Lauren Macuga made quite the impression at her first world championships.

Macuga tied for third in the super-G on Thursday at worlds in Saalbach, Austria. That makes her the first American since 1993 to win a medal in her first world championships, according to NBC.

‘Oh my gosh, so good,” Macuga said. “It won’t settle in for a while but I keep looking back up at that screen and I’m like, `Wow, my name is there.’ It’s crazy.”

The world championships bronze medal continues what’s been a breakout season for Macuga, 22. She won a pair of super-Gs at an event at Copper Mountain in December, then won her first World Cup title last month in the super-G at St. Anton, Austria.

Macuga also has three top-10 finishes in the downhill, including a fourth place at the famed Birds of Prey course in Beaver Creek, Colo.

‘Coming into this year, I was just hoping to make the team,’ Macuga said. ‘Then after that (World Cup) win, I was like, `Wow, OK. I know I have it in me.’ Now I can just go do it again. … it’s just cool to see that I’m figuring out how to do it more and more.’

Her timing couldn’t be better. The Milan Cortina Olympics are exactly a year away, with the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 6, 2026.

Starting 14th, Macuga knew the time she needed to get on the podium. She was aggressive throughout the run, posting the fastest time on the opening section, and kept her composure on the jumps. She got a little bit off her line toward the bottom of the course but quickly recovered.

She finished tied with Kajsa Vickhoff Lie of Norway. The two were 0.24 seconds behind Stephanie Venier of Austria, who won her first medal in super-G. Federica Brignone of Italy was third.

Lindsey Vonn, who came out of retirement after having a partial knee replacement last spring, did not finish the race, skiing out after hooking her arm around a gate.

NEW ORLEANS – Like clockwork, the Italian meatballs are coming this week. This, too, is part of the Super Bowl preparation for members of the Kansas City Chiefs defense.

It’s no wonder that several of the players from the opportunistic unit coordinated by Steve Spagnuolo sounded a bit hungry as they ramped up for the clash against the Philadelphia Eagles…while singing the praises of Maria Spagnuolo.

Maria, whose husband pushes the buttons for one of the league’s elite defenses, prepares the meatballs and other Italian dishes and desserts for a weekly spread – with a special dish for the defensive player of the week – that says much about how a tight bond exists within the unit.

“That’s pivotal for the success of the team,” Chris Jones, the All-Pro defensive tackle, declared during his media session on Wednesday morning.

Hey, sometimes good home cooking can do wonders.

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“Her banana pudding is crazy,” safety Justin Reid offered.

Or, as linebacker Leo Chenal put it, “We pig out. And we appreciate it.”

The Spagnuolos have fed players for many years, going as far back as 1999, when Steve was hired by Andy Reid for his first NFL job with the Eagles as a linebackers coach. Amid the intense grind of pro football, the gesture undoubtedly helps to build on the relationships between the coach and his players that can be crucial when adversity strikes. Well-fed. Well-motivated. And that’s just one benefit.

“You know what I really like about it? It connects my wife to my guys,” Spagnuolo told USA TODAY Sports. “I’m away from her and I’m with these guys all the time. I love the fact that we’re able to connect her and make her part of the whole thing.”

The proof is, well, in the pudding. The Chiefs are hoping to make history as the first three-peat Super Bowl champion. This season, as Kansas City has extended its NFL-record streak of victories in one-possession games to 17, the Chiefs allowed the fourth-fewest points in the league during the regular season.

And Spagnuolo, 65, has only burnished his reputation as one of the NFL’s premier defensive strategists. During the AFC championship game against the Buffalo Bills, Spagnuolo’s call for a corner blitz on a fourth down – sending Trent McDuffie to team with defensive end George Karlaftis and flush Josh Allen out of the pocket for a hurried throw – resulted in the incompletion that essentially sealed the victory.

It was the right call at the right time, underscoring Spagnuolo’s knack for keeping opponents off-balance. The fourth-down play was the first corner blitz call of the game.

“He will mix it up,” Jones said. “We will blitz on first-and-10 or on third-and-short. You never know.”

Saquon Barkley gets it. Spagnuolo is like a master chess player with moves, countermoves and disguises that can keep you guessing.

“With Spags, you’ve always got to be ready to adjust,” Barkley said. “You just never know what to expect.”

It’s pretty much a given that at some point during the game on Sunday, Fox analyst Tom Brady will mention Spagnuolo “dialing up a blitz.” Brady knows, too. Besides the three Super Bowl rings that Spagnuolo won with the Chiefs, he won his first championship hardware as coordinator when the New York Giants foiled the New England Patriots’ bid for a perfect season in Super Bowl 42 in the 2007 season.

Dial up a blitz? Spagnuolo laughed at the characterization.

“I’m praying up a blitz,” he said. “I’m not dialing up anything. I’m hoping they work.”

More often than not, they indeed work.

Jones said that another key to his coordinator’s success comes with his willingness to listen to input from players. In Jones’ case, he likes to occasionally bring the rush lining up wide on the edge, a suggestion for variety that came from the D-tackle who made his name as arguably the league’s most dominant inside force. It’s been an effective changeup that can create matchup advantages.

Meanwhile, Reid, the versatile safety, talks up the impact that Spagnuolo has had in sharpening his mindset for the game, with particular emphasis on situational football.

It was also telling that last season, prior to the AFC title game, Reid came up with T-shirts for the defensive players that read “In Spags We Trust.” It was a pointed message with much substance. Then, after the Chiefs earned another trip to the Super Bowl, players surprised Spagnuolo with the shirts.

That, too, captured another indicator of Spagnuolo’s success.

“They believe in him,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “That’s the biggest thing. They know that when he speaks to them, it’s good stuff.”

Reid and Spagnuolo met almost 40 years ago, when Reid coached the offensive line at Texas-El Paso. They had a mutual friend, Steve Teelander, who coached at U-Mass when Spagnuolo had an entry-level post as a grad assistant.

“We were both young,” Reid reflected. “He was a good teacher back then, too. You could see that.”

That teaching skill, and trust, were reasons that Reid wanted Spagnuolo on his first Eagles staff.

As Reid put it, “He’s a unifier. He brings them together.”

With some key input from Maria. It seems that a defense that is fed well performs well.

In a surprising move, the Dallas Mavericks traded their star player, Luka Dončić, to the Los Angeles Lakers. This three-team trade, which also involved the Utah Jazz, sees the Mavericks acquiring Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick. Now, fans are eager to learn when Dončić will make his debut in a Lakers uniform.

The Dončić-Davis trade stunned both players and fans, including Dončić himself. The announcement came as a complete surprise, as the details had been kept a secret until the official revelation. The Mavericks’ decision to trade Dončić was said to be driven by their frustration with his habits both on and off the court, especially regarding his conditioning, health, and treatment of officials.

Regardless of the surprise, LeBron James has expressed his eagerness to share the court with his ‘favorite player in the NBA for awhile.’

“I’ve always just tried to play the game the right way and inspire the next generation, and Luka happens to be one of them, and now we’re teammates. So it’ll be a very seamless transition,” LeBron said after the win against the Clippers.

As Dončić officially settles in Los Angeles, the anticipation for his potential debut continues to grow. However, it is unlikely that he will play against the Los Angeles Warriors on Thursday night due to a strained left calf, an injury he sustained in late December.

When is Luka Dončić’s Los Angeles Lakers debut?

It has not yet been determined when Luka Dončić will make his debut for the Los Angeles Lakers following a calf strain he suffered in late December, which has kept him off the court. Lakers head coach J.J. Redick stated on Wednesday that there is a possibility Dončić could return on Saturday to face the Indiana Pacers, according to reports from The Athletic’s Jovan Buha.

How to watch the Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers

Date: Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025
Time: 10 p.m. ET
TV: TNT, TruTV
Stream: Max
Location: crypto.com Arena (Los Angeles, CA)

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This was especially true on Wednesday at the White House. Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. Dozens of women and girls surrounded him. There were members of Congress there. Governors. The pomp and circumstance didn’t hide the ugliness of the moment.

He spoke of trans athletes as invaders and threats to women’s participation in sports. In fact, he called it a “war on women’s sports.” He lied about the gender of an Olympic boxer. It was all highly transphobic. Still, the applause poured in. People laughed at Trump’s attempt at jokes. Meanwhile, the price of eggs is still high.

That’s all the top line of what Trump said. That’s the message the administration wanted to send. Superficially, it was protect women. Protect women from the threat that is the trans athlete. Protect women, as Trump said, from getting “beat up.”

“From now on women’s sports will be only for women,” he said.

Of course, that’s already the case.

But there’s an important part of this story that Trump didn’t discuss. It’s the part the administration doesn’t want you to focus on. It lays bare the lie that this administration wants to “protect women.”

The theory of the case of this order, and the overall message of the anti-trans movement, goes like this: Trans women aren’t really women. They are men. (This is false.) Thus, girls and women need protection from them. (This is also false.)

Also, any woman who doesn’t fit the description of what they believe a woman should look like is a man masquerading as a woman.

The belief is that trans women have an unfair advantage competing against non-trans women. We can get into the many reasons this is wrong, but that’s for another day.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican (and a vocal supporter of the executive order), in November introduced a resolution to ban trans women from women’s restrooms at the Capitol. This was done after the election of Congresswoman Sarah McBride (D-Delaware), who became the first out transgender representative sent to Congress.

“Sarah McBride doesn’t get a say. I mean, this is a biological man,” Mace told reporters at the time. She added that McBride “does not belong in women’s spaces, women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, period, full stop.”

See that? That’s always the message. Women must be protected. Their spaces must be protected. This is said over and over. Protect women, protect women, protect women.

Of course we should protect girls and women but this story, this executive order, comes with an interesting caveat. Because if you look at the man who signed it, and also look at some of the key men around him, they do not seem to care about protecting girls or women. In fact, it’s the opposite.

Trump, who signed an executive order under the premise of protecting women, was found liable for sexual abuse. He is also on tape saying he can just grab women by their private parts. Dozens of women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct going back to the 1970s. A number of people close to Trump have been accused of sexual misconduct against women. They have denied the allegations against them.

Matt Gaetz was Trump’s original pick for U.S. attorney general. He withdrew because of accusations he had a sexual relationship with a minor while a member of Congress.

Elon Musk, a close ally of the president’s, saw his SpaceX company sued after employees said they were fired after complaining about alleged sexual harassment.

Is that what protecting women looks like?

This executive order will protect no one. It’s garbage. Trump doing it is like a fox signing the Hen Protection Act. He’s only doing this to score political points with a base that hates the trans community.

We’ve talked about what the order won’t do. Here is what the order will do.

‘This order could expose young people to harassment and discrimination, emboldening people to question the gender of kids who don’t fit a narrow view of how they’re supposed to dress or look,’ Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said in a statement on Tuesday. ‘Participating in sports is about learning the values of teamwork, dedication, and perseverance. And for so many students, sports are about finding somewhere to belong. We should want that for all kids – not partisan policies that make life harder for them.’

This order will damage the lives of people who have done nothing except be their real selves.

That’s the shame of all of this. All behind the curtain.