MILAN — Aerin Frankel stopped 21 shots for her third shutout of the Olympic women’s hockey tournament and the favored United States advanced to the gold-medal game by defeating Sweden, 5-0, at the Milan Cortina Games on Monday.
Abbey Murphy, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and Hayley Scamurra scored on consecutive shots over 2 minutes, 47 seconds late in the second period to blow the game open and put the Americans up 5-0. Cayla Barnes opened the scoring and Taylor Heise also scored.
The Americans continued their roll through the tournament by improving to 6-0, outscoring their opponents by a combined 31-1. The U.S. has yet to trail or be tied after 0-0, and is in position to become the third women’s team to do so over the entire tournament, joining Canada in 2006 and 2010.
The U.S. also extended its shutout streak to 331:23, going back to Czechia’s Barbora Jurickova beating Frankel on a breakaway in the second period of a tournament-opening 5-1 win.
The win over Sweden sets up what could well be a seventh gold-medal showdown against Canada on Thursday. The defending Olympic champion Canadians play Switzerland in the day’s other semifinal game.
The U.S. already beat Canada, 5-0, in a preliminary round game last week. The Americans won Olympic gold in 1998 and 2018, with Canada winning the other five tournaments.
The United States’ Hayley Scamurra celebrates after scoring her team’s fifth goal against Sweden.
Sweden will play for bronze on Thursday in an effort to medal for the third time in team history, and first since winning silver at the 2006 Turin Games after upsetting the U.S. in the semifinals.
Ebba Svensson Traff stopped 19 of 23 shots before she was pulled after Schofield tipped in Laila Edwards’ shot from the blue line with 3:50 left in the second period.
Emma Soderberg took over in goal, and was beaten by Scamurra, who tapped in Britta Curl-Salemme’s centering pass 1:49 later. Soderberg finished with 10 saves.
Among those in attendance was former Eagles center Jason Kelce, who was shown on the scoreboard applauding the goal initially credited to Edwards. Kelce is from Edwards’ hometown of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and he and his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, contributed to a GoFundMe drive to help pay for Edwards’ family to attend the Milan Cortina Games.
The U.S certainly didn’t resemble a team that didn’t want to play Sweden, as coach Ulf Lundberg suggested after the Swedes beat Czechia in the quarterfinals.
Though the Swedes kept the U.S. mostly to the perimeter in the opening period, they were still outshot 13-2.
Barnes scored with a snap shot from the top of the right circle and beat Svensson Traff high on the short side. Barnes’ goal was her first point of the tournament, leaving seventh defender Rory Guilday as the lone American skater to not yet register a point through six games.
Heise made it 2-0 at the 9:08 mark of the second period by one-timing in Hannah Bilka’s backhand pass through the middle. Svensson Traff got her glove on the shot, but the puck deflected across her body and into the net off the inside of her stick.
On Friday, Jill Scott releasedTo Whom This May Concern, the North Philly singer and songwriter’s first album in 11 years.
The 19-track stylistically wide-ranging project touches on jazz, hip-hop, R&B, spoken word, and blues. It features guests including Trombone Shorty, Ab-Soul, JID and Tierra Whack, and is produced by DJ Premier, Adam Blackstone, Andre Harris.
On Monday, the actress and podcast host celebrated her return to music-making with her first-ever performance on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series.
The episode was hyped over the weekend, calling Scott “one of the most requested artists on the Tiny Desk.” And Scott seemed thrilled to finally be at the makeshift performance space in the NPR newsroom in Washington, D.C. The series has had over 1,200 episodes since launching in 2008 and is a key promotional vehicle for artists that attracts over 15 million viewers a month.
Leading a nine-member ensemble that included three backup singers, a flautist and a trumpet player, Scott said, “I gotta knock the nerves off. I‘m so excited to be here. I thought about you so much. I was like, ‘One day I’m going to be on the Tiny Desk!’”
Scott led off with her signature song, “A Long Walk,” from her 2004 debut Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Music Vol. 1 before moving soulfully and effortlessly into the new album’s “Beautiful People.”
The five-song, 28-minute, set also includes a sensuous sing- and clap-along version of Who Is Jill Scott’s “The Way” and “Cross My Mind” from 2004’s Beautifully Human: Words & Sounds Vol. 2.
Before To Whom This May Concern’s “Don’t Play,” Scott said she got the idea for the song after going down a TikTok rabbit hole watching videos of women complaining about their male partners’ lovemaking skills and thinking” “Let me be of service.”
The song then addressed insensitive partners with words of admonition and advice — which she repeated a cappella after the song was finished — such as “Baby, don’t close your eyes, you can see and feel at the same time” and “You ain’t no jackhammer, and I ain’t no city street!”
This album cover image released by The Orchard shows “To Whom This May Concern” by Jill Scott. (The Orchard/ via AP)
The 76ers are bringing guard Cam Payne back to Philly as a pickup off the buyout market, a source confirmed Monday. The deal was first reported by SteinLine’s Marc Stein.
Partizan Belgrade in Serbia announced Payne’s departure on social media, sharing a post that revealed his $1.75 million buyout. The Sixers can contribute only $875,000 to his release, Stein reports.
Payne played with the Sixers in 2024 and averaged 9.3 points and 3.1 assists in 31 games. Team president Daryl Morey traded Patrick Beverley to Milwaukee in exchange for Payne and a second-rounder before the 2024 trade deadline.
He served as a bench spark plug and offensive boost behind Tyrese Maxey. Payne, 31, should be expected to take on a similar role after the Sixers traded second-year guard Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder before the NBA trade deadline.
A 10-year NBA veteran, Payne also has played for the Thunder, Bulls, Cavaliers, Suns, Bucks, and Knicks.
The move strengthens a position the Sixers considered one of their strong points entering the season. With Maxey, McCain, VJ Edgecombe, and Quentin Grimes in the backcourt to start the season, the Sixers expected their backcourt to carry them as stars Joel Embiid and Paul George rounded into form. Both players ended up being ahead of schedule as Embiid morphed back into All-Star form and George provided a steady hand as a key defender and ballhandler.
But with George suspended 25 games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy and McCain with the Thunder, the Sixers need reinforcements for the stretch run after All-Star break. Payne could provide that in short spurts.
Former University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill has been named the new executive vice president and dean of Georgetown University’s law school in Washington, D.C.
The move comes a little more than two years after Magill resigned from Penn following a bipartisan backlash over her testimony to a congressional committeeabout the campus’ handling of antisemitism.
“I am honored to join Georgetown Law, one of this country’s great law schools, and the university, an exceptional and distinctive research institution,” Magill said in an announcement posted Friday on the Jesuit institution’s website.
Magill did not immediately return a request for comment.
Magill, a lawyer and academic, previously served as dean of Stanford’s law school from 2012 to 2019 and had been executive vice president and provost of the University of Virginia before joining Penn. She resigned from Penn in December 2023 — just 18 months after she started the job — but has remained a faculty member at Penn Carey Law.
She starts at Georgetown Aug. 1.
“Liz Magill brings the experience and leadership that we need to lead Georgetown Law,” Thomas A. Reynolds, chair of Georgetown’s board of directors, said in the school’s announcement. “Her ability to connect with others, her humility and her unwavering belief in higher education will make her an exceptional next dean.”
Three of Magill’s siblings have degrees from Georgetown Law School, the announcement noted.
Magill became Penn’s president July 1, 2022, following the record-setting 18-year tenure of Amy Gutmann. Tensions began to mount about a year into her tenure, and her departure from Penn followed a tumultuous semester, marked by near-weekly student protests and complaints from deep-pocketed donors over the school’s response to antisemitism following Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023. There was also unrest over the school’s allowing the Palestine Writes Literature Festival to be held on campus in September of that year.
Then, during her congressional testimony, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) asked her about whether calling for the genocide of Jewish people would violate Penn’s code of conduct. “It is a context-dependent decision,” Magill had answered.
Less than a week later, she stepped down. Scott L. Bok, then chair of the board of trustees, also resigned. And former Harvard president Claudine Gay, who also testified that day, resigned, too, less than a month later.
“I provided this 30-second sound bite that went viral and just swamped everything else about what I’d said and my record at Penn,” Magill said last May when she and Bok talked about their experiences at the New York Public Library following the publication of Bok’s book that discussed the controversy. “And I really regret that. It hurt Penn. It hurt Penn’s reputation, and my job was to protect the institution that I led.”
That’s one of my favorite questions to ask students. I want them to scrutinize their most deeply held beliefs. When you do that, I tell them, you sometimes find out you don’t believe them any longer.
A few weeks ago, a student put the same question to me. I thought about it for a few days, and then I came back with my answer: I changed my mind about protesters wearing masks on campus.
I used to think they should be allowed to cover their faces, and that it was a mistake for universities to prohibit them from doing so. But I think differently now.
And my reason has three letters: ICE.
Like many other Americans, I’m appalled by the presence of masked agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on our streets. Even before they killed two protesters in Minnesota, I was afraid of them. Now, I’m terrified.
And I’m proud of Democrats in Congress for demanding that ICE agents be prohibited from wearing masks that hide their identities. Blocking a GOP spending bill that lacked any new curbs on ICE, the Democrats forced a partial shutdown of the federal government over the weekend. They should hold out until the mask ban is in place.
I also support a proposed City Council measure that would block law enforcement officers in Philadelphia — including ICE agents — from obscuring their identities with facial coverings.
A demonstrator in Los Angeles wears a mask in front of an image of Renee Good during a protest last month to denounce the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement polices.
But now I believe campus demonstrators — like ICE agents — should also be barred from wearing masks. Their facial coverings stoke fear, too. And they make it next to impossible for officials to keep everyone else safe.
If you think otherwise, consider what happened at Haverford College earlier this month. Interrupting a talk by a pro-Israel speaker, several masked demonstrators burst into the room. One of them shouted into a bullhorn that “Israeli occupation forces” were killing children. “When Gaza is burned, you will all burn, too,” she said.
Most universities already have rules barring disruption of public events. But masks add something worse: intimidation.
When the masked protesters entered the room, a Haverford professor said he thought they were “terrorists trying to get in and kill us.” Another witness said she worried she might be attacked.
“No one knew who they were or whether they were armed,” the witness added. “Imagine fully masked people entering through emergency exits, hiding objects under their coats, blocking basic points of egress. It is reasonable to fear for your physical safety.”
And it’s also reasonable for colleges to ban masks. In a statement, Haverford officials said the protester carrying the bullhorn was not a member of their community. But nobody could know that when she entered the room.
Masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents escort a detained immigrant into an elevator after he exited an immigration courtroom in New York in June.
How can we keep the university safe if we don’t know who is from the university and who isn’t?
At the University of Pennsylvania, where I teach, only nine of 33 people arrested during the clearing of pro-Palestinian encampments in May 2024 were students at the university. At Swarthmore, just two of nine arrested demonstrators were members of the college community.
It shouldn’t be. We need a free and open dialogue about Israel, and everything else. And that’s also why we should ban masks, which inhibit that same dialogue. You can’t have a conversation if you don’t know who is talking.
I used to think masks were a form of free expression, so universities should allow them. I also thought protesters needed to hide their identities so they wouldn’t get doxed, which would subject them to violence and harassment.
Then the Trump administration said the same thing about ICE agents — they need masks to protect them from doxing — and I changed my mind. Regular police officers don’t wear masks; instead, they wear numbers and name tags. That’s how we hold them accountable for their actions.
Putting masks on ICE agents does the opposite: It lets them act with impunity. The goal of the masks is not to protect the agents. It’s to foster fear in our communities and our nation.
They need to take their masks off. But so do we.
Of course, we should make exceptions for people who cover their faces for reasons of health, religion, sports, or entertainment. I’d hate to see a college kid barred from wearing a Halloween mask, for example.
But a protester? Let us see who you are. Don’t cower behind a mask. That’s what ICE does.
Nearly $58 million for South Philadelphia High School. Over $27 million for Forrest Elementary in the Northeast. Almost $55 million for Bartram High in Southwest Philadelphia.
Ahead of a Tuesday City Council hearing on the Philadelphia School District’s proposed facilities master plan, district officials have dangled the carrot that would accompany the stick of 20 school closings.
The district released Monday morning how much it would spend onmodernization projects at schools in each City Council District if Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.’s plan is approved by the school board this winter.
The totals range from $443 million in the 9th District — which includes parts of Olney, East and West Oak Lane, Mount Airy, and Oxford Circle — to nearly $56 million for the 6th District in lower Northeast Philadelphia, including Mayfair, Bridesburg, and Wissinoming.
The district’s announcement comes as the plan has already raised hackles among some Council members, and City Council President Kenyatta Johnson has said he’ll hold up the district’s funding “if need be” if concerns are not answered to Council’s satisfaction.
Tailoring the release to Council districts — including highlighting one major project per district — appears to be an effort to calm opposition ahead of Tuesday’s hearing.
Details on every school that would get upgraded under Watlington’s plan — 159 in total — have not yet been released.
John Bartram High School at 2401 S. 67th St in Southwest Philadelphia.
Watlington has stressed that the point of the long-range facilities plan is not closing schools, but solving for issues of equity, improving academic programming, and acknowledging that many buildings are in poor shape, whilesome are underenrolled and some are overenrolled.
“This plan is about ensuring that more students in every neighborhood have access to the high-quality academics, programs, and facilities they deserve,” Watlington said in a statement. “While some of these decisions are difficult, they are grounded in deep community engagement and a shared commitment to improving outcomes for all public school children in every ZIP code of Philadelphia.”
But at community meetings unfolding at schools across the city that are slated for closure, Council members have expressed displeasure about parts of the plan — a preview, perhaps, of Tuesday’s meeting.
Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, represents the 7thDistrict, including Kensington, Feltonville, Juniata Park, and Frankford. Four schools in her district — Stetson,Conwell, Harding, and Welsh —are on the chopping block.
“The fact that they are being considered for closure is very concerning to me,” Lozada said at a meeting at Stetson Middle School on Thursday.
Councilmember Quetcy Lozada is shown in a 2025 file photo.
Councilmember Cindy Bass, speaking at a Lankenau High meeting, objected to closing schools that are working well. (Three schools in Bass’ 8th District, Fitler Elementary, Wagner middle school, and Parkway Northwest High School, are proposed for closure. Lankenau is in Curtis Jones Jr.’s district but has citywide enrollment.)
“I do not understand what the logic and the rationale is that we are making these kinds of decisions,” said Bass.
While Council members will not have a direct say on the proposed school closures or the facilities plan, Council wields significant control over the district’s budget. Funding for the district is included in the annual city budget that Council must approve by the end of June.
Local revenue and city funding made up about 40% of the district’s budget this year, or nearly $2 billion. Most of that is the district’s share of city property taxes which, unlike other school systems in Pennsylvania, are levied by the city and then distributed to the district.
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Where will the money go?
Despite city and schools officials saying in the past that the district has more than $7 billion in unmet facilities needs, Watlington has said the district could complete its plan — including modernizing 159 schools — for $2.8 billion.
Officials said further details about modernization projects and the facilities plan will be released before the Feb. 26 school board meeting, where Watlington is expected to formally present his proposal to the school board.
Overbrook High School, in West Philadelphia, will get major renovations in preparation for The Workshop School, a small, project-based district school, colocating inside the building.
Here are the total proposed dollar amounts per Council district and the 10 big projects announced Monday:
1st District: $308,049,008. Key project: $57.2 million for South Philadelphia High, turning the school into a career and technical education hub and modernizing electrical, lighting, and security systems.
2nd District: $302,284,081. Key project: $54.6 million for Bartram High, to renovate the school and grounds, career and technical education spaces, restroom and accessibility renovations, new painting, and new athletic fields and facilities (on the site of nearby Tilden Middle School, which is slated to close). Motivation High School would close and become an honors program inside Bartram.
3rd District: $204,947,677. Key project: $19.6 million for the Sulzberger site, which currently houses Middle Years Alternative and is proposed to house Martha Washington Elementary. (It currently houses MYA and Parkway West, which would close.) Improvements would include heating and cooling and electrical systems, classroom modernizations, andthe addition of an elevator and a playground.
4th District: $216,819,480. Key project: $50.2 million for Overbrook High School, with updates including new restrooms, accessibility improvements, and refurbished automotive bays. (The Workshop School, another district high school, is colocating inside the building.)
5th District: $290,748,937. Key project: $8.4 million for Franklin Learning Center, with updates including for exterior, auditorium, and restroom renovations, security cameras, accessibility improvements, and new paint.
6th District: $55,769,008. Key project: $27.2 million for Forrest Elementary, including modernizations that will allow the school to grow to a K-8, and eliminate overcrowding at Northeast Community Propel Academy.
7th District: $388,795,327. Key project: $32.3 million at John Marshall Elementary in Frankford to add capacity at the school, plus a gym, elevator, and schoolwide renovations.
8th District: $318,986,215. Key project: $42.9 million at Martin Luther King High in East Germantown for electrical and general building upgrades and accommodations for Building 21, a school that will colocate inside the King building.
9th District: $442,934,244. Key project: $42.2 million at Carnell Elementary for projects including an addition to expand the school’s capacity, restroom renovations, exterior improvements, and stormwater management projects.
10th District: $275,829,539. Key project: at Watson Comly Elementary in the Northeast, an addition to accommodate middle grade students from Loesche and Comly, and building modernizations. District officials did not give the estimated cost of the Comly project.
What’s next?
The facilities Council hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall. It will also be livestreamed.
Members of the public also have the opportunity to weigh in on the facilities plan writ large at three community town halls scheduled for this week: Tuesday at Benjamin Franklin High from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Friday at Kensington CAPA from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and a virtual meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Meetings at each of the schools proposed for closure continue this week, also; the full schedule can be found on the district’s website.
Piccolina is the newest entry from restaurateurs Michael and Jeniphur Pasquarello, and it may also be their most personal.
The Italian restaurant opened Monday inside the Society Hill Hotel at Third and Chestnut Streets, occupying a compact spot that was originally an oyster bar in 1830. The corner restaurant is anchored by the big-bellied, handmade brick Marra Forni pizza oven installed by the hotel’s owners, who closed their own restaurant in the space in December. At night, the bar glows against warm brick and plaster, giving the room a sense of intimacy.
Guests dining in and at the bar at Piccolina in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. .Michael and Jeniphur Pasquarello at their restaurant Piccolina in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
For the Pasquarellos — whose restaurant history dates to 2003, when they opened their first Cafe Lift bruncherie in Callowhill — Piccolina marks a shift in focus. Over the years, the couple added a Cafe Lift in Haddonfield and moved the original location to 12th and Spring Garden (after closing a short-lived branch in Narberth), and opened the nearby concepts Prohibition Taproom (corner bar) and La Chinesca (Mexican). They also had a six-year run of the wood-fired pizzeria Bufad, and a decade in Fishtown with the beef-, then fish-centered Kensington Quarters.
Piccolina is a return to the Pasquarellos’ South Philadelphia roots: He grew up near Chadwick and Shunk Streets, and she grew up two blocks away, at 17th and Ritner. Her grandparents, the Bernardinis, ran Bruno’s luncheonette — later Brunic’s. (Brunic’s lives on, under different owners.)
Chef Alex Vazquez working during service at Piccolina in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
“It’s tapping into memory and the feeling of where it all came from,” Michael Pasquarello said. But although the menu includes flavors they grew up with, Piccolina is not a South Philly red-gravy house. “We took all of that and then we let Alex put it through his filter.”
Alex is chef Alex Vazquez, whose resumé includes Vernick Food & Drink and Friday Saturday Sunday, where he rose over a five-year run from garde manger to sous chef.
At Piccolina, Vazquez is turning out traditional pastas like bucatini amatriciana and malfadine al limone. Stracciatella is folded into the campanelle vodka just before plating, giving the sauce a loose, creamy pull rather than a heavy coat, Michael said. There’s oxtail lasagna, too, built with just three layers of fresh pasta — a technique Pasquarello traces back to Kensington Quarters.
The Malfadine Al Limone at Piccolina in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.The Oxtail lasagna at Piccolina in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
“We used to do these thin lasagnas because we wanted crispy edges,” Michael said. “Alex loved that idea. So we do braised oxtail, a really rich tomato sauce, drizzle Alfredo through it, then fire it in the brick oven so you get those crisp edges.”
Vazquez’s Neapolitan pizzas are sturdy-crusted, all the better to keep up with a load of toppings. Inspired by Bufad, there’s a sausage pie finished with béchamel, broccoli rabe, and shaved pecorino, as well as a mushroom pizza that had developed a following before the restaurant closed at the end of 2018.
The Sausage Pizza at Piccolina in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
The larger plates push the “memory through a chef’s lens” idea most clearly, Michael said. The half-chicken marsala starts with dry-aged birds that are brined, air-dried, and cooked, then finished with a deep marsala sauce and hearth-fired mushrooms.
“I remember my mom making chicken Marsala for us,” he said. “So the idea was, what does that look like when you take it [more] seriously?”
The pork Milanese follows a similar logic. Vazquez brines the pork for 24 hours with coriander, fennel, garlic, and peppercorns before breading it in panko and frying it crisp. It’s served with a hearty crock of escarole and beans — a dish Michael describes as almost universal in South Philadelphia kitchens. “That dish is home to me,” he said.
“I love red-sauce places,” Vazquez said. “It’s so Philly. I just wanted to put my spin on what I want to eat — a red-sauce, pizza, pasta place that’s a little nicer.”
Piccolina serves dinner daily, with lunch and brunch expanding the menu into panini, egg dishes, and sweets like maritozzi French toast stuffed with mascarpone whip. The full bar includes six beers on draft, negroni and other cocktails, and an Italian-only wine list.
A chocolate cake at Piccolina in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. .
Piccolina, 301 Chestnut St., 267-761-4120, piccolinaphl.com. Hours: 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. for dinner. Lunch (noon to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday) starts Feb. 17 and weekend brunch (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) starts Feb. 21.
During a recent snowstorm, Philly bar owner Chris Fetfatzes dashed around the bustling bar at Sonny’s Cocktail Joint, delivering platters of burgers and fries alongside 1-ounce pours of house-made liqueurs served in tiny, cut-crystal glasses.
One liqueur in particular glowed ruby red, and a sip showed that it had a careful balance of sweetness and tang, its fruitiness cutting through the richness of Sonny’s cracker-thin pizzas. It served as both a pick-me-up and a digestif on a bitter-cold day.
A spread of menu items at Grace & Proper with Portuguese influences: piri piri buffalo chicken dip, a bifana, pasteis de nata, gigantes, and the pink street cocktail.
This sunny spirit was a classic sour cherry Portuguese liqueur called ginjinha (“zhin-ZHEEN-yah”). In its home country, you can drink it at the sidewalk-facing counters of historic, pocket-sized stores scattered throughout Lisbon. In the Philly area, you’ll be hard-pressed to find it at most establishments — except for the bars owned and operated by Fetfatzes’ Happy Monday Hospitality: Sonny’s on South Street, Grace & Proper in Bella Vista, and WineDive in Rittenhouse.
The restaurants also make their own green alpine liqueur, chocolate liqueur, coffee liqueur, falernum, fernet, Swedish punsch, and pumpkin tequila, with more to come. (As with ginjinha and house-made amari and vermouth, these all involve steeping botanicals and produce in alcohol, not distilling fresh spirits.)
But the ginjinha is near and dear to Fetfatzes’ heart. The 44-year-old South Philadelphia native is a first-generation American whose mother was Portuguese and father was Greek, and the delicate glasses of liqueur served in his restaurant group’s establishmentsare part of a quiet legacy of Portuguese immigration to Northeast Philly.
Picking morello cherries in Philly.
Happy Monday’s ginjinha contains the DNA of Fetfatzes’ original batch, made in 2023 from the fruit of a morello cherry tree that aPortuguese friend planted as a sapling in the Northeast after migrating to the U.S. Fetfatzes and his team harvested 20 gallons of cherries from the tree, grown specifically for ginjinha, in 2023. The fruit was macerated with sugar in a blend of young, unaged brandy and Portuguese red wine for several days, with the occasional agitation to redistribute the cherries.
“It’s [somewhat] like a sangria, as it is a wine-based product,” said Fetfatzes, though it is much sweeter and stronger than typical, easy-drinking Spanish sangria.
The ginjinha recipe was developed through trial and error by Fetfatzes and his beverage director, Scott Rodrigue, who is also of Portuguese descent. “We got a base, messed around with it and branched out to make it our own,” Fetfatzes said. The sour cherry liqueur conjures up the big family parties he partakes in every year when taking his own family back to his mother’s home country.
Washing freshly picked morello cherries grown in Philly.
After landing on a base recipe, subsequent batches of ginjinha — made every three weeks for Happy Monday’s bars — have used flash-frozen cherries sourced from wherever it’s cherry season, whether it’s California, Portugal, Central Europe, or the Middle East.
Fetfatzes and his staff employ the solera method of fractional blending, which is also used to make Champagne and fortified wines like sherry. The 2023 batch has become a “mother” for all of Fetfatzes’ ensuing batches, “like a starter yeast for sourdough,” he explained.
Sorting morello cherries.
“Like the Italians, we’re peasants living off the land,” said Fetfatzes, whose own mother followed a similar migration path to that of the original batch’s tree. “My mom’s village town was Vergada in the Mozules. She came over solo as a seamstress in 1974.”
The ginjinha is popular at Sonny’s, where several customers who’ve traveled to Portugal like to order it, but it is perhaps best enjoyed at Grace and Proper, where there’s a rotation of homesick Portuguese regulars. They come in for the tiny pours of ginjinha, or have it shaken up with vodka and fresh lime juice for a cocktail called the “Pink Street” ($12), a Portuguese interpretation of a cosmopolitan, along with a bifana sandwich ($7) — one of the best sandwich deals in town — consisting of pork marinated with white wine, garlic, and paprika, and soaking through crusty Portuguese bread.
The ginjinha’a sweetness balances out the sandwich’s salt-kissed meatiness. The flavors, twisted together, balance one another. “Ginjinha has got this pomegranate-like tart-sweet punch that cuts through the garlicky richness of our bifana. It resets your palate, jiving with the bifana’s piri-piri heat and bite of mustard,” said Fetfatzes.
LOS ANGELES — While strolling through the NBA Crossover fan extravaganza inside the Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday afternoon, a young man wearing a Cooper Flagg Duke jersey suddenly realized the NBA player with whom he had randomly crossed paths.
“That’s Tyrese Maxey!” the fan excitedly told his companion.
That moment illustrated how Maxey’s popularity has ballooned beyond Philly, where he has long been beloved while rapidly ascending into a 76ers cornerstone and two-time All-Star. Before stepping inside Intuit Dome on Sunday afternoon, Maxey had already received the fourth-highest total of All-Star fan votes and was named an Eastern Conference starter for this weekend’s main event. And that status as one of league’s up-and-coming faces was showcased throughout the celebratory weekend, culminating with Maxey’s nine points and three steals for the “young and turnt” Team Stars’ victory over Team Stripes in the championship game of a surprisingly competitive round-robin tournament.
“I feel a lot less out of place,” Maxey said when asked about how this weekend felt different from his first All-Star appearance in 2024. “[Two years ago, I] was nervous. It’s your first time. You don’t know when to talk, when not to talk. Now I walk into the locker room of my team, I was the second-oldest [at 25].
“I played against those guys growing up as kids, and it was really fun to be in the locker room.”
Maxey’s widespread prominence is perhaps unsurprising, given his combination of statistical production, playing style and personality.
His numbers place him in the MVP conversation, coming out of the All-Star break ranking sixth in the NBA in scoring (28.9 points per game) while adding 6.8 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.0 steals. He plays an aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball for diehards and casuals alike, as a speedy guard who explodes to the basket, launches from three-point range, and has become a legitimate defensive disruptor. And he regularly flashes a grin even in the heat of competition.
Tyrese Maxey participated in the three-point contest and made his second All-Star Game appearance.
The “That’s Tyrese Maxey” whispers — or exclamations — continued as he moved through the convention center on Friday. One fan who recognized him was wearing a LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers shirt. Another was in Boston Celtics green. Others waited in line to meet Maxey inside an Xfinity pop-up digital experience — where his face was displayed all over the exterior — or as he signed blue Sixers jerseys inside a DoorDash booth.
Back at the Intuit Dome, Maxey was on a parking garage billboard also featuring San Antonio Spurs global superstar Victor Wembanyama. And during Saturday’s media day, Maxey was assigned to a formal news conference room — which are typically reserved for the most in-demand players — instead of the mixed-zone scrums.
As Maxey walked into the standing-room-only crowd, he uttered, “Wow.”
“I don’t want to trip and fall,” Maxey said, walking across the stage, “and embarrass myself with all these people here.”
Maxey first noticed his popularity had extended beyond Sixers supporters around his fourth NBA season, when he was so stunned to see his jersey in places besides Philly and his hometown of Dallas that he called his mother, Denyse. (His jersey sales this season ranked 10th in the NBA as of last month, the league announced.) And when informed last month that he had received more All-Star fan votes than any American player — yes, even topping all-time greats James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant — he was taken aback.
“Oh, thanks fellow Americans!” Maxey said, leaning back in his locker-room chair. “Appreciate y’all, man. That’s love.”
It is all quite the rise since Maxey trained in Los Angeles in preparation for the 2020 NBA draft, when the Sixers took him 21st overall.
Tyrese Maxey has come a long way from the surprising rookie who burst onto the scene in 2020.
He seized the opportunity when thrust into the starting point guard job during Ben Simmons’ 2021-22 holdout. He won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award in 2023, then became a first-time All-Star the following season. He thrived as former MVP Joel Embiid’s two-man partner. He further boosted himself on a big stage with a masterful 46-point performance at Madison Square Garden in Game 5 of the Sixers’ 2024 first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks.
As an All-Star newbie in 2024, Maxey appreciated getting to know players from other teams in a laid-back environment. This year, he felt a sense of familiarity with Team Stars, which was also made up of All-Star MVP Anthony Edwards along with Scottie Barnes, Devin Booker, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Johnson. He sat courtside as Sixers teammate VJ Edgecombe won Rising Stars MVP on Friday night, then participated in Saturday’s three-point contest for the first time.
When Holmgren, a first-time All-Star, asked Maxey for advice on what to expect Sunday, he compared it to the McDonald’s High School All American Game.
“You don’t want nobody to have bragging rights on you,” Maxey said. “That’s how I feel about it.”
Maxey finished Team Stars’ overtime victory over Team World with four points, three rebounds, and two assists — and a tone-setting hustle play when he saved a ball from going out of bounds by throwing it backward over his head. He added two points in his team’s loss in its first matchup against Team Stripes, which also came down to the last shot.
In the championship rematch, Maxey took Durant off the dribble for a layup, then stole the inbounds pass and buried a three-pointer. Later, he blew past James for another finish and collected a steal and a dish to Barnes for a breakaway dunk.
“I want to play it like a real game, anyway,” Maxey said. “It’s better for me.”
Tyrese Maxey is one of the game’s most popular young American stars.
Maxey arrived for his postgame media session carrying a fancy box holding his All-Star ring which, when opened, also played a video of his highlights. He was ready to get some rest during the next few days before the regular-season’s stretch run for a Sixers team in sixth place in the East standings.
But this weekend, he lived up to his status as a leader of the NBA’s “young and turnt” American stars — and one of the up-and-coming faces of the league as a whole.
“I definitely think that we are ready to try to step it forward,” Maxey said. “We had a lot of guys in that locker room that are ready to take the next step.”
Scenes from the Phillies first full spring training workout
// Timestamp 02/16/26 2:02pm
‘He’s getting there’: Zach Wheeler continues recovery from blood clot
Zack Wheeler threw out to 120 feet for the first time today. Rob Thomson said he doesn't know yet when Wheeler will get back on a mound, but "he's getting there."
The surprising things Phillies players brought with them to spring training
// Timestamp 02/16/26 12:17pm
Spring training photos: Phillies first full-squad workout
BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla. ahead of the Phillies’ first full-squad workout. Bryce Harper works with new bench coach Don Mattingly. Kyle Schwarber takes some swings during batting practice. The Phillies’ first spring training game is Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Top pitching prospect Andrew Painter will be under no limitations this spring as he competes for a spot in the Phillies’ rotation. He is set to appear in Grapefruit League games for the first time since prior to his ulnar collateral ligament injury and subsequent Tommy John elbow surgery in 2023.
“I’m sure he’s excited. It’s really the first full year where he’s completely healthy, and where he’s got everything back,” Thomson said. “And when I’m talking about everything, I’m talking about stuff, combined with command and control. So I think he’s really excited. I would think so. I’m excited for him, because I’m thinking he’s really going to be a big piece for us.”
Mike Trout talks position change, being prevented from playing in World Baseball Classic
Mike Trout wants to move back to center field this season.
Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout plans to be back in center field this season, he told reporters Monday at the team’s spring training complex in Tempe, Ariz.
Trout moved to right field last season in an attempt to keep the 34-year-old South Jersey native healthy, but in April he was sidelined for a month by a bone bruise and finished out the year as a designated hitter.
Mike Trout says he is playing center field again. He said playing right wasn’t comfortable and he felt like it was more running.
Also said he feels good about where his swing is. He finished last season on a hot streak.
Trout played 130 games last season, the most since 2019. But Angles general manager Perry Minasian signaled back in December he’d be open to Trout returning to center field.
“I’m not ruling anything out,” Minasian said, according to MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. “We’ll see where the team looks like when we get to Spring Training and what’s in place and what gives us the best chance to win games. Might be playing center. One day might be playing left. One day might be DHing. I don’t know.”
Trout also told reporters he wanted to play in this year’s World Baseball Classic, but was prevented due to insurance issues related to his 12-year, $426.5 million contract with the Angels that runs through the 2030 season.
Essentially, Trout couldn’t find insurance coverage to cover the roughly $37 million he’s owed this season if he were to be injured during the global baseball tournament.
Mike Trout says he’ll move back to playing CF this year. He also wanted to play in the WBC but insurance prevented him from playing, calling it disappointing
They also sent lefty Matt Strahm to the Royals for Jonathan Bowlan in a reliever swap. And they added bullpen depth with Zach McCambley (Rule 5 draft), lefty Kyle Backhus (trade with Arizona), Yoniel Curet (trade with Tampa Bay), Chase Shugart (trade with Pittsburgh), and Zach Pop (free agent).
So which new Phillies is most intriguing for 2026?
Lauber: Does Justin Crawford count as “new?” Oh, OK, we’ll get to him later. In that case, García. In 2023, he hit 39 homers, got down-ballot MVP votes, and dominated the postseason for the World Series champion Rangers. The Phillies bet on bouncebacks last year from Max Kepler and Jordan Romano and went bust. Will their latest free-agent gamble work out better?
March: Keller. The right-hander had been a starter for most of his career before his breakout season last year as a high-leverage reliever for the Cubs, and he has retained his starter’s arsenal of four-seam, sinker, slider, changeup, and sweeper. That, plus a jump of over 3 mph on his fastball in 2025, makes him an intriguing back-end option in the Phillies’ bullpen.
Which Phillies players to watch at spring training
All eyes will be on prospect Justin Crawford during spring training.
What’s the Phillies’ biggest roster decision?
Lauber: Although the decision to commit to Justin Crawford was made early in the offseason, it’s about to play out in real time. At 22, he would be the youngest outfielder to make a Phillies opening-day roster since Greg Luzinski and Mike Anderson in 1973. As the Phillies turn over the keys to center field, Crawford will be at the center of attention.
March: The Phillies stocked up on potential bullpen depth this winter, making a host of minor league deals, a few trades, and a Rule 5 selection of Zach McCambley. Six reliever spots are likely spoken for, barring injury: lefties José Alvarado and Tanner Banks, and righties Jhoan Duran, Brad Keller, Orion Kerkering, and Jonathan Bowlan. There will be some stiff competition for the final two spots.
Which prospect should fans look out for?
Lauber: As you watch Crawford and Andrew Painter, don’t take your eyes off Aidan Miller. The Phillies intend to expose the 22-year-old shortstop to third base in spring training, but it will be interesting to see how much third he actually plays — and how fast they push him if he starts hot in triple A and/or Alec Bohm falters again in April.
March: Gabriel Rincones Jr. made a big impression last spring with a couple of towering home runs. The outfielder was added to the Phillies’ 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 draft, and he could get a major league look at some point in 2026. Rincones, who will be 25 next month, struggles against left-handed pitching, so any opportunity would likely be in a strict platoon. But he has some big power potential against righties.
A clean-shaven Nick Castellanos, dressed in a brown Padres hoodie, made his first public comments Sunday after signing a one-year deal with San Diego.
The former Phillies outfielder, who was released by the organization on Thursday, met with the media at the Padres’ spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz. He also spent time taking reps at first base. He is expected to see time there as the Padres already have an All-Star rightfielder in Fernando Tatis Jr.
Castellanos told reporters Sunday he “had a good idea” he would not be back with the Phillies following their exit in the National League Division Series. This winter, the Phillies repeatedly expressed interest in finding a change of scenery for Castellanos after he developed friction with manager Rob Thomson.
After his release, Castellanos posted a letter on Instagram thanking members of the organization and explaining the “Miami Incident.” During the eighth inning of a June 16 game in Miami, Castellanos said he brought a beer into the dugout after Thomson replaced him for defensive purposes. He was benched for the following game as punishment.
In his letter, Castellanos wrote that he “will learn from” the incident.
“I think [what] I said I will learn from this is I guess just letting my emotions get the best of me in a moment,” he said Sunday. “Possibly if I see things that frustrate me or I don’t believe are conducive to winning, to speak up instead of letting things just pile up over time and pile up over time and finally when I address it, it’s less emotional.”
Bryce Harper responds to Phillies exec ahead of Spring Training
Bryce Harper fist-bumps Phillies teammates Sunday ahead of the team’s workout in Clearwater, Fla.
Bryce Harper touched down in Phillies camp, pulled on a black T-shirt — no, not the black T-shirt that went viral over the holidays — and summarized one of the weirdest weeks in an offseason of his career.
“For Dave [Dombrowski] to come out and say those things,“ Harper said, ”it’s kind of wild to me still.”
Key word: Still. Because this was Sunday, 122 days after the Phillies’ highest-ranking baseball official gave a 90-second answer 34 minutes into a 54-minute news conference about whether Harper’s good-but-not-great 2025 season was a one-off or the start of a downward trend.
Pardon the rehashed sound bite, but well, here goes: “Of course he’s still a quality player,” Dombrowski said, “still an All-Star-caliber player. He didn’t have an elite season like he has had in the past. And I guess we only find out if he becomes elite [again], or if he continues to be good.”
Cue the hysteria, fomented by sports-talk radio and social media. And a candid answer to a good question exploded into unfounded speculation that the Phillies would consider trading Harper. (For what it’s worth, John Middleton is clear about wanting Harper to go into the Hall of Fame with a “P” on his plaque.)
Harper is self-aware. He wasn’t satisfied with last season. There were factors, including an inflamed right wrist that caused him to miss 22 games. But he also swung at a career-high rate of pitches out of the zone, a problem given that Harper saw fewer strikes than any hitter in baseball. He also delivered fewer hits in the clutch than ever before.
“Obviously,” he said after digesting it for four months, “not the best year of my career.”
But the substance of Dombrowski’s comments didn’t bother Harper as much as the forum.
“The big thing for me was, when we first met with this organization [in 2019] it was, ‘Hey, we’re always going to keep things in-house, and we expect you to do the same thing,’” Harper said. “So, when that didn’t happen, it kind of took me for a run a little bit. I don’t know.
“It’s kind of a wild situation, that even happening.”
Pitcher Taijuan Walker looks on while wearing his hat backward Sunday. Pitcher Cristopher Sanchez on the mound as palm trees swerve in the background. Brandon Marsh shares a laugh during spring training workouts Thursday. Pitcher Zack Wheeler warms up last week. Phillies manager Rob Thomson looks on during spring training workouts.
Tom McCarthy is entering his 19th season as the TV voice of the Phillies.
NBC Sports Philadelphia will once again broadcast 12 Phillies spring training games in 2026 — 10 on the main channel and two on NBC Sports Philadelphia+.
The network’s TV schedule kicks off Sunday with the Phillies’ afternoon matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla., where the team has played spring ball for 78 years.
The Phillies March 4 exhibition game against Canada ahead of the World Basball classic will also air on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
In addition, a handful of spring training games will stream live on the Phillies’ website.
Here are all the Phillies spring training games airing on NBC Sports Philadelphia:
Sunday vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
Feb. 25 vs Detroit Tigers, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
Feb. 27 vs. Florida Marlins (split squad), 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
March 1 vs. New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
March 4 vs. Canada, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
March 5 vs. Boston Red Sox, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP+)
March 8 at Minnesota Twins, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
March 10 vs. New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
March 13 vs. Baltimore Orioles, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP+)
