Writers from around the world have provided their top tips on how to get the most out of going to one of Disney’s many resorts, and how to save money along the way
A writer has given their top tips on visiting one of the parks (Image: Getty)
A writer who has been on more than 50 Disney vacations has given their advice on what to do when visiting one of the parks. Kari Becker, a travel planner and freelance writer, has a vast amount of experience visiting various Disney locations.
After years of engaging in the experience of these places, Kari has discerned several major tips and tricks for getting the most out of the magical destination.
Her number one tip, she said, was to make sure to arrive as early as possible. This is due to the large crowds that continue to visit these parks.
She told Business Insider: “My No. 1 tip for visiting theme parks of any kind is to arrive early. You’ll get a huge jump on your day if you get to the parks as soon as they open, or just before.
“Crowd levels tend to be much lower at this time, meaning you can experience many attractions early in the day. By midday, the crowds usually significantly increase.”
As well as providing guidance on when to go, Kari also outlined some of the mistakes people usually make when either planning or physically going to one of Disney’s many parks.
These include cutting the trip too short, going during school holidays, as well as arriving too late, and over-planning.
On the latter, she explained: “Make a general outline of your daily agenda — with dining reservations and a list of must-do rides and attractions — but leave room for spontaneous fun.
“If you’re on too tight a schedule, you’ll miss all the good stuff, like unique character interactions.”
Kari isn’t the only writer to have provided some tips on how to experience Disneyland to the maximum with ReachPlc’s Portia Jones also providing some tips on how to do the visit yearly without spending a lot of money.
Her main tips were to skip the crowds, book tickets in advance, and, in the case of Disneyland Paris, take the train, plan as much as possible, consider a Disney meal plan, and bring your own food.
On the last matter, she told WalesOnline: “Disneyland Paris may be the happiest place on earth, but its food prices can bring you down to earth with a bump.
“Pack your snacks and bring a refillable water bottle to save money. You can bring food into the park, so load up on sandwiches, crisps, and fruit before you arrive.
“Plenty of water fountains are scattered around where you can refill your bottle, meaning you’ll avoid paying sky-high prices for drinks.”
Doncic dazzled yet again with 46 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds in the Lakers’ 129-118 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday. The Lakers (28-17) notched their fourth win in five games. It was his third game in the last four with at least 10 assists — all wins.
The Lakers are less than two weeks removed from losing five of six games, a skid that prompted coach JJ Redick to challenge Doncic and LeBron James during a team meeting to look for their teammates more. The Lakers weren’t “trusting the pass” Redick said last week after the team’s loss to the Clippers.
Doncic has responded with 11 assists in back-to-back games since the loss to the Clippers and the Lakers have had 26 assists in each of their previous two wins. James, in addition to 24 points, had three assists Monday.
“They took it in a good way and that’s what they’ve been doing,” forward Rui Hachimura said of James’ and Doncic’s response to Redick’s message. “And then, we’re winning. And then everybody gets touches and everybody shares a ball. It’s fun. That’s how basketball should be.”
The Rams’ 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in the NFC championship game must be draped on the deflated shoulders of the Rams’ resident genius.
As blasphemous as it sounds when referencing one of the greatest coaches in Los Angeles sports history, this one was on McVay.
A day after his 40th birthday, McVay coached like he was no longer the child prodigy, but instead an aging leader who leaves himself open to second-guessing.
McVay has rarely deserved criticism in his nine successful seasons here. But in the wake of an afternoon at Seattle’s deafening Lumen Field that should have propelled the Rams to the Super Bowl, this is one of those times.
Defensive lineman Teair Tart is returning to the Chargers with a three-year contract extension.
The Chargers announced the deal Monday night for Tart, who joined the team in August 2024 after he was released by the Miami Dolphins. Tart quickly became a contributor to Los Angeles’ defense, and he started all 18 games this season in the middle of the Bolts’ line.
Tart has 61 tackles, nine tackles for loss, one sack and an interception in his two seasons with the Chargers. He has been particularly effective in run defense, stepping up to fill a need created when Poona Ford left last year to sign with the Rams.
Sunday, Feb. 8 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
Dodgers TV deal explained
From Bill Shaikin: The Dodgers’ $240-million signing of Kyle Tucker revived anguished cries that the team is ruining baseball. It also revived a strange chapter in team history, with frenzied online commentary that the signing of Tucker was made possible in large part because Major League Baseball long ago rewarded the Dodgers’ owners with preferential financial treatment that continues to this day. Is that true? Here’s a Q&A that explains all:
Mattias Ekholm scored a hat trick and the Edmonton Oilers rode a dominant second period to a 7-4 victory over the Ducks on Monday.
Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid each added a goal and an assist for the Oilers, Spencer Stastney scored his first in an Edmonton jersey and Darnell Nurse also scored.
Three of the Ducks’ four goals came from Mikael Granlund on the power play, starting with his 10th tally of the season 3:24 into the game.
The result broke a seven-game win streak for the Ducks,
The NHL postponed the Columbus Blue Jackets’ home game against the Kings on Monday night because of a major winter storm that created dangerous travel conditions across much of the United States.
Almost a foot of snow fell in Columbus, Ohio, and windchill factors were forecast to be around minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday night. The game is rescheduled for March 9 in Columbus.
This day in sports history
1937 — Tris Speaker and Cy Young are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1973 — UCLA, led by Bill Walton, sets an NCAA record for consecutive victories with its 61st win, an 82-63 victory over Notre Dame. UCLA breaks the record of 60 set by San Francisco in 1956. Walton scores 16 points, grabs 15 rebounds and blocks 10 shots.
1982 — Geoff Houston of the Cleveland Cavaliers hands out 27 assists, two short of the NBA record and scores 24 points in a 110-106 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
1991 — The New York Giants survive the closest Super Bowl ever when Scott Norwood’s 47-yard field goal attempt with 8 seconds left in the game goes wide. The Giants win their second Super Bowl in five years, 20-19 over the Buffalo Bills.
1993 — American Chad Rowan is awarded the highest rank in sumo wrestling, the ancient Japanese sport, making him the first foreign “yokozuna.” The 6-foot-8, 455-pounder from Honolulu, becomes the 64th person to hold the top rank in the sport’s history.
1996 — The U.S. Golf Assn. elects Judy Bell as the first female president in its 101-year history.
2001 — Jennifer Capriati upsets three-time winner Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-3 to win the Australian Open and her first Grand Slam tournament title.
2003 — Hermann Maier wins a World Cup super giant slalom in Kitzbuehel, Austria, a victory he ranks among his finest triumphs. The win comes 18 months after he almost loses his leg in a motorcycle crash.
2007 — Serena Williams wins her third Australian Open singles title, routing Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2. Unseeded and ranked 81st, Williams wins her eighth and most improbable Grand Slam. She is the second unseeded woman to win the Australian title in the Open era.
2008 — Novak Djokovic fends off unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the Australian Open final, earning his first Grand Slam title.
2008 — Eric Staal wins the most valuable player award in the NHL All-Star game, registering two goals and an assist in the East’s 8-7 win over the Western Conference. Staal helps set up Marc Savard’s winning goal with 20.9 seconds left.
2010 — Washington’s Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton are suspended without pay for the remainder of the season by NBA commissioner David Stern. Both players admit to bringing a gun or guns into the Wizards’ locker room — a violation of the collective bargaining agreement — after a dispute stemming from a card game on a team flight.
2011 — Roger Federer, the 16-time Grand Slam winner, is knocked out of the Australian Open by Novak Djokovic in a semifinal match, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-4. Federer’s loss marks the first time since 2003 that he wouldn’t hold any of the four major titles.
2013 — Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2 to become the first man in the Open era to win three consecutive Australian Open titles.
2013 — Little-known Max Aaron wins his first title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and helps knock down three-time men’s champion Jeremy Abbott to third place.
2013 — Speedskater Heather Richardson edges Canada’s Christine Nesbitt in the final women’s race to become the first American woman to win the World Sprint Championships since 2005.
2013 — The NFC blew past the AFC 62-35 in the Pro Bowl. Minnesota tight end Kyle Rudolph is voted the game’s MVP with five catches for 122 yards and a touchdown.
2018 — Australian Open Women’s Tennis: Caroline Wozniacki beats Simona Halep 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 to win her first Grand Slam title.
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.
Since premiering her new floor routine, Olympic medalist and Bruin Jordan Chiles has been riding a surge of emotions. Her choreography has gone viral, and she placed first in back-to-back meets which helped push her to the top of the national ranks with multiple all-around individual titles.
“I’ve tried everything,” Chiles said before her triumphant moment during a team victory at Michigan State. “The scores are the scores. This is the beginning of the process of the judges getting back into the flow of things.”
Instead of focusing on a matter she has no control over, Chiles said she’s having fun and doing the best she can every time she hits the mat.
“Is every single time going to be perfect?” Chiles asks. “Probably not, but I’m going to make it as perfect as I can.”
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The choreography was one of the hardest elements to figure out — topping her last viral floor routine that featured Prince’s music initially felt impossible. During her run to the 2024 Paris Olympics, she heavily featured Beyoncé in her floor routine and received a bouquet of flowers from the legend. Chiles’ final UCLA floor routine started to click once she realized it wasn’t about surpassing herself, but rather showcasing what the future holds and inspiring young gymnasts to be themselves.
“It’s being authentic to who you are and authentic in ways that you want to shine and do what you have to do,” Chiles said.
The music supporting her performance includes icons Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder and Tina Turner, a deliberate choice by Chiles. She wanted to highlight the legacy of the uniform she’s worn for the last four years as a Bruin.
Her experience on “Dancing With the Stars” during the summer, when she finished third, broadened her palette of dance styles. Being around talented dancers helped her see what dance elements could be added to her floor routine, said BJ Das, associate head coach and choreographer of the Bruins.
“She’s like a sponge,” Das said. “She learns quickly and she observes and she really takes in the world around her.”
When they came together to devise the last routine of her college career, they wanted to create a piece that would be timeless and engage the audience. Chiles wanted to bring people together through joy, passion and energy with music everybody would love.
“We wanted people on their feet, getting into it,” Das said. “… I think that’s always been her mark, on the sport of gymnastics … just really being herself.”
Collaborating came naturally for Chiles and Das. Through their years together, the trust they built turned the process into a fun experience that came together faster than expected.
“When I bring her ideas, she’s generally on board and she’ll have her own ideas and we just feed off each other,” Das said.
The work doesn’t stop between competitions. Throughout the week they focus on refining Chiles’ form and sticking landings as they fine-tune her overall performance. The routine is advanced, requiring significant endurance and cardio training.
Das also works on making the presentation crisper and sharper each week.
“The performance for her is so natural that it’s always gonna be there,” Das said. “I just want the movement quality to keep elevating as the season goes on and she gets more and more comfortable with the routine.”
UCLA gymnasts Nola Matthews and Tiana Sumanasekera cheer as Jordan Chiles lands a jump during her floor routine at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 17.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Any time she hits the mat, Das wants Chiles’ performance to shine a light on her impact on the sport of gymnastics. She wants the routine to exemplify Chiles’ voice in the sport — showing the importance of versatility and staying true to herself.
From her air guitar movement during the Stevie Wonder section to the shimmy during the Tina Turner section, every movement in the exercise captures her personality.
“I hope that this routine just emphasizes the freedom that you can have while being in the sport of gymnastics,” Das said.
Chiles’ floor routine allows her to command the attention of everyone in the building. Fans in the stands all get on their feet when it’s her turn to compete. She’s the anchor of the UCLA floor rotation. Her teammates long ago memorized her routine and enthusiastically cheer her on every time she competes. The audience roars approval after she executes a fun dance sequence or a difficult tumbling sequence. Her coaches grin and join the crowd cheering for Chiles.
“I’ve always wanted to dance and I’m an entertainer,” Chiles said. “I love entertaining people not just because of my sport, but just because I know I have the opportunity to really show the world that there are other sides of me. I am more than just a gymnast.”
UCLA coach Janelle McDonald knew Chiles eventually would clinch her elusive perfect 10 as the Bruins work to improve their scores with an eye on winning a national championship.
“Jordan rises when the pressure comes,” McDonald said.
The Bruins’ defense has improved despite star Skyy Clark’s absence while he recovers from a hamstring injury.
“If you don’t give up layups and dunks, you’ve got a chance to stop people,” Cronin said. “However you accomplish that. … We’ve been trying to adjust defensively how we do things. Stuff that obviously to the lay person you might not see. … We have some weaknesses that we have to hide.”
Whatever Cronin implemented besides leaving his starters on defense for an entire practice, it worked well. UCLA limited Purdue to 28 points in the paint and Northwestern to 24 points in the paint en route to much-needed wins.
“Really focusing with our players [on] how good can their attention to detail can be when the score doesn’t hold you accountable to that,” Close said. “… I’m just looking for how are we going to continue to get better? We did get better [Sunday]. We only had four live-ball turnovers of our 13. We obviously need to get that number down in terms of offensive fouls and travels. But I do think we made some steps in the right direction.”
The No. 3 Bruins (19-1, 9-0 Big Ten) play at Illinois (15-5, 5-4) on Wednesday before a big test Sunday against No. 10 Iowa (18-2, 9-0) at 1 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.
Survey time
UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin has had a lot of success with the Bruins, but his yelling on the sideline also has a few detractors. So this week’s question: Do you support Mick Cronin as coach?
My name is Iliana Limón Romero and I’m the assistant managing editor for Sports at the L.A. Times. As you may have noticed, longtime UCLA beat reporter Ben Bolch left The Times and signed off from this newsletter. We remain committed to UCLA coverage and providing you with a vibrant, insightful newsletter every Monday. If you have any questions or requests, email me at iliana.limonromero@latimes.com or contact our Sports newsletters editor listed below.
Have something Bruin?
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.
Well, they do say any attention is good attention.
Actor Sydney Sweeney was in the spotlight Monday after being captured on video recently scaling the H of the Hollywood sign under the cloak of darkness — to hang up some bras.
TMZ reported on the footage, which was part of a promotion for Sweeney’s upcoming lingerie line. But according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the alleged publicity stunt was not authorized.
The chamber owns the intellectual property rights to the sign, which is managed by the nonprofit Hollywood Sign Trust. Neither the chamber nor the trust knew about the apparent Sweeney stunt until they saw the video, officials told The Times.
“Anyone intending to use and/or access the Hollywood Sign for commercial purposes must obtain a license or permission from the Hollywood Chamber to do so,” the chamber’s chief, Steve Nissen, said in a statement. “The production involving Sydney Sweeney and the Hollywood Sign, as reported by TMZ, was not authorized by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce nor did we have prior knowledge of it.”
Nissen also said that the organization “did not grant a license or permission of any kind to the production … nor did anyone seek a license or permission from the Chamber for that production.”
Footage obtained by TMZ shows Sweeney climbing up the Hollywood sign to help string up a clothesline of assorted bras across the familiar landmark. The “Christy” star is accompanied by a small crew that is filming her handiwork.
The team did obtain a general permit to film in the area from FilmLA.
But as is explained both on the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Hollywood sign websites, filming the sign itself requires additional clearance and payment of a licensing fee. The chamber says a portion of the proceeds goes to a trust that assists in maintaining the Hollywood sign. Access to the Hollywood sign is generally restricted.
So far, a police report that could trigger a trespass investigation and review by prosecutors has not been filed, according to L.A. Police Officer Tony Im, a department spokesperson.
Built in 1923, the Hollywood sign was donated to the city 21 years later. Climbing or altering the sign are not permitted — and have happened over the decades. Famously, the letters were changed to “Hollyweed” by a local college student on New Year’s Day 1976 when California downgraded the possession of a small amount of pot from a possible felony to a misdemeanor. That stunt was repeated in 2017. In that case, the suspect was arrested on suspicion of trespass. In 1987, Caltech students changed the sign overnight to read “Caltech.”
Last February, a man was arrested after he climbed onto the letter D as part of a social media promotion and was taken into custody.
As for Sweeney, this is not the first time the actor has been scrutinized for promotional activity involving clothing. The “Euphoria” star previously faced backlash for the slogan of an ad campaign involving jeans. (Sweeney later addressed the controversy, telling the Hollywood Reporter that she was “surprised by the reaction” and that she “[doesn’t] support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign. Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren’t true.”)
Representatives for Sweeney did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.
Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where the college football season has finally, officially come to an end. Indiana is our national champion — a sentence I never thought, as a long-ago IU sports columnist, that I would write under any circumstances. Many have tried since last Monday to make sense of what Indiana’s title says about this new era of college football. But in truth, I don’t know that we learned much more than we already knew.
A great quarterback is, as always, a must. Winning at the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball, is essential. Older, more experienced players — like Indiana’s fleet of 24-year olds — are usually better than younger, inexperienced ones, especially in this age of the transfer portal. And a great coach, in the college game, can make up for pretty much anything.
Fight on! Are you a true Trojans fan?
None of those lessons are really all that revelatory. That doesn’t mean they’re easy to apply. But what Indiana has shown definitively this season is that more programs are capable of winning a national title now than ever before. USC has always been among those annual contenders. Only now, the waiting room is a bit more crowded than before.
But with the college football season firmly in the rearview mirror, let’s set aside football briefly to zoom in this week on USC’s basketball programs, both of which are facing a make-or-break stretch of their schedules.
The return of Alijah Arenas was supposed to be USC’s saving grace midway through the conference slate, as he swooped in just in time for the home stretch. But nothing came smoothly the five-star freshman last week. After Arenas left Galen Center gasping with an early, 360 lay-in, he hit just one of his remaining 10 shots from the field against Northwestern. Then on Sunday, he made three for 12.
He was understandably rusty. Coach Eric Musselman took the blame after the game for putting too much on the freshman’s plate in his debut. But I could understand why he played Arenas as much as he could. Because, in many ways, it feels like the rest of USC’s season hinges on the freshman finding his stride as fast as possible.
Sunday’s road win at Wisconsin, however, offered an alternative case. Arenas continued to struggle, but USC’s offense rolled on without him. Chad Baker-Mazara scored 29, and Ezra Ausar scored 17 as the Trojans charged back to beat the Badgers in front of a hostile crowd.
The win was USC’s first against a Quad 1 team and arguably its biggest statement of the season. Still, the Trojans rank 51st in the NCAA’s NET rankings and are firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble, according to ESPN’s bracketology.
Sunday offered a glimpse of what they’re capable of. But so did Wednesday’s loss to Northwestern.
The truth is that the Trojans, especially in this injury-ravaged form, have to play their best to beat teams like Wisconsin. They have to rely heavily on Baker-Mazara, who has been anything but reliable with his performance the past month, and hope that someone else, such as backup point guard Jordan Marsh, scores in bunches.
In the wake of Wednesday’s loss, it was clear there was frustration in the locker room.
“This is all about habits and consistency,” Ausar said. “That’s where we lack — all around as a team.”
The margin for error is similarly thin for Lindsay Gottlieb and the USC women, who sit at 11-9 and 12th in the Big Ten after a narrow loss to Michigan on Sunday. But the women of Troy are still 25th in the NET rankings, a point that Gottlieb was sure to reiterate to me when we spoke on Friday.
I asked her what silver linings she could see after losing five of six.
“None of [our losses] have been terrible relative to resume. Three of them, we didn’t have Kennedy [Smith]. We still had big leads in some. That doesn’t absolve us from not taking them to the finish line, but what you take from it, other than [the] UCLA [game], we’re not getting blown out.”
Kara Dunn has been on a roll for USC.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
Five of the Trojans’ last eight opponents are currently ranked in the top 20, so the recent losing streak doesn’t mean USC is a lost cause the rest of the way. What it does mean is that the ceiling of this year’s squad is looking lower than we might have thought it would be without JuJu Watkins.
That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise with its superstar sidelined. But USC has pieces that could have helped replace her in the aggregate. Freshman Jazzy Davidson continues to improve. Kara Dunn has been a revelation recently on offense, having scored 21 or more in each of her last six games. Smith is still the same lockdown defender as ever.
It’s elsewhere that USC’s roster is lacking this season. And like with the Trojan men, there aren’t many ways to rearrange the hand that Gottlieb has been dealt. The frontcourt has little in the way of firepower (USC’s four-big rotation has taken just 164 shots combined this season, eight fewer than Londynn Jones on her own), and the point guard position has been a problem at times, too.
Both teams still have a path to the NCAA tournament. Both offer some reason to believe. But as both enter a critical stretch of their season, there’s still plenty of time left to stumble as well.
Eric Gentry after last season’s win over Nebraska.
(Bonnie Ryan / Associated Press)
—The Gary Patterson hire could be a huge success. There’s also some risk baked in. Patterson’s credentials, among the coaches accessible to USC in its search, are unmatched. Ask anyone who has been around college football, and they will tell you that he’s one of the best evaluators of defensive talent this century. Few coaches have gotten more out of less on that end than Patterson. But if you’re searching for reasons to be skeptical, the fact that he hasn’t been a full-time coach since 2021 — or that he left his last consultant gig at Baylor right before the 2024 season — might give you some pause. A lot has changed about coaching college football since then. Even at the time, the perception at Texas Christian was that his tenure there had grown stale. Whether the game has passed him by or not, we’ll have to wait and see. But from 2017 through 2020, Patterson still had arguably the Big 12’s best defense, ranking in the top 30 nationally in yards allowed all four seasons. It sounds like he’s been itching to be back in an on-field role. Maybe, at USC, he’ll be reinvigorated. Because if he can get his Trojan defense to that level, USC will be in the Playoff.
—The College Football Playoff is sticking to 12 teams … for now at least. This was the expected outcome, given the ongoing disagreement between the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference over the format. The Big Ten wanted 24 (!!) teams. The SEC wanted 16. The Big Ten wanted more automatic qualifiers. The SEC wanted more at-large bids. The stalemate leaves us with the status quo, which is … really not that bad. A 24-team playoff would totally de-emphasize the regular season to a degree that I personally think would have a negative impact on the game. There’s already a calendar issue, as is, with 12 teams. Imagine how expansion might make that worse.
—Remember Abdul-Malik McClain, the former USC linebacker arrested for EDD fraud? I wrote pretty extensively five years ago on the strange saga that started with his brother, wideout Munir McClain, being suspended from USC’s football team suddenly and without any clear reason. As it turned out, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, it was his brother, Abdul-Malik, who was the target of federal scrutiny for a scheme that sought to defraud the government of over $1 million in COVID-related unemployment benefits. Abdul-Malik McClain, who the DOJ says was responsible for at least three dozen fraudulent applications, pleaded guilty in June 2024 to one count of felony mail fraud. He was finally sentenced last Tuesday to time served and ordered to pay $228,995. But he’ll pay a fraction of that. The Court, in its opinion, ordered McClain to pay just $50 per month.
—Eric Gentry’s measurables at the Shrine Bowl were even more insane than you’d expect. When I first wrote about Gentry, upon his transfer to USC a few years back, I wrote how there wasn’t a linebacker like him in the NFL. His most recent measurables bare that out. He ranks in the 99th percentile in height (6-6 ⅜) and in arm length (35 ¼”), and in the 96th percentile in hand size (10 ½”)
—2026 hoops signees Adonis and Darius Ratliff both shot up 247’s recruiting rankings this week. The twin sons of former NBA player Theo Ratliff moved up 34 spots and 20 spots, respectively, in the site’s latest re-rank. Musselman and his staff were high on both early on – seems like others are getting on board with their evaluation.
Times of Troy survey
After an anxious few weeks for Trojan fans, USC finally has its next defensive coordinator. So after all that anticipation, how do you feel about the Gary Patterson hire?
—Thrilled! We got a Hall of Famer! —Cautiously optimistic it could work —Mildly concerned it will fail —Convinced this will be a disaster
USC’s women’s golf team, which opens the spring season ranked No. 2 in the nation, kicked off the spring with a 3 ½ to 1 ½ match play victory over crosstown rival UCLA.
USC did so without its top-ranked player, Jasmine Koo, in the five-woman field. The sophomore ranks No. 9 in the nation at the start of spring. Instead, Elise Lee (No. 16), Sarah Hammett, and Kylie Chong (No. 44) won to edge out UCLA.
George R. R. Martin at the world premiere of “A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms’ in Berlin.
(Ebrahim Noroozi / Associated Press)
When HBO decided to green-light a half-dozen ideas for “Game of Thrones” spinoffs, the executives in that conference room were probably imagining someone like yours truly in front of my TV, devouring whatever they put in front of me. So I was pretty much guaranteed to gravitate towards “A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms,” the latest Thrones spin-off to premiere on HBO.
But what I didn’t expect was how different the tone would be in this slice of the Thrones universe. The story follows Ser Dunk, a bumbling and abnormally large hedge knight, who resolves to enter a tournament that seems impossible for him to win. The show is much lighter and funnier than its predecessor, and Dunk might actually be a character you’d want to root for. It’s too early to know where this spinoff is headed. But the pilot gave me enough to get me invested.
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 ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
In late 2024, shortly after her husband, Donald Trump, was reelected as the 47th president of the United States, Melania Trump saw an opportunity: a documentary centered on her life.
The film, a follow-up to her eponymous memoir, would offer a window into the first lady’s private, sphinx-like world, in contrast to that of her bombastic, spotlight-seeking husband.
To direct the film, a fly-on-the-wall chronicle of the 20 days leading up to the inauguration, Melania turned to an unlikely choice: Brett Ratner, who only a few years earlier had been all but banished from Hollywood.
The controversial filmmaker had been recommended by her agent and “senior advisor” Marc Beckman, who had a long-standing relationship with Ratner.
“He’s one of the most talented directors of our lifetime,” said Beckman, who negotiated the unusually lucrative $40-million deal with Amazon MGM Studios to distribute the film.
“He actually accounts for like $2 billion in box-office receipts,” Beckman told The Times. “He really understands not just how to create something that’s gorgeous, but also how to reach the passions and emotions of his audience.”
The timing was fortuitous. Ratner was looking for a comeback vehicle from his heady days as one of the industry’s most successful filmmakers. And Beckman was among several prominent figures in Trump’s orbit who could help make that happen.
President-elect Donald Trump kisses his wife, Melania, before his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025.
(Saul Loeb / Associated Press)
Brash, rich and successful, Ratner, 56, was the director and producer of a string of blockbuster films, the “Rush Hour” franchise and “X-Men: The Last Stand” among them. He was a consummate Hollywood dealmaker and habitué of red carpets who held court at the legendary basement disco inside of his equally storied Beverly Hills estate.
Then, in the fall of 2017, The Times reported on sexual misconduct allegations against Ratner made by multiple women. At the time, Ratner strenuously denied the claims.
It was the height of the #MeToo movement and a range of sexual misconduct allegations toppled the careers of powerful men, from disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein to “Today Show” host Matt Lauer and CBS Chairman Les Moonves. Weinstein was later convicted of rape in Los Angeles and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Almost immediately, Ratner’s reign as blockbuster king was over.
Beckman, however, viewed Ratner first and foremost as a director. They had a relationship that stretched back to 2007. Beckman’s agency hired Ratner to direct a sultry Jordache jeans campaign, inspired by the iconic photographer Helmut Newton, whose work was edgy, provocative and erotically charged. The campaign, shot at the Chateau Marmont, featured a mostly topless Heidi Klum — in one ad she is brandishing a riding whip.
Beckman declined to say whether he had talked to other potential directors, nor would he address any of the claims made against Ratner. He stressed that it was Ratner’s “massive talent” that put him in the director’s chair. “We focused on Ratner’s capabilities as being a superior director,” he said.
The documentary, “Melania,” is set to premiere at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington — which the president is trying to rename the Trump Kennedy Center — on Thursday, followed the next day by a global theatrical release.
In addition to the “Melania” documentary, a three-part docuseries also filmed during the inauguration run-up about the first lady that Ratner directed and is part of the same Amazon deal, is set to air on the streamer later this year, according to Beckman.
Brett Ratner, center, and the stars of “Rush Hour 3,” Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, at the film’s Los Angeles premiere party in 2007.
(Matt Sayles / Associated Press)
Then there is the much-buzzed-about fourth installment of “Rush Hour.” It has been widely reported that Ratner will direct the $100-million movie to be distributed by Paramount.
The long-stalled project came about after President Trump was said to have urged his friend Larry Ellison, who bankrolled his son David’s acquisition of Paramount, to revive the franchise.
Not everyone is happy about Ratner’s return.
“It speaks to the larger issue that these men who didn’t take responsibility for their actions are coming back into society as if nothing happened,” said Nancy Erika Smith, a partner at Smith Mullin in Montclair, N.J., who has litigated numerous harassment cases, including that of former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson.
Reached by phone, Ratner declined to respond to questions, saying, “I don’t talk to or cooperate with the Los Angeles Times.”
He referred questions to his London-based publicist, who did not respond to a detailed list of questions.
An early love of movies
Growing up in Miami, Ratner once said that “I eat, sleep, breathe the movies.” He was raised by a single mother, Marsha, who had him at 16, and his grandparents Mario and Fanita Presman, Jewish Cubans who immigrated to Florida during the 1960s. (His paternal grandfather, Lee Ratner, founded d-Con, the rat poison company.) At 12, he was an extra, appearing as a boy on a raft, during a pool scene at the Fontainebleau Hotel in the 1983 Brian De Palma film “Scarface.”
Early on, Ratner garnered a reputation for his ambition, relentless drive and a preternatural ability to surround himself with famous friends and mentors.
While a student at New York University in the late 1980s, he befriended Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons, who made him his protégé, tapping Ratner to direct music videos.
At 28, he directed his first film, the 1997 buddy comedy “Money Talks,” starring Charlie Sheen and Chris Tucker. The movie grossed $48 million on a $25-million budget, cementing Ratner’s reputation as a highly bankable director.
In 2012, Ratner and Australian billionaire investor James Packer co-founded RatPac Entertainment. A year later, they merged with the film financing company Dune Entertainment, founded by Steven Mnuchin (Trump’s future Treasury secretary), that had bankrolled massive hits like “Avatar.”
The rebranded RatPac-Dune quickly entered into a $450-million slate financing deal with Warner Bros. to fund up to 75 movies, including Oscar winner “Gravity” and box-office hit “Wonder Woman.”
Ratner himself served as an executive producer on such acclaimed films as the epic western drama “The Revenant.”
“I was not the best student, but I was the hardest-working kid that I know, and it paid off,” said Ratner when the Friar’s Club honored him with a comedy achievement award in 2011.
A self-styled jet-setting playboy, Ratner dated actor Rebecca Gayheart and tennis star Serena Williams. He cocooned himself inside a circle of much older, famous cinema legends that he considered his mentors such as Robert Evans, Roman Polanski and Robert Towne.
The late movie producer Robert Evans was part of a clutch of cinema legends that Ratner considered his mentors.
(Getty Images)
Ratner’s Beverly Hills mansion, Hilhaven Lodge, the estate once owned by “Casablanca” actor Ingrid Bergman, was the scene of numerous raucous parties filled with celebrities and models.
After he made a series of vulgar and inappropriate comments while promoting his film “Tower Heist” in 2011, including saying that “rehearsal is for f—,” using an anti-gay slur, he dropped out of producing the Academy Awards broadcast.
Still, Ratner frequently groused that he was misunderstood.
“I don’t drink; I don’t do drugs. Do I like to have fun? Yeah. Do I like to enjoy myself, enjoy my life? Yeah. But I’m not a decadent person. … I’m just a nice Jewish kid from Miami Beach who loves movies and pretty girls,” he said in an interview with the Jewish Journal.
Over the years, Ratner sat on the boards of several charities such as Chrysalis, a group that helps homeless people; and the Ghetto Film School. In 2013, he donated $1 million to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and he actively supported the Simon Wiesenthal Center, where he was a trustee, and the Museum of Tolerance.
When Patty Jenkins presented him with the Tree of Life humanitarian award at a Jewish National Fund dinner in 2017, the director of “Wonder Woman” and “Monster” shared that he financed her thesis film.
In 2017, when Ratner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he was cheered on by actors Edward Norton, Dwayne Johnson and Eddie Murphy, producer Brian Grazer and Warner Bros. chief Kevin Tsujihara.
(Chris Delmas / AFP via Getty Images)
That year, RatPac-Dune’s co-financing deal with Warner Bros. delivered a series of hits, including “It,” “Wonder Woman” and “Dunkirk.” He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Fallout over allegations of misconduct
Then, in November, The Times published detailed allegations against Ratner made by six women who accused him of harassment, groping and forced oral sex. Actor Olivia Munn claimed that Ratner masturbated in front of her when she delivered a meal to his trailer on the set of the 2004 film “After the Sunset.”
At the time, Ratner’s attorney Martin Singer rejected the women’s claims, saying that his client “vehemently denies the outrageous derogatory allegations that have been reported about him.”
The Times published another report weeks later that included additional sexual misconduct allegations from several other women. The report also named Simmons, the Def Jam co-founder, as a witness and alleged perpetrator in several of the episodes.
Both Ratner and Simmons disputed the women’s accounts and denied their allegations. Simmons subsequently faced several rape accusations, which he has denied.
The professional repercussions were swift. Ratner’s agents at WME dropped him, as did his publicist, and projects were put on hold. Ratner parted ways with Warner Bros.
“I don’t want to have any possible negative impact to the studio until these personal issues are resolved,” he said in a statement.
Two years later, Ratner’s name surfaced amid the tangled Hollywood sex scandals involving British actor Charlotte Kirk, whose allegations brought down two studio chiefs: Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara and NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Ron Meyer, with whom she claimed to have had sexual affairs.
British actor Charlotte Kirk accused several Hollywood power players including Ratner of “victimizing her.”
(Paul Archuleta / FilmMagic)
In a sworn court declaration, Kirk said she was victimized by Tsujihara, Ratner, Packer and Millennium Films CEO Avi Lerner, stating that the men “coerced me into engaging in ‘commercial sex’ for them and their business associates.”
She further accused Packer, whom she had dated for a period, and Ratner of having “sexually exploited me,” with Ratner sending her “crude sexual text messages, and offering me as an inducement to his business partners,” according to her declaration.
Attorney Singer, who represented the men, “categorically and vehemently” denied any wrongdoing on the part of his clients.
Cast out of Hollywood, Ratner appeared to escape the piercing scrutiny by living large. He was spotted variously at the five-star Faena Hotel in Miami and sunning on a yacht off Saint-Barthélemy in the Caribbean.
Ratner’s initial attempts to get back behind the camera went nowhere. In 2021, he announced plans to direct a long-stalled Milli Vanilli biopic with Millennium Media, but soon after, Millennium Media stated that it was no longer involved with the film.
In Trump’s orbit
Despite the setbacks, the seeds for Ratner’s eventual comeback had been sown. Known as a world-class schmoozer, Ratner cultivated numerous ties to people affiliated with Trump.
For several years, he was partners with Mnuchin, who served as Treasury secretary during Trump’s first term, through their production and financing company RatPac-Dune.
Billionaire Len Blavatnik, owner of Warner Music Group, bought Packer’s stake in RatPac-Dune through his Access Entertainment in 2017, making him Ratner’s partner for a time. Blavatnik, through his company, contributed $1 million to Trump’s first inauguration.
Then there’s Arthur Sarkissian, the producer of the original “Rush Hour” movie. He also produced the 2024 Trump-friendly documentary, “The Man You Don’t Know.”
Steven Mnuchin, who was Treasury secretary during Trump’s first term, was a partner with Ratner through their company RatPac-Dune Entertainment.
(Alex Brandon / Associated Press)
Ratner also developed a friendship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has a long-standing relationship with Trump. Ratner was the prime minister’s guest at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023. He posted a picture on his Instagram standing behind a seated Netanyahu and his wife, and next to attorney Alan Dershowitz, himself a longtime advisor and friend of Trump’s.
That year, several Israeli media outlets reported that Ratner had obtained Israeli citizenship after he posted the passbook Israel issues to new immigrants on his Instagram story with his name “Brett Shai Ratner” captioned in Hebrew.
“There’s a strong community in south Florida that is close to Trump,” said someone who worked with the family but was not authorized to speak publicly. “Brett has relationships with a bunch of them; it was just a matter of connecting the dots.”
Ratner no longer appears to live at his Hillhaven estate (which is currently listed for lease at $82,500 a month), while there have been sightings of him at Mar-a-Lago.
Not long after the presidential election, Ratner was given unprecedented entrée to Melania Trump and became a part of her trusted inner circle.
Beckman said Ratner was given “remarkable” access to her life. “There were behind-the-scenes meetings,” he said. “She’s a very private person and for the first time she was allowing the cameras to cover her, her family, her philanthropy and of course her business endeavors.”
Many of the women who came forward in 2017 to level their accusations against Ratner declined to speak about him now or to comment on his return to directing.
In the 2017 Times article, actor Jaime Ray Newman alleged that during a flight Ratner made sexually inappropriate comments and showed her nude photos of his then-girlfriend.
“I said my piece a couple of years ago and have moved on,” Newman, who stars in the Netflix hit “The Hunting Wives,” told The Times. “I feel really good and brave in what I did.”
The “Melania” trailer is in heavy rotation online and was shown during the NFL playoffs. Billboards loom over cities and on buses.
Talking to reporters on Air Force One earlier this month, the president praised the upcoming film.
“I’ve seen pieces of it, it’s incredible,” Trump said. “Everybody wants tickets to the premiere. I think it’s going to be great.”
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. It was a historic weekend for coach Harvey Kitani, who became only the third high school basketball coach in state history to reach 1,000 wins.
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Harvey Kitani is surrounded by his players after earning his 1,000th career victory on Friday night at Mater Dei in Rolling Hills Prep’s 60-45 win over Bishop Gorman.
Many of his victories came during a 35-year stay as head coach at Fairfax. Let me offer some of the most memorable moments covering him since 1979.
No. 1 is when his star player, Sean Higgins, called a news conference in 1987 to announce his college choice. He signed with UCLA. But Higgins didn’t show up to the news conference. Sitting in the principal’s office and waiting and waiting for Higgins to arrive was so strange. Then word came that Higgins was pressured to sign with UCLA by his stepfather. He ended up getting released from his letter of intent and enrolling at Michigan.
The Fairfax vs. Westchester rivalry became one of the best in the Southland. Westchester coach Ed Azzam, who is the City record holder for most career wins, always got along with Kitani, who hired Azzam to teach middle school students when he retired. Their teams played for City titles against each other in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2015. Those were the days. Besides playing two league match-ups they’d face off again in the playoffs.
He retired from teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District in 2016 and decided to accept the coaching position at Rolling Hills Prep, which is 15 minutes from his home and where two of his sons attended.
“If Fairfax was here, I’d still be at Fairfax,” he said.
He’s won four Southern Section titles. He truly has a body of work to admire.
“Unbelievable,” he said of staying in coaching for 46 years.
Boys basketball
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s NaVorro Bowman scored 26 points in a win over Harvard-Westlake on Saturday.
(Craig Weston)
NaVorro Bowman, a junior guard for Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, has thrust himself into consideration for Mission League MVP. He had 26 points Saturday in Notre Dame’s 71-66 win over Harvard-Westlake. The Knights are on the verge of finishing second in the regular season and clinching a playoff spot before the Mission League tournament begins Thursday.
Sierra Canyon, led by Brandon McCoy and Brannon Martinsen, a pair of former Trinity League all-stars, defeated Harvard-Westlake to lock up the No. 1 seed for the Mission League tournament. Here’s the report.
Former Notre Dame star Monte Marcaccini has returned to high school basketball as an assistant coach at Oaks Christian, where his son, James, is a promising freshman. Here’s the report.
Palisades, which hasn’t played a basketball game or any sporting event on its campus since the Palisades fire in January of 2025, will hold its first home basketball game Thursday against Fairfax at 6 p.m. Classes return to the campus Tuesday. Palisades (11-11) has emerged as the favorite to win the City Open Division basketball title.
L.A. Southwest College and Pasadena City College are expected to be the championship sites for the City Section basketball finals Feb. 27 and 28.
Cleveland won an important West Valley League game against rival Birmingham. Here’s the report.
The City Section’s top four teams have become real clear: Palisades, Cleveland, Birmingham and Washington Prep.
Second-year coach Leon Jacob has turned around the Angelou program. Here’s the report.
Aryanna Reyes of Pioneer set a school record with a 52-point performance against Artesia.
🏆 ⚡️RECORD BREAKING SENIOR NIGHT ⚡️ 🏆
A night she’ll never forget. A performance for the history books. 💐🐐 Aryanna Reyes made history with a career-high & school record 52 POINTS 🤯 ➕ 11 REBOUNDS | 6 ASSISTS in a win over Artesia. Built for the moment. Destined for… pic.twitter.com/EpAkeTO6TI
Changes are coming in the Southern Section power rankings. No. 2 JSerra lost to Santa Margarita in a Trinity League game. Mater Dei upset highly regarded Bishop Gorman from Las Vegas. Etiwanda routed No. 5 Rancho Christian 104-73.
For some reason, the rankings always ignore Etiwanda in the early going even though the Eagles always contend for Southern Section and state titles. Sierra Canyon is 21-2 and headed for another unbeaten Mission League season. The Trailblazers have never lost a Mission League game.
Harvard-Westlake, led by freshman Lucia Khamenia, has moved into a tie for second place with Marlborough in the Mission League.
Ontario Christian remains No. 1 with a 25-1 record.
Reagan Enright from Rolling Hills Prep scored the 1,000th point of her career.
Westchester is 17-3 and 6-0 in the Western League behind the City Section’s best player, Savannah Myles, averaging 22.1 points. Here’s the report.
Wrestling
Abraham Datte of Monroe is the two-time City Section heavyweight wrestling champion and wants to be a paramedic.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Abraham Datte is a two-time City Section heavyweight wrestling champion from Monroe who wants to become a paramedic. He chose Monroe because of its Fire Academy. Here’s a profile.
The Southern Section Divisional championships are set for Feb. 13-14.
Here are the boys’ sites.
Central — Westminster High
Coastal — Fountain Valley High
Eastern — Canyon Springs High
Inland — Great Oak High
Northern — Moorpark High
Southern — Glenn High
Here are the girls’ sites.
Central — San Dimas High
Eastern — Roosevelt High
Northern — Adelanto High
Southern — Marina High
The Masters Meet is Feb. 20 for boys and Feb. 21 for girls.
The state championships are Feb. 26-28 at Dignity Health Arena in Bakersfield.
Soccer
South East (16-1-3) and El Camino Real (12-3-1, 5-0-1) are looking like the teams to beat in City Section boys soccer. El Camino Real plays at Birmingham on Wednesday.
Servite handed Mater Dei its first defeat 2-1 to move ahead of the Monarchs in the Trinity League standings.
Cathedral is 12-2-1 and 4-0-1 in the Del Rey League heading into a big match Friday at Bishop Amat.
In girls soccer, Santa Margarita is ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section power rankings and is 13-0-2.
Baseball
Chatsworth coach Marcus Alvarado has resigned.
(Nick Koza)
Marcus Alvarado, who coached Chatsworth to a 2022 City Section Open Division championship, said he resigned on Friday, saying he had lost his love for baseball after repeated complaints from parents. Here’s the report.
Gabe Cerna, the baseball coach at Sun Valley Poly since 2009, has been replaced by his assistant, Freddy Flores, who will be an interim coach. Cerna also was the school’s athletic director. Cerna is now teaching at Fulton Prep. He said the school decided to go in “a different direction.”
Pete Crow-Armstrong, Jack Flaherty, Nik Turley and Josh Satin were on hand on Saturday for a ceremony. Meanwhile, the baseball team played teams from Las Vegas, and No. 1 pitcher Justin Kirchner, a Yale commit, struck out 10 in four innings.
Notes . . .
There was an altercation Friday night at the conclusion of the Chatsworth at Taft girls’ basketball game involving the Chatsworth coach and a relative of one of his players. L.A. School Police are investigating. Here’s the report.
Oaks Christian has hired Rudy Carlton as its new football coach. He was an assistant coach at JSerra last season and has extensive college coaching experience from his days at Azusa Pacific. Former Oaks Christian standout Ron Pitts is becoming the general manager and the school is creating an advisory council of former NFL players. . . .
Matt Villasenor has resigned as football coach at Nogales to become head coach at Muir. . . .
Dujuawan Jones is the new football coach at San Marino. . . .
Former Corona del Mar and UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers has been hired to coach quarterbacks at Corona del Mar. . . .
A lawsuit targeting St. John Bosco football coach Jason Negro has misfired after a judge’s rulings. Here’s the report. . . .
Kevin Encinas is the new football coach at Nogales. . . .
The Southern Section Council will discuss a proposal Tuesday that would allow football at-large playoff berths for teams with a .300 or better overall record. It’s currently .500 or better. The aim is not to allow teams with 1-9 or 2-8 records. It’s a non-action item. . . .
Jaden Soong competes at the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship at Saticoy Club in Somis.
(Courtesy of SCGA)
Sophomore golfer Jaden Soong of St. Francis will try to qualify for the PGA’s Farmer’s Insurance Open on Monday in Mission Viejo. He needs to finish in the top four. He turns 16 on Monday. . . .
After only one season as coach, Doug Bledsoe said he has resigned as football coach at Narbonne. He took over the program after numerous rules violations resulted in a three-year postseason ban by the City Section and an exodus of players. Narbonne went 0-10. . . .
Garfield running back Ceasar Reyes set a school record with 420 yards rushing and four touchdowns in win over South Gate
Shortstop Bobby Brooks from La Habra has committed to Sacramento State. . . .
Even though Morningside High has closed, former Morningside basketball star Stais Bozeman had his jersey retired Friday.
From the archives: Ryan Turell
Yeshiva’s Ryan Turell brings the ball up court against St. Joseph’s Anton Jansson.
(Joe Bednarsh / Yeshiva Athletics)
Former Valley Torah basketball star Ryan Turell is playing for Haifa in Israel’s second division pro basketball league. He entered this week averaging 13.3 points.
He became a standout college player at Yeshiva. He had one game in which he scored 51 points.
🚨 **STATE RECORDS + NATIONAL SOPHOMORE RECORDS ALERT! 🚨 Servite High sophomore twin speedsters Jorden and Jace Wells break the U.S sophomore class and California indoor records at 60 meters & 200 meters, respectively! 🔥 It’s January! This is crazy!! 📸: @Wellstwins28… pic.twitter.com/z9eSjaJwti
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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