Sports
Rebuilt Rams remind Sean McVay of team that was bound for Super Bowl
The Rams rebounded from a dreadful season, mixed experienced veterans with developing young players and made an unexpected run to the playoffs under coach Sean McVay.
Sound familiar?
That was the story of 2017, McVay’s first season as coach of the Rams, and it created the foundation for a 2018 season that ended with a run to Super Bowl LIII.
This season, the Rams emerged from their historically bad Super Bowl LVI hangover and made an unexpected run to the postseason.
“It’s a good parallel,” McVay said Wednesday during a video conference with reporters, adding, “It does feel like this was kind of a new start to the journey that we’re on.”
Much happened between the 2017 and 2018 seasons, including high-profile trades, free agent signings and the selection of contributors in the draft.
The Rams are positioned to make similar moves as they prepare for next season and a possible run to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.
The Rams currently have about $42 million in salary-cap space, according to overthecap.com,
They have six draft picks — including No. 19 in the first round — and they are anticipating compensatory picks for the losses of Baker Mayfield, Matt Gay, Nick Scott and Allen Robinson. The Rams could amass more picks if general manager Les Snead stays true to his recent history and trades back.
“We’ve got a lot of continuity coming back,” McVay said, “and we’ll have a lot of resources relative to draft capital and even just some flexibility to be able to add some players or re-sign some that wasn’t afforded to us last year.”
At the moment, it appears the Rams will have quarterback Matthew Stafford and lineman Aaron Donald back for the 2024 season.
Stafford, who turns 36 on Feb, 7, carries a salary-cap number of $49.5 million, according to overthecap.com. After the Rams’ NFC wild-card loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Stafford said he would be back next season.
Asked Wednesday if the Rams were committed to Stafford, McVay did not hesitate.
“One hundred percent. Absolutely. Unequivocally yes,” he said. “Oh man, that would be a good way to get me really riled up. No, we’re ready to go. He’s ready to go and couldn’t be more committed to having him lead us.”
Donald, a three-time NFL defensive player of the year, will be 33 next season, and he carries a cap number of $34 million. He said after the loss to Detroit that he would return.
But Monday, defensive line coach Eric Henderson left to become USC’s co-defensive coordinator. Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is interviewing with several teams that are searching for a new head coach.
Asked about Donald on Monday, McVay indicated he had not spoken to the three-time NFL defensive player of the year about whether that would influence his plans for next season.
Aaron Donald says he will be back with the Rams next season.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
“Those conversations occur at the appropriate time,” McVay said. “There’s so much emotion that takes place right after a game and after a season. … You give guys the chance to really just digest the season, coaches and players alike, and then we’ll address all those things at the right time.”
Right tackle Rob Havenstein, who carries a cap number of $14.7 million, will be preparing for his 10th season with the Rams. Havenstein said the team also has a “young core” of mentally tough players who could help the Rams take the next step.
If those players, “take this last year’s experience and just roll it on in the next year, I think why not?” Havenstein said. “But we’ll come to that year a little bit down the road.”
Veteran tight end Tyler Higbee will be coming off major knee surgery going into next season. McVay said Higbee will undergo surgery after suffering torn anterior and medial collateral ligaments against the Lions. Higbee is a candidate to begin training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list, McVay said.
Running back Kyren Williams suffered a broken bone in his hand against the Lions and had surgery Tuesday, McVay said.
As the Rams look ahead to free agency and the draft, they could again be in the market for a backup quarterback who eventually could replace Stafford.
Carson Wentz is a free agent and is expected to seek an opportunity to start with another team.
Stetson Bennett, a fourth-round draft pick in 2023, has been on the reserve/non-football illness list for an undisclosed issue since the end of the preseason.
McVay was asked if he expected Bennett to be with the Rams in 2024.
“You know, I don’t know that,” he said. “I think that’s a conversation for another time. I think he’s doing better but I wouldn’t be in a position to answer that accurately right now.
“That’s probably a long ways away for me, being able to answer that.”
Sports
Mike Breen says fans ‘deserve to be thrown a bone’ as NBA cuts all local broadcasts from the playoffs
NBA playoffs begin, Will anyone stop the Thunder? | The Herd
The NBA playoffs are underway, with the Play-In tournament starting tomorrow. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the heavy favorite to repeat as champions. Colin Cowherd asks if the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, or anyone else can stop the Thunder.
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Mike Breen, the New York Knicks’ play-by-play announcer and star NBA voice with ESPN, is not happy with a key league move heading into the NBA Playoffs.
And he didn’t hold back his frustrations during the Knicks’ regular-season finale on Sunday night.
For the first time in NBA history, all local network broadcasts are being pushed out of the playoffs for nationally televised games. Those networks paid a premium to air the playoffs, but the league had always allowed the local home broadcast to be aired as well as the national TV spots in previous seasons.
ESPN play-by-play sports commentator Mike Breen looks on prior to the game between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 25, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Celtics defeated the 76ers 110-107. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Breen, alongside his longtime partner, Knicks great Walt “Clyde” Frazier, ripped the league’s decision on the final day of his broadcasting duties for the Eastern Conference squad.
“First time ever that no longer can the home team announcers and broadcasters televise the first round,” Breen mentioned during the 110-96 loss to the Charlotte Hornets while broadcasting on MSG.
KNICKS BROADCASTER’S JOKE COMPARING BULLS’ ‘OBLITERATED’ DEFENSE TO IRAN LEAVES PARTNER STUNNED
“The entire playoffs are exclusive to national TV broadcasters. I mentioned this earlier this season. I think, personally, Clyde, it’s a poor decision. Fans want to hear their home team announcers, at least in the first round. For so many of us, they become part of the family.”
Breen added that he understands “the networks pay a fortune for exclusivity,” granted he works for one of those networks on ESPN.
“But fans deserve to be thrown a bone once in a while in terms of letting the home team have a little bit of the first round,” he continued.
The NBA reached a whopping $76 billion broadcast rights deal that kicked in at the start of this season, and it will last for the next 11 seasons. Like other pro sports leagues, the deal is carved out across various platforms, both long-standing networks and streaming.
ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen calls the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 17, 2024. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
While the NBA got together the deal it liked with Disney, Amazon and NBCUniversal, Breen hopes it would consider working something out to get local broadcasters back into the fold for the playoffs.
However, he knows how the business is at the end of the day.
“Somehow, if there’s any way they can work out some kind of compromise, I’m not hopeful for that, but it would be wonderful to have it because this is our final telecast of the season,” Breen said.
Breen, now, will focus on his ESPN duties as the lead commentator for the “Worldwide Leader” on the court. His famous “Bang!” call on clutch three-pointers has been synonymous with the biggest moments in the NBA Playoffs for years now, and that will get started very soon as teams in both the East and West gun for their shot at the Larry O’Brien Trophy and to call themselves NBA Finals champions.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning Finals champs, are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference once again, while teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers will battle them to be crowned conference champions.
Mike Breen looks on before the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers during Round 2 Game 3 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals 2023 NBA Playoffs on May 6, 2023 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images)
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In the East, Breen’s Knicks own the No. 3 seed, while the Detroit Pistons (No. 1) and Boston Celtics (No. 2) had successful regular-season campaigns to earn a top spot heading into the playoffs.
The Play-In Tournament will be the first games for the NBA Playoffs, which will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Then, the first round will split its tipoffs on NBC/Peacock, Prime Video and ESPN.
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Sports
Jonathan Quick, who won two Stanley Cup titles with Kings, announces retirement from NHL
SUNRISE, Fla. — New York Rangers goalkeeper Jonathan Quick is calling it a career after 19 NHL seasons and three Stanley Cup championships — with 16 of those seasons and two championships as a member of the Kings.
The 40-year-old goalie told reporters Monday that he would be playing in his final game that night when the Rangers visit the Florida Panthers. It will mark Quick’s 921st game appearance, counting playoffs.
“Tonight will be my last game in the league, and I am looking forward to it,” Quick said following the morning skate ahead at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. “My wife flew down with the kids, my parents will be here. I am looking forward to this last one, try to get one more win here.”
He added of his decision: “It just felt right. Felt like the right time. I put some thought into it.”
Selected by the Kings in the third round of the 2005 draft, Quick became a fixture in front of the net for L.A. during the 2008-09 season. He was a key member of the Kings’ Stanley Cup champion teams in 2012 and 2014, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs with a 16-4 record, a .946 save percentage and 1.41 goals-against average.
Quick won a silver medal as a backup goaltender for the U.S. at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, although he did not see any playing time. At the 2014 Sochi Games, Quick went 3-2 as the starting goalie for the fourth-place U.S. team.
By March 2023, Quick was the Kings’ leader among goalies in the categories of total games (743), wins (370) and shutouts (57). At age 37, however, he had also lost a step or two. The Kings traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who turned around and dealt him to the Vegas Golden Knights the next day.
Quick saw a decent amount of playing time down the stretch in the regular season because of injuries to the Golden Knights’ goaltenders. He didn’t make it into any games during the team’s championship run in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
After spending the last three seasons in New York, Quick is set to make his 70th and final start with the Rangers and add the final numbers to a stat line that currently includes 20,315 saves (18th most all time), 410 wins (12th most) and 65 shutouts (17th).
“He earned the respect of his teammates, coaches and staff members through his work ethic and dedication to his craft,” Rangers general manager Chris Drury said in a statement posted on social media. “Jonathan is a special person and player, and the entire Rangers organization wishes him — along with his wife, Jackie, and three children, Madison, Carter and Cash — all the best in retirement.”
The Rangers are 33-38-9 and will miss the playoffs for the second straight season. They finish the year Wednesday night at Tampa Bay.
Another key member of the Kings championship teams, Anze Kopitar, also is retiring after this season, following 20 years in the NHL, all with L.A.
Sports
ESPN star calls for 2017 Masters winner to have his lifetime exemption removed after meltdown
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ESPN star Mike Greenberg called for Sergio Garcia’s lifetime exemption into the Masters Tournament to be pulled after his antics on the course in the final round on Sunday.
Garcia received a code of conduct warning after he smashed his driver in frustration at Augusta National. He slammed his club into the turf twice after hitting a shot that ended up in the bunker. Then he took a swipe at a table with a green cooler on it.
ESPN personality Mike Greenberg is interviewed on radio row at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 1, 2017, ahead of Super Bowl LI. (Jerry Lai/USA TODAY Sports)
Greenberg seemingly saw Garcia’s anger as a detrimental issue.
“A lifetime exemption is a privilege extended by Augusta to its champions out of respect,” he wrote on X. “If that respect is not reciprocated, there is no law that says a past champ cannot be banned.
RORY MCILROY REPEATS AS MASTERS CHAMPION, JOINS RARE COMPANY AT AUGUSTA NATIONAL
Sergio Garcia lines up a putt on the second green during the first round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on Apr. 9, 2026. (Michael Madrid/Imagn Images)
“I’m not sure they should have Sergio Garcia back after the garbage he pulled today.”
Garcia, who competes in LIV Golf, won the Masters in 2017. It is his only major victory of his career. Since winning in 2017, he only made the cut for the final two rounds once. The feat came at this year’s tournament. He finished 52nd in the field.
Sergio Garcia plays his shot on the seventeenth hole during the second round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on April 10, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
He joined LIV Golf in 2022 as he was among the PGA Tour stars who left the organization. He has two wins in the series – at LIV Golf Andalucía in 2024 and LIV Golf Hong Kong in 2025. He played his way into a playoff four times, only winning the Andalucía event.
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
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