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🚨 Headlines
🎾 Americans in Melbourne: No. 19 Madison Keys and No. 21 Ben Shelton advanced to the Australian Open semifinals. Keys will play No. 2 Iga Świątek, while Shelton gets No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
⚽️ Record transfer fee: USWNT star center back Naomi Girma is reportedly headed from the San Diego Wave to Chelsea for a women’s record $1.1 million transfer fee.
🏀 Pick swap: The Suns sent their 2031 first-round pick to Utah in exchange for conditional first-rounders in 2025, 2027 and 2029, giving them more tradable assets as the Feb. 6 trade deadline approaches.
🏈 NFL coaching news: The Vikings gave head coach Kevin O’Connell a multi-year extension; the Patriots are bringing Josh McDaniels back as their OC after he previously held the position for 13 seasons under Bill Belichick.
🏀 Tuesday night upsets: Four unranked men’s hoops teams beat ranked opponents on Tuesday: Ohio State over No. 11 Purdue, 73-70; UCLA over No. 18 Wisconsin, 85-83; Texas over No. 22 Missouri, 61-53; Arizona State over No. 23 West Virginia, 65-57.
⚾️ Welcome to Cooperstown
Cooperstown welcomed three new members on Tuesday, as Ichiro Suzuki, C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner were voted into the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
One vote shy: Many believed Ichiro would join Mariano Rivera as the Hall’s only unanimous selections. Instead, he joins former teammate Derek Jeter as the only players to fall exactly one vote shy.
Highest vote percentage:
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Rivera: 100% (425/425)
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Ichiro: 99.7% (393/394)
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Jeter: 99.7% (396/397)
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Ken Griffey Jr: 99.3% (437/440)
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Tom Seaver: 98.8% (425/430)
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Nolan Ryan: 98.8% (491/497)
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Cal Ripken Jr: 98.5% (537/545)
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Ty Cobb: 98.2% (222/226)
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George Brett: 98.2% (488/497)
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Hank Aaron: 97.8% (406/415)
Class of 2025: Ichiro, Sabathia (86.8%) and Wagner (82.5%) — alongside Dick Allen and Dave Parker, voted in by the Classic Era committee last month — will be inducted this summer in upstate New York.
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Ichiro (1st ballot): Baseball’s all-time hit king (4,367 in MLB and NPB) will be the Hall’s first Japanese-born player. The 10-time Gold Glover is one of seven MLB players with 3,000 hits and 500 steals despite not debuting until age 27.
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Sabathia (1st): The only pitcher to get in on their first ballot with less career WAR (62.3) was Sandy Koufax (48.9), who retired young. Perhaps the universally beloved Sabathia illustrates the other side of the infamous “character clause,” which more often keeps players out of the Hall.
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Wagner (10th): It was better late than never for Wagner, who climbed all the way from 10% of the vote in Year 1 to election in his 10th and final year on the ballot. “Dreams do come true,” said the southpaw, whose 422 saves are the eighth-most ever.
Just missed: Carlos Beltrán (70.3%) and Andruw Jones (66.2%) were a couple dozen votes shy. They should be shoo-ins for 2026 in their fourth and ninth years on the ballot, respectively.
The rest: 13 others earned enough of the vote to remain on the ballot another year, while 10 fell short of the 5% threshold.
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Still on the ballot: Chase Utley (39.8%), Alex Rodriguez (37.1%), Manny Ramírez (34.3%), Andy Pettitte (27.9%), Félix Hernández (20.6%), Bobby Abreu (19.5%), Jimmy Rollins (18%), Omar Vizquel (17.8%), Dustin Pedroia (11.9%), Mark Buehrle (11.4%), Francisco Rodríguez (10.2%), David Wright (8.1%), Torii Hunter (5.1%)
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Fell off: Ian Kinsler (2.5%), Russell Martin (2.3%), Brian McCann (1.8%), Troy Tulowitzki (1%), Curtis Granderson (0.8%), Adam Jones (0.8%), Carlos González (0.5%), Hanley Ramírez (0%), Fernando Rodney (0%), Ben Zobrist (0%)
On Ichiro: “Playing in an era dominated by muscular brutes aiming for the fences, Ichiro drove defiantly against the grain,” writes Yahoo Sports’ Jake Mintz. “Few players in baseball history have commanded such respect, garnered such attention, enjoyed such adoration and fostered such infinite wonder.”
🏒 In photos: Pond hockey
January’s frigid temperatures have kept millions cooped up indoors. But puck lovers all around the world have taken the opportunity to enjoy some frozen pond hockey.
Washington, D.C. — A Washingtonian skates with his hockey stick on a frozen Constitution Gardens pond as the sun rises over the National Mall.
Mono County, California — A group plays hockey on Silver Lake, a popular fishing spot on the Eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada.
Westwood, Massachusetts — A father and his two sons making memories on Buckmaster Pond.
Upware, England — A family outing on the frozen fields in the Cambridgeshire Fens (marsh), the birthplace of British speed skating.
Füssen, Germany — Friends pass the puck on Lake Schwansee, just north of the Austria border.
🏈 CFP finale: 3 lingering questions
The first season of the 12-team College Football Playoff era has come and gone. Here are 3 lingering questions in the wake of Monday night’s grand finale.
1. Is the expanded playoff good for the sport?
Ohio State’s Nov. 30 loss to unranked Michigan is the kind of loss that used to eliminate a team from national championship contention. Many college football fans loved that aspect of the sport; a rivalry game in November could mean everything.
That all changed with the arrival of the 12-team playoff, which allows programs to endure such defeats with their title hopes firmly intact. Some believe this new system is superior, while others may never come around to the idea that a team can win a title as a No. 8 seed.
My take: I already yearn for the days of do-or-die regular season games. But one thing I do love about this new era is that “overcoming a devastating loss” will now be part of many championship journeys. I think that’s cool. After all, that’s what you learn growing up playing sports: How to navigate adversity. How to handle defeat. How to pick yourself and your teammates up off the mat.
The Buckeyes did exactly that en route to their national title, and it’s hard to say they didn’t earn it or prove they were the best team in the nation. (Unless you’re a Michigan fan or just generally hate Ohio State, then it is very easy to say that. And nobody can stop you.)
2. Is the new schedule a problem?
There was a lack of buzz all weekend about this game. Part of it was Inauguration Day, but the bigger issue was the NFL playoffs sucking up all the oxygen. This is a real concern for college football now that the season stretches deep into January, writes Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee:
College football is doing battle with four forces: the academic calendar, the holidays, tradition and the NFL. Each one of those individually would be manageable; together, they’ve forced college football into the awkward, extended limbo we see today.
The options are fairly obvious: Start the season earlier, or take chunks out of the season as it is. Moving the season earlier would have its own ripple effects, including moving rivalry games off their traditional Thanksgiving weekend dates.
But the other options are equally fraught — get rid of the conference championship games and all their attendant revenue, or start the playoff the same December weekend as Army-Navy, which would require some serious political stones to propose. Regardless, change has to come.
3. Has the Big Ten surpassed the SEC?
This year’s “Playoff of Northern Aggression” — Penn State joined OSU and Notre Dame in the semifinals — is a sign of a new era of college football, writes Yahoo Sport’ Dan Wetzel:
With NIL and the transfer portal changing how rosters are built, the talent hasn’t just flattened out, it’s spread out. The ability to stack top-five recruiting classes on top of one another — which Alabama and Georgia had mastered — is no longer the only route here. The SEC will be back, but for the Big Ten this feels like something is being unlocked.
Big Ten schools are huge (66,901 students at Ohio State) with expansive alumni networks from states that are generally more populous and wealthy than SEC states. There are also more fabulously rich — 11 billionaires, for example, live in Michigan. None call Alabama home.
Does that mean a Big Ten title run is coming? Not necessarily. Direct revenue sharing between schools and players should decrease the impact of NIL funding, although it won’t eliminate it. And the SEC is still the SEC.
What’s clear though, as Ohio State clinched the game courtesy of a transfer QB (Will Howard from Kansas State) and a megastar freshman receiver from the South (Jeremiah Smith from Miami), is that things are different.
🎾 Novak’s shot at history
No man in the Open Era has ever defeated the top 3 seeds en route to winning a Grand Slam. Leave it up to Novak Djokovic to potentially become the first.
Eyeing No. 25: Of course, that’s not the only history Djoker is chasing in Melbourne, where he can become the first man or woman to win 25 Grand Slams, surpassing Margaret Court.
Battle of generations: The 37-year-old Djokovic’s win over the 21-year-old Alcaraz was the biggest age gap for a major quarterfinal since Andre Agassi (19) beat Jimmy Connors (36) at the 1989 U.S. Open. Zverev is 27, and Sinner is 23 (and Ben Shelton, who could upset Sinner, is 22).
🏀 NBA midseason grades
Plus: Midseason power rankings
📺 Watchlist: The battle for NorCal
The Kings host the Warriors tonight (10pm ET, ESPN) in a matchup of Northern California’s two NBA teams.
Different directions: Sacramento (22-20) and Golden State (21-21) have nearly identical records, but while the Kings are gaining steam (won nine of 10), the Dubs are reeling (won nine of 27).
More to watch:
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🎾 Australian Open: Women’s semifinals (3:30am, ESPN) … All-nighter, anyone?
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🏀 NBA: Timberwolves at Mavericks (7:30pm, ESPN)
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🏀 NCAAM: No. 12 Kansas at TCU (7pm, ESPN2); No. 13 Texas A&M at No. 16 Ole Miss (9pm, ESPN2)
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🏀 NCAAW: No. 4 USC at Purdue (7pm, Peacock); No. 24 Michigan at No. 23 Minnesota (8pm, B1G+)
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🏒 NHL: Bruins at Devils (7pm, NHL); Panthers at Kings (10pm, TNT)
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⚽️ Friendly: USMNT vs. Costa Rica (7pm, TNT) … In Orlando.
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⚽️ Champions League: Matchday 7 (12:45-3pm, Paramount+) … PSG vs. Man City headlines the nine-game slate.
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⛳️ PGA: Farmers Insurance Open* (11:45am, ESPN+; 3pm, Golf) … At Torrey Pines in San Diego.
*Rare Wednesday start: Since 2022, this event has run from Wednesday-Saturday instead of the PGA Tour’s traditional Thursday-Sunday schedule to avoid going up against the NFL’s Conference Championships on Sunday.
⚾️ MLB trivia
Newly-elected Hall of Famer C.C. Sabathia is one of just three left-handed pitchers in MLB’s 3,000 strikeout club (3,093).
Question: Can you name the other two?
Hint: Their careers very briefly overlapped during the 1988 season.
Answer at the bottom.
🏈 Stat du jour: 251-251
The Chiefs and Bills have split their last 10 meetings, while scoring the same exact number of points. Of course, three were postseason games — and KC won them all.
Looking ahead: No QB has ever beaten another QB four straight times in the playoffs. Will Patrick Mahomes make history on Sunday? Or will Josh Allen finally slay the dragon?
Good read: Mahomes vs. Allen is the NFL’s new Brady vs. Manning (Charles Robinson, Yahoo Sports)
Funny tweet (via (@jazayerli): “Buffalo has lost to the Chiefs three times in a row in the playoffs, but doesn’t that mean they’re due? I mean, it’s not like the Bills to lose four consecutive crucial postseason games.”
Trivia answer: Randy Johnson (4,875 strikeouts) and Steve Carlton (4,136)
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