Things got a bit heated on Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium.
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe and New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs got into it early in the fourth quarter of their Super Bowl LX matchup in Santa Clara, California.
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Things started after Jobe was covering Diggs on a route in the final period of the game. Jobe came in and blindsided Diggs after he was already out of bounds, away from the play in question. Diggs immediately hopped up and confronted Jobe, and things escalated quickly.
Eventually, as an official was trying to separate them, Jobe threw a left-handed punch that drilled Diggs right in the facemask.
Neither Jobe nor Diggs were penalized for the altercation. As a flag wasn’t thrown on the field, the NFL wasn’t able to step in and assess further punishment, either.
The Patriots did score their first touchdown of the game, finally, a few plays later. Quarterback Drake Maye found Mack Hollins for a 35-yard score to get them on the board. That gave them a bit of life, too, after it looked like the Seahawks were going to roll to a blowout win.
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But the Seahawks sealed the deal after Devon Witherspoon drilled Maye in the backfield and forced an interception, which Uchenna Nwosu ran back 44 yards for a touchdown. That powered them to the 29-13 victory and gave them their first Super Bowl win in more than a decade. Diggs ended the night with 37 yards on three catches. Jobe had seven total tackles, one of which was for a loss.
While both players avoided an in-game penalty, the league could be coming with a fine of some sort for at least one of the two guys in the coming days.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are trying to win during Paul Skenes’ prime. The team continued its offseason spending spree Monday, reportedly agreeing to a one-year, $12 million deal with designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman.
The deal also reportedly contains a $16 million mutual option for 2027, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Ozuna, 35, is coming off a season in which he slashed .232/.355/.400 with 21 home runs over 592 plate appearances. While that slash line was 14% better than league-average, it was a steep decline for Ozuna, who hit 48% better than league-average over his previous two seasons. Between 2023 and 2024, he had a .289/.364/.552 slash line and combined for 79 home runs.
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The move marks yet another offseason addition for the Pirates. Prior to the reported Ozuna signing, the team traded for power-hitting second baseman Brandon Lowe and signed free-agent Ryan O’Hearn to one of the biggest deals in the franchise’s recent history.
Power was clearly a focus this offseason for the Pirates, who finished dead last in the majors last season with 117 home runs. That figure was 31 home runs fewer than the tally of the St. Louis Cardinals, who finished 29th in the majors with 148 home runs.
Whether Ozuna has anything left in his bat, however, remains to be seen. At 35, he is a threat to experience major age-related decline and appeared to show signs of that decline last season. After averaging a roughly 92-mph exit velocity across 2023 and 2024, Ozuna’s exit velocity dropped to 89.9 last season. His max exit velocity also fell to 112.1 mph, his lowest figure since the stat started being tracked in 2015.
That, combined with Ozuna’s bat speed dropping, is cause for concern moving forward. While Ozuna has recovered from down seasons in the past, getting back to his peak numbers could be tough, especially if last year’s struggles were due to his age and not injury.
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The Pirates are going to need Ozuna’s bat to show some life because he’s extremely unlikely to play the field. Ozuna has not appeared as a defensive player since 2023, when he played two games in the outfield.
If Ozuna can hit like he did in 2025, even that would represent an upgrade for the Pirates. The team was desperate for offensive help heading into the offseason and has now addressed that need in multiple ways.
The Pirates’ strength is certainly in the starting rotation. At 23, Paul Skenes already has an argument for the title of best pitcher in the majors. He posted an ERA under 2.00 in each of his first two seasons and already has a Cy Young award.
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But despite his excellence, the Pirates haven’t won. In his debut season, the team went 76-86. With Skenes putting up Cy Young numbers in his second season, the Pirates declined to 71-91.
Those struggles have led to speculation that the Pirates could trade the young pitcher in hopes of receiving a massive package to help them get back to contention. But the Pirates have publicly shut down that speculation, and the team’s offseason strategy suggests it wants to build around Skenes moving forward.
While that’s an admirable goal, the Pirates haven’t landed major names this winter. Instead, the team has shopped in a lower tier, focusing on under-the-radar upgrades. Even so, the Pirates, on paper, look like a much better team heading into the 2026 MLB season.
In a competitive National League, the Pirates have done enough this winter to be in the conversation for a wild-card spot in 2026. Whether they reach that goal could depend on how much the team continues to add or how quickly it’s willing to pivot if players such as Ozuna fail to live up to expectations.
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🚨 Headlines
⛳️ Gotterup wins again: Rising star Chris Gotterup beat Hideki Matsuyama in a playoff to win the Phoenix Open, capturing his second victory of the year after also taking last month’s season-opening Sony Open. The 26-year-old, who began last year ranked 191st, is up to No. 5.
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🏀 Top teams fall: No. 14 UNC stormed back to beat No. 4 Duke, 71-68, at the buzzer and hand the Blue Devils just their second loss; No. 22 St. John’s upset No. 3 UConn, 81-72, to end the Huskies’ 18-game win streak; No. 10 Michigan State beat No. 5 Illinois, 85-82 (OT), behind a huge game from sophomore Jeremy Fears Jr. (26 pts, 15 ast).
🏈 Canton makes change: In light of the Bill Belichick controversy, the Pro Football Hall of Fame vote will return to being an in-person discussion among the 50-member committee. Since the pandemic, voting has been virtual.
🏀 Who ya got? Damian Lillard (ruptured Achilles) isn’t expected to play this season, but the Trail Blazers star will still compete in the All-Star 3-Point Contest alongside Devin Booker (Suns), Kon Knueppel (Hornets), Tyrese Maxey (76ers), Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers), Jamal Murray (Nuggets), Bobby Portis Jr. (Bucks) and Norman Powell (Heat).
🏈 NDSU to MWC: FCS powerhouse North Dakota State will shell out $17 million to join the Mountain West Conference as a football-only member starting this coming season. The Bison have won 10 of the past 15 FCS national championships.
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🏈 Seahawks reign supreme
(Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)
The Seahawks put the clamps on the Patriots in Super Bowl LX, holding them scoreless for three quarters en route to a 29-13 victory and the franchise’s second championship.
New team, same formula: The Seahawks won this Super Bowl the same way they won their first: with a suffocating defense. Back in 2014, it was the “Legion of Boom” stifling Peyton Manning and the Broncos. 12 years later, it was the “Dark Side” shutting down Drake Maye and the Pats.
Two years ago, Seattle bucked the “offensive guru” trend and hired the defensive-minded Mike Macdonald to lead their team. Little did they know he’d lead them all the way to the mountaintop, while vanquishing two such gurus (Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan) along the way.
Maye couldn’t get anything going against the league’s No. 1 defense, ending the night with three turnovers and six sacks while facing near-constant pressure. The MVP runner-up was also battling an injured throwing shoulder that required a pain-killing injection before kickoff.
Recipe for success: The Seahawks are the first Super Bowl champions to go the entire postseason without committing a single turnover. That elite ball security helped them cruise most of the way, winning their three playoff games by an average margin of 18.3 points and trailing for a grand total of 1 minute, 35 seconds.
Kenneth Walker III celebrates with Sam Darnold. (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
Player of the Game: Kenneth Walker III (27 carries, 135 yards; 2 receptions, 26 yards) became the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since Terrell Davis in 1998. The award held special meaning for the Tennessee native, who shared with reporters that this was the first game his father ever attended, due to a fear of crowds:
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“My dad, he comes up to Seattle all the time to watch the games, but never goes to [them] because he don’t like crowds. So this was his first NFL game, and we won a Super Bowl … It means a lot to me, and I know he’s proud of me for real.”
More standouts:
Devon Witherspoon (Seahawks): Walker deserved his MVP, but you could also make a strong case for Witherspoon. The defensive back made plays all over the field, including a sack and three QB hits on well-timed blitzes. Get to know the name, if you don’t already.
Jason Myers (Seahawks): Seattle’s longtime kicker made five field goals (Super Bowl record), had 17 points (Super Bowl record) and finished the season with 206 total points (NFL record), breaking LaDainian Tomlinson’s previous mark of 198.
Michael Dickson (Seahawks): 7 punts, 335 yards (47.9 average). Three were downed inside the 6-yard line. Two were returned… for four total yards. He’s the highest-paid punter in football ($4.05 million per year) and he showed why on Sunday.
Christian Gonzalez (Patriots): New England’s Pro-Bowl cornerback was spectacular in defeat, breaking up every pass that came his way… in jaw-dropping fashion. His final line: 22 coverage snaps, 2 targets, 2 forced incompletions.
What are the odds? The Seahawks are one of the unlikeliest championship teams ever when judging by preseason title odds (60-1). In fact, the only U.S. pro sports teams to overcome longer preseason odds and win a championship were the 1999 St. Louis Rams (150-1), the 1991 Minnesota Twins (80-1) and the 2003 Florida Marlins (75-1).
Yes, but: This was no Cinderella story. While the Seahawks didn’t garner much preseason hype, they quickly emerged as a juggernaut and were considered legitimate contenders for much of the year. In the end, Seattle won 17 of their 20 games and lost three by a combined nine points, putting them in elite company among some of the best NFL teams ever assembled.
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More Super Bowl 60:
📸 Super Bowl snapshots
(Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
Pregame: Picture perfect weather and a thrilling jet flyover — timed up beautifully to the end of Charlie Puth’s rendition of the National Anthem — set the stage for Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Field.
Halftime: Bad Bunny’s celebrity-filled performance featured an elaborate set that transformed the field into his native Puerto Rico. In addition to cameos from the likes of Pedro Pascal and Ronald Acuña Jr., as well as a real wedding that took place live on stage, Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin both joined for guest singing appearances.
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A message of unity: The Grammy winner’s final number concluded with him holding a football that read, “Together, we are America,” while the scoreboard behind him read, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
(Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images)
Postgame: Thousands of Seattleites poured out of their respective bars and watch parties, and swiftly migrated to Pioneer Square to celebrate late into the evening. There will be a parade on Wednesday, but why wait to party?
Live on the scene: “Bad Bunny beats filled the air with jubilation … With fireworks going off and car horns blaring, a dance party formed outside the Polymarket Portal, where fans in Seattle and Boston could see each other live.” (Seattle Times)
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🎿 Vonn breaks leg in harrowing crash
The moment just before Vonn’s crash. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)
Lindsey Vonn’s remarkable attempt to compete in the Olympics on a torn ACL ended in devastation on Sunday when she crashed just 13 seconds into her run, losing control after her pole clipped a gate.
Heartbreaking scene: The event, later won by American Breezy Johnson, was halted for more than 20 minutes as Vonn, screaming in pain, was airlifted off the mountain. She underwent surgery for a fractured left leg (the same leg that was missing an ACL) and is reportedly in stable condition.
From Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wolken:
It was devastating to watch, even more brutal to hear. For a nation that had become enraptured in Lindsey Vonn’s comeback story, the helpless cries of pain as she lay on her back and as the mountain fell silent will be hard to erase from memory.
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Downhill skiing is often breathtaking. It is sometimes gruesome. And for the second time in nine days, the image of an American sports heroine being strapped to a board and lifted into a helicopter churned the stomach.
But that’s skiing down a mountain at 80 miles per hour. That’s the risk Vonn signed up for when she decided to compete in an Olympics nine days after an ACL tear during a different competition in Switzerland.
That’s what happens sometimes when you go for it. And that’s exactly what Vonn did.
Like clockwork, there will undoubtedly be detractors who say Vonn shouldn’t have tried something so dangerous, so audacious.
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But Vonn, 41, has lived her entire life audaciously. She also knows more about what can happen on a ski slope, for better and worse, than the rest of us put together.
She understood what could happen. She deserved the chance. And now, only she can answer whether the consequences for her body were worth it. It’s not our business.
Welcome back(flip): Backflips were banned from the Olympics for safety reasons after American skater Terry Kubicka became the first to pull one off in the 1976 Games. France’s Surya Bonaly landed one illegally at Nagano 1998, receiving a deduction, before the ban was finally lifted in 2024.
📺 21.4 million viewers
Friday’s Opening Ceremony averaged 21.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, a 34% jump from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, which were the least-watched Winter Games in history.
ICYMI: Some of the most memorable moments included musical performances from Mariah Carey and Andre Boceilli, a parade of colorful espresso makers in a nod to Italy’s place in coffee culture, and “White Lotus” actress Sabrina Impacciatore’s musical number depicting 100 years of Olympic history.
(Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo Sports)
🥇 13 completed events
Norway is the early leader with three gold medals (men’s skiathlon, men’s 5000m speed skating, women’s normal hill ski jump) out of the 13 events that were completed through Sunday, while host nation Italy has an Olympics-leading nine total medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 6 bronze).
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History in sight: Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (skiathlon) won his sixth gold medal, putting him just two shy of matching the record. With five events left, he could leave Italy as the winningest Winter Olympian ever. Some people are just built different.
💰 $23 million
Eileen Gu, an American-born freestyle skier who competes for China, was the fourth highest-paid female athlete of 2025 with $23 million in earnings. According to Sportico, all but $20,000 of that came from endorsements.
The social media age: While sponsorships have always been crucial to the earning potential of Olympic athletes, financial success no longer hinges on whose image lands on the Wheaties box. Now most of the action happens on social media, where Gu and her 2 million Instagram followers are near the top of the “influencer” food chain.
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📺 Watchlist: Monday, Feb. 9
Chock and Bates celebrate after their dominant performance in the Team Event on Friday. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)
⛸️ Figure Skating, Rhythm Dance
Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, skating partners since 2011 and married since 2024, kick off their Ice Dance competition today with the Rhythm Dance (1:20pm ET, USA). The duo already helped power Team USA to gold in the Team Event over the weekend.
How it works: Rhythm Dance features performances of no more than 2 minutes, 50 seconds, set to this season’s theme of “music, dance styles, and feeling of the 1990s.” The second segment, Free Dance, is longer and has fewer restrictions.
🥌 Curling, Mixed Doubles Semifinals
The final four take the ice this afternoon in Cortina (12pm, USA), where Team USA will face Italy in one semifinal and Great Britain will face Sweden in the other.
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Meet Team USA:Cory Thiesse (Duluth, Minnesota) and Korey Dropkin (Boston), former college classmates and curling partners since 2022, will contend for a medal after advancing to the semifinals for the first time in team history.
🏒 Women’s Hockey, Prelims
Team USA continues its quest for a third gold medal in today’s match against Switzerland (2:40pm, USA) after dominating their first two games against Czechia and Finland by a combined score of 10-1.
Collision course: Canada, the only other nation to win Olympic gold (five times), faces Czechia this afternoon (3:10pm, Peacock) before taking on the U.S. tomorrow in a potential preview of the gold-medal match.
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🥇 Medal Events
Austrian snowboarder Anna Gasser has won both Olympic gold medals in Women’s Big Air since the event debuted in 2018. Can she make it 3-for-3 in her final Winter Games?
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After the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots Sunday night, the offseason has officially arrived for all 32 teams. Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold became the first quarterback to start for at least four teams (he’s started for five) and then win a Super Bowl. Before his Super Bowl run with the Seahawks, Darnold struggled in big games, with turnovers and injuries, and had only one postseason appearance.
In a copycat league, teams are already looking for the next Darnold, a quarterback who needs a change of scenery, or a few, to get their career back on track.
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The quarterback who most closely fits the Darnold archetype has reportedly already been taken off the market. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that the 49ers plan to keep Mac Jones as the team’s backup quarterback behind Brock Purdy rather than trade him. Jones performed admirably when Purdy went down last season, throwing for 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, and was 5-3 in the eight games he started.
Jones started his career with the Patriots before being traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2024. Jones then signed a two-year, $7 million prove-it deal under 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan to play behind Purdy, a step that Darnold called pivotal to his revival.
Can teams find this year’s Sam Darnold in the trade market? (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
(Perry Knotts via Getty Images)
While Jones has expressed his desire to get another chance as a starting quarterback, he reportedly told ESPN he rediscovered his joy this season. Shanahan and general manager John Lynch also spoke highly of Jones and said they expected him to be back after the season ended with their loss to the Seahawks in the divisional round. Jones is under contract for another year at a salary cap number of $3.07 million.
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Two quarterbacks who could reportedly be on the move are the Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray and the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa. Schefter listed the Dolphins, Cardinals, the New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings as teams that could be in the market for a quarterback this offseason.
Murray threw for 962 yards, 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in 5 games before missing the rest of the season with a foot injury. Murray, 28, spent his first seven seasons with the Cardinals and has played in only one playoff game. Murray has missed 30 games in his NFL career.
Tagovailoa threw for 2,660 yards, 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Only Darnold and Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith had more turnovers than Tagovailoa. The 27-year-old quarterback was benched in favor of seventh-round rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers in Week 16. Tagovailoa has also lost his only playoff game in his six-year career and has played a full season only once.
Despite NFL teams potentially being interested in both of the former first-round picks, financial complications will be the biggest hurdle.
The Dolphins signed Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212.1 million extension in July 2024. They reportedly already owe him $54 million guaranteed in 2026, and another $3 million of Tagovailoa’s 2027 salary becomes guaranteed on the fifth day of the new league year, March 15.
Cutting Tagovailoa would leave a $99 million dead-money salary cap charge, the largest in NFL history, while designating him as a post–June 1 cut would spread the money over two years.
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Murray is in the second year of a $230.5 million contract that he signed in 2022. Per The Athletic, he is on the Cardinals’ books for $125.1 million through 2028. Nearly $40 million is fully guaranteed in 2026. If the Cardinals outright release Murray in March, they’ll have a dead-cap hit of $57.7 million. If they release him after June 1, the dead cap would split: $50.5 million in 2026 and $7.2 million in 2027.
Both teams could hit the reset button at quarterback after head coaching changes this offseason.
Atlanta Falcons rookie James Pearce Jr. was arrested Saturday on a series of domestic violence-related charges, according to Miami-Dade County jail records.
Pearce faces two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon as well as aggravated stalking, fleeing or eluding police with lights or siren, aggravated battery involving a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer without violence to his person. He was booked at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Saturday.
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On Sunday, it was confirmed Pearce is facing five felony accounts, and he posted $20,500 bond, per ESPN. Pearce was also given a stay-away order, ensuring he does not interact with the woman reportedly involved in the dispute that led to Pearce’s arrest, per ESPN.
More details emerged regarding Pearce’s arrest Monday. Pearce was accused of crashing his car into a car being driven by the alleged victim multiple times. Pearce was also accused of hitting a police officer with a vehicle while trying to evade arrest, per ESPN.
According to Local 10 News, Pearce was arrested after officers were dispatched for a dispute between a man and woman. Pearce is reportedly alleged to have fled the scene and crashed his vehicle at the end of a police chase. There is video on social media that appears to show his arrest, in which seven officers can be seen wrestling him to the ground and putting him in handcuffs.
“We are aware of an incident involving James Pearce Jr., in Miami. We are in the process of gathering more information and will not have any further comment on an open legal matter at this time.”
Pearce was selected 26th overall by the Falcons in the 2025 NFL Draft after two first-team All-SEC seasons with Tennessee. He posted 26 combined tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks in his rookie year and finished in third place for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
But for many athletes at the Milan Cortina Games, particularly those who compete in sports that would be inherently dangerous for regular people, the entire concept of acceptable risk isn’t relatable at all.
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“In a lot of ways, it’s kind of like driving your car,” said retired ski racer and four-time Olympic medalist Julia Mancuso. “It’s supposed to be safe but there’s car accidents all the time.”
While the outcome of Vonn’s decision to compete played out in horrifying fashion for everyone to see — to be clear, it’s uncertain whether weakness in her knee or an over-aggressive strategy caused her to clip a gate and go tumbling toward further injury — the unfortunate result does not inherently mean she was reckless.
In an array of winter sports that take place on snowboards and skis, typically involving human beings moving down a mountain at top speed or spinning and flipping through the air, there is no competition if there is no risk.
The athletes who have chosen to make those sports their life’s work face the potential of severe injury and death every day. But that does not mean they approach competition with fearlessness. Often, it’s quite the opposite.
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“You’re about to fly through the air with these heavy sticks and weights on your feet and you’re going to take off on ice and land on ice,” said Alex Ferreira, a freestyle skier who specializes in the halfpipe. “And if you don’t do it perfectly, the consequence is extremely high.”
Ferreira, a 31-year old who won a silver and bronze medal at the past two Winter Games, does not fit the outdated stereotype of an X Games athlete rolling out of bed after a night of partying and hitting the mountain in baggy pants. Maybe some of that was true in his younger days, but as one of freeski’s elder statesmen, he’s in bed by 8 p.m., brings his own food on the road and approaches his job with extreme seriousness.
That’s because the job is to launch himself into a curved, hollowed-out icicle with 22-foot walls, ski up the sides and use the momentum to get airborne. From there, he will perform complex, highly technical tricks that get bolder and more dangerous every year to remain competitive in a sport where each generation of athletes pushes past old boundaries.
A bad day at the office doesn’t mean failing to medal. It’s broken bones, as Vonn suffered on Sunday, concussions and maybe even a loss of life.
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What is going through Ferreira’s mind when he’s getting ready to drop in and perform some of these tricks, particularly ones he’s never tried in competition? It’s not fearlessness. Sometimes, it’s quite the opposite.
“I’m scared ****less,” he said.
Even after all the training, Alex Ferreira still feels the nerves whenever he flies out of a halfpipe. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
(Sean M. Haffey via Getty Images)
Knowing your limit
But for the best in the world, a healthy respect for the worst-case scenario isn’t just a requirement, it’s a superpower.
It never guarantees that everyone is going to make it through safely. But it does tilt the risk profile further in their favor than most of us civilians can wrap our minds around.
That can be hard to quantify with a number, but it’s the seed of doubt that keeps them safe on days when the wind blows a little too hard or when they’re not physically at their best. It’s the meter in the back of their minds constantly calculating the likelihood of landing a trick or nailing a run — and the potential danger waiting for them if they don’t. In many cases, it’s what prevents a bruising fall from becoming broken bones or worse.
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It’s the necessary boundary between being an adrenaline junkie and doing something that turns risk into recklessness.
“I’ve never tried anything where I was like, ‘Oh, this might not be the day for it,’” said Alex Hall, the freestyle skier who won slopestyle gold in Beijing four years ago. “You want to be on the upper edge of your comfort level, but there’s a fine line between [approaching it] and going beyond it.”
United States’ Lindsey Vonn crashes into a gate during an alpine ski women’s downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Did Vonn go too far?
Mancuso can only relate it to a similar experience she had at the Sochi Games in 2014, where her confidence after winning the first portion of the women’s combined event got the better of her and she took more aggressive lines than she should have in more difficult conditions.
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“I think [Vonn] went into the Olympics and was like, ‘This is it. I’m leaving it all on the line,’” Mancuso said. “And she kind of forgot she was injured. And rightfully so, you don’t want to go out of the gate thinking I’m injured. But in this situation, she probably shouldn’t have been pushing the limits above that line. It looked to me like the course ran faster and you could see her kick out of the start gate with everything she had to give and went really tight across the traverse.
“If you’re really trying to not leave anything on the hill, you cut the line to these tiny bits. So in that sense, she was really trying to be perfect and the snow was a little bit grippy or a bit harder and it didn’t push her down the hill probably like she thought and launched her right into that gate.”
Bar continues to rise
Much like in speed racing, where the improvement in technology has made skiers faster and their task more treacherous, the trend lines in freeski and snowboard have moved in the direction of more dangerous maneuvers. Tricks that might have won medals two or three Olympics ago are now considered pedestrian.
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Take, for example, the big air competition. Added to the Olympics in 2018, competitors ski or snowboard down a massive ramp, launch into the air and perform a trick that is judged on a variety of factors including creativity, difficulty, number of flips and rotations and, of course, execution.
It is an inherently dangerous endeavor, one that has always given pause to Red Gerard, a slopestyle specialist who won the gold medal in 2018. In the Olympics, making the team means qualifying for both events automatically. After failing to qualify for the Big Air final on Thursday night here, he questioned why snowboarders have to do both and criticized the setup of the jump, a freestanding structure built on scaffolding, rather than cut into the mountain.
“I don’t understand why we’re forced to do this,” he said. “I just want to be focusing on slopestyle. Not to dig on anyone that does it — everyone that does this are badasses that are very good at the sport — but this is not my gig.”
LIVIGNO, ITALY – FEBRUARY 02: A general view of the Big Air venue inside the Olympic Snow Park on February 02, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
(David Ramos via Getty Images)
Gerard is among the many snowboarders who watched as Canada’s Mark McMorris crashed during big air training on Wednesday and withdrew, citing the fact he hit his head during the fall. Though it appears McMorris did not suffer serious injuries and could compete in slopestyle, it was one more factor giving pause to riders like Gerard who do not want to compromise themselves for their best event.
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“He’s like a GOAT of our sport,” Gerard said. “You think those guys are invincible in a lot of ways and it sucks to see when it does happen like that. I think, personally, maybe that could have been avoided, doing a jump on scaffolding and stuff like that.”
And Big Air only gets bigger and more dangerous every Olympic cycle.
Snowboarder Jamie Anderson, now 35, won silver at the first big air in Pyeongchang with a frontside 1080-degree trick — three full rotations in the air. She was one-upped by Austria’s Anna Gasser, who executed a more complex 1080.
Four years later in Beijing, it took a double cork 1260 — 3½ full off-axis spins — for Gasser to repeat as gold medalist while Anderson finished off the podium. Anderson, who failed to qualify for this year’s Olympic team after taking time away from the sport to have children, acknowledged that her new status as a mother changed her risk profile.
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“The tricks are crazy,” she said. “Girls are doing triple corks and 1440s and maybe even 1620s. In four years to see how much it’s evolved and progressed just goes to show how insane all the training facilities and modern technology has become.”
Anna Gasser of Team Austria performs a trick during the Women’s Snowboard Big Air final at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
(Elsa via Getty Images)
No guarantees
These skiing and snowboarding labs are where the elaborate and dangerous tricks get built. Before one of these athletes ever tries something risky on the snow, they will have practiced all the moves on a trampoline, progressing to rollerblades into a foam pit and then jumping into a 300-by-100-foot airbag with their skis or snowboard on.
Still, even after months of development, it’s different when you’re on the mountain with no air bag for protection.
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“You have to go, you have to try it and you have to fully commit the first time,” said Nick Goepper, a freestyle skier who has medaled in slopestyle at the past three Winter Games.
But what happens if you get into the heat of competition and realize everything you’ve practiced and perfected isn’t going to be good enough?
That’s certainly the situation Hall faced four years ago in Beijing, knowing he needed something special in his final attempt to medal in big air. Instead of trying an easier trick that would have given him a 50-50 shot to be on the podium, he took on extra risk trying to win it all.
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“I didn’t make that decision until about five seconds before dropping in,” he said. “It didn’t quite go my way — I landed on my feet and barely tipped over — but I’m proud of trying it.”
In a way, that innate desire to reach for something a little more is what animates so much of the progression in these dangerous winter sports. It’s not just about winning, it’s about looking good and pushing your own limits — even if you fail.
“The guys you really respect in your sport, you want them to be excited about what you’re doing too,” Hall said.
As a result, it’s practically impossible to compete in these sports over a long stretch of time without suffering a few injuries along the way, forcing athletes to hone their own instincts about what’s too dangerous, how to safely eject from a bad situation and mitigate damage if something goes wrong.
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“Once you take a crash, you learn quickly, ‘Oh, I don’t want that to happen again,’” Ferreira said. “You realize it can’t happen again or I won’t be able to keep going.”
But there are never any guarantees, and with each Olympic cycle, the bar for danger gets raised. Younger competitors are willing to take on more and more risk. The outgoing generation has to decide whether it’s worthwhile to try and keep up.
Vonn ended up on the wrong side of that line Saturday. But after a lifetime of managing the inherent risks of her sport, it wasn’t because she didn’t respect the potential for danger. It’s because she was comfortable with it in ways most of us will never understand.
Welcome back to The Playlist: my weekly column that lets you know who to add off the waiver wire and get in your lineup for the upcoming week in fantasy basketball.
Every league is different — sometimes a 75% rostered player hits waivers, whether by mistake or because they’ve hit an intolerable slump. If they fit your build, get ’em. But for this column, we’re focusing on players under 50% rostered who are widely available and ready to help in Week 17 or beyond.
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Reminder: The Week 17 scoring period lasts two weeks from Feb. 9 through Feb. 22. Your weekly waiver transactions will not reset each week, so don’t blow through all of your transactions before you hit the second part of Week 17!
Kyle Kuzma – FC, Milwaukee Bucks (27%)
Hard to believe, but Kuz has been a top-40 player in High Score over the past two weeks, averaging 40 fantasy points per game. As long as Giannis is out, he’ll play 30+ minutes per game and the bump in usage has led to him posting a solid 18/7/6 line in his last five outings.
The Bucks play three of their five games in Part 1 of Week 17, so if he doesn’t do it for you, drop him and move on. The Bucks start the week against the Magic twice and play OKC on Thursday before the All-Star Break.
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Ty Jerome – G, Memphis Grizzlies (33%)
According to Grizzlies GM Zack Kleiman, it will take a “medical determination” for Ja Morant to play again. I take that as code for: he’s not playing anytime soon. Therefore, Jerome is a must-add in all formats. Since returning to the court four games ago, he’s averaged 37 fantasy points per game in High Score. Scotty Pippen Jr. is back, and Cam Spencer is still a factor; however, Jerome has the most upside of the backcourt trio. He’s dropped at least 19 points with 5 assists in three of his four games with a 20-minute cap. Those numbers will spike once he’s cleared to play more than 25 minutes.
Day’Ron Sharpe – FC, Brooklyn Nets (15%)
Expect the Nets to continue resting their key rotational players sporadically for the rest of the season. It starts with MPJ and Egor Dëmin on Monday. Though they don’t play the same position, Sharpe is the Nets player to add. He’s been a versatile, per-minute beast all year and he’ll make for a good stream across Week 17 with the Nets playing five games. He’s coming off a 52-fantasy point performance in Week 16. With legit double-double potential (plus stocks), make sure he’s not on waivers.
Ivica Zubac is now with the Pacers, leaving Lopez as the next man up to lead the Clippers frontcourt. In his first game without Zu, he put up 15 points with 9 boards, 2 assists and 4 stocks, amassing 40 fantasy points in High Score. Not saying the 37-year-old will do that every night (as seen by his follow-up 5-2-2 dud), but Lopez remains a good source of blocks and is capable of putting up a double-double. There aren’t many frontcourt players available on waivers who will play 28-35 minutes, so Lopez is worth the flier in shallow 10-man leagues like High Score.
🎧 Who’s in My Rotation:Deeper league stashes
Jaden Ivey – PG/SG, Chicago Bulls (26%)
The Bulls’ guard situation is a mess. However, Ivey is the best investment if you’re going to take the plunge. Through two games with his new squad, Ivey is averaging 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Not shabby at all, considering it came with a modest 16% usage rate.
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Josh Giddey (hamstring) is out of the lineup, but for streaming in the short term, Ivey is a good choice, especially for points leagues. I’d also consider Rob Dillingham, as those guards are going to have plenty of freedom to play their way for a Bulls team that traded away most of their vets.
Max Christie – SG/SF, Dallas Mavericks (17%)
Christie can be hit-or-miss, but between the schedule and his role post-trade deadline, he should be well over 20% rostered. Dallas plays five games in Week 17, but the first two fall on the lightest slates of Tuesday and Thursday this week. Christie ranked 77th in Week 16 and his scoring, 3s, steals and low turnover rate are assets for 9-cat leagues. His rostership is down 6%, which is a mistake given he’s been playing like a top-100 option over the past month.
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Aaron Wiggins – SG/SF, Oklahoma City Thunder (12%)
The Thunder are down bad with injuries and Wiggins is an option for 9-cat or points leagues if you’re looking for stocks and scoring. Wiggins has been a top-85 player for the past month, creeping into the top 80 in Week 16. Like the Mavs and Bulls, the Thunder also play five games in Week 17.
In order of priority for Thunder waiver options, I’d go with Cason Wallace, Wiggins, Isaiah Joe, then everyone else.
Fantasy basketball pickups and advice.
Gui Santos – SF/PF, Golden State Warriors (12%)
Santos is on a heater right now, becoming the Warriors’ third-leading scorer with the highest true-shooting percentage on the team in their previous six contests. He’s shooting 61% from the field while chipping in 2 3s, 2.5 stocks and a combined 8 rebounds + assists with a low turnover rate. Those cross-categorial numbers are why he’s been a top-55 player over the past two weeks. There’s no better Warrior to add than Santos at the moment.
Nique Clifford – SG/SF, Sacramento Kings (12%)
The Colorado State rookie is giving us a glimpse of what the silly season could be like for the Kings. Clifford’s coming off a monster 30-4-4 effort that also included 4 stocks on Saturday in a loss to Cleveland. He was outstanding and he scored 16 with another 3 stocks in the game before. I’m excited for him to get the opportunity to play more meaningful minutes with Zach LaVine (finger) out and Malik Monk falling out of favor as the season progresses.
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It might be early, but these are the type of pickups you want to make now before it’s too late. The Kings play the Pelicans and Jazz in the first part of Week 17, so don’t be surprised if Clifford goes off again. I’d add him in competitive 12-team points and 9-cat formats. I’d also take a look at Devin Carter and Dylan Cardwell, who are both hoopin’ right now.
Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic comeback ended with a crash on Sunday, but while the skiing legend was going through a terrible ordeal after suffering a fractured leg, she had a teammate in mind.
According to Vonn’s coach, Aksel Lund Svindal, the 41-year-old Vonn was eager to send a congratulatory message to Breezy Johnson before being airlifted off the mountain by helicopter.
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In an Instagram post on Monday, Svindal praised Vonn’s “bravery” and character” while revealing Vonn’s support for Johnson.
“Lindsey. You’re incredibly brave. You inspire people that follow your journey and us that work closely with you every day. Yesterday was a tough day on the mountain. For everyone, but most of all for you. Still something happened that I think says everything. ‘Tell Breezy congrats and good job’. Your teammate was in the lead, and that’s the message you wanted the US skiteam coaches to remember before you got airlifted to the hospital. Real character shows up in the hard moments.”
In addition to the joy of winning gold, Johnson also felt the emotions of watching Vonn crash and get airlifted from the Tofane slope at Cortina d’Ampezzo. While waiting through a 30-minute delay and for the rest of the competition to finish, she could be seen tearing up several times.
“The work that we put in, the careers, my heart aches for her. It’s a tough road, and it’s a tough sport,” Johnson said Sunday. “That’s the beauty and the madness of it, that it can hurt you so badly, but you keep coming back for more. “
I don’t have anything except that her coach said she was cheering for me in the helicopter. I hope for the best for her. I hope that it’s not too bad. My heart aches for her. It’s such a brutal sport sometimes.”
Johnson knows what Vonn has gone through. She tore her ACL in 2018, causing her to miss the entire 2019 season. Then in June of that year she tore the PCL and MCL in her left knee during training. Preparations for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing were further interrupted by a pandemic.
Vonn underwent two operations to stabilize her fractured left leg, according to Reuters. The skiing legend was flown to Treviso’s Ca’ Foncello Hospital for care a little over a week after she ruptured the ACL in her left knee. The procedures were done to prevent complications that are tied to swelling and blood flow.
Johnson, meanwhile, isn’t done skiing in Milan. She is paired with Mikaela Shiffrin in Tuesday’s women’s team combined, which is debuting in these Olympics. The event features teams with one downhill skier and one slalom skier. Johnson will handle downhill duties, while Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and eight-time World Champion, will be part of the slalom.
Looks like high scores are back on the menu! It figures that the minute Nikola Jokić gets back into the Nuggets lineup, we see a shift away from Luka Dončić dominating the perfect lineup week-after-week. But it wasn’t Joker who topped the scoreboard in Week 16 in fantasy basketball — it was the reigning Rookie of the Year.
Let’s take a look at the perfect lineup from this past week, which featured a few players we haven’t seen in here before.
Week 16 High Score Perfect Lineup. (Photo by Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)
More on the top performers
Stephon Castle, guard: Castle is your best score of last week, coming (virtually) out of nowhere. We say that because the Spurs PG hadn’t topped 60+ fantasy points in a game all season long. In fact, his highest output since Dec. 10 was 54 points prior to Saturday, when Castle had a 40-point triple-double with 12 apiece in rebounds and assists while adding 4 stocks. Plenty of teams have had their rosters gutted after the trade deadline last week and are in full-tank mode. Look out, because those will be prime teams to target against when it comes to fantasy.
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Isaiah Collier, guard: Collier has been in and out of the Jazz lineup thanks to injuries and the deadline. Utah shipped out four players as part of the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade, plus third-year guard Keyonte George has been dealing with an ankle injury. In a rare win over the bottom-dwelling Pacers, the Jazz ran a seven-man rotation, which helped Collier play the ENTIRE 48 MINUTES last Tuesday. As a result, Collier dished out an astonishing 22 assists to just two turnovers in the victory.
Nikola Jokić, frontcourt: Jokic has been back for five games entering play on Monday as we approach the All-Star break. He had a few tough matchups, so of course, a date with the Bulls, who had a very active deadline, was the perfect High Score remedy. Managers who had seen Joker posting 80+ fantasy points consistently were glad to see him return to that realm in Week 16 with 22-14-17 with 5 stocks in just 33 minutes.
Jalen Johnson, frontcourt: The Hawks now-top player had a very consistent week with three triple-doubles, coming three counting stats away from a fourth on Saturday versus the Hornets. Atlanta acquired Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield in a deal with the Warriors prior to the deadline and both players have yet to make their team debuts. Gabe Vincent was also brought in, so those three should join the rotation and could take some usage and minutes away from Johnson. Though, for High Score, all we need is one ceiling game, not four, in any given week.
Trey Murphy III, frontcourt: The Bucks are a team in purgatory with Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined. That allowed the Pelicans (and Murphy) to take advantage despite losing in OT last Wednesday. In a track meet, Murphy was sublime, going 15-of-28 from the field and 12-of-19 from distance for 44 points in 40 minutes. Murph should get every opportunity to chuck the rest of the season with the Pelicans not bound for the playoffs.
Jalen Brunson, utility: Talk about a player who could use the All-Star break. Brunson hasn’t been at his best the past month-plus. In January, he only averaged 23.3 points per game and is clearly battling through injuries. While he’s been shaky in February, he did pop off in a 2OT win over the Nuggets with 42 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds in 47 minutes. We should see more hero ball from Brunson as the Knicks jockey for seeding in the Eastern Conference down the stretch.
A reporter asked two-time gold medalist Chloe Kim and three other American snowboarders at a Monday news conference if they would like to address Trump calling their teammate a “real loser” or how it feels representing Team USA in the current political climate.
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All four snowboarders chose to answer the question. They each described themselves as proud to represent the U.S., but three referenced the tensions back home caused by immigration raids and other political crises.
Kim, a 25-year-old native of Southern California whose parents emigrated from South Korea, began by saying the question “hits pretty close to home.”
“In moments like these, I think it is really important for us to unite and stand up for one another for all that’s going on,” Kim said. “I’m really proud to represent the United States. The U.S. has given my family and I so much opportunity, but I also think that we are allowed to voice our opinions with what’s going on. I think that we need to lead with love and compassion and I would love to see some more of that.”
Bea Kim, Madeline Schaffrick, and Chloe Kim speak during a press conference at Livigno Snow Park. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
(Hannah Peters via Getty Images)
Those comments from Kim echoed how fellow U.S. snowboarders Bea Kim and Maddie Mastro previously answered the question.
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Bea Kim noted that she is the granddaughter of immigrants.
“Diversity,” she said, “is what makes us a very strong country.”
Mastro described herself as “saddened with what is happening at home.”
“It’s really tough and I feel like we can’t turn a blind eye to that,” she said, “but at the same time I represent a country that has the same values as mine of kindness and compassion. We come together in times of injustice.”
Those comments from the U.S. snowboarders come only three days after Hess ignited a controversy back home when he addressed his struggles reconciling the gap between what his country represents and his individual values. Hess told reporters he has “mixed emotions” wearing red, white and blue during these Olympics.
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“There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of and think a lot of people aren’t,” Hess said. “If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. But just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean that I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”
Mike Eruzione, star of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. men’s hockey team, blasted Hess in a since-deleted tweet. Then on Sunday night, President Trump entered the fray with a post on his Truth Social platform.
“U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,” Trump wrote. “If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Hess is not the only U.S. Olympian wrestling with what it means to represent America in the current political climate. Other athletes asked by international media outlets acknowledged the same even before President Trump’s social media post.
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American skiing icon Mikaela Shiffrin was so prepared for this line of questioning on Saturday that she not only copied down a Nelson Mandela quote used by Charlize Theron during the Opening Ceremony but also read from some notes she had typed into her phone.
“I think it’s always an honor and privilege to represent Team USA and to represent your country,” Shiffrin began.
Then she continued, “For me as this relates to the Olympics, I’m really hoping to show up and represent my own values, values of inclusivity, values of diversity and kindness and sharing, tenacity, work ethic, showing up with my team every single day.”
On the same day that Hess spoke to reporters, Vice President J.D. Vance received a smattering of boos at San Siro stadium in Milan during the Opening Ceremony. Italians have also staged several protests about the presence of ICE agents in their country.
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On Monday, Eileen Gu was asked about Trump lashing out at Hess after her silver medal-winning performance in the women’s freestyle skiing competition. Gu, who was born in the U.S. but represents China, said she was “sorry that the headline that is eclipsing the Olympics has to be something so unrelated to the spirit of the Games.”
“As someone who has been caught in the crossfire before, I feel sorry for the athletes,” she continued. “I hope they can ski to their very best.”
