunk. …
Sophomore catcher Jordan Lindsay (left) and sophomore pitcher Carlos Acuna will be key players for Birmingham in 2026.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The Birmingham sophomore pitcher/catcher duo of Carlos Acuna and Jordan Lindsay will lead the Patriots to the City Section baseball title, then celebrate with a dogpile at Dodger Stadium in which the 6-2, 200-pound Lindsay protects Acuna from being suffocated at the bottom by teammates. …
Santa Margarita shortstop Brody Schumaker (left) and his father, Skip, the manager of the Texas Rangers.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Santa Margarita’s Brody Schumaker, who had eight bunt singles last season, will be asked by his father, Skip, the new manager of the Texas Rangers, to show off his bunting skills at spring training. …
Brian Prince of Cathedral will break 47 seconds in the 400 meters. …
Rickee Luevano of Sylmar and Xavier Allen of Carson will battle to be the home run champion in the City Section. …
Eastvale Roosevelt’s Aubrey McLaughlin, who won a gold medal playing for the Team USA U-18 softball team in the World Cup, will break out her new jewelry for a showdown game against Norco. …
All-City linebackers De’Andre Kirkpatrick of Crenshaw and Elyjah Staples of Marquez will become among the first City Section players to receive NIL deals. …
You always know someone is an old time baseball coach when you see a pencil attached to an ear. Some kids don’t know what a pencil is. Cypress’ John Weber. pic.twitter.com/FWcpNdA2Jk
Cypress baseball coach John Weber will receive an NIL deal from a pencil company because he’s always walking around with a pencil tucked behind his ear. …
The amazing Jaden Walk-Green of Corona Centennial will try anything. 10 interceptions as a junior. Snowboarder. Starting center fielder. Now he’s on the mound. pic.twitter.com/3QBbu8XCb8
Corona Centennial’s All-CIF defensive back Jaden Walk-Green, who also starts in center field for the baseball team, will show so much promise snowboarding that he’ll decide to seek an Olympic Games berth in 2028. …
George Hastings of Agoura will try to play every position in a football game this season. …
There will be so many quarterbacks transferring that MaxPreps’ digital rosters will go down from too many clicks. …
PlayOn, which owns MaxPreps, GoFan and the NFHS Network, will go for a California prep sports monopoly by bidding for the CIF state playoffs contract that runs out in June. …
Offensive lineman Elisha Mueller of Servite.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Offensive lineman Elisha Mueller of Servite will record so many pancake blocks that IHOP will sign him to promote a week of all-you-can eat pancakes for anyone who weighs 280 pounds and up. . . .
A basketball official, tired of hearing a parent complain about his calls, will stop the game, give his whistle to the parent and dare him to take over. …
Louis Lappe, center, celebrates with teammates after hitting a solo walk-off home run off Curacao’s Jay-Dlynn Wiel during the sixth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game iin 2023.
Shohei Ohtani will be spotted working out at a high school baseball field, causing multiple helicopters to be dispatched to provide commentary like an L.A. car chase. …
USC will resolve any red-zone scoring deficiencies by installing freshman Trent Mosley at wildcat quarterback. …
Former Granada Hills pitcher Easton Hawk will be UCLA’s closer this season.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Former Granada Hills pitcher Easton Hawk will become the long-sought standout closer to lead UCLA to the NCAA baseball title. …
With four Southern California players on its roster, led by Sherman Oaks Notre Dame grad Ella Parker, Oklahoma’s softball team will hold a beach day at practice to make sure its SoCal players are not feeling homesick. …
Freshman tight end Austin Miller of Bellflower will be the first to motivate new UCLA coach Bob Chesney to drop by campus for a personal introduction. …
Valencia sophomore quarterback Evan McCalister will be a breakout passing star. …
After nine consecutive years of Northern California teams losing in the CIF Open Division state championship bowl final, the CIF will agree to allow postseason transfers to De La Salle or San Mateo Serra so they can be competitive. …
Huntington Beach surfer Bailey Turner, shows her medals after returning from the ISA World Junior Surf Championships in Peru.
(Don Leach/Staff Photographer)
Bailey Turner of Huntington Beach, the ISA World Junior Surf Championhip winner, will continue her preparation for the 2028 Olympic Games by riding one big wave after another. …
After the Cleveland Browns’ Carson Schwesinger is named defensive rookie of the year, all the people who didn’t rate him highly at Oaks Christian during his high school days will use magic markers to update their star rankings.
Bill Plaschke writes, “If the Trojans truly want to return to greatness, being selected for the CFP is the goal. Not beating Notre Dame. Not even beating UCLA.” That’s 100% wrong.
As a USC alum (1965) and longtime fan, those are the only things that do matter. I have often said that if USC beats UCLA or Notre Dame, the coach deserves another season. To give up this grand tradition in pursuit of the arguably artificial and profit-driven CFP would be an unforgivable sin.
Noel Park Rancho Palos Verdes
A USC national football championship without playing Notre Dame rings hollow — an asterisked title, a meal that never satisfies, a taste you can’t quite wash away. It may shine in the record books, but it will always feel unfinished to those who know what real college football tradition demands. Earth to Lincoln Riley: an undefeated season is still a loss without playing the Fighting Irish. What’s next? If UCLA becomes competitive, then there will be no crosstown game?
Jeff Black Los Angeles
So the Fighting Irish own a series edge of 53-37, have won 3 in a row, 7 of the last 8, and 11 of the last 15 games. Yet Bill Plaschke now claims that Notre Dame is running away from the series and is afraid of “Ole SC.” To paraphrase the late, great Jim Healy, Plaschke is on the Leonard Tose highway!
Jerome M. Jackson El Segundo
Notre Dame is the Burger King of college football — always having it their way. From backdoor deals with the corrupt [CFP] guaranteeing a playoff spot if they finish ranked in the top 12 to refusing to join a conference so that they can pocket all bowl game money, the Irish are treated like college football royalty. Glad USC told the Irish toddlers they can’t have ice cream for breakfast!
Mark S. Roth Playa Vista
“USC and Notre Dame recognize how special our rivalry is to our fans …” A joint statement by the athletic directors of the two schools. Really? Fake news!
Wayne Muramatsu Cerritos
No USC-Notre Dame football game! Who’s next to be cut from the Notre Dame football schedule, Navy? Oh wait, the Irish can’t afford to drop Navy. That might hurt their chance$ at a playoff berth.
From the bottom of the swimming pool to the top of the pole vault bar, photographers reveal the stories behind these amazing shots. And a bonus point if you can spot the photographer in their own image.
Why this column stuck with me: I chose “I’m Fighting Parkinson’s One Punch At A Time” because it was a story that took four years to write but one that has resonated immediately and endlessly.
When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the winter of 2021, I decided to keep the diagnosis a secret. Initially I didn’t even tell my own three children. I didn’t want people feeling sorry for me, or looking at me differently or, worse, treating me differently. I wanted to continue with my normal life while fighting the disease in private.
As part of this fight, I attended a boxing class for Parkinson’s patients. The class was filled with 80-year-old women pounding on a heavy bag, 75-year-old men dancing across the floor, elderly and trembling people working hard to stave off the effects of PD. They quickly became my heroes, and deserved to be illuminated as inspirations to others. I finally realized that I could tell their story and maybe push others to come out of the PD shadows and seek the same therapy.
And, well, if I was going to write about others with Parkinson’s disease, I would have to come clean about myself. So, with help from boxing instructor Jody Hould and sports editor Iliana Limón Romero, I did. And I’m glad I did. I’ve since heard from countless people that the story moved them to admit their illness and begin boxing therapy or other types of PD workouts. My diagnosis was a punch in the gut. But thanks in part to the encouragement that came from this story, I’m fighting back.
When Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy this weekend with another Latino finalist looking on from the crowd, the Cuban-American quarterback did more than just become the first Indiana Hoosier to win college football’s top prize, and only the third Latino to do so. He also subtly offered a radical statement: Latinos don’t just belong in this country, they’re essential.
At a time when questions swirl around this country‘s largest minority group that cast us in a demeaning, tokenized light — how could so many of us vote for Trump in 2024? Why don’t we assimilate faster? Why does Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh think it’s OK for immigration agents to racially profile us? — the fact that two of the best college football players in the country this year were Latino quarterbacks didn’t draw the headlines they would’ve a generation ago. That’s because we now live in an era where Latinos are part of the fabric of sports in the United States like never before.
That’s the untold thesis of four great books I read this year. Each is anchored in Latino pride but treat their subjects not just as sport curios and pioneers but great athletes who were and are fundamental not just to their professions and community but society at large.
Shea Serrano writing about anything is like a really great big burrito — you know it’s going to be great and it exceeds your expectations when you finally bite into it, you swear you’re not going to gorge the thing all at once but don’t regret anything when you inevitably do. He could write about concrete and this would be true, but his latest New York Times bestseller (four in total, which probably makes him the only Mexican American author with that distinction) thankfully is instead about his favorite sport.
“Expensive Basketball” finds Serrano at his best, a mix of humblebrag, rambles and hilarity (of Rasheed Wallace, the lifelong San Antonio Spurs fan wrote the all-star forward “would collect technical fouls with the same enthusiasm and determination little kids collect Pokémon cards with.”) The proud Tejano’s mix of styles — straight essays, listicles, repeated phrases or words trotted out like incantations, copious footnotes — ensures he always keeps the reader guessing.
But his genius is in noting things no one else possibly can. Who else would’ve crowned journeyman power forward Gordon Hayward the fall guy in Kobe Bryant’s final game, the one where he scored 60 points and led the Lakers to a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback? Tied a Carlos Williams poem that a friend mistakenly texted to him to WNBA Hall of Famer Sue Bird? Reminded us that the hapless Charlotte Hornets — who haven’t made it into the playoffs in nearly a decade — were once considered so cool that two of their stars were featured in the original “Space Jam?” “Essential Basketball” is so good that you’ll swear you’ll only read a couple of Serrano’s essays and not regret the afternoon that will pass as quickly as a Nikola Jokic assist.
“Mexican American Baseball in the South Bay”
(Gustavo Arellano/Los Angeles Times)
I recommended “Mexican American Baseball in the South Bay” in my regular columna three years ago, so why am I plugging its second edition? For one, the audacity of its existence — how on earth can anyone justify turning a 450-page book on an unheralded section of Southern California into an 800-page one? But in an age when telling your story because no one else will or will do a terrible job at it is more important than ever, the contributors to this tome prove how true that is.
“Mexican American Baseball in the South Bay” is part of a long-running series about the history of Mexican American baseball in Southern California Latino communities. What’s so brilliant about this one is that it boldly asserts the history and stories of a community that too often get overlooked in Southern California Latino literature in favor of the Eastsides and Santa Anas of the region.
As series editor Richard A. Santillan noted, the reaction to the original South Bay book was so overwhelmingly positive that he and others in the Latino History Baseball Project decided to expand it. Well-written essays introduce each chapter; long captions for family and team photos function as yearbook entries. Especially valuable are newspaper clippings from La Opinión that showed the vibrancy of Southern Californians that never made it into the pages of the English-language press.
Maybe only people with ties to the South Bay will read this book cover to cover, and that’s understandable. But it’s also a challenge to all other Latino communities: if folks from Wilmington to Hermosa Beach to Compton can cover their sports history so thoroughly, why can’t the rest of us?
(University of Colorado Press)
One of the most surprising books I read this year was Jorge Iber’s “The Sanchez Family: Mexican American High School and Collegiate Wrestlers from Cheyenne, Wyoming,” a short read that addresses two topics rarely written about: Mexican American freestyle wrestlers and Mexican Americans in the Equality State. Despite its novelty, it’s the most imperfect of my four recommendations. Since it’s ostensibly an academic book, Iber loads the pages with citations and references to other academics to the point where it sometimes reads like a bibliography and one wonders why the author doesn’t focus more on his own work. And in one chapter, Iber refers to his own work in the first person — profe, you’re cool but you’re not Rickey Henderson.
“The Sanchez Family” overcomes these limitations by the force of its subject, whose protagonists descend from Guanajuato-born ancestors that arrived to Wyoming a century ago and established a multi-generational wrestling dynasty worthy of the far-more famous Guerrero clan. Iber documents how the success of multiple Sanchez men on the wrestling mat led to success in civic life and urges other scholars to examine how prep sports have long served as a springboard for Latinos to enter mainstream society — because nothing creates acceptance like winning.
“In our family, we have educators, engineers and other professions,” Iber quotes Gil Sanchez Sr. a member of the first generation of grapplers. “All because a 15-year-old boy [him]…decided to become a wrestler.”
Heard that boxing is a dying sport? The editors of “Rings of Dissent: Boxing and Performances of Rebellion” won’t have it. Rudy Mondragón, Gaye Theresa Johnson and David J. Leonard not only refuse to entertain that idea, they call such critiques “rooted in racist and classist mythology.”
(University of Illinois Press)
They then go on to offer an electric, eclectic collection of essays on the sweet science that showcases the sport as a metaphor for the struggles and triumphs of those that have practiced it for over 150 years in the United States. Unsurprisingly, California Latinos earn a starring role. Cal State Channel Islands professor José M. Alamillo digs up the case of two Mexican boxers denied entry in the United States during the 1930s, because of the racism of the times, digging up a letter to the Department of Labor that reads like a Stephen Miller rant: “California right now has a surplus of cheap boxers from Mexico, and something should be done to prevent the entry of others.”
Roberto José Andrade Franco retells the saga of Oscar De La Hoya versus Julio Cesar Chávez, landing less on the side of the former than pointing out the assimilationist façade of the Golden Boy. Mondragón talks about the political activism of Central Valley light welterweight José Carlos Ramírez both inside and outside the ring. Despite the verve and love each “Rings of Dissent” contributors have in their essays, they don’t romanticize it. No one is more clear-eyed about its beauty and sadness than Mondragón’s fellow Loyola Marymount Latino studies profe, Priscilla Leiva. She examines the role of boxing gyms in Los Angeles, focusing on three — Broadway Boxing Gym and City of Angels Boxing in South L.A, and the since-shuttered Barrio Boxing in El Sereno.
“Efforts to envision a different future for oneself, for one’s community, and for the city are not guaranteed unequivocal success,” she writes. “Rather, like the sport of boxing, dissent requires struggle.”
If those aren’t the wisest words for Latinos to embrace for the coming year, I’m not sure what is.
WHEN there’s no snow anywhere else, there’s still a bit of powder in Obertauern.
This tiny Alpine town has more snow than anywhere else in Austria, and its season lasts from November until May.
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The Beatles filmed their 1965 movie, Help! here and had hired body-doubles to perform the action shots on skisCredit: SuppliedThe 4H+ Kesselspitze Chalet & Hotel is one of three in the town owned by Dubrovnik-based ValamarCredit: Supplied
So it’s no wonder when The Beatles were looking for a snow-sure location to film scenes for their 1965 movie Help! they opted for the once-unknown village 56 miles from Salzburg.
Body doubles were hired to perform the band’s action shots on skis — and Paul McCartney’s stand-in still lives here today.
This year marks the 60th year since the filming took place — transforming a previously quiet mountain village into the centre of pop culture for a few unforgettable days.
The global attention sparked by the Fab Four’s visit marked a turning point for Obertauern.
Beatles fans still make pilgrimages to the village, and scattered throughout the village are three monuments to commemorate the band.
And if, like The Beatles, you aren’t much of a skier, you can still catch a gondola to the peaks to enjoy the restaurants, with deckchairs overlooking the mountains.
But, of course, Obertauern is all about the snow, which reaches a maximum depth of 8½ft.
In the evenings, I’d watch snowfall from the cosy window seat in my room at Kesselspitze Chalet & Hotel, on the edge of town.
It fell so heavily I couldn’t see beyond it — not lights in the windows of nearby buildings, nor the mountains behind. It was everything a winter wonderland should be.
I hadn’t skied for a while, so I booked beginners lessons, and it is true what they say about teachers — the good ones make a massive difference. Mine made it look a doddle.
I may have stuck to safety on the nursery slopes while I practised my turns, but my classmates got the hang of it in no time.
Leg massage
It meant they could graduate to tougher challenges on the blue, red and black routes, including the Gamsleiten 2 — a scary 45- degree ski-run.
Back in town, the Eurobeat was booming in the apres-ski bars.
Still in full gear with skis parked against railings, people downed beers, wine and cocktails while they stomped to the beat.
The incredible mountain view from the hot tubCredit: Supplied
A pint of beer costs an average of €6 while a glass of good Austrian wine is around €4.30.
If you’re not partying or skiing, there are shops to browse, plus restaurants and cafes to enjoy.
A highlight of the trip for me, however, was the hotel and its facilities.
The 4*+ Kesselspitze is one of three in the town owned by Croatia-based Valamar.
It is everything I expected from an Alpine hotel: Lots of wood, stone and rich colours, with a real fire in the bar, while the decor in my room was luxurious yet homely.
The food, a combination of help-yourself buffet and a la carte, was amazing, and there was so much of it that I always felt well-fuelled before and after hitting the slopes.
I loved the hotel’s Balance Spa. Tired and aching, I recuperated in the sauna, steam room and Finnish sauna (much hotter) and booked in for a leg massage to soothe my throbbing calves.
There’s something spectacular about relaxing in an outdoor Jacuzzi while it is snowing — the heat of the bubbles clashing with the cold, and the mountains right in front of you.
It is the perfect way to soak away any aches and pains, ready for another day on the slopes.
In the evenings, I’d watch the snow fall from the cosy window seat in my room at Kesselspitze hotel on the edge of townCredit: Supplied
GO: OBERTAUERN, AUSTRIA
GETTING THERE: British Airways flies from London Gatwick to Salzburg from £59 each way. See britishairways.com.
STAYING THERE: Double rooms at Kesselspitze Hotel & Chalet cost from £303 per night.
MORE INFO: Ski rental costs from €30 per day, and day ski passes cost from €65 per adult and €32.50 per child.
Glasgow last hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2014
TNT Sports has been confirmed as live UK broadcast partner for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The subscription channel takes over from the BBC which had been the main partner since 1954 and provided free-to-air coverage for 18 games in a row.
TNT Sports is part of Warner Bros Discovery and is best known for screening Uefa Champions League matches as well as selected English Premier League fixtures.
The Glasgow Commonwealth Games will take place from 23 July to 2 August and feature 10 sports and six para sports.
TNT Sports said it would provide more than 600 hours of live coverage in a “re-imagining” of the games.
The broadcaster said every sport and event would be streamed on HBO Max, which is due to launch in the UK and Ireland in March.
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Eight-time Olympic champion Usian Bolt, who competed in the 4x100m at Hampden, was the star attraction at Glasgow 2014
Scott Young, executive vice president at Warner Bros Discovery Sports Europe, said its coverage would be “comprehensive, immersive and accessible”.
He added: “We are confident our approach will celebrate the history of the Commonwealth Games while telling new stories of its competitors with unmatched energy and excitement.”
Phil Batty, chief executive of Glasgow 2026 said the deal would bring more hours of sports coverage for the games “than ever before”.
He added: “This broadcast partnership, secured by Commonwealth Sport, reflects our shared ambition to take coverage of the Games to new and growing audiences.”
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The games were previously held in Glasgow in 2014
Glasgow was confirmed as host in September last year after a deal was backed by the Scottish government.
A scaled-down version of the event, featuring fewer sports and athletes, will return to the city 12 years after it last hosted the Games in 2014.
The Australian state of Victoria was originally chosen to stage the multi-sport event but withdrew as host due to rising costs.
Australian authorities promised “a multi-million pound investment” to help finalise the deal.
The 23rd edition of the Games will welcome 3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories between 23 July and 2 August.
They will compete for 215 gold medals up for grabs over 10 days and 133 sessions of sport.
The BBC will be disappointed that it will not be showing full live TV coverage of the Commonwealth Games.
But the bigger issue is not about the fact BBC Television won’t have live coverage.
It is about the fact the games will not be shown live in full on any major free-to-air TV channel
A major sporting event on a free tv channel – such as the BBC, ITV or Channel 4 – can bring huge numbers of viewers from disparate backgrounds together.
Next year’s World Cup games involving Scotland and England are bound to attract large ratings, even late at night.
The BBC has shown wall-to-wall live coverage of every Commonwealth Games hosted in the UK since 1970.
But it has also helped to make recent games in the UK – Manchester in 2002, Glasgow in 2014 and Birmingham in 2022 – feel like special times for the host cities.
In 2014, the BBC organised a wide range of cultural events outside BBC Scotland’s Glasgow headquarters during the games.
Several network programmes were broadcast from Glasgow, not just the coverage of the Games.
These are scaled-down Commonwealth Games. Glasgow is hosting them at short notice with no public funding and the organisers will want to raise as much revenue as possible.
Despite the organisers’ attempts to drum up excitement, the event feels very different this time.
There is no talk of a lasting legacy to the city – from new buildings or major sports facilities to public health benefits.
There will still be highlights on a major free TV channel and some live coverage on a major channel may still be possible.
But without the full live coverage on a channel which everyone can watch for free, will there be the same sense of wider public engagement or feeling that the Games are a special time for Glasgow and Scotland?
Wiegman replaced Phil Neville as England manager in September 2021, guiding the Lionesses to their first piece of major silverware at Euro 2022 when they beat Germany 2-1 in the final at Wembley.
England then reached the World Cup final in Australia in 2023, only to lose 1-0 to Spain.
At this year’s Euros, England showed incredible battling qualities to remain in the tournament and became the only country in the competition’s history to have three different matches go to extra time.
By reaching the final Wiegman became the first women’s or men’s manager to reach five consecutive major international finals after leading the Netherlands to the Euro 2017 title and 2019 World Cup final.
The Lionesses beat Spain 3-1 on penalties in July after the final finished 1-1 after extra time in Switzerland, with Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton saving two of Spain’s efforts in the shootout.
The victory meant Wiegman became just the second manager after Germany’s Christina Theune to win three successive European Championships.
Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows shared the BBC Sports Personality Coach of the Year award in 2024 after guiding Keely Hodgkinson to 800m Olympic gold at the Paris Games.
Sir Alex Ferguson won the inaugural Coach of the Year award in 1999, the year Manchester United won the Treble.
Previous winners include Sir Clive Woodward, Colin Montgomerie and Claudio Ranieri.
Wiegman joins Arsene Wenger, Sir Dave Brailsford and Sir Gareth Southgate in winning the award more than once.
England and Arsenal footballer Chloe Kelly has been nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award after playing a key role in England’s Euro 2025 success – scoring the winner in the semi-final and the decisive penalty in the final. She also starred for Arsenal in their run to winning the Champions League.
ESPN veteran Elle Duncan is leaving the network next year to become the lead host for Netflix Sports.
The streamer announced Thursday that Duncan will be the signature talent for its growing roster of live sports events. She will make her Netflix debut next year for with Skyscraper Live, where free solo climber Alex Honnold will attempt to scale Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taiwan.
Duncan, 42, had her final “SportsCenter” appearance on Wednesday. In addition to ESPN’s flagship show, she appeared on “WNBA Countdown” and “College GameDay.” She joined ESPN in 2016.
Duncan will be familiar face to sports fans, some of whom are still adapting to watching sports on a streaming platform.
“Elle Duncan’s proven ability to seamlessly move between hard-hitting sports analysis and warm, personality-driven cultural hosting makes her a perfect fit at Netflix,” Gabe Spitzer, Vice President, Sports, Netflix said in a statement. “She immediately adds credibility and familiar star power to our global programming slate.”
Netflix has been expanding its portfolio of live sporting events, including a new deal with Major League Baseball that gives the streamer the right to the season opener, the Home Run Derby and the Field of Dreams game for the next three years.
Netflix also has a double header of NFL games on Christmas day and has been the platform for a number of boxing events, including Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford super middleweight bout in September.
The streamer also became the exclusive video home for podcasts from Barstool Sports, the bro-centric digital media company led by Dave Portnoy. The video versions of “Pardon My Take,” “The Ryen Russillo Podcast,” and “Spittin Chiclets” will stream on Netflix starting next year.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year is back for 2025, celebrating a phenomenal 12 months of sporting drama and triumph.
It has been a year to remember in sport, including England winning the Women’s Euros and Women’s Rugby World Cup, Team Europe winning the Ryder Cup, Liverpool’s Premier League title, Arsenal’s Women’s Champions League success, and the Lions’ series win in Australia.
There were also record-breaking moments in cricket, athletics, golf, tennis, rugby league and many more.
He spoke of the importance of athletics to the institution, of the way they bring people together and showcase excellence.
The remarks weren’t nearly as remarkable as the person doing the speaking.
UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk.
In recent years, the school’s chancellors had distanced themselves from athletics as if they were a distasteful part of the job. Gene Block would show up at the occasional football or basketball game but never granted interview requests or spoke at coaches’ introductions. He did once attach his name to a statement that misspelled the last name of newly hired football coach Rick Neuheisel.
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It’s believed that the last UCLA chancellor to speak at a coach’s introduction was Albert Carnesale in 2003 upon the hiring of Karl Dorrell.
All of which makes Frenk’s appearance, not to mention his speaking for nearly five minutes Tuesday inside a Luskin Center ballroom, all the more extraordinary. Frenk was there to welcome Bob Chesney, the new football coach who has quickly galvanized a long-suffering fan base with his passion and willingness to immediately poke rival USC by proclaiming that UCLA would soon become “the school in town.”
Frenk had UCLA fans at hello.
What he said next was even more encouraging.
“Athletics are the front porch of the university, one of the most visible signals of what we stand for,” Frenk said. “Athletics connect us across generations and geographies with students and alumni, friends as well as strangers. These things are extremely important and help build community and all of that is coming true at UCLA.”
There was also a reference to one word — alignment — that athletic director Martin Jarmond and Chesney would later echo in their remarks.
“Winning in college football requires a unified approach across all of the university — university leadership and athletics are aligned and committed to doing the right things to build a winning program,” Frenk said.
Jarmond suggested that Frenk was willing to help in a way that his predecessor was not — a slightly curious idea given Block’s willingness to support the move to the Big Ten Conference and approve Jarmond’s contract extension, but it seemed that Jarmond’s larger point was about increased institutional support for the football program under the new chancellor.
“What I’m excited and really enthused about,” Jarmond said, “is we have alignment in a way that we have not had in the past. We have a great chancellor in Chancellor Frenk that understands the importance of athletics, bringing communities together, engaging alumni, wanting our student-athletes to be successful and understanding the commitment it takes at the university level for a football program to be competitive. We have investment now, and we have leadership and vision. I don’t always feel we’ve had all of those together.”
Without question, Frenk’s early visibility has already set a new, welcome tone from inside Murphy Hall.
His comments were heartening for anyone who cares about UCLA athletics because they show he’s not only paying attention but also willing to do his part — one that’s essential — to support the operation.
Suggestion box
Mick Cronin
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
It probably shouldn’t take a public-records request to find out that a high-profile UCLA coach — who at the time was the state of California’s second-highest paid public employee behind since-fired Cal football coach Justin Wilcox — received a new contract seven months earlier.
But that’s the reality of the situation after a Times records request led to the disclosure of Mick Cronin’s new deal that will pay the Bruins men’s basketball coach $4.5 million a year as part of a contract running through the end of the 2029-30 season.
The reasoning given for the lack of disclosure was the fiscal situation facing the school at the time, including the prospect of federal funding cuts.
Appearances are important, yes. But so are integrity and transparency.
This is the second time in the last two years that UCLA has signed one of its biggest figures inside the athletic department to a new deal while staying mum. Jarmond’s contract extension was signed in the spring of 2024 and not announced until the following November — after the football team had won three consecutive games, alleviating a significant amount of pressure that Jarmond was facing for the hiring of football coach DeShaun Foster.
The bottom line is this: UCLA is a public institution that should pride itself on accountability, and if you aren’t willing to openly divulge any significant move that you make, then maybe you shouldn’t be making it.
Chesney moves
While the transfer portal doesn’t open until Jan. 2, Chesney provided some early insight into his possible approach in rebuilding his first UCLA roster.
Upon his arrival at James Madison, Chesney said he had a center, guard and a punter come back from the previous team and added roughly 60 players in the transfer portal to help the Dukes win their first bowl game in the history of the school. The next year, the Dukes added about 50 players through the transfer portal and made the College Football Playoff.
What might that mean for his work with the Bruins?
“That will have to be determined by our team when we get that fully assembled and moving forward next year,” Chesney said. “But then whatever our expectations are is where we build our standards and then the day-to-day process. But I see zero reason why, you know, we cannot be competing, cannot be competing for a championship.”
Chesney has begun to assemble his staff, reportedly agreeing to bring James Madison offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy with him and hiring Florida State general manager Darrick Yray in an identical post with the Bruins as part of his efforts to bring in staffers with West Coast ties.
Yray had spent seven seasons in a variety of roles at Oregon State, rising to the role of director of player personnel. Before that, Yray had worked for four seasons as an offensive assistant and three as assistant director of football operations at Fresno State, his alma mater.
Basketball blues?
Cronin’s teams usually get better over the course of the season, even in down years. So it would be folly to foretell of a lost season for the Bruins in mid-December.
But the big question facing UCLA (7-3) at this pivotal point is whether this season has any upside beyond being a bubble team that loses in the first or second round of the NCAA tournament.
As currently constructed, UCLA has so many issues that it’s hard to imagine a different outcome.
A tentative Donovan Dent has not been much of an upgrade over a tentative Dylan Andrews at point guard. Eric Dailey Jr. takes too many jumpers while drifting in and out of games. Tyler Bilodeau can really score but continues to be somewhat limited defensively despite his best efforts. The thought of what the departed Aday Mara and William Kyle III aren’t doing for this team in the post haunts Bruins fans on a daily basis.
What’s far more worrisome is that the talent level isn’t elite — can you really foresee anyone on this roster forging a long NBA career? — and a coach known for defense doesn’t have enough athletic, relentless players to construct a good defense.
Local high school recruiting has all but dried up and Cronin made another reference to needing more money to bring in players after donors shelled out a massive amount last spring to land Dent.
None of it portends an encouraging trajectory for a coach in his seventh season. Cronin is a developmental coach whose finest seasons came with players who were in his program for multiple years. With free agency now the only constant in the college game, it might be time for Cronin to develop a new plan for success.
Opinion time
How does the rest of the men’s basketball season play out for the Bruins?
Everything comes together and the team makes a deep NCAA tournament run The team plays better before another early tournament exit The bubble is burst and the team misses the tournament
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at ben.bolch@latimes.com, and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
