Laila Edwards, the first Black player to make the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team, could become one of the breakout stars of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
She’s also from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the hometown of Jason and Travis Kelce. The brothers experimented with hockey growing up before committing to football, and they remain fans of the game.
In November 2023, when Edwards first made the women’s national team, they gave her a shout-out on New Heights.
“I thought, ‘I’ll just message them thanking them, they’ll never see it,’” Edwards told People. “And then Travis and I had a full conversation over DM, and that was super cool. He was a really down-to-earth, humble guy who was super supportive and had really good things to say. They shouted me out again recently for making the Olympic team.”
Their support didn’t end there. Edwards told People that Travis made a large donation to her family’s GoFundMe page, which has raised over $50,000 to help her family fly to Milan to support her and the U.S. women’s national team.
Kylie Kelce will be on-site in Milan, after NBC named her as part of its Creator Collective. Jason and Kylie attended the Paris Olympics, and supported field hockey, volleyball, and women’s rugby. This time, Edwards hopes to see them at some of her games.
“Travis was saying that Jason and Kylie are big fans of mine, and I’m hoping to meet them all in Italy,” Edwards said.
Jason and Travis Kelce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Weeks before she had made the team, South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito was confidently saying, “when I go to the Olympics …”
Levito, 18, who lives and trains in Mount Laurel, wasn’t being cocky. She knew; she had done the math.
Qualifying for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics was “definitely a realistic goal for me for the past three years,” said Levito, the 2023 U.S. champion and 2024 world silver medalist. “But I felt like I had to prove myself again after missing a bit of last season with an injury.
“But when the season was going the way it was going, score-wise, internationally, I just had to skate the way I can skate at nationals and have it solidified.”
Isabeau Levito performs during the women’s free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis. She won the bronze medal.
Indeed, with two clean programs and the bronze medal at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships earlier this month, combined with strong results throughout the season and last year, that spot was hers.
So when she met with Justin Dillon, chief high performance officer for U.S. Figure Skating, who told her reality show-style that she was on the team, Levito seemed happy but not surprised. Her head coach, Yulia Kuznetsova, however, was flooded with tears.
Kuznetsova skated pairs while growing up in Russia and later in Disney on Ice, where she performed with her now-husband and another of Levito’s coaches, Slava Kuznetsov. But she never made it to that top frozen stage — until now as a coach.
Kuznetsova also knew it was within reach. But the duo knew what they needed to do.
Isabeau Levito performs during the women’s free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis. She won the bronze medal.
They opted this season for a triple flip combination instead of a triple Lutz. They thought the flip had a better chance of being called clean. (This worked out, but her individual triple Lutz also has been getting better results lately.)
“Next season, I really want to switch things around and do new things and have more fun with it,” Levito said, “because this season it was a matter of doing all the skills that I honed, all the things that are the most comfortable and the most reliable. But next season, let’s just start risking things.”
She’s looking forward to being fully immersed in the Olympic experience and having her family see her skate. The opening ceremony is Feb. 6.
“I am going to run this [Olympic] village,” she said. “This is going to be so fun.”
She’s read about the village and watched TikToks from the Summer Games.
“But I really have no idea what the Olympic Village is going to look like. That’s why I’m so excited to get there and explore it,” she said.
Most of the ice sports, including figure skating, will be in Milan. The snow and sliding sports, plus curling, will be 250 miles away in Cortina and other mountain regions. This Olympics will be held in six villages across northern Italy.
Before nationals, Levito had a lot of obligations. There were days when film crews came into the rink and stayed all day, cutting into her training time.
The results were viral social media videos for sponsors such as Red Bull (she compares skills with a hockey player) and Everlane (she answers rapid-fire questions while getting ready to get on the ice at the Igloo Ice Rink in Mount Laurel).
Now she’s back to a more typical schedule of skating for hours every day.
“Everything’s exactly the same,” she said of her days on the ice. “What’s different, though, is how exciting it is going to the rink every day, being that I’m actually training for the Olympics right now.”
Does Olympic prep include getting a tattoo of the rings, as so many athletes do?
“I just don’t know if I would get a tattoo in general,” Levito said. “I think I’m going to start with the Olympic necklace,” which many Olympians sport.
“If I did get a tattoo, it would be in such a hidden place, and it would be so tiny and microscopic. And I’m thinking to myself, ‘If that’s the circumstances I would get a tattoo under, maybe I should think about it for a while.’”
Meanwhile, time is ticking, meaning she needs to shop for some formal dresses to wear at Olympic banquets and choose things to pack for any downtime.
Levito said she likely will bring a couple of books as well as her bedazzling kit. Besides all the sparkles she wears on the ice, she enjoys adding rhinestones to her various makeup cases and a comb.
“It’s so soothing,” she said.
Isabeau Levito skates her short program at the Grand Prix de France in October.
There is a lot of talk of extra bling: The three American women have a good chance of earning medals at the Olympics. But Levito isn’t thinking about that.
“The village is what I’m focused on,” she said. “And obviously skating my best, but I can already feel like I will.”
The pressure also is off a bit. With Glenn winning her third consecutive national title and Liu as the reigning world champion, Levito feels she’s less in the spotlight than she was a couple of years ago, when she won nationals and the silver medal at worlds.
But it’s all good.
“Honestly to me right now my life feels like perfect,” she said. “Dare I say I love everything that’s in my life, like personal life, and just like my goals that I’ve achieved, whether I’m under the radar or not?
“I’m just so happy right now. I feel like I really achieved my dream life that I had in mind maybe five or some years ago. I feel like I’m really living what I was wishing for or envisioning for myself, so I’m just beyond proud.”
You can’t turn around these days in Philly without someone telling you this is going to be a big year for the city, including me. You get it, things are happening, people are coming, but I bet you mostly just want to know how you can either join in on the parties or figure out how much they’re going to annoy you.
I usually try to temper my expectations — one, because I’ve learned a few things in 18 years here and two, because I like to be pleasantly surprised. But I’ve recently found myself imagining what the big moments will be like: the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament in March; the PGA Championship in May; the FIFA World Cup and MLB-All Star games this summer; and the yearlong celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Antoine Watts, back left, and Michael Clement, front center, participate in the Red, White, and Blue To-Do Pomp & Parade at Independence Hall in 2024.
I have big hopes and some worries for Philadelphia, just like I do for everything I love.
And while the stuff above is a lot, it’s not everything going on here this year, not even close. So if you’re seeking alternatives to the big to-dos, looking to keep your calendar full all year long, or just hoping to run into Mark Ruffalo, here are 14 more Philly happenings to look forward to this year.
(Dates are subject to change. Check related websites for updates.)
Jan. 30: Philly is Unrivaled
The first big event features incredible athletes you won’t see in any of the major sporting events I mentioned above: women.
Unrivaled, a three-on-three format women’s basketball league, is holding a doubleheader at Xfinity Mobile Arena to kick off its first tour later this month.
Rose BC guard Chelsea Gray (12) drives past Lunar Owls wing Rebecca Allen (9) in their Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game Jan. 5 in Medley, Fla.
The games will undoubtedly hype up fans for when Philly gets its own WNBA expansion team in 2030 and prove to any doubters that Philly is a women’s sports town (we even have a shirt that says it).
The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in northern Italy will feature a host of local athletes and at least one famous Philly podcaster. Watching it also doesn’t require you to leave your house, so win-win.
Four Philadelphia Flyers will be playing Olympic hockey: Travis Sanheim for Canada, Rasmus Ristolainen for Finland, Dan Vladar will represent Czechia, and Rodrigo Abols will take the ice for Latvia.
People take photos in front of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics rings, in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy.
Other local athletes will undoubtedly qualify, but I don’t have a full list yet so don’t email me asking why I didn’t mention your cousin-in-law on the U.S. Curling Team.
Kylie Kelce will also serve as a digital content creator for NBCUniversal’s Creator Collective and she’ll have on-the-ground access to the games to produce social media content.
Go Birds. Go Team U.S.A.
Feb. 14: ‘Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition’
How much fun can learning about theme parks be without the roller coaster rides, immersive lands, or concession stands? Philly will find out next month when the Franklin Institute premieres: “Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition.”
An artists’ conceptual rendering of the Franklin Institute’s “Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition,” which is slated to open Feb. 14.
The new exhibit spans eight galleries and tracks the history and world-building of Universal’s theme parks. It was created by the team at the Franklin, who hope it will introduce young visitors to science and tech careers in the theme park industry.
I’m hoping there’s a section about whatever alien incantation protects the E.T. Adventure ride, which opened in 1990 and is the last remaining original ride at Universal Studios Florida. The high-tech stuff is awesome, but there’s nothing that beats the nostalgia of that flying bicycle ride and the flashlight-fingered alien.
March 14: Ministry of Awe opens
The more I hear about the Ministry of Awe the less I understand it, and the more intrigued I become.
The permanent, six-story immersive art experience helmed by Philly muralist Meg Saligman inside of Manufacturers National Bank in Old City “transforms an abandoned 19th-century bank into a fantastical, seemingly impossible institution that trades in the many enigmatic facets of humanity,” according to its website.
Guests will be encouraged to question what they value and to wander the multimedia art space, which will lean into a banking theme and includes a room for counterfeiting. Actors will be on hand to enliven their experiences.
Muralist Meg Saligman inside of the still-under-construction Ministry of Awe in November. Opening date is March 14.
“There’s a teller that smells you. You will walk through and be delighted and surprised along the way,” Saligman told The Inquirer.
The Ministry of Awe says we all already have accounts open there and one thing is for certain, my interest rate is sky-high.
April 14 — May 31: ‘1776 The Musical’
There are not many musicals set in Philadelphia and the one thing you can say about 1776 is that it’s one of them.
The production about the events that led to the signing of the Declaration of Independence never became a juggernaut like Hamilton and didn’t produce any smash songs. But after rewatching the film version last Independence Day, I can safely say it’s still a pretty good musical. Especially if you hate John Adams, or love watching people hate on him.
While it would have been epic if this production could have been staged at Independence Hall this year, seeing it at the Walnut Street Theatre — the country’s oldest theater, which opened just 32 years after 1776 — is a close second.
April 16: Cruise ships begin sailing out of Philly
For the first time in nearly two decades, cruise ships will return to the region this spring, offering locals a chance to seas the day with an aquatic trip abroad.
Construction of the Port of Philadelphia (PhilaPort) Cruise Terminal began last month in Tinicum Township, Delaware County, at a site adjacent to the Philadelphia International Airport that was formerly known as the Hog Island Dock Terminal Facility.
(How’s that for a local word salad — a Philly port in Delco at a dock named after the place that may have inspired the word hoagie.)
A conceptual rendering of the future PhilaPort Cruise Terminal, a 16-acre site adjacent to Philadelphia International Airport.
Norwegian Cruise Lines has exclusive rights to sail out of the PhilaPort Cruise Terminal through March 2033. According to its website, the first voyage will be a seven-day round-trip to Bermuda.
Fear not the Bermuda Triangle, my fair Philadelphians, for we’ve weathered far stranger things here following Super Bowl wins, and on an average Tuesday.
April 18: Monster Jam at the Linc
If you think the Birds are beasts on their home turf, buckle up, because 12,000-pound trucks are coming to Lincoln Financial Field this spring as part of Monster Jam’s Stadium Championship Series.
Foam teeth line the front of the Megalodon monster truck at Monster Jam at Lincoln Financial Field in 2023.
When I hear Monster Jam my first thought is “It’s probably boysenberry,” or “I wonder if it’s as fun as a mash?” but if you have little ones who love things that go vroom — or you do — this auto be wheelie good time.
May: The Greyhound station reopens
Slated to come back from the dead this spring like it was Kenny or Jon Snow will be Philly’s intercity bus terminal, formerly known as the Greyhound station.
The Philadelphia Parking Authority will operate the terminal on behalf of the city, which has gone more than two years without a facility since Greyhound left the terminal at 10th and Filbert Streets in 2023 after 35 years.
Corner of the former Greyhound station at North 10th and Filbert Streets in 2018.
In the aftermath, buses used public street curbs to pick up travelers, who were forced to wait outdoors in the elements and had very little access to basic amenities, like bathrooms. The whole situation was bus-ted and I’ll be glad to see it fixed.
June 12: ‘Disclosure Day’ premieres
Filmed in parts of South Jersey last year and featuring Philly’s own Colman Domingo, Disclosure Day is an alien thriller from director Steven Spielberg that I can’t wait to get my tentacles on.
I love good sci-fi and this one has a screenplay by David Koepp, who also wrote the screenplay for Jurassic Park, one of my favorite movies of all time. The trailer for Disclosure Day is intriguing, unsettling, and reveals little about the plot, but I already find the movie authentic: If aliens were to land anywhere, South Jersey seems like a fitting place.
At the end of the trailer, a nun says “Why would He make a vast universe yet save it only for us?” which hearkens to a famous Carl Sagan quote:“The universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.”
Aug. 30: Philadelphia Cycling Classic returns
If there’s one thing Philadelphians love doing, it’s partying while watching other people exercise and this year they’ll get to do it again at the Manayunk Wall when the Philadelphia Cycling Classic returns after a 10-year hiatus.
Held for 30 years before it was canceled in 2016 due to lack of sponsorship, the race follows a 14.4-mile course from Center City to Manayunk, where cyclists must climb the “Manayunk Wall,” a stretch of Levering Street with a 17% gradient.
Women cyclists pedal up Levering Street, aka the “Manayunk Wall,” during the Liberty Classic TD Bank International Championship race in 2011. The race is returning this year as the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic.
Back in the day, people partied like it was Two Street on New Year’s along the route in Manayunk, particularly at the Wall. As bikers cycled through the course, spectators cycled through kegs and cowbells, with some folks on Levering Street charging admission to their house parties and others hanging beer banner ads on their porches for a fee.
Also slated in 2026, but dates remain unknown:
A conceptual rendering of FloatLab, set to be installed at Bartram’s Garden on the Schuylkill in 2026.
Opening of Mural Arts’ FloatLab: Located in the Schuylkill at Bartram’s Garden, FloatLab is a 75-foot installation and environmental center that will be “a convergence of art, architecture, and nature,” according to its creator, J. Meejin Yoon. The sloped, ADA-compliant circular platform, which allows visitors to look eye-level at the river while standing in it, will serve as both an educational and artistic space.
Gimme my Philly money: To mark the nation’s 250th, the U.S. Mint is releasing quarters with Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell on them this year and I’m going to need some of those for my piggy bank. Just to be clear, this does not change the fact that I’m still salty at the Mint for stopping penny production. What will people put in their loafers? How will Penny from Pee-Wee’s Playhouse see? It’s just cents-less.
This new design for the quarter commemorates the U.S. Constitution and depicts Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were signed. The other side of this quarter has a depiction of President James Madison.
Rumored in 2026, but in no way confirmed:
From left: Thuso Mbedu (Aleah Clinton), Fabien Frankel (Anthony Grasso), Alison Oliver (Lizzie Stover), and Mark Ruffalo (Tom Brandis) in “Task.”
Task season 2: The Delco-set HBO thriller starring Mark Ruffalo was renewed for a second season and I’m hoping they start filming around Philly’s weirdest suburb this year (though creator Brad Ingelsby may have to write the script first). While it’s unclear if Ruffalo will reprise his role as FBI agent Tom Brandis, one of my resolutions this year is to frequent more local hoagie shops in the hopes of running into him, but also because I love hoagies.
Stranger Things spinoff?: Philly was named-dropped in the finale of the beloved sci-fi show, which got fans hypothesizing that the home of one of the greatest urban legends of all time — the Philadelphia Experiment — might be the setting for one of the confirmed spinoffs. Or it could just be subliminal advertising for Netflix House Philadelphia (which is actually in King of Prussia). An Instagram post from the show and Netflix on Wednesday only fueled rumors, with its caption: “meet me in philly.”
NEW YORK — In the lead-up to the Summer Olympics in Paris two years ago, there was no small amount of fear that the Games were losing their luster.
It probably didn’t help that there were three straight Olympics in Asia, which meant most of the action was overnight for U.S. television viewers. And the pandemic definitely didn’t help, because sports without crowds in the stands weren’t as fun to watch.
But NBC went all-in on Paris anyway, and was rewarded with huge ratings. Yes, people did still care, and they showed up to prove it.
Now the network faces the challenge of bringing that energy to next month’s Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The winter edition has historically drawn lower audiences than the summer no matter the circumstances, but NBC once again is going all-in.
The Winter Olympics start Feb. 6 in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
“We know the Winter Olympics haven’t been fully attended in eight years,” NBC’s Olympics executive producer Molly Solomon said at a media preview event last week. “We can’t take anything for granted. The media landscape has completely changed since 2018. So what have we got to do? We’ve got to win back viewers, we’ve got to show them why they should watch.”
As with two years ago, there will be a lot of coverage on the big broadcast network, starting with at least five live hours a day. Because of the six-hour time difference between Italy and the eastern United States, the traditional prime time show will be like it was in Paris, with a mix of highlights and features.
There will also be a lot of broadcasts on the USA Network and CNBC cable channels, and every event will be live on NBC’s Peacock streaming platform.
If it feels natural to say all that, veteran Olympics fans will remind you quickly of how different things used to be. For many years, NBC held back showing some big events live to save them for the big prime time show.
South Jersey-raised figure skater Isabeau Levito will likely be the highest-profile name from the Philadelphia area competing at the Winter Olympics.
Paris was the first time NBC really opened everything up. It isn’t a coincidence that those were the first Games after Rick Cordella was promoted to president of NBC Sports, and the first outside of Asia after Solomon was promoted to her job in 2019.
“The Olympics in Paris proved the Olympics are back, and remain an unrivaled media property with the unique abilities to captivate the nation and generate audiences across all demographics for 17 days and nights,” Cordella said. “We expect Milan-Cortina to carry on that legacy.”
Solomon said she “felt as though we handed the viewer the remote control, and we said, ‘Hey, we’re going to give you different ways to watch the Olympics.’ And we’re now going to take all those learnings and build on them for Milan-Cortina.”
With dramatic backdrops like the Eiffel Tower, the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris proved to be a hit with U.S. TV viewers.
A big bet paid off
For as much as fans welcomed NBC’s change in philosophy, there was no guarantee it would succeed. If the prime time show’s ratings had flopped, some critics might have said the old way was more profitable.
Instead, the network shot out of the gate. An average of 34.5 million viewers watched the first three days of competition in what were seen as the two “prime” slots, live coverage from 2-5 p.m. Eastern time then the nighttime highlights show — including a massive 41.5 million on the first Sunday.
The average over the whole Summer Games ended at 30.4 million, which NBC said was up 80% from 2021 in Tokyo.
Solomon said that when Cordella called her after the first weekend with the early returns, “I burst into tears, because those numbers — I didn’t think it was possible. … We didn’t even dream that big.”
NBC’s lead Olympics host Mike Tirico said he could tell from the studio that things were working.
“We saw that there was a formula for the prime time show: that [showing an event] live and then showing it again, and there was enough differentiation in what we showed again, that it was connecting with viewers,” he said. “And then hearing back from people who were home: ‘Hey, this is so great, I’m enjoying watching it at night after we watch all the daytime events.’ Probably day four, I would say that Monday or Tuesday, was [when] I got feedback that it was working.”
The 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles will be different again, since they’ll be on home turf. Then the 2030 Winter Olympics will be back in Europe in the French Alps.
Who knows what the media landscape will look like by then, given how quickly things change these days, but it’s hard to believe NBC will ever revert to its past.
Mike Tirico does lots of things at NBC, from hosting the Olympics to calling NFL and NBA play-by-play.
“Just as a sports fan, I would say not,” Tirico said. He emphasized he was speaking just for himself, not his bosses, but his opinion counts for something.
“I think we’ve seen because of streaming, you can access anything you want at any time,” he continued. “There’s still the largest audience sitting there at the end at night, and you want to give them the biggest events [as highlights]. So holding them doesn’t make any sense in this day and age. And we had long talks about that before Paris, and I think we saw a formula that worked.”
There will be a few new toys for viewers to enjoy next month. Peacock will have extra camera angles available for figure skating — including some behind-the-scenes ones — and ice hockey.
Solomon worked with the International Olympic Committee to get live drone cameras into coverage, to get microphones on some athletes, and to get into warmup areas to show how athletes get ready for their big moments.
Skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn will be at her fifth Olympics, 24 years after her first.
“We’ve really pushed everybody to go places, and take the viewer places they’ve never seen before,” she said. “Because in the winter, you’re covered with goggles and head gear. So we need to be at the place before they put this stuff on. We need to see faces. And the International Olympic Committee has been great about granting us that access.”
The biggest new thing might be an expansion of the popular “Gold Zone” whip-around live highlights show. From 8 a.m. to around 4 p.m. each day, it will be televised not just on Peacock but on the recently relaunched NBCSN cable channel.
That means more viewers will have access, but it also takes away an incentive to subscribe to Peacock if you don’t yet.
“I think the NBA would say that would drive people to subscribe to Peacock, or Premier League [soccer], and now that’s available on NBCSN,” Cordella said. “And so our view of NBCSN is that we’re going to be agnostic to how people consume our content, as long as we’re getting adequately paid for it [by distributors]. We did a deal with YouTube [TV], we’ve done a deal with our parent company Comcast, and hopefully we’ll do a deal with others, but NBCSN is a big part of our strategy moving forward.”
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) May 21, 2025
For the most part, everyone speaking at the media preview event stayed away from another addition to the landscape: the United States’ current hostilities with Venezuela and Greenland, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the turmoil within U.S. borders over ICE and many other subjects.
But they did not stay away from the subject completely.
“I’ve just been thinking a lot about this: In this increasingly divided and isolated world, there’s not many moments when we all come together anymore,” Solomon said. “Sports does bring us together, but I think the Olympics is really even more unique.”
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts also alluded to wider affairs in his speech at the end of the event.
“Bringing our country together when a lot of things are pulling us apart is just a fabulous opportunity,” he said.
As the 2024 world silver medalist and the 2023 U.S. champion, South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito competes and performs across the country and the globe.
But this weekend, Levito, 18, has an easy commute to the show she is skating in.
American Gold Live! — Holiday Ice Spectacular will be at the Class of 1923 Ice Rink on Penn’s campus on Saturday and features 2026 Olympic hopefuls Levito, Ilia Malinin, and Alysa Liu. Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic champion, is hosting the show.
Alysa Liu, the 2025 world champion, won her first Grand Prix Final last weekend in Japan.
This weekend’s show is a particularly good opportunity for Levito.
“I was very happy to hear that it was in Philly when I was asked if I wanted to do the show,” said Levito, who lives and trains in Mount Laurel. “I don’t want to go to the airport.”
But she’s also eager to get up and go.
“I get a little antsy when I’m home for too long,” she said. “I’m used to every month or so I have a competition or something, having to travel.”
This year she had an unexpected break as the first alternate to last weekend’s Grand Prix Final in Japan.
“I’ve been home for, like, five weeks,” she said. “I don’t know what to do with myself.”
So she’s eager to perform. One of her numbers in the show will be this year’s short program, to a medley of music from Sophia Loren movies. (Her long program is to music from Cinema Paradiso. This season’s competitive programs are a nod to Italy, where the 2026 Winter Olympics will be in her mother’s hometown of Milan.)
“I haven’t competed since [the] beginning of November,” Levito said, ”so it’ll be kind a way to [get it out there]. But also, I like that program.”
She’ll also be skating a new holiday program to Jackie Evancho’s “Believe.”
Shows allow skaters to put aside the rules of competition and play up their favorite elements.
Liu, 20, of Oakland, Calif., enjoys executing spins that are not allowed in competition, doing very fast rotations, and trying new positions.
“We all have the same [spins] now,” Liu said, “because of the rules and how to get the levels. It’s so strange and we don’t really have as much creativity. There are so many other spins that we can do.”
Levito said she enjoys making the most out of her illusion spin, in which a skater alternates between spinning upright and with her head down toward the ice and a leg in the air. In shows, she’ll hold it for as long as she can, which would not be allowed in a competition. But it is a crowd pleaser.
“I remember Philly audiences being really into skating and really good,” Boitano said. “So I think it’s going to be fun. You’re going to see them unplugged and having a good time before they gear up to go to the Olympic trials” — the U.S. Figure Skating Championships — “in St. Louis and then to the Olympics in Milan.”
Ilia Malinin won the Grand Prix Final in Japan while successfully completing all seven quadruple jumps.
Malinin, 21, from Vienna, Va., known as the Quad God, competes in the most difficult program in skating today. He won his third Grand Prix Final in Japan last weekend while completing all seven quadruple jumps in his freestyle program.
For shows, though, he often skates something he choreographs for himself. He also likes to explore a different side to his skating.
“In shows, I really love to express myself more and be a little more creative and artsy with my programs,” Malinin said. “Whether that be cool, interesting choreography, or even some cool backflips or those kind of tricks.”
As for competition, Malinin is planning to maintain his difficulty throughout the season — and then maybe raise it even further.
He planned all seven quads last season, “but now I think I really want it to be something that I can repeat and do consistently, especially this at the Olympics. I think it would be another kind of record.”
“A lot of behind-the-scenes [planning and training] is definitely going to be the quints [quintuple jumps, which have never been done],” he said. “I think I want to get that done after the Olympics, for sure.”
For Levito, this year’s elements are set in stone. But she’ll be back after the Olympics and hopes to step up her game as well.
“I’m really excited for next season,” she said, “because I’m going to start finally working on things that I’ve really been wanting to work on, but I’m too scared to get injured.
“When I was 14, I was working on quad toe [loop]. I seriously had it, like I would land it in practice. But then I got a stress reaction in my shin before the Junior Grand Prix Final, and I couldn’t do the final.
“I already know I can do [the jump], so why can’t I do it now?”
Isabeau Levito is highlighting her mother’s native Italy in her programs this year.
Liu competed a triple axel and quadruple lutz when she was a young teenager. When COVID hit, she came to Newark, Del., to train, and she had the whole rink to herself.
“I loved Delaware,” she said. “That was my first break day in my life. Before that, I skated every single day. Delaware was this utopia for me. There was no coach. I would lay on the ice and blast the music.”
Liu retired from skating after the 2020 Olympics and went to college. Then she realized she missed it, so she came back last year with a new love for the sport and a new attitude. (She is on leave as a student at UCLA.)
“If [Alysa] learns a triple axel the day before the Olympics, she’ll land it in the Olympics,” Boitano said.
Liu said she probably would put it in her program that quickly.
“I’m not afraid of failure,” she said. “I invite failure. Skating is my parkour.”
“American Gold Live! — Holiday Ice Spectacular” is at 1 and 6 p.m. Saturday at the Penn Class of 1923 Ice Rink, 3130 Walnut St. Tickets: $96.62-$292.31. Information: americangoldlive.com.
Charles Barkley on ESPN! Sixers games on Amazon! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!
The NBA season tips off Tuesday, and with it begins new TV rights deals with NBC, ESPN, and Amazon that will reshape coverage of the league for the next decade plus.
There’s been a lot of handwringing over the NBA’s new national schedule, with exclusive games being broadcast nationally every night on different channels and streaming platforms. It’s quite a change, considering TNT had been broadcasting national games on Thursday nights for 36 years.
Despite the shuffling, not much will change for Sixers fans. Sixty nine of the team’s 82 games will air on NBC Sports Philadelphia (seven on NBC Sports Philadelphia+), with Kate Scott and Alaa Abdelnaby back to call all the action.
Abdelnaby, the former Duke standout and NBA player, is entering his 10th season calling Sixers games (and his fifth alongside Scott). He was hired in the middle of “The Process,” but despite the Sixers losing 72 games during his first season, last season was his most difficult as a broadcaster.
“Even though it wasn’t written in stone, we knew what they were doing” when the Sixers were intentionally losing games to gain assets, Abdelnaby told The Inquirer. “Last year, that wasn’t the case. They weren’t trying to do anything Process-ish … We kind of went through a whole season of not being relevant. And that stinks.”
Joel Embiid’s health will be the big question mark for the Sixers this season.
Abdelnaby has high hopes for this season, pinned on a potentially new role for Joel Embiid following his second knee surgery in 14 months. Embiid played 19 minutes in the Sixers’ final preseason game on Friday, telling reporters he was “in a good space” mentally and physically, though his status for the season opener against the Boston Celtics Wednesday remains uncertain.
Being around them for two games and at practice, Abdelnaby said the mood among the Sixers seemed more positive then the second half of last season. By his eye, the body language of the players and coaches point in the right direction.
“I think health has a lot to do with that,” Abdelnaby said. “At least I’m feeling a sense of optimism from the group, and that’s a good thing.”
The new NBA media deals have opened up broadcasting opportunities dramatically, with national games airing just about every night. While Abdelnaby used to call college basketball games for CBS Sports, he’s in no rush to return to a jet-setting lifestyle.
“When I did college, it was a rough and tumble existence,” Abdelnaby said. ” I think I’ve gotten soft over the last 10 years, because now I fly on their plane, I don’t have to rent a car in the middle of nowhere and return it … I am so spoiled.”
As far as NBC Sports Philadelphia’s studio goes, Amy Fadool, Marc Jackson, and former Sixers head coach Jim Lynam return for Sixers pre- and postgame coverage.
Sixers games can also be heard on 97.5 The Fanatic, with Tom McGinnis returning for his 31st season calling games.
New NBA weekly national schedule
While the bulk of the Sixers’ regular-season games will air on NBC Sports Philadelphia, 13 games will air nationally across a host of services.
Here’s a general breakdown of the NBA’s national broadcast and streaming schedule this season:
Sunday: NBC/Peacock and ABC/ESPN (beginning midseason)
Monday: Peacock
Tuesday: NBC/Peacock
Wednesday: ESPN
Thursday: Prime Video (beginning midseason)
Friday: Prime Video and ESPN (beginning midseason)
Saturday: Prime Video and ABC/ESPN (beginning midseason)
After 23 years, NBA returns to NBC
Hall of Famer Michael Jordan will make his NBC debut Tuesday night.
Michael Jordan is making the leap to NBA pundit (sort-of) as NBC airs games for the first time since the 2002 season.
Jordan won’t make his debut Tuesday as a studio analyst. Instead, he’ll appear via a prerecorded interview with Mike Tirico during NBC’s debut. The network hasn’t said how frequently Jordan will contribute, but those taped segments are expected to be scattered throughout the season.
NBC will start the season broadcasting a Tuesday doubleheader, with the East Coast and West Coast getting different prime-time games during most weeks (both will stream live on Peacock).
NBC will also debut Sunday Night Basketball beginning Feb. 1, after the end of the NFL season. The network’s NBA coverage will pause after that for the first two weeks in February for the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy.
After practicing with the Sixers and a few other teams last season, Tirico said he’ll call the first couple of Tuesday night games for NBC before focusing on his NFL duties through the playoffs. He’ll also has his duties as the host of the Olympics to contend with.
The Sixers are scheduled to appear on NBC four times, beginning with their Nov. 11 matchup against the Boston Celtics at the newly-named Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Play-by-play voices: Mike Tirico, Noah Eagle, Terry Gannon, Michael Grady
Game analysts: Reggie Miller, Grant Hill, Jamal Crawford, Brad Daugherty, Derek Fisher, Austin Rivers, Brian Scalabrine, Robbie Hummel
Studio analysts: Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady
Sixers fans will also need Peacock and Amazon’s Prime Video
NBA games will stream on Peacock Monday and Tuesday nights.
The streaming wars have finally come for NBA fans.
With TNT out of the picture, Sixers completists will need to sign up for two streaming services to watch all of Philly’s 82 games.
The first is Peacock, NBC’s subscription streaming service, which is slated to stream 40 exclusive NBA games, as well as every game airing on NBC.
As of now, Peacock is scheduled to exclusively stream just one Sixers game — a matchup against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 5.
Amazon’s Prime Video will stream NBA games two nights a week after the NFL season ends.
The second streaming service Sixers fans will need is Amazon Prime Video, which will stream 66 regular-season NBA games, including a bulk of the Emirates NBA cup and a new Black Friday game.
The Sixers are scheduled to play in four games on Prime Video, beginning with their Halloween night matchup against the Celtics in Philly.
If you’re an NBA League Pass subscriber, one cool feature on Prime Video is the ability to make your own multiview featuring up to four live NBA games.
Prime Video comes with Amazon Prime, but you can also subscribe to it directly for $9 a month.
One familiar face will be Sixers veteran Kyle Lowry, who is slated to make “select appearances” on Amazon’s NBA coverage this season. Amazon’s studio show, which will feature Blake Griffin and Dirk Nowitzki, could be a fun watch.
Charles Barkley and the ‘Inside the NBA’ crew heading to ESPN
Hall of Famer and former Sixers star Charles Barkley will be seen on ESPN this season.
TNT lost the NBA but is keeping its studio show. It’s just going to air on another network.
Inside the NBA, the beloved studio show featuring Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson, is jumping to ESPN while still being produced by TNT Sports. They’ll make their debut Wednesday at 6 p.m. as part of ESPN’s season-opening doubleheader.
ESPN has said there would be no changes to the show, beyond a lopsided schedule. Barkley and company are only scheduled appear three more times before Christmas — Thursday, Oct. 29, and Nov. 12.
“We always go to 2 in the morning. They said they’re going to give us time,” Barkley said in a recent interview with NBA columnist Steve Bulpett. “We were concerned they’re going to be like, ‘No, you gotta go to SportsCenter or you’ve got to leave when we’re on ABC and go to the local affiliates.’ That’s the only two things we were concerned with.”
The only remaining TV partner from last season, ESPN will mostly air NBA games on Wednesday nights, with some other nights and holidays thrown into the mix. They’ll also add Friday night games beginning Jan. 16, with most airing on ABC.
This time, Doris Burke is out, replaced by longtime ESPN analyst and former La Salle standout Tim Legler, who will join Mike Breen and Richard Jefferson. Burke will still call NBA games alongside Dave Pasch.
