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🚨 Headlines
🥇 Olympics headlines: The “Blade Angels” had mixed results in the short program; Mac Forehand won silver in an incredible freeski big air final; Lindsey Vonn returned home after multiple surgeries; the Americans took silver in team pursuit behind Italy, which hit Steph Curry’s signature “night, night” celebration as they crossed the finish line.
⚾️ Clark resigns: MLBPA leader Tony Clark has resigned from his position after an internal investigation revealed an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who worked for the union beginning in 2023. This comes just months before the current CBA is set to expire.
⛳️ Tiger hints at potential return: Tiger Woods is still recovering from a torn Achilles, but he had a simple one word answer when asked if this April’s Masters was off the table for him: “No.”
🏀 WNBPA submits new proposal: The WNBA players union submitted a new counterproposal to the league amid CBA negotiations, reducing both the revenue share and salary cap figures from their last proposal. The league still called it “unrealistic.”
🏈 Heisman odds: Notre Dame QB CJ Carr opens as the 2026 Heisman Trophy favorite (+700 at BetMGM), just ahead of Texas QB Arch Manning (+800). Oregon QB Dante Moore (+1100), Ohio State QB Julian Sayin (+1200) and Indiana QB Josh Hoover (+1200) round out the top five.
🥌 Want more curling? A pro league is set to launch
From Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee:
It happens every Winter Olympics, the curling renaissance. For two-plus weeks in February, Americans south of Canadian border states remember that curling exists.
Riding a wave of patriotic fever and a strong belief that they too could be Olympic-level curlers, Americans fall in love with the sport … right up until the torch goes out.
This year, curling aficionados are planning to keep the love going. Shortly after the Olympics wrap up in late February, the Rock League will launch.
A collection of 60 of the world’s greatest curlers, complete with team names, the Rock League hopes to harness the expected momentum from Milan Cortina.
The new league might just revolutionize and professionalize curling as a sport. At the very least, it’ll be a fun watch with a couple beers close at hand. Win-win either way, right?
“The sport finally needs a platform to professionalize,” says Nic Sulsky, CEO of The Curling Group, which owns The Rock League. “The players need an opportunity to make a little bit more money. There needs to be a proper business strategy.”
Meet the teams: There will be six teams of 10 curlers (five men, five women), including multiple former Olympians. Each team will have its own logo and will mix together players from a wide range of nationalities.
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Maple United
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Shield Curling Club
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Frontier Curling Club
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Northern United
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Alpine Curling Club
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Typhoon Curling Club
Coming soon: The Rock League will begin in April with a one-week “preview season” in Toronto. Then, beginning next January, it will kick off its touring with a four-week season that includes stops in Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New York and Ontario.
The last word: “It’s going to be a massive undertaking,” says John Shuster, the gold medal-winning skip of Team USA’s landmark 2018 squad who will play for Frontier Curling Club. “But every single player I’ve talked to is really excited to see where this is going to go.”
🥇 Big Numbers: Olympics edition
🏒 331 minutes, 23 seconds
The U.S. women’s hockey team has gone 331 minutes, 23 seconds and counting since last allowing a goal, shattering both the men’s (245 minutes) and women’s records (199 minutes, 35 seconds) for the longest shutout streak in Olympic hockey history. They haven’t allowed a goal since the second period of their tournament-opening win over Czechia.
Poised for gold: The Americans will be heavy favorites in tomorrow’s gold-medal match against Canada. They already beat the Canadians, 5-0, during these Games and have won seven straight games against them, one shy of the rivalry’s all-time record.
🇳🇴 93.1%
How popular is cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in his native Norway? Well, coverage of his record-breaking ninth gold medal on Sunday earned a 93.1 share, which means 93.1% of people watching TV in Norway at that time were watching him. For reference, the last few Super Bowls have had an ~80 share in the U.S.
Chasing 15: Klæbo won yet another gold Wednesday morning, his record 10th, while his 12 total medals are tied for fifth all-time behind Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen (15), Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen (14), Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst (13) and Italian speed skater Arianna Fontana (13). The 29-year-old still has one event remaining in Italy.
🇸🇮 4 siblings
Slovenian brother and sister Domen and Nika Prevc — who combined to win five ski jumping medals in Milan, including mixed team gold together — made history alongside older brothers Cene and Peter. The Prevcs are now the first family ever to produce four Winter Olympic medal-winning siblings.
Medal haul: All in, the Prevc family has collected 10 Winter Olympic medals dating back to 2014. Nika (20) won gold, silver and bronze in Milan. Domen (26) won two golds in Milan. Cene (29) won silver in Beijing. Peter (33) won gold and silver in Beijing, plus silver and bronze in Sochi.
🥇 $37,500
That’s how much money American athletes earn for each gold medal they win at the Milan Cortina Olympics, which ranks just 15th among the 25 countries who responded to USA Today’s inquiry. Americans also get $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze.
Most and least: Singapore, competing in its third Winter Games and still seeking its first medal, will award $788,907 for gold, the most of any country. Hong Kong ($767,747), Italy ($213,418), Poland ($211,268) and Slovenia ($162,672) round out the top five, while Sweden, Norway and Great Britain are the only respondents who don’t pay athletes anything for winning medals.
🥇 Medal table: Day 12
83 of 116 events completed. Full table.
🏈 The age of realignment
With Sacramento State moving from FCS to FBS and joining the MAC as a football-only member, the state of California will now have FBS schools in five different conferences. Three years ago, that number was two.
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ACC: Cal, Stanford
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Big Ten: UCLA, USC
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MAC: Sacramento State
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Mountain West: San José State
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Pac-12: Fresno State, San Diego State
Consider this: This upcoming school year, California’s FBS football programs will play conference opponents in 31 (!!!) different states, up from 10 three years ago. That includes seven teams in Ohio, five in Michigan, four in North Carolina, three in Texas, three in Indiana, three in Illinois, two in Massachusetts, two in Pennsylvania, two in Florida, one in Wyoming and one in North Dakota. Again, this is California we’re talking about here! Absolute madness.
❤️ Why we love sports
Keith Caulfield (Point Blank, Texas):
In 2003, with interleague play still a novelty, my beloved Astros (NL at the time) were set to make their first swing through the AL East. My teenage son Cody and I circled two stops immediately: Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park.
We flew to Boston and planned on a short easy drive to New York. Being from Texas, the built-in arrogance of living in the biggest state in the Union made me think it was a hop, skip and a jump to get to NYC. (We don’t believe all that hype about Alaska down here; it’s an optical illusion.)
The situation in New York was very illuminating to us foreigners. The day before, the Astros had no-hit the Yankees using six pitchers, and the city was buzzing with commentary. Since it had been the lowly Astros that no-hit the Yanks, the town gave no credit to them. Instead, everybody in authority on the Yankees needed to be fired, right now.
We arrived at Yankee Stadium in full Astros gear. As we crossed the street towards the ballpark, a yellow cab slowed to a near-stop in front of us. A big guy with a huge cigar leaned out of the window holding the sports section up with its headline about the no-hitter the day before.
His friendly greeting? “Not today, Mutha F**ers!”
Cody, who had certainly heard all that before but couldn’t admit it, turned beet red. I looked over at him and said, “Cody, welcome to New York City.”
The cabbie had been right — it was not the MFers day. The Astros lost. But we still had an unforgettable experience at “The House That Ruth Built,” and even sang “New York, New York” with Sinatra after the game.
Back in Boston, Fenway delivered exactly what you hope for — history, characters and knowledgeable fans eager to talk about both. We learned all about the ballpark, Ted Williams and the other immortals. And we got to see Jeff Bagwell launch one over the Green Monster!
All in all, a great way to experience America: through the eyes of your kid and the lens of baseball.
✍️ Submit your story: Do you have a fondest sports memory? Or an example of sports having a profound impact on your life? If you’d like to share, email me at kendall.baker@yahooinc.com. We’ll keep sharing your stories until they run out!
📺 Watchlist: Wednesday, Feb. 18
🏒 Men’s Hockey, Quarterfinals
The last eight take the ice in Milan. Slovakia vs. Germany is already underway (6:10am ET, Peacock), followed by Canada vs. Czechia (10:40am, USA) and Finland vs. Switzerland (12:10pm, USA). Then the Americans take on Sweden in today’s finale (3:10pm, USA).
Group stage recap: The U.S. and Canada both went 3-0, with Canada earning the top seed on the strength of a +17 goal differential (USA was at +11). Canada’s Connor McDavid leads all players with nine points (2 goals, 7 assists), while his teenage teammate Macklin Celebrini and Germany’s Tim Stützle are tied for the most goals, with four each.
⛷️ Women’s Slalom
Today is Mikaela Shiffrin’s last shot for an Olympic medal in Milan, with her second and final slalom run coming up shortly (7:30am, USA).
Where it stands: Shiffrin finally delivered the ski we’ve been waiting for, with her first run from earlier this morning placing her in first by nearly a full second over the field. That means she’ll ski last for this upcoming second run, with the two times added together to determine the winner.
🥇 Medal events
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🏂 Snowboard: Women’s Slopestyle Final (8:30am, Peacock)
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🎯 Biathlon: Women’s 4x6km Relay (8:45am, Peacock)
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⛸️ Short Track: Men’s 500m Finals (2:15pm, USA); Women’s 3000m Relay Final (3pm, USA)
More to watch:
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🏀 NCAAM: No. 20 Arkansas at No. 25 Alabama (7pm, ESPN); No. 23 BYU at No. 4 Arizona (9pm, ESPN) … The Wildcats have lost two straight after winning their first 23 games.
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⚽️ Champions League: Qarabag vs. Newcastle (12:45pm, Paramount+); Olympiacos vs. Leverkusen (3pm, Paramount+); Bodø/Glimt vs. Inter Milan (3pm, Paramount+); Club Brugge vs. Atlético Madrid (3pm, CBSSN) … First-leg playoff matches to qualify for the Round of 16.
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⚽️ Women’s Champions League: Real Madrid (up 3-2) vs. Paris FC (12:45pm, Paramount+); Arsenal (up 4-0) vs. OH Leuven (3pm, Paramount+) … Second-leg playoff matches to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events happening in your city. Get tickets now!
🏀 NBA trivia
The NBA season resumes tomorrow after a week-long pause for the All-Star break.
Question: Which of the following teams is NOT currently in playoff or play-in position?
(A) Bulls
(B) Trail Blazers
(C) Clippers
(D) Hornets
Answer at the bottom.
📸 Photo finish
Livigno, Italy — An athlete competes in the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Qualification on day nine of the Winter Games.
Behind the lens: “Infrared” is a series of pictures taken at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics with mirrorless cameras that have been modified to capture the electromagnetic spectrum beyond what’s visible to the human eye.
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Trivia answer: (A) Bulls
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