US women shine at 2026 Winter Olympics
Enjoy the final days of the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Padres have no real plans at backup catcher, San Diego FC starting a teenager in goal to start the MLS season, and a lot more.
For reasons that will become obvious (and public) in the next few weeks, I have been keeping a low profile these days when it comes to content.
Sure, I keep pumping out these newsletters, but I’m doing less podcasts and blogs than I thought I would be doing. And, as such, I’ve been doing less videos for TikTok and Instagram and making less noise on social media than I typically would be.
All of that is to say, I probably haven’t talked enough about how much I have enjoyed the 2026 Winter Olympics. The big moments and the drama and the big wins or huge disappointments, they’ve all been wildly fun (not to mention the olympics dog).
There are only a couple of days left of these games in Milan. If you haven’t been watching by now, you have already missed many of the memorable moments, and that’s a fine choice if it’s the one for you. I just felt like passing along that I felt like I wasn’t going to be a big fan of the skiing/snowboarding/sliding/skating stuff and I really was. That’s a win for trying out things without assumptions.
Now, onto the links!
2026 Winter Olympics
Olympics Day 14: AMERICAN WOMEN - Sports!
It was the first American medal in women’s figure skating since 2006 and first gold since 2002. But Liu’s win feels bigger than just Team USA getting back to the top of one of the most popular sports at the Olympics. She projects a brighter vision for a sport that so often seems designed to break its young competitors, a version of this sport that is actually about bringing them joy rather than breaking them down.
Alysa Liu Is Untouchable - Defector
Where Liu’s short program had been ethereal, her free skate was an unfettered celebration. If the final spin was the infinitely replayable moment of her short program, the fourth jump (at around 1:45 in the above video) is that for her free skate: a triple loop, fully rotated, into a glorious beat drop. All that build-up, and then we were finally off, discoing. The final jumping passes are always the most stressful to watch in any program, but there is never any tension in Liu’s skating. Thanks in part to how she beams after each sequence and in part to her technique (oh, the miracle of a soft knee), she does, as much as it is a cliché, truly make it look easy.
Team USA’s Gold Is Sweeter For The Struggle - Defector
The members of the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team may not admit to this, but they needed to have the pants scared off them by Canada to give the whole gold medal exercise some badly needed historical context. They needed Hilary Knight’s reaper-cheating goal with 2:04 left in regulation to tie the game 1-1 and relocate their binary rivalry with our northern brethren and sistren, and they especially needed Megan Keller’s ultra-crafty game-winning goal in overtime to make it all stick—not just for the postgame pictures, but for the rest of their lives.
Olympian Eileen Gu responds to JD Vance’s comments suggesting she should represent U.S. - The Athletic
When asked about Vance’s words on Thursday, Gu said, via USA Today: “I’m flattered. Thanks, JD! That’s sweet.”
Gu also said that perceptions of China affect how people view her decision to represent the country but “people are entitled to their opinions.”
Winter Olympics 2026: Hunter Hess responds to being called a ‘loser’ by President Trump - Yahoo Sports
Hunter Hess, the American freestyle skier who unexpectedly found himself in the middle of a social media and political firestorm at the beginning of the Olympics, said he has emerged from “probably the two hardest weeks of my life” after being called a “loser” by President Donald Trump.
Hess, who essentially went underground after the controversy exploded, spoke after halfpipe qualifying on Friday. He qualified in fifth place and will be one of four Americans in the 12-person final.
San Diego Padres
Next step in Padres manager Craig Stammen’s education begins with start of spring games - San Diego Union-Tribune
Stammen, hired in November with no coaching or managing experience, has been forthcoming about how much he has to learn.
He laughed when asked what in-game machinations and situations he expected to be most challenging.
“I don’t know,” he said. “We’ve got a laundry list of those things. All of it is new. But all of it, I’ve done it in my head — just not as the guy that has to make the decision. I’ve second-guessed a lot.”
At that, he laughed again, only more heartily.
These are the Padres prospects to watch in Spring Training - MLB.com
Let’s face it: 2025 was mostly a lost season for top prospect Ethan Salas. He was sidelined in April by a stress reaction in his back, and it lingered longer than the Padres initially hoped. Plans for Salas to play in the fall or winter were eventually scrapped, with the organization preferring that he rest, heal and be ready for the 2026 season.
So here we are. There aren’t many prospects with as much riding on this year as Salas. Does he revert to the projection that once had him as a top-five prospect in baseball? Or do the injury concerns and struggles at the plate persist?
Notebook: Padres need motivated Germán Márquez; implementing ABS strategy; slow-playing Ethan Salas - San Diego Union-Tribune
Ethan Salas has been full-go in his third big-league camp, working in with the team’s other catchers in drills and catching bullpens.
But Stammen said the Padres’ top prospect’s playing time in games will not be as great as that of fellow minor-leaguers Rodolfo Durán and Blake Hunt.
That is due in part to the fact that they want to see the other two catchers. There are some in the organization who think Durán could give Luis Campusano a run in the competition to be Freddy Fermin’s backup.
Odds & Ends
San Diego FC to start 19-year-old local goalkeeper in season opener - San Diego Union-Tribune
You might recognize the name. He grew up in the 4S Ranch area of San Diego and attended Del Norte High School, signed with the now-defunct San Diego Loyal SC at age 15, became the youngest goalkeeper to record a shutout in USL Championship history at 16 years, 6 months, was SDFC’s first signee in December 2023, went on loan spells to Orange County SC and Denmark’s FC Nordsjaelland, and then found himself scrambling to put on his gloves last November against Vancouver.
Those 10 minutes are the extent of his MLS experience, but SDFC coach Mikey Varas has seen enough from a September friendly against Club Tijuana and months of training to not rush dos Santos back or sign a veteran replacement.
Torero Women’s Basketball Falls at Pepperdine - USD Toreros
Despite trailing by one point early in the third quarter after two free throws from Kylie Ray, that was as close the Toreros would get as USD fell 76-55.
Ultimately, San Diego was unable to find its stride in the second half, shooting just 25% and was outscored 41-23 in the game’s final 20 minutes.
Ray once again led the Toreros (9-19, 3-12 WCC) in scoring with a game-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists.
NBA plans to enact anti-tanking rules next season, sources say - ESPN
Commissioner Adam Silver informed the league’s 30 general managers Thursday that the NBA plans to make anti-tanking rule changes for next season, sources told ESPN.
The league office’s conversations with stakeholders from the board of governors, competition committee and general managers have been intensifying dialogue about combatting tanking -- including starting to propose potential concepts for changes during its December meeting with owners.
Kevin Durant Neither Confirms Nor Denies The Latest Burner Allegations - Defector
A series of posts and direct messages from the Twitter account @gethigher77 has been screenshotted, circulated, and attributed to Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant. The contents of those screenshots have been compiled here for your browsing ease. The messages from @gethigher77 have a sense of humor roughly congruent with Durant’s, indicate familiarity with NBA figures in Durant’s orbit, and besmirch Durant’s teammates past (Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving) and present (Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr.), but none of that would be difficult to fake. This all broke into wider circulation during the All-Star Weekend; Durant was seen glued to his phone during warmups before the main event, although, in fairness, he seems to always be on his phone.