Let’s hop in a time machine and take a trip back to August 2024.

The future looked bright for the Vikings, largely because of how rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy was progressing in camp.

Never mind that journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold had been penciled in to be the starter. The growth that McCarthy had put on display throughout training camp was enough to make some wonder whether he could overtake Darnold.

The dazzling performance that McCarthy put forth for the Vikings in an exhibition game against the Las Vegas Raiders only added to the hype. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 188 yards and a pair of touchdowns while showcasing the skill and swagger that convinced the Vikings to select him in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

The wind was taken out of the sails roughly 48 hours later when McCarthy reported soreness in his right knee. Shortly thereafter, exploratory surgery revealed a torn meniscus that needed to be fully repaired. McCarthy’s rookie campaign was over before it even got started.

The official announcement came on Aug. 14, 2024, when head coach Kevin O’Connell addressed reporters before joint practice between the Vikings and the Cleveland Browns. O’Connell spoke of McCarthy with a conviction that hasn’t been heard since.

“He’s confirmed everything that I hoped to see,” O’Connell said at the time. “Everybody should be excited about the fact that we’ve got our young franchise quarterback in the building.”

Now, juxtapose that statement with the lukewarm response O’Connell provided about McCarthy on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium after the Vikings earned a 16-3 win over the Green Bay Packers. Asked if he felt comfortable with McCarthy being the starter for the Vikings moving forward, O’Connell meandered his way through a politically correct answer, tying his best not to make any sort of declaration.

“I think he’s improved,” O’Connell said. “I can’t wait to work with him.”

Not once did O’Connell declare McCarthy to be the young franchise quarterback like he did 16 months ago. Why would he with the resume McCarthy has put together since taking over as the starter?

There’s absolutely nothing that suggests McCarthy should be handed the keys to the car once again, not without some form of competition. He simply hasn’t proven to be somebody the Vikings can rely on.

The raw numbers are a big concern as McCarthy has struggled by virtually every standard metric. He completed a mere 57.6% of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, all while throwing less than 250 times total.

It doesn’t matter that McCarthy showed signs of improvements here and there in wins over the Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. He set the bar so low for himself that he was bound to trend upward at some point. It shouldn’t be praiseworthy that McCarthy no longer has to be mentioned in the same sentenced as JaMarcus Russell.

His inability is stay on the field might be an even bigger concern for the Vikings. The Vikings have played 35 games since drafting McCarthy; he has started 10. After missing every game as a rookie last season, he missed some more games this year because of a high ankle sprain, a concussion and a broken hand. All those injuries occurred while he was trying to create outside the structure of the designed play.

It’s not so much that McCarthy gets injured. It’s that he constantly puts himself in position to get injured. He can’t help himself. Just look at the opening drive between the Vikings and the Packers for proof.

After completing a few passes to move the chains, McCarthy scrambled into to open space, delivered a nasty stiff arm in the open field, then, for some reason, decided to lower his shoulder against cornerback Keisean Nixon rather than simply run out of bounds. The decision to actually seek out contact was ridiculous.

A fake tough guy move shouldn’t be celebrated, and he made worse by garnering a taunting penalty in the aftermath.

“I got carried away,” McCarthy said. “I felt like I let my teammates down.”

The childish antics might be the biggest concern of them all as McCarthy hasn’t shown the maturity required to lead. You would think that the 22-year-old who got flamed on social media for creating an alter ego for himself would understand when it’s time to tone it down. He clearly hasn’t learned his lesson, and that’s a problem.

Asked if he feels like he’s earned the right to be the Vikings’ starter, McCarthy expressed confidence in himself before later acknowledging that it’s not necessarily up to him.

“They have their own opinion and own perspective,” McCarthy said. “I feel like I know they know who I am as an individual, and the potential and capability that this offense can have with me at the helm.”

Asked if he thinks the Vikings should bring in somebody to compete with McCarthy, star receiver Justin Jefferson wouldn’t take the bait. It’s never been his style to publicly call out his teammates. He puts his head down and goes to work regardless of who’s throwing him the ball.

“It is what it is,” Jefferson said. “It’s not really my job to make that call.”

The fact that it’s even a conversation right now is poof that the Vikings have at least lost some faith in McCarthy, who they once thought was their young franchise quarterback with everything in front of him.

Look no further than how much the messaging has changed from August 2024 to January 2026.

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By JULIA FRANKEL, Associated Press

Curling dates to the 1700s and was among the handful of sports at the first Winter Olympics in 1924.

It didn’t return until the 1998 Games with both men’s and women’s competition. It has grown in popularity and size: Curling will be the first sport to open competition, two days before the opening ceremony for the Milan Cortina Games in February.

FILE – Rachel Homan, right, throws a rock during Canadian Olympic curling trials action against Team Brown in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

How it works

In a curling match, two teams compete to see which can get the most granite stones closest to a bullseye target called the tee by sliding it on a narrow sheet of ice. The distance between where a player must release the stone and the tee at the other end is about 93 feet (28 meters). The sheet is only 5 meters or 16.4 feet wide and it shares stones for each team every round so it gets crowded.

Each round, for up to 10 rounds, teams have eight chances to slide the specialized 44-pound (20 kg) stones toward the tee. They can aim directly for the center, try to knock their opponents’ stones away or nudge their own stones closer to the target. Strategies include blocking and takeouts.

Each throw involves all four teammates. One slides the stone, using a handle to make it curl, while others sweep the ice as the stone moves, altering its speed and direction. Team captains, called skips, advise on strategy. Whichever team gets consistently closest to the target wins the match.

Terms to know; The house (the overall scoring area, centered by the tee); Ends, which are similar to an inning in baseball in that each team shoots eight rocks (two per person) or 16 total; the hammer, or the last stone of an end; the hog line, which is when a player must release their stone (21 feet from the tee); and pebbling, the droplets of ice on the sheet that impact the speed of the stone.

Granite rock that has been used to create curling stone blocks lies outside Kays Curling stone factory in Mauchline, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Who to watch

Canadian Brad Jacobs is making his second Olympic appearance after leading Canada to gold at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. Standout Bruce Mouat of the United Kingdom will compete in two events in Cortina, mixed doubles and the men’s championship.

The Swedes are the defending Olympic men’s champion. On the women’s side, the U.K. is the defending women’s champion but Sweden and Canada are among the favorites.

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The U.S. will be represented in all three curling disciplines. Daniel Casper will lead the men’s team, Tabitha Peterson the women’s and Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin will be in mixed doubles.

Venues and dates

All matches will take place at the Cortina curling stadium, with competition beginning Feb. 4. The mixed doubles final is Feb. 10, men’s semifinals Feb. 19 and the final Feb. 21 while the women’s semis are Feb. 20 and the final Feb. 22.

Memorable moments

The Canadian men had won gold for three straight Olympics (2006, 2010 and 2014) before the Americans led by skip John Shuster grabbed headlines by upsetting Sweden to win the U.S. its first Olympic gold in curling.

Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner won mixed doubles in 2022, giving Italy its first Olympic curling championship. Constantini is from Cortina, so she and Mosaner will draw huge crowds as they try to win gold at home.

Fun facts

An average curling match takes three hours, according to World Curling. Mixed doubles at Cortina will see two married couples and one sibling team face off. Canadian couple Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant will compete against Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann of Switzerland. Swedish siblings Rasmus Wranå and Isabella Wranå will also compete as a team.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

By ANDREW DAMPF, Associated Press

Alpine skiing in its Olympic form dates back more than a century and the sport made its debut at the 1936 Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Events have been modified over the years, but the individual competitions familiar to most fans like downhill and slalom remain. Here is what to know for the Winter Olympics in Italy next month.

How it works

There are five different events in Alpine skiing at these Olympics for both the men and women. The individual events are: downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom. Then there is the team combined event, which will be making its Olympic debut.

In downhill and super-G, otherwise known as the “speed events,” each competitor gets only one run. Giant slalom and slalom are contested over two runs, with the top 30 finishers from the opening leg starting in reverse order for the second leg. The team combined features two-person teams with one racer competing in a downhill run and the other in a slalom run, with their combined times producing the results.

Who to watch

Americans Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn are the two of the most accomplished skiers of all time. Shiffrin excels in slalom and giant slalom while the 41-year-old Vonn excels in downhill and super-G. It’s possible that they could pair with each other in team combined. The American squad also includes downhill world champion Breezy Johnson and defending super-G silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle.

The host Italians have a strong squad with Sofia Goggia and Federica Brignone — if she returns in time from injury — and Dominik Paris. Swiss standout Marco Odermatt is the top men’s racer.

Venues and dates

Men’s events at these Olympics will be held in Bormio and women’s events in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The schedule features the men’s downhill on Feb. 7, the women’s downhill Feb. 8; the men’s giant slalom is Feb. 14, the women Feb. 15; and the men’s slalom is Feb. 16, with the women’s slalom on Feb. 18 the final Alpine event.

Memorable moments

French standout Jean-Claude Killy swept gold in all three men’s events on home snow at the 1968 Grenoble Games.

Shiffrin became the youngest slalom gold medalist as an 18-year-old at the 2014 Sochi Games.

Austria’s Hermann Maeir bounced back from a horrific crash in downhill at the 1998 Nagano Games to win gold in super-G and giant slalom.

Fun facts

Alberto Tomba is the most decorated Italian skier in Olympic history with five medals: three golds and two silvers, won at Calgary in 1998, Albertville in 1992 and Lillehammer in 1994. While he’s from the Bologna area, Tomba spent many winters training in Cortina before he became a star.

Deborah Compagnoni, who was born in Bormio and raised just up the road in Santa Caterina di Valfurva, won skiing golds at three straight Olympics: 1992, 1994 and 1998.

Combined is the oldest skiing event at the Olympics, having featured when the sport made its debut in 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen. But the event’s format has changed multiple times over the years.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

By DAVID BAUDER, Associated Press

Leaders of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private agency that has steered federal funding to PBS, NPR and hundreds of public television and radio stations across the country, voted Monday to dissolve the organization that was created in 1967.

CPB had been winding down since Congress acted last summer to defund its operations at the encouragement of President Donald Trump. Its board of directors chose Monday to shutter CPB completely instead of keeping it in existence as a shell.

“CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks,” said Patricia Harrison, the organization’s president and CEO.

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Many Republicans have long accused public broadcasting, particularly its news programming, of being biased toward liberals but it wasn’t until the second Trump administration —- with full GOP control of Congress — that those criticisms were turned into action.

Ruby Calvert, head of CPB’s board of directors, said the federal defunding of public media has been devastating.

“Even at this moment, I am convinced that public media will survive, and that a new Congress will address public media’s role in our country because it is critical to our children’s education, our history, culture and democracy to do so,” Calvert said.

CPB said it was financially supporting the American Archive of Public Broadcasting in its effort to preserve historic content, and is working with the University of Maryland to maintain its own records.