The NCAA Tournament Pool for 2026 recap/results will be posted here. But for now, to invalidate any accusations of cheating when I win, the 4 brackets of the Sosa Household are posted here.
Tune in for all of the tournament reports to follow.
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Sunday, March 15, 2026
Let's Fu&king Go! You Are All Degenerates Like Me!
I write this post while sitting in a bar grinding over a parlay featuring the under in the USA -Dominican Republic baseball game and the over in the Golden State Warriors - NY Knicks game. Needless to say, I hate everything about gambling. This is the worst!
With that, I welcome everyone to the 2026 NCAA Tournament Block Squares Pool! For the next several weeks, I will be using this blog space for all communication on this pool. All of the squares for the pool are now filled, the numbers have been drawn and the official pool has been distributed to everyone. The final grid is posted below.
By the way, for those of you interested in additional opportunities to waste money during the tournament, my friend Pepster will be running a conventional bracket pool in this blog space. Please text me if you want to join it also. So, am I saying that gambling is good?
Back to this squares pool. The rules for this game are as follows:
- Each entry will keep its numbers for the entirety of the tournament. We will not re-draw numbers.
- A winning block is one that has a two number combination that matches the last digits of the final score in the game. As an example, if the score of a game is 78-63, then the box corresponding to Winning Team Score - 8; Losing Team Score - 3 is the winner. This applies to the final score of the game, not the score at the end of regulation.
- I will post an updated “leaderboard” shortly after each day of play that links to the official game scores and lists winners in this pool.
- All winnings will be paid out at the end of the tournament.
The pool will pay out winners for all 63 games of the main tournament played starting with the first game on Thursday, March 19th and finishing in Indianapolis, IN with the Championship Game. The Play-In games are not part of this tournament pool. The payouts per round will be:
- 1st Round Games - 25 each
- 2nd Round Games - 50 each
- Sweet 16 Games - 100 each
- Elite 8 Games - 200 each
- Final 4 Games - 400 each
- Championship Game - 1000
Good luck everyone! I am looking forward to an exciting tournament.
Your commissioner
Sinickal
Amtrak Basketball Classic - the Redux
Last year, as a preparatory trip to the Final Four, your boys Kev-O, Pepster, and Sinickal planned a trip to watch basketball centered around the two cathedrals of the sport: Madison Square Garden and the Palestra. MSG - the world's second most famous arena - should go without saying, but the Palestra, former home of the entire Big Five of Philadelphia basketball, and now current home of some of the Big Five, is a cozy cathedral that is a much-see location for all hoop headz. Why do we call it the Amtrak Basketball Classic? Because Sinikal and Kev-O live in the DMV, so Pepster flew into Reagan National to meet them, and the three of us Amtraked to NYC for the noon tip-off there, and then Amtraked to Philly for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off there (and then back to the DMV). Let's just say the trip was so fantastic, that we had to do a redux, and was such a blast that others insisted on being included this time - a total of 10 people!!! So, we (pseudo-live) blogged it!
Friday, February 20
11: 49 a.m. - Pepster and Bill arrive at PBI for their flight to Reagan National.
11:57 - TWISTED TRUNK at the airport!!! Why is this even mentioned? Because Twisted Trunk was a favorite Palm Beach watering hole of Pepster and Bill that closed a few months ago, and we had no idea one opened up in the airport!!!
12:00 p.m. - First drink; Bloody Maria for Bill and Double Down Hazy Double IPA for Pepster.
13:11 - Lady at the gate in a Florida Panthers "Tkachuk Around and Find Out" tee shirt. She is obviously ready for the semi-final Olympic men's hockey game today!
13:14 - Announcement of no Wi-Fi on the plane!
15:40 - Pepster and Bill land.
16:38 - Arrive at Sinickal's house.
18:18 - Sinickal, Pepster and Bill arrive at Duffy's, a local establishment that has announced they are closing their doors at the end of shift February 28. Women at the very first table wearing a "Chinga La Migra" shirt. God do we love DC!
19:08 - Sinickal and Allison, who has just recently joined us at Duffy's, are talking to Rick, a bartender at Duffy's. Sinickal is leading an animated discussion about Rick being without his phone for quite sometime because he left it in a Lyft. Rick states that he just communicates through Instagram if he needs to speak to his kids, but he is mostly incommunicado. Sinickal, "That is very 1992 of you. I hope you don't die of dysentery!"
20:01 - Brandon, Pepster's brother who actually lives in Jersey City but is currently in Miami for work but was planning to join the festivities tomorrow, texts to say that his plane has been delayed multiple times out of Miami, and he can no longer get back into town until Sunday. We are down to 9.
21:28 - Allison heads home while Sinickal, Pepster and Bill head to Trusty's. GREAT dive bar, which only recently took a stray through its window, and with great homemade onion dip. Yes, I typed what I typed.
Time Unknown - Back to the crib.
Saturday, February 21
6:00 a.m. - Pepster, Bill and Sinickal are all awake; boy is it early! Gonna be a long day.
6:50 - The three of us head to Union Station with the wonderful Allison as our chaffeur.
6:58 - Enter Union Station.
7:00 - Run into Mick in line for breakfast at McDonald's. We are now 4!
7:15 - Our 7:30 departure for the Vermonter is delayed. They have to remove a car, making the trip more congested. They also announce that because of this, time at tables in the Cafe Car will be limited to twenty (20) minutes. Uh Oh!
7:20 - While in line for boarding, we see Brian make it into the line. We are now 5!
7:45 - Begin boarding.
8:02 - Onboard in the car next to the Cafe Car. The 5 of us are a bit spread out, but still close enough to annoy the rest of the passengers - if we wanted to do so.
8:10 - Cafe car is open. We head back, take a table or 2, and order 2 Dogfish Head 90 minute IPAs, 6 Stella's and 2 Michelob Ultras. Not apiece.
8:15 - Two ladies and 1 younger man join the cafe car and sit at a nearby table. They are discussing their order. The young man says he doesn't want anything because he is still drunk. Sinickal then asks the other two, "Are you still drunk?" One lady responds, "No, I am his mother!" Sinickal retorts, "I didn't ask who you were. I just asked if you were still drunk.
9:20 - Simcox - Sinickal's college roommate at Syracuse - joins us at the Baltimore stop. We are now 6!
9:35 - After ordering 2 Stone IPAs, Simcox sits down while Pepster and Sinickal are re-telling the story of the greatest argument they ever had, which involves the Canterbury Hotel and Mike Tyson. Simcox asks, why didn't you just look it [the answer to the argument] up? Sinickal's response of "That isn't what we do. In 20 years, I hope to be sitting in the corner of a black barbershop having a similar argument with someone" prompts an immediate spit-take from Simcox. Unfortunately for Pepster, Simcox was sitting right across the table from him! It is only 9:30!
9:45 - Simcox realizes that the conductor walked by and did not ask for his ticket.
10:02 - Random out-of-context quotation, "If you can't fuck up a step kid, who can you?
10:39 - As we approach Newark, New Jersey, we have officially drank the cafe car out of Stella Artois.
10:42 - The conductor walks by us, points at his watch and says, "Your 15 minutes in the Cafe Car is almost up. It has been 2 1/2 hours.
10:49 - Random discussion about arson.
10:50 - Kev-O arrives at Bourbon and Branch, followed shortly by Tony and Pete. Tells the rest of us he is posted up at the back of the bar.
11:15 - Tony orders cheesesteak egg rolls and other assorted appetizers to be waiting for us when we arrive.
11:18 - Arrive at NY Penn Station (under MSG), and head to Bourbon and Branch (one block away).
11:38 - Pepster, Sinickal, Bill, Mick, Brian, and Simcox arrive at Bourbon and Branch. We are now officially 9. Bourbons all around. No chance of drinking this place out of Bourbon - especially for a noon tip-off.
12:01 p.m. - Guy in the MSG concourse wearing a Colorado "Prime" Hoodie.
12:21 - In our seats for the St. John's - Creighton game. Creighton isn't at their best, but they did just beat UConn earlier in the week in a game that featured a brawl and ejections for both teams.
12:34 - Woman sitting behind us proclaims, "We didn't get tickets for Wicked so we ended up here!
13:51 - With 8:00 left in the game, Pepster calls "Time of Death" for Creighton. Head back to Penn Station for group drinks and maybe some food.
14:07 - Post up at "Irish Exit" in Moynihan Hall.
14:14 - As Pepster saunters up to the counter of the pizza place in the food hall, Pete methodically approaches Pepster and says to follow him. They exit the station, cross the street, and go to another pizza place. "Best slices in the city," says Pete. They were.
14:54 - Board the Amtrak train to Philly sans Kev-O, who had to stay in New York. We are now 8!
15:17 - Random discussion around us in which the phrase, "I threw the olive in there to confuse you" is heard. Sinickal - "That's what she said!"
15:29 - I like pictures.
15:32 - Our group is now arguing with National Park Service volunteers who have commandeered a single table in the Cafe Car, leaving Pepster to have to stand in the aisle. At least they start inundating us with National Park trivia. They are angry as we are questioning everything they ask (and rightfully so - poorly worded questions). For example, they ask how many Americans were killed at a specific battle in the Civil War. We ask if they are counting the Confederate soldiers, and if certain of the killed are only counted as 3/5ths of a person. They hate us. Oh, and we are also answering almost every question correctly. This continues through Philly.
15:33 - We have to text Kev-O about the trivia arguments so he feels a part of the remainder of the trip.
15:40 - Kev-O is pissed that he just went to the restroom and discovered his fly was down. I think he is pissed that none of us told him, but none of us really checked to be honest.
15:40:28 - Brian does a "safety" check of his own.
15:45 - "We call it Amtrak but some call it the train!"
15:58 - Brian is the first to fall asleep.
16:02 - Kev-O arrives at Long Room in the theater district for a dinner by himself, as he waits to meet up with his wife for a show this evening.
16:33 - A Pediatrician is giving out candy. What is a better cover than that? Also, someone was talking about their friend being a JetBlue flight attendant and asking, "What is better than that?" We immediately reply, "A Delta flight attendant!"
16:35 - Uber to Live Casino. Takes longer than it should. We immediately take a free shuttle to XFinity arena. In short, we paid $25 to take a free shuttle.
17:27 - Enter Xfinity Arena.
17:30 until 19:48 - Not really good basketball. All told, we saw 23 minutes of good basketball in two games.
18:15 - Kev-O texts asking for Proof of Life in Philly.
18:28 - Kev-O texts that he is getting some very discerning looks from a bartender who may or may not serve him another drink.
18:29 - Sinickal's response to Kev-O, "You should have just gotten on the train."
19:22 - Leave Xfinity arena. Heading to the SEPTA to go to The Post downtown near 30th Street Station.
19:25 - Kev-O texting asking if their is a Norwegian form of seppuku. Turns out he is watching the 50km freestyle cross-country skiing race and a Norwegian athlete - who will win the bronze medal as the third best in the world and is 2 minutes faster than 4th place - is still only the third best in his country. Pepster calls this the "Evgeni Malkin," who was easily a top 5 hockey player of his generation, but never the best on his club (Sidney Crosby) or in his country (Alex Ovechkin).
19:45 - Kev-O, again referencing the Cross-Country race, "I hope Klaebo is Norwegian for punching cervixes in the Olympic village!"
19:53 - Brian - "I think Kev-O is the drunkest out of all of us, and he still has to make that show!"
20:00 - Kev-O made the show!!!
20:20 - Enter The Post. For a University of Pennsylvania/Drexel University sports bar, this place is deserted.
21:45 - Hop on the train heading south to DC. This train is packed. NO space in the Cafe Car. We have to spread out in one car after Sinickal purchased 12 Stellas. There are only 2 left. Tony and Pete head back to NYC. We are now 6 again!
22:00 - People leave the train at various stops, and we start to consolidate into adjacent rows.
22:09 - Now in a row by himself, Bill becomes the second to fall asleep.
Time Unknown (forgot to look at our watches/phones) - Simcox exits in Baltimore. We are back to being 5.
23:21 - Brian goes to the cafe car to get one last round of beers in New Carrolton before we have to exit. They won't sell anything to him as the bar is closed.
23:40 - Exit at Union Station. Bid adieu to Mick. The remaining 4 (Sinickal, Bill, Brian and Pepster) head to Union Pub.
23:46 - Enter Union Pub. I swear there must have been a Heritage Foundation mixer (its offices are across the street.)
Time Unknown - Say goodbye to Brian, as Pepster, Sinckal and Bill head back to Silas' home.
Sunday, February 22
4:05 a.m. - Sinickal is out of bed to ride with Allison and Bill to the airport. Allison rolls over and is clearly not going to the airport.
4:20 - Bill and Sinickal leave for DCA. Sinickal and Allison's dog Dobber loudly expresses his disapproval of the noise on the lower level of the house. Pepster is unaware that any of this is going on.
6:00 - Bill's flight to PBI takes off. OMG it's early.
8:08 - Kev-O at the train station in NYC to complete his weekend trip. Mentally ill person screaming, "Tiger up your butt; prostitutes cost $100!"
8:10 - Puck drop for the Men's Olympic gold medal hockey game!
8:51 - Kev-O remarks on the Naloxone ads at Newark Penn Station.
9:05 - Brian wants to know what the Over/Under was on the mentions of the Miracle on Ice game during the gold medal match. Notes they are at 9 already midway through the second period.
9:12 - Wayne Gretzky is shown on the television as being in the audience with the announcer stating "The Greatest Canadian of All-Time."
9:12:11 - Pete textually exclaims, "That's John Candy you dumbass!"
10:34 - Heading to OVERTIME! FREE HOCKEY!
10:55 - JACK HUGHES!!!
11:40 - Sinickal, Pepster, and Allison enter Bar Chinois for bottomless brunch.
11:47 - Brian joins.
11:49 - Brad, Pepster's law school roommate, joins.
GREAT BRUNCH! HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
13:59 p.m. - Enter Irish Times. Chosen because it is a really convenient to drive Pepster to the airport and it is super nostalgic for Pepster and Brad.
16:06 - Pepster through security at DCA.
16:11 - Pepster at cafe near his gate, they sell Cafe Cubano!!! Feels compelled to buy one!
20:20 - Pepster arrives at home.
All - Already contemplating next year's trip. The Palestra has to be included in Philly instead of the Xfinity Center, as its proximity to downtown and the train station allows for less wasted time in travelling to the arena. Unless the Brightline allows for some combination of UCF (Orlando), FAU (Boca Raton), and University of Miami (Coral Gables). Stay tuned!
Friday, March 6, 2026
Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 17/February 20
We entered the medal round for curling in both the men's and women's competition. In the men's bracket, Switzerland dominated Norway for the bronze, winning 9-1. Switzerland was equally successful in the women's side as they defeated the United States 7-4 in the Semi-Finals to advance to the gold medal game, where they will face Sweden, which claimed victory over Canada 6-3.
On skis, the Biathlon Men's 15 km mass start was held, with familiar faces all over the podium. Norway won gold and silver behind Johannes Dale-Skjevdal (gold) and Sturla Holm Laegreid (silver). France's Quintin Fillon-Maillet earned bronze. It was Dale-Skjevdal's first medal of any games, but Laegreid won his third silver to go with 2 bronzes in Milano-Cortina to pair with a gold from Beijing, and Fillon Maillet's bronze will go with his three golds in these games.
The United States won a much-needed gold behind Alex Ferreira in the Men's Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe, with Henry Sildaru of Estonia following him to silver, and Canadian Brendan Mackay winning bronze.
Freestyle Skiing also conducted the men's aerials, in which China faired very well with Wang Xindi earning gold and Li Tianma winning bronze. Sandwiched between the Chinese athletes for silver was Noe Roth of Switzerland.
The best event of the day was on the slopes in the Women's Ski Cross as Daniela Maier of Germany not only improved on her bronze from Beijing, she let out a heartfelt, enthusiastic scream as she crossed the finish line that had to have touched anybody in the vicinity. Fanny Smith of Switzerland won silver and Sandra Naeslund of Sweden took home the bronze.
The Dutch continued their dominance of speed skating as Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong takes the gold, followed by Ragne Wiklund of Norway who earned silver, and Valerie Maltais from Canada who joined the podium as the bronze medalist.
Not to be outdone, Short-Track Speedskating held two medal races, the Women's 1500 meter and the Men's 5000-meter relay. In the former, Kim Gilli of Korea won gold, followed by compatriot Choi Minjeong and Corrine Stoddard from Canada earning bronze. In the latter, the Dutch team of Jens van'T Wout, Teun Boer, Friso Emons, and Melle van'T Wout won gold over the Korean team (silver) and the host Italians (bronze).
On another sheet of ice, the Canadian men advanced to the gold-medal game in hockey in a hard-fought victory over Finland, prevailing 3-2. In the finals, they will face the United States, who easily handled Slovakia 6-2, behind a pair of goals from Jack Hughes.
Athlete of the Day - Jens van'T Wout, Netherlands, Short Track Speed Skating
The Dutch champion won his third gold medal of these games in the 5000-meter relay. He also won a bronze in a race won by his brother, who joined him on the gold-medal winning relay team.
U.S. Athlete of the Day - Alex Ferreira, Freestyle Skiing
Won gold in halfpipe, and was the only gold medalist of the day for the United States.
Upset of the Day - Marielle Thompson, Canada, Freestyle Skiing
The favorite in the Freestyle Ski-Cross was eliminated in the quarterfinals in which she finished fourth in the four-person heat. Thompson, who had previously won gold in Sochi in 2014 and silver in 2022 in Beijing in this event, was a heavy medal favorite.
Team of the Day - Netherlands, Short Track Speedskating
Won the Gold medal in the Men's 5000-meter relay to solidify the Netherlands as perennial Short-Track contenders, and not just long-track speedskating specialists.
U.S. Team of the Day - Men's Hockey
Cruised into the finals with an easy 6-2 victory over Slovakia.
Olympic Term of the Day: Double Cork - In freestyle skiing, it is an aerial maneuver consisting of two separate off-axis rotations.
Olympic Events Watched: Travel day for me, so only saw: Freestyle Skiing, Hockey
USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically): Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Kendall Coyne, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes, Breezy Johnson, Jaelin Kauf, Hilary Knight, Elizabeth Lemley, Austin Matthews, Mikaela Shiffrin, Elana Meyers Taylor, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse,
Friday, February 20, 2026
Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 16/February 19
Ladies and Gentlemen: Making it's Olympic debut - SKI MOUNTAINEERING!!! What an interesting sport to watch! Never saw it before, and likely won't see it again until Utah in 4 years! But it was interesting, and we have two gold medalists who will forever be remembered as the first gold medalists in Ski Mountaineering history.
The women went first in the sprint, and Marianne Fatton of Switzerland wins gold! She was joined on the podium by Emily Harrop of France and Ana Alonso Rodriguez of Spain!!! On the Men's side, Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain took gold, with Nikita Filippo of the "Athletes from Independent Nations" earned the silver and Thibault Anselmet of France won bronze!
The Men's Nordic Combined Team Sprint was held, and Norward wins gold AGAIN!!! Finland earned silver and Austria won bronze. As a member of the Norwegian team, Jens Luraas Oftebro won his third gold medal of these games, to go with a gold and silver in Beijing!
In curling, the US women secured a spot in the semi-finals be defeating Switzerland 7-6. In this match, Switzerland tied the US by scoring 3 in the 10th. Despite being a bit deflated after not being able to hold a 3-point lead in the last end, the US used its hammer position to pick up the winning point as skip Tabitha Peterson threw a gorgeous draw into the house to just narrowly beat 3 Swiss stones that were previously laying shot rock!
On the men's side, the Semi-Finals kicked off with Great Britain defeating the Swiss team 8-5, and Canada beating Norway 5-4. Those two winners will challenge for the gold.
In Speed Skating, the men's 1500-meter race did not disappoint as 4 skaters all beat the previous Olympic Record. But when the dust all settled, it was Zhongyan Ning of China that won gold, with Jordan Stolz of the US taking the silver and Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands winning bronze. This race marked Jordan Stolz's first loss at this distance all season, having won all of the previous 8 races.
On another type of rink, the women's Free Skate was held to conclude the figure skating portion of these games. As reported previously, Japan was sitting in first, second, and fourth places after the short program, with only Alysa Liu of the US nestled among them in third. And Liu executed a magnificent performance, technically and artistically, to become the first American since Sarah Hughes in 2002 to win the Women's Figure Skating gold!!! Kaori Sakamato and Ami Nakai of Japan took home silver and bronze respectively.
Now, ordinarily, Women's Figure Skating would be the culmination of my blog post - being the best and highest-profile competition of any given day - EXCEPT THIS DAY! This day belonged to Women's Hockey.
In the appetizer, Switzerland won the bronze medal by defeating Sweden in overtime 2-1. Swiss Captain Alina Mueller scored the game and medal-winner in Overtime to win Switzerland's first women's hockey medal since Sochi in 2014, a match in which an overtime winner was scored by the then-youngest member of the Swiss team - ALINA MUELLER!!!
But, that was only a precursor as the match EVERYBODY wanted to see took place for the gold medal, featuring the two giants of women's hockey - Canada and the United States. And this game lived up to the hype. Canada took a 1-0 lead in the second period, and both teams kept fighting but couldn't slip one past either of the magnificent goalies. Until ... with about 2 1/2 minutes remaining, the US pulled the goalie for an extra attacker, and less than 30 seconds later - at 2:04 in the third - Captain America Hillary Knight scored her 15th Olympic goal - most of all-time for the US. But of those 15, none were bigger than this one as it sent the game into overtime. In overtime, Megan Keller - one of the team's alternate captains - scored the game winner just over 4 minutes into the three-on-three overtime!!! The Americans win gold, and I may or may not have woken my dog from her nap with my yelling!!!
Athlete of the Day - Alysa Liu, United States, Figure Skiing
Women's Figure Skating Champion often becomes the darling of the Olympics, and Liu earned that!!!
U.S. Athlete of the Day - Hillary Knight, Hockey
Scored a goal when the United States needed it most!
Upset of the Day - Jordan Stolz, United States, Speed Skating
Winning a silver is almost never a true upset, unless that person has not lost that race all season.
Team of the Day - Women's Hockey, United States
They have been the best team all tournament, and won a hard-fought, well-earned Gold medal!
U.S. Team of the Day - Women's Curling
Secured a semi-final birth!
Olympic Term of the Day: Skip - In curling, the Skip is the team captain responsible for strategy, directing shots, and often throwing the last shots of an end. For the US, Tabitha Peterson has done that masterfully so far.
Olympic Events Watched: Curling, Figure Skating, Hockey, Ski Mountaineering, Speed Skating
USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically): Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Kendall Coyne, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Quinn Hughes, Breezy Johnson, Jaelin Kauf, Hilary Knight, Elizabeth Lemley, Austin Matthews, Mikaela Shiffrin, Elana Meyers Taylor, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse,
Thursday, February 19, 2026
Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 15/February 18
We are going to kickoff today's report with the Biathlon 4x6km women's relay, which was a tremendous race won by France by 51 seconds over silver medalists Sweden, with Olympics leading Norway in third. The French team has lots of bling from Milano-Cortina as leadoff leg Camille Bened won her first gold, but the Lou Jeanmonnot won her second gold of these games to go with a silver and a bronze. The penultimate racer Oceane Michelon won gold to go with a previous silver, and anchor Julia Simon won her third gold medal to take home along with a silver.
On the ice, both Curling teams faced off against Great Britain, with the women winning 8-7 and the men losing 8-7. The men's loss was devastating as they were tied with Great Britain for one of the last two medal round spots heading into the fixture.
The men's hockey quarterfinals were absolutely amazing, with Slovakia starting things off with a 6-2 win over Germany, and then three straight overtime games! Canada defeated Czechia, but only after tying the game late before winning 4-3. Finland outlasted Switzerland 3-2 and the United States won 2-1, behind a spectacular overtime goal from Quinn Hughes - his first - and most timely - of the tournament. Hughes's shot came after he waived off a substitution from the bench!!! These semi-finals are going to be amazing!
Short Track Speedskating had two tremendous duals, with Korea, Italy and Canada winning the three medals in the Women's 3000-meter relay. It was another medal for Italy's Arianna Fontana. Korea meanwhile won its 7th gold medal in this event in the 10 years that it has been contested!
Meanwhile, the men raced the 500 meters, with Canadian Steven DuBois winning gold. Dutch brothers Melle van'T Wout and Jens van'T Wout finished second and third respectively. Jens had previously won the 1000-meter gold medal and also finished first in the 1500-meter. Meanwhile Melle stated his goal was to stand on the podium with his brother, whether because they both earned a medal in an individual event or as members of the same relay team did not matter to him!
In Cross-Country, Johannes Hoesflot-Klaebo won another gold medal - his fifth of these games - as Norway wone the men's team spring, with the United States behind Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher really taking the race to the rest of the world not named Norway and winning silver. This was OGden's second silver behind Klaebo in these games. Host Italy won bronze.
For the women, Sweden won the Women's team spring, with Switzerland and Germany rounding out the podium.
And on the slopes, American favorite Mikaela Shiffrin won the slalom, her best event, by 1.5 seconds over Camille Rast of Switzerland, with Anna Swenn Larssen of Sweden coming in third. The 1.5 second differential between first and second was the same differential as between second and thirteenth place!
Athlete of the Day - Mikaela Shiffrin, United States, Alpine Skiing
Seriously, who else?
U.S. Athlete of the Day - Gus Schumacher, Cross-Country Skiing
Yes, Ogden put Schumacher in a great position, but Schumacher answered Klaebo's push on the last lap, and although he couldn't keep up with Klaebo (who can?) that push powered the US team past everyone else for the silver.
Upset of the Day - Mikaela Shiffrin Haters
For everyone that was hating on her for failing to win as many medals as her talent would suggest, hers was a dominating performance today.
Team of the Day - Korea Women's 3000-meter Team Relay, Speedskating
7 out of 10 golds in this race - IN HISTORY!
U.S. Team of the Day - Men's Hockey
A great performance by all to advance to the semi-finals! Quinn Hughes' goal was so important!
Olympic Term of the Day: Jib Style - In Snowboarding, jib style refers to a creative and technical approach to riding that involves using non-snow surfaces like rails, boxes, and other features found in terrain parks.
Olympic Events Watched: Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country, Hockey, Short Track Speedskating, Snowboard
USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically): Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Kendall Coyne, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Quinn Hughes, Breezy Johnson, Jaelin Kauf, Hilary Knight, Elizabeth Lemley, Austin Matthews, Mikaela Shiffrin, Elana Meyers Taylor, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse,
Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 14/February 17
Men's curling really hurt itself with 2 losses on the day, falling to China and Italy to identical scores of 8-5. The women fared much better soundly defeating Denmark 10-3. The men's medal round chances faded, but the women are firmly in medal contention.
In the most dominating performance of the day, German sleds swept the podium in the 2-man bobsled, with the sled piloted by American Opening Ceremony Flag-Bearer Frank del Duca finishing only .44 seconds out of the bronze in 4th. Johannes Lochner won gold to go with his two silvers from Beijing. Georg Fleschheiser also won gold as Lochner's brakeman. They wer closely followed by legend Francesco Friedrich, who added a silver to go with his 2 golds in the 2-man (Pyeongchang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022) and his 2 golds in the 4-man in those same Olympics.
In the Men's Biathlon Relay, the French team of Fabien Claude, Emilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet and Eric Perrot won gold over Norway (silver) and Sweden (bronze). For Claude, the gold can be paired with the silver he won in Beijing in the same event. This is Jacquelin's second medal of these games (bronze in men's pursuit), to bring his total to 4 (two silvers in Beijing). Fillon Maillet won his third gold of Milano-Cortina, and his 5th gold and 8th medal overall. In his first games, Eric Perrot anchored this gold, which was his second in these games (and third overall).
Although Norway finished second in the Biathlon relay, they did win two golds on the day. The first in the Nordic Combined, which combines the large hill Ski Jumping with a 10km Cross-Country Race. Jens Luraas Oftebro won gold, with Austria's Johannes Lemparter earning silver, and Ilkka Herola from Finland receiving bronze.
Norway's other gold came via the Men's Big Air final in Freestyle Skiing. Torand Frist won yet another gold for Norway, as American Mac Forehand came in second for silver, followed closely by Matej Svancer from Austria (bronze).
The United States picked up another silver in the Men's Speed Skating Team Pursuit, finishing just behind Italy in the A Finals. On the women's side, Canada was victorious over the Netherlands.
And one of the marquee events of every Winter Olympics - the women's figure skating, the short program was held and Japan is sitting in first, second and fourth places behind performances by Ami Nakai, Kaori Sakamato and Mone Chiba respectively. Only American Alyssa Liu is currently preventing a Japanese sweep as she sits in third heading into the Free Skate.
Athlete of the Day - Johannes Lochner, Germany, Bobsled
His gold after 2 silvers in Beijing behind Francesco Friedrich feels like the ultimate passing of the torch.
U.S. Athlete of the Day - Mac Forehand, Freestyle Skiing
Silver medal, the best of the day for the United States!
Upset of the Day - Francesco Friedrich, Germany, Bobsled
Not that a silver medal is disappointing, and not that Lohner isn't a worthy champion, but again, this feels like the ultimate passing of the torch in one of Germany's national sports.
Team of the Day - France, Biathlon, Men's Relay
Fabien Claude, Emilia Jacquiline, Quintin Fillon Maillet, and Eric Perrot have been bringing it all Olympics. Men's Relay gold just seems fitting.
U.S. Team of the Day - Speedskating, Men's Team Pursuit
Earned an impressive silver medal behind host Italy. Ethan Cepuran, Casey Days and Emery Lehman deserve their roses today.
Olympic Term of the Day: Pursuit - In speedskating, it is a long-track race where three skaters skate together as one unit, aiming to record the fastest time over a set distance while staying tightly grouped to maximize drafting and efficiency. The team is timed when the third skater crosses the finish line, and all three must stay together to achieve a top time.
Olympic Events Watched: Bobsled, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing
USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically): Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Kendall Coyne, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Breezy Johnson, Jaelin Kauf, Hilary Knight, Elizabeth Lemley, Austin Matthews, Elana Meyers Taylor, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse,
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