(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Cleveland 105, San Antonio 92
Chicago 121, Charlotte 109
Toronto 117, Oklahoma City 98
Portland 107, LA Lakers 105
Utah 111, Golden State 85
Sacramento 132, Minnesota 119
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Detroit 6, Philadelphia 3
Chicago 4, Edmonton 1
Dallas 4, Nashville 3
Calgary 6, Vegas 0
Arizona 5, Seattle 2
NY Islanders 6, Vancouver 3
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
SMU 85, Houston 83
Oklahoma 70, Texas Tech 55
Baylor 75, Kansas St. 60
Rutgers 66, Ohio St. 64
Tennessee 72, Mississippi St. 63
Seton Hall 73, Xavier 71
(LOS ANGELES) — As the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams prepare to take the field for the Super Bowl on Sunday, law enforcement officials tell ABC News they’re preparing to secure the big game from potential threats and criminal activity.
ABC News embedded with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations to see the safety concerns around Sofi Stadium and the Los Angeles Convention Center — home to the Super Bowl and its various weekend activities. The stadium is close to Los Angeles International Airport and it is common from inside the stadium to see planes flying at low altitudes overhead. That creates a number of problematic scenarios, authorities say.
“Two things are kind of keeping me up at night. One is the population density of Los Angeles County,” said Brandon Tucker, the deputy director of air operations with CFP’s Air and Marine Operations in San Diego. “Additionally, airspace density.”
Law enforcement will have aircraft high above Sofi Stadium as well as choppers low to the ground to prevent and deter any potential attacks, authorities tell ABC News.
As a result, they say they will restrict up to thirty miles of airspace around the stadium on Sunday.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters at a press conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday there are no credible security threats to Sunday’s big game.
“We have no information of a specific credible threat against the Super Bowl,” Mayorkas said. “What this is all about, is planning and preparation to prevent any incident from occurring.”
Mayorkas said there are more than 500 individuals from Homeland Security in Los Angeles to secure the game.
“There will be a major police presence for the Super Bowl to prevent any incidents,” Jack Ewell, the chief of the Special Operations Division at the LA Sheriff’s office, said at the press conference with Mayorkas. “There has not been any incidents at the Super Bowl Experience.”
Law enforcement officials said they are also concerned about drones around the stadium and the airport.
“Our message for a Super Bowl Sunday is come out, enjoy the game, but leave your drone at home,” said Kevin Morris, a drone expert with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Anyone flying a drone could face a fine of more than $30,000 and possible jail time, according to Morris.
Aboard U.S. Customs and Border Patrol boats, agents are also looking for smugglers trying to take advantage of the federal focus on Sofi Stadium.
Evan Wagley, an agent with CBP’s Air and Marine Operations, said they’ve seen a local uptick in criminals smuggling drugs and humans over the past couple of years.
“We feel it’s highly likely that any of these criminal operations will be trying to use that as a diversion and we want to be able to make sure to be that first line of defense so we can spot anything that would potentially make it into the interior,” Wagley said.
(NEW YORK) — After being selected by the Detroit Lions as the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2009 and 12 seasons without a playoff win before being traded to the Los Angeles Rams, quarterback Matthew Stafford will make his Super Bowl debut at SoFi Stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
His wife, Kelly Stafford says she knows the scrutiny he’s faced and opened up to ABC News’ Good Morning America in an exclusive interview ahead of the Super Bowl.
“I am so excited for him, I mean he has worked his butt off for a long time,” she said. “He had so much pressure on him. That team had so much pressure on them. And if they didn’t make it to the Super Bowl they were a bust, you know? So now that that pressure is kind of taken off in a way, he can just go play this game and have some fun, while he’s doing it.”
After the NFC championship win, Matt Stafford credited his wife for fueling his performance.
“I couldn’t have done it without her. She’s an unbelievable part of my life,” the quarterback said in a post-game press conference. “She’s been through a lot with me, and we’ve leaned on each other at separate times to help ourselves get whatever we’re having to get through.”
The couple battled through a health scare in 2019 when Kelly Stafford successfully underwent a 12-hour surgery to remove an acoustic neuroma from her cranial nerves.
“I wouldn’t be here today, without him,” she told GMA.
“He was the one that really encouraged me to go get checked and fought with me through that entire battle,” she added.
Following her surgery, Stafford said she had to relearn to walk and was forced to take time away from their young daughters throughout her recovery period.
“They said — ‘you can’t have any kids around you'” she recalled, adding that there couldn’t be anything around that could throw off her balance or risk falling and injury. “We actually had to say goodbye to our kids, for I think about three weeks and Matthew really became the most amazing caregiver and it didn’t surprise me, I guess it just more impressed me.”
Since their family’s move to LA, Kelly Stafford let fans behind the scenes on her podcast, “The Morning After,” where she talks about everything from parenting and mental health to football.
“It’s something that’s my own, and I feel like sometimes especially being the wife or a significant other of a professional athlete or anyone who has this kind of limelight you tend to lose yourself,” she said. “And I just felt as a mom in particular it’s mainly for moms to just come and be like ‘hey, no one has their stuff together.’ Like if we can get through these days and our children are happy and healthy that’s all you can hope for.”
She said she already has a plan for filming the Monday after the Super Bowl.
“Honestly, depending on the outcome of it might be a podcast on no sleep, it might be a podcast where I have you know little alcohol in my system if we do take that victory so I’m hoping for that,” Stafford said. “It’ll be entertaining, I’m sure.”
(BEIJING) — For the second straight competition, Mikaela Shiffrin has busted out of the competition just seconds into the first run.
Shiffrin missed the fourth gate in her slalom run, the event where she won her first Olympic gold in 2014, and will not contend for a medal.
The skier, who was expected to challenge for several medals in Beijing, sat on the side of the hill, with her head in her hands, for minutes after the accident.
The second run will come later in the evening.
The 26-year-old also fell during her first run in the giant slalom on Monday, disqualifying her from the event.
“Could blame it on a lot of things…and we’ll analyze it till the cows come home, but not today,” Shiffrin said on Instagram following that crash. “Today I chalk it up to really awful timing of a really frustrating mistake. Moving focus to slalom now, AND cheering for my teammates in the second run of the GS and the DH!”
Sweden’s Sara Hector took the gold with a time of 1:55:68, followed by Italy’s Federica Brignone with a time of 1:55.97 and Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami with a time of 1:56:41.
Shiffrin is one medal away from tying the record for most Olympic medals by a female American Alpine skier, four. She is two gold medals away from holding the record for most golds ever by a female Alpine skier, also four.
Shiffrin aims to have many chances to attempt those feats during the games as she plans on competing in three other Alpine events over the next two weeks.
She is still expected to compete in the super-G on Thursday, the downhill on Valentine’s Day and the combined on Feb. 17.
Shiffrin, a Colorado native, has been competing since she was 16 and quickly became one of the sport’s all-time greatest skiers with her record-setting performances. She is the most decorated Alpine skier in the world circuit, having won 11 World Championship medals, six gold.
At 18 years old she became the youngest slalom champion when she won a gold medal in the 2014 Sochi Games. Shiffrin won a gold medal in the giant slalom competition and a silver medal in the combined competition during the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
(NEW YORK) — After months of relatively cooler weather throughout Southern California, temperatures are beginning to spike heading into Super Bowl weekend.
An excessive heat watch has been issued for Southern California including Los Angeles, with temperatures close to 90 degrees starting Wednesday and into this weekend.
The Los Angeles Rams will host the Cincinnati Bengals for Super Bowl LVI on Sunday. The game will take place at SoFi stadium in Inglewood, in the heart of Los Angeles County.
The temperature could be in the mid to upper 80s on game day.
This would not be the first time a Super Bowl took place during extreme heat. The hottest game was played on Jan. 14, 1973, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the second time the Super Bowl was played in LA. At kickoff, the temperature was 84 degrees, making it the warmest Super Bowl.
The National Weather Service is warning that the unseasonable heat will increase the potential for heat-related illnesses for visitors from other parts of the country.
For those visiting Los Angeles for the game, wearing light clothing, drinking plenty of water and avoiding strenuous activity during the hottest parts of the day is advised.
SoFi stadium has a capacity of 70,000 and Los Angeles County has agreed to not limit the number of attendees for the game. This will be a huge jump from last year’s attendance of 25,000.
The weather is not the only thing bringing heat to Super Bowl weekend; the halftime show stars Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Enimem, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige.
The game will air on CBS on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
(NEW YORK) — As American athletes competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing this weekend, a quartet of Summer Olympic athletes scored their own victories at home in the United States.
Four gymnasts who competed in the Tokyo Olympics for Team USA last summer each scored a perfect 10 at college meets this weekend.
The athletes — Auburn’s Suni Lee, UCLA’s Jordan Chiles, Oregon State’s Jade Carey and Utah’s Grace McCallum — all earned the perfect scores within a span of 48 hours, and it was each athlete’s first perfect score at the collegiate level, according to ESPN.
The accomplishment was first noted on Twitter by Nico Edgar, a sports reporter for the Daily Bruin, UCLA’s campus newspaper, and quickly went viral.
That makes it four Olympians who scored their first NCAA 10 this weekend: Jade Carey (bars), Sunisa Lee (bars), Jordan Chiles (floor) and Grace McCallum (bars)
Lee, Chiles and McCallum, along with Biles, took home a silver medal in the women’s gymnastics team competition at the Tokyo Olympics.
Biles, who withdrew from the team final in Tokyo, took to Twitter to congratulate each of her teammates on their perfect 10s.
Lee, who won gold in the all-around competition and bronze in the uneven bars in Tokyo, scored a 10 on the uneven bars, prompting Biles to write on Twitter, “forever & always will be a bar queen,” alongside a video of Lee celebrating her score.
Carey, who won gold in the women’s individual floor exercise final in Tokyo, also received a congratulations tweet from Biles after scoring a 10 on the uneven bars Saturday.
“Love seeing you thrive,” Biles wrote. “You deserve the world & more.”
Carey, a freshman, also earned the meet’s highest scores on every single event, helping to lift Oregon State to victory over Arizona State, according to ESPN.
(NEW YORK) — Considered to be the greatest gymnast of all time, gold medal winner Simone Biles stunned fans last year when she withdrew from the team final at the Toyko Olympics.
The athlete drew praise from fans, famous friends and fellow athletes, including tennis great Naomi Osaka, who herself had pulled out of the French Open to focus on her mental health.
“I do believe everything happens for a reason,” Biles recently shared with NET-A-PORTER’s digital title PORTER in a cover story about her decision and her life both in and out of the spotlight.
The athlete explained she began suffering from a disorienting condition gymnasts call “the twisties,” when an acrobat’s mind and body feel dangerously out of sync.
“I felt scared,” she recalled of telling her coaches about her decision to sit out three major events during the Games.
Biles explained that while her coaches were “100% supportive,” there were some seeds of doubt. She said they asked her, “‘Are you sure you want to do this? Because, a couple of years from now, you don’t want to have any regrets.'”
The athlete instead said she’d regret it if she didn’t withdraw.
Biles’ decision was hailed by the likes of Michelle Obama, Justin Bieber and even her “idol,” Osaka.
“I definitely felt all those messages,” Biles said, adding, “I want people to know that they were heard and they were seen — even if I didn’t get to respond.”
The athlete explained that she’s putting her downtime to good use with a “self-care” regimen she describes as, “taking baths, going to the spa, having movie nights with my boyfriend and spending time at the pool with my dogs,” French bulldogs Lilo and Rambo.
“There’s no timeline, and there’s nothing that’s really urgent from me right now,” she said. “My whole life has been go, go, go … So it’s kind of nice to take a step back and relax.”
She got Lilo in 2017 to give her much-needed emotional support to deal with the events surrounding the arrest of former U.S. Olympics doctor Larry Nassar on charges he sexually abused the athletes in his care, including Biles and her teammates.
Biles later spoke out about it on social media, and last year joined her team on Capitol Hill to testify against the “entire system that enabled and perpetuated” the abuse and the FBI’s inaction after complaints were filed.
“That’s when I realized the power that I had,” she said, adding, “I’ll always continue to be a voice for the voiceless. Gymnastics can be a safe place.”
(BEIJING) — Karen Chen was lovely in lavender during day three of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games for this year’s Women’s Single Skating Free Skating Team event.
While she wowed spectators with her performance and look, the Olympian also revealed that her costume was crafted by her mother.
Her free skate dress was embellished with glowing gems, crystals and jewels, and, on Team USA’s Instagram, she shared more details on the origins of how her latest ensemble came to be.
Alongside the short clip, Chen said that her mother probably does 90% of the work in creating her costumes, while she does about 10%.
“I just tell her that looks good, or that doesn’t look good, and she does all the hard work, and she puts in blood sweat and tears into it,” she added.
Chen said her favorite part of the look was a cluster of dazzling stones in the shape of a butterfly near midriff.
“She strategically picked the stones and arranged them in a way so it looks like a butterfly because my free program I’m skating to a ‘Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto’ and so I just want to be a pretty butterfly on the ice,” she continued.
While incorporating head-turning combinations while gracefully gliding across the ice, the Team USA figure skater ended with a total overall score of 65, placing fourth and winning a silver medal for this season’s free skate event.
Chen shared her gratitude on Instagram, saying, “truly hat a journey of so many emotions these past few days.”
She continued, “so proud & thankful to be a part of this team.”
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Toronto 116, Charlotte 101
Miami 121, Washington 100
Golden State 110, Oklahoma City 98
Phoenix 127, Chicago 124
Utah 113, New York 104
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Ottawa 4, New Jersey 1
Toronto 4, Carolina 3 (OT)
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Arizona 91, Arizona St. 79
Virginia 69, Duke 68
Texas 79, Kansas 76
(BEIJING) — Team USA figure skater Vincent Zhou has withdrawn from Tuesday’s individual competition after testing positive for COVID-19 for a second time.
U.S. Figure Skating announced Sunday night that Zhou had tested positive for the virus amid a regular screening and that he would be able to compete in the men’s short program, which begins Tuesday.
The 21-year-old shared the news about the second positive result on Instagram Monday morning.
“This absolutely does not define me as an athlete, as a person,” Zhou said. “I am more than just another positive COVID test. I am more than just another face in the crowd.”
Zhou said he’s done everything in his power to stay free of the virus since the start of the pandemic and has isolated himself so much in recent months that the loneliness has been crushing at times.
He was absent from the podium Sunday after Team USA took home its first silver medal in the teams competition.
Despite withdrawing from the competition, Zhou said he was proud of his achievements.
