Daily Republic
Monday, February 14, 2022 SECTION B Paul Farmer . Sports Editor . 427.6926
‘We want competitors.’ Here’s the vision for the Kings from GM Monte McNair’s trades Tribune Content Agency Kings general manager Monte McNair remade roughly half the team’s roster last week by shipping out four players and bringing in six ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. Doing so has changed the path of the organization, both in the near term and the future, while putting his stamp on the
roster in the most significant way since he took over in September of 2020. “We want competitors, toughness,” McNair said in a news conference Saturday, his first with reporters since making the two trades. “We need to improve our rebounding and defense. And I think all these guys that we’ve brought are not just great players, good
talents, all that type of stuff, but guys that are going to fit into that type of culture we’re trying to build here.” The Kings haven’t been known for having a strong culture, a theme that predates McNair’s tenure. The 15-year playoff drought has been wrought with turmoil, tension, bad roster decisions, controversial
coaching changes and front office makeovers. McNair’s mandate – on top of getting the Kings back to the playoffs for the first time since 2006 – is to make Sacramento a desirable small-market destination that brings fans out in droves like the roaring Arco Arena days at the turn of the century. Whether or not these latest moves can spur an
organizational turnaround is up for debate. The Kings have 24 games following Saturday’s win in Washington to make a push for the play-in tournament, where they’ll have at least a puncher’s chance to break into the playoffs as one of the top eight seeds. McNair said the process of targeting players began in the summer with conversa-
tions with other teams throughout the league. It ramped up in December, when players who signed new contracts last offseason first became eligible to get dealt. Then things began moving more quickly at the start of last week. “Being disciplined is tough some times,” See Kings, Page B8
CALENDAR Note: Some events may be canceled or moved to different times and/or stations because of Covid-19 considerations
Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) avoids a tackle by Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Sam
Hubbard (94) during the first quarter of Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium on in Inglewood, Sunday.
Rams rally to beat Bengals for first L.A. Super Bowl title Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES — Throughout their all-in, boom-or-bust season, Rams coach Sean McVay and his players stuck with a common refrain. During winning and losing streaks, after comeback victories and embarrassing defeats, they opined that they were authoring their own story, and they intended to finish with a flourish. On Sunday, in Super Bowl LVI they penned the final chapter. And it was a pulsating finish. The Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 before 70,048 at SoFi Stadium
to win the first Super Bowl title in Los Angeles Rams history. Quarterback Matthew Stafford passed for three touchdowns and a defense led by Aaron Donald and Von Miller sacked Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow seven times as the Ram became the second consecutive team to win the Super Bowl in their home stadium. Stafford connected on a one-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp with 1:25 left in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead score and the eventual win. Next season, the Rams will have a chance to become the first team to win consecutive Super
Bowl titles since the New England Patriots in 2004 and 2005. But they will savor this championship run, which now establishes the Rams as a force in a Los Angeles sports landscape that includes the Lakers and Dodgers, franchises that have won multiple NBA and World Series title and are embedded in local sports fans psyche. Six years after returning from St. Louis, a franchise that played its first game in Los Angeles in 1946 won the NFL title as a Los Angeles team for the first time since 1951. And three years after he was schooled by New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick in Super
Bowl LIII, Rams coach Sean McVay cemented himself in history by leading his team to win over Bengals coach Zac Taylor, a former Rams assistant. The star-studded Rams began the season with a mandate to play in a Super Bowl that was played in owner Stan Kroenke’s $5-billion stadium. General manager Les Snead and coach Sean McVay assembled a roster full of All-Pros and future Hall of Famers. The foundation was there – with stars such as Donald drafted in 2014, lineman Andrew See Title, Page B8
Erin Jackson breaks through barriers to win speedskating Olympic gold Los Angeles Times BEIJING — Erin Jackson didn’t let this chance go to waste. After teammate Brittany Bowe gave up her qualifying spot in the 500-meter speedskating race to ensure Jackson could compete at the Olympics despite a slip during the Olympic trials, the top-ranked sprinter repaid her longtime friend’s selfless gesture by winning a gold medal on Sunday at the National Speedskating Oval. Skating in the second-to-last heat, Jackson blazed to a 37.04second finish to become the first U.S. woman to medal in the 500 meters since 1994 and win the United States’ first individual speedskating medal at any distance since Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick took gold and bronze, respectively, in the 1,000 meters in 2010. Jackson, who four years
Richard Heathcote/Getty Images/TNS
The United States’ Erin Jackson reacts after winning the gold medal during the Women’s 500m during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, Sunday. ago became the first Black woman to represent the United States in speedskating at the Olympics, is now the first Black woman to win a speedskating gold medal for the United States.
Japan’s Miho Takagi finished 0.08 seconds behind Jackson for silver and Angeline Golikova of the Russian Olympic Committee (37.21 seconds) took bronze. Jackson, 29, waited for the final heat, watching the final two competitors race past her as she stood on the opposite end of the oval from the finish line. Her eyes glued on the video screen, Jackson raised her arms in the air when the final times flashed in the arena. She hugged her coach Ryan Shimabukuro still staring at the video board as if to confirm that the numbers were real, then she sank onto the padded rink wall with her head in her hands. She skated a victory lap, holding an American flag over her head. Bowe, who was added to the 500-meter race when other counSee Gold, Page B8
Basketball College men •Saint Louis at St. Bonaventure, CBSSN, 2 p.m. •West Virginia at Kansas State, ESPN2, 4 p.m. •Virginia at Virginia Tech, ESPN, 2 p.m. •NC Central at Coppin State, ESPNU, 4 p.m. •Bucknell at Lehigh, CBSSN, 4 p.m. •Oklahoma State at Kansas, ESPN, 6 p.m. •Washington State at Oregon, ESPNU, 6 p.m. •Georgetown at Creighton, FS1, 6 p.m. •Dayton at Rhode Island, CBSSN, 6 p.m. College women •Florida at Auburn, SEC, 4 p.m. •Indiana at Nebraska, BIG TEN, 4 p.m. •Maryland at Iowa, ESPN2, 6 p.m. •Ohio State at Illinois, BIG TEN, 6 p.m. NBA •Sacramento at Brooklyn, NBCSCA, 4:30 p.m. (Vacaville only) •San Antonio at Chicago, NBATV, 5 p.m. •Golden State at L.A. Clippers, NBCSBA, NBATV, 7:30 p.m. Hockey NHL •Edmonton at San Jose, NBCSCA, 7:30 p.m. Olympics •Ski jumping, men’s team, large hill, USA, 7:30 a.m. •Bobsled, two-man, heat 2, USA, 9 a.m. •Freestyle skiing, men’s slopestyle, qualifying, USA, 10 a.m. •Curling, men’s round robin, ROC vs. Sweden, USA, 11 a.m. •Ski jumping, men’s team large hill; freestyle skiing, women’s slopestyle, final; snowboarding, men’s big air, qualifying; bobsled, women’s monobob, final runs, Ch. 3, 11 a.m. •Curling, women’s round robin, Switzerland vs. Sweden, CNBC, 2 p.m. •Hockey, women’s semifinal, USA, 2 p.m. •Ski jumping, men’s team, large hill, USA, 4:30 p.m. (re-air) •Freestyle skiing, women’s aerials, final; snowboarding, women’s big air, final’ bobsled, men’s two-man, first and second runs; Alpine skiing, women’s downhill, Ch. 3, 5 p.m. •Curling, men’s round robin, Switzerland vs. United States, CNBC, 5:05 p.m. •Freestyle skiing, men’s slopestyle, final, USA, 5:30 p.m. •Snowboarding, men’s big-air, qualifying, USA, 7 p.m. •Hockey, men’s quarterfinals, CNBC, USA, 8:10 p.m. •Hockey, men’s quarterfinals, Ch. 3, 8:30 p.m. •Snowboarding, men’s big air event, final; Ch. 3, 9:05 p.m. •Speed skating, men’s and women’s team pursuit, finals, USA, 10:30 p.m. •Freestyle skiing, women’s aerials, final; snowboarding, women’s big air, final’ bobsled, men’s two-man, first and second runs; Alpine skiing, women’s downhill, Ch. 3, 11:35 p.m. (re-air) Soccer Super Lig •Adana Demirspor vs. Besiktas, BEIN, 8:55 a.m. Copa Libertadores •First round, second leg, Barcelona SC vs. Torque, BEIN, 4:20 p.m. Tennis •Center Court, ATP Delray Beach, ATP Rio de Janeiro, ATP Marseille, ATP Doha, WTA Dubai, early rounds, TENNIS, 2 and 3 a.m. •Center Court, ATP Delray Beach, ATP Rio de Janeiro, ATP Marseille, ATP Doha, WTA Dubai, early rounds, TENNIS, 3 p.m.
Tuesday’s TV sports Basketball College men •Kent State at Toledo, CBSSN, 3 p.m. •Michigan State at Penn State, BIG TEN, 3:30 p.m. •Texas at Oklahoma, ESPN2, 4 p.m. •Florida at Texas A&M, SEC, 4 p.m. •South Carolina at Ole Miss, ESPNU, 4 p.m. •Wake Forest at Duke, ESPN, 4 p.m. •Villanova at Providence, CBSSN, 5 p.m. •NC State at Georgia Tech, ACC, 5 p.m. •Minnesota at Ohio State, BIG TEN, 5:30 p.m.
See TV, Page B8
