What has happened since Sunday’s College Football Playoff selection show could begin to shape the future of the sport this year and beyond.
Miami and Notre Dame, both 10-2 and ranked 12th and 10th, respectively, ahead of conference championship weekend, were essentially vying for one spot in a 12-team playoff that was mostly set with the top eight teams seeing little movement.
After No. 9 Alabama lost to third-ranked Georgia by three touchdowns and No. 11 Brigham Young lost by 27 to No. 4 Texas Tech and No. 17 Virginia dropped the ACC title game to Duke, the debate then shifted to whether the Crimson Tide deserved to be in the field.
In the end, though, BYU dropped out of the top 12, Alabama remained at No. 9, and Miami jumped two spots to knock Notre Dame out of the playoff field, creating a firestorm in the process with Tulane and James Madison getting the final two spots.
The committee pointed to Miami’s head-to-head victory over Notre Dame in Week 1 of the season as the ultimate deciding factor.
In response to getting left out of the playoff field, the Irish decided to turn down a potential bowl game matchup against BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, ending the season.
The outrage is all too familiar. An undefeated Florida State team in 2023, ranked No. 4 in a four-team playoff format at the time, was dropped because of an injury to star quarterback Jordan Travis in favor of No. 8 Alabama, which had defeated Georgia in the SEC title game that year.
That 2023 decision to leave the ACC champion out of the playoff has continued a negative trend for the selection committee:distrust. Distrust in the committee’s criteria. Distrust in what it values in playoff-caliber teams vs. what it does not. Distrust in how the panel measures the resumés of each team. Distrust in measuring programs by a different set of standards.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman reacts on the sideline against Stanford on Nov. 29.
To be clear, every conference should have a fair shot at winning the national championship.
Tulane, which beat three Power Four schools, plays in the toughest Group of Six conference in the American, and its coach, Jon Sumrall, was hired to be Florida’s next head coach.
James Madison, although it lost its lone game against a Power Four opponent, had Bob Chesney poached to be UCLA’s next head coach. Both Sumrall and Chesney are sticking with their teams through the playoffs.
Notre Dame’s decision to sit out a bowl game could set a precedent. With Name, Image, and Likeness reshaping college sports, more programs built specifically with playoff aspirations may do the same if their seasons don’t go as planned.
Keeping Notre Dame out of the playoff is fine, but don’t have the school ranked ahead of Miami for five weeks only to flip it on Selection Sunday. What about keeping Alabama at No. 9 after losing by three touchdowns, but moving down BYU and Ohio State after their losses?
After this, the CFP committee ought to figure out a better way to determine the best 25 teams every week — because this current format is not working and could have long-term ramifications for the sport.
Villanova’s tall task
The star of Villanova’s two wins to open the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs has been its defense, which allowed just seven points in each win, the lowest among the remaining eight teams.
That defense will be put to the test Saturday against fourth-ranked Tarleton State (12-1) of Texas, which has one of the best scoring offenses in the FCS (44.1 points per game) and the No. 3 total offense (472.3 yards), led by Walter Payton Award finalist Victor Gabalis, the team’s quarterback.
The Texans also have wins over an FBS school, Army, and are a perfect 7-0 at their Memorial Stadium in Stephenville, Texas, while averaging 41.8 points.
Tarleton State, about 80 miles southwest of Fort Worth, also ranks in the top 10 in scoring defense (18 points) and passing yards allowed (160.5 yards) but has one glaring weakness: defending the run. On the season, Tarleton ranks 69th in rushing defense, giving up 163.6 yards per game, which should offer the Wildcats an opportunity to control the game in that aspect.
Tarleton State’s Victor Gabalis in action against Army on Aug. 29.
Saturday’s quarterfinal game (noon, ESPN) will ultimately come down to Villanova’s defense holding Tarleton State’s offense in check. Harvard and Lehigh each ranked inside the top 25 in total offense, but the Wildcats shut both teams down.
The only game Tarleton State lost this season came against Abilene Christian, the only time the Texans scored less than 30 points.
Villanova (11-2) will need big games from running backs Ja’briel Mace and Isaiah Ragland and the offensive line to clinch the program’s first semifinal appearance since 2010. The winner of this matchup will face the winner of UC Davis and Illinois State next Saturday.
Although Delaware State’s season came to an end with a loss to South Carolina State two weeks ago that determined the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference’s representative in the Celebration Bowl, coach DeSean Jackson, the former Eagles wideout, earned some recognition after his debut season.
On Monday, Jackson, after an 8-4 season was named the 2025 Boxtorow HBCU Coach of the Year for his efforts at Delaware State this season. The Hornets led the FCS in rushing yards per game (291.2 yards), and Jackson led his team to a win over Michael Vick’s Norfolk State on Oct. 30 at Lincoln Financial Field.
For the 126th time, Army and Navy will meet, this year at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, with the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy on the line. Navy won last year’s matchup with a resounding 31-13 victory at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md.
Navy leads the series, 63-55-7, but Army has won six of the last nine matchups. The Midshipmen, though, have the best player in quarterback Blake Horvath and the nation’s top rushing offense (298.4).
Navy quarterback Blake Horvath in last season’s game against Army.
Jose A. Aviles, who abruptly resigned last month as Temple University’s head of enrollment, has taken a leadership role at Rutgers University.
Aviles has been named senior vice president for enrollment management and student success at New Jersey’s flagship university.
“Dr. Aviles’ commitment to data-informed, student-centered leadership will be pivotal to strengthening student recruitment, expanding access and enhancing student success metrics,” Rutgers said in its announcement.
At Rutgers, the overall enrollment neared 71,500 this year, up 3.2%.
When Aviles announced his exit from Temple, he told The Inquirer he was leaving for “a life-changing opportunity.”
Aviles, who served as Temple’s vice president for enrollment and student success for 2½ years, joined the North Philadelphia school in 2023, after about six years at Louisiana State University.
In that experience at LSU, he has a tie to Rutgers’ new president, William F. Tate IV, who led the Baton Rouge university from 2021 to this July, when he took the helm at Rutgers.
Aviles left Temple with recent successes under his belt; he had recently been promoted from a vice provost to a vice president.
“Jose has reimagined enrollment management at the university over the last couple of years, helping move us to a modern, technology- and data-driven approach that has delivered results,” Temple president John Fry and interim provost David Boardman said to the campus community last month.
They noted the university achieved growth in first-year enrollment the last two years, with this year’s group reaching a record high of 5,379.
The university also under Aviles’ tenure started the Temple Promise program, which makes tuition and fees free for first-time, full-time college students from low-income families who live in Philadelphia, and the Temple Future Scholars program, a mentoring and college-readiness initiative.
While Temple’s first-year class was strong, the school fell short of its initial overall enrollment projection by about 700 students, which translates to about $10 million in lost revenue.
The university had been estimating it would enroll a total of 30,100 to 30,300 students, which would have been its first enrollment increase since 2017.
Instead, enrollment came in at 29,503, down about 500 from last year and further declining from its high of more than 40,000 eight years ago. (That does not include enrollment on its Japan and Rome campuses, which increased. Including those campuses, Temple’s overall enrollment was over 33,000, a slight increase from last year.)
There have also been concerns about sophomore retention and a higher percentage of third- and fourth-year students not returning.
The Eagles are suffering through a rough patch. They have lost three consecutive games. Their offense hasn’t been able to lead them to more than 21 points in five consecutive games, the longest such streak for any Eagles team since 2005.
Well, happy holidays to the Eagles, because here comes the gift that keeps on giving for NFL teams: the Las Vegas Raiders, who haven’t won since Oct. 12, when they beat Tennessee, one of only two other teams without a third win this season.
The Eagles are double-digit favorites, and their get-right game is here — or so they hope.
Here are some numbers that could play a part in Sunday’s result:
46.3
Since their Week 9 bye, 3¾ of the Eagles’ five games have come without Lane Johnson, who has been out with a Lisfranc injury in his foot. The Eagles have been historically bad without their All-Pro right tackle, and his impact usually shows up in a big way when he’s not on the field more than when he is.
This time around, it’s in the pressure on Jalen Hurts. In two of the last three games, the Eagles have allowed Hurts to be pressured 18 times, the two highest totals of the 2025 season.
He has not been handling it well. Going back to Week 10, the game before Johnson went down with his injury, Hurts has a 46.3 passer rating when under pressure.
Jalen Hurts passes while Los Angeles Chargers outside linebacker Khalil Mack bears down on him in Monday’s game.
Two things are working in his favor for Sunday: the Raiders have the third-worst pressure percentage (27.3%) in the NFL, and Johnson could return to action.
Sure, Maxx Crosby has still been a menace. He has 43 pressures, according to Next Gen Stats, and nine sacks on the season, but only two other Raiders — Malcolm Koonce and Jonah Laulu — have more than 18 pressures.
Hurts should have plenty of time, and his passing numbers should reflect that.
On the flip side, the Eagles’ defense should be able to have a field day rushing old friend Kenny Pickett, if he indeed gets the nod for the injured Geno Smith.
The Eagles generated a 68.3% pressure rate against Justin Herbert Monday night, the highest rate of any team this season. Eight Eagles generated at least three pressures, the most by any team this season. Jaelan Phillips and Nolan Smith each registered seven. Jalyx Hunt, meanwhile, had five pressures and 2½ sacks.
Jalyx Hunt sacks Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and forces a fumble.
The pass rushers should be raring to go Sunday. They may not generate a 68.3% pressure rate, but the Raiders allow pressure on 36.9% of their drop backs, tied for ninth-most in the NFL. Smith was pressured on 56% of his 25 dropbacks in Sunday’s loss to Denver, according to Next Gen, while Pickett was pressured on 38.5% of his 11 drops.
The Raiders’ passing offense runs through Brock Bowers, the second-year tight end who was a first-team All-Pro after his rookie campaign in 2024. Bowers leads the Raiders in targets (73), yards (574), and touchdowns (six) while playing in just 10 of the team’s 13 games.
Bowers is effectively a receiver out there, and the Raiders use him as such. Against the Broncos, Bowers aligned in the slot or out wide on 22 of his 31 routes (71%), according to Next Gen. Bowers was out wide on just seven of his 51 total snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
Bowers’ alignment should not pose much of a problem to the Eagles. Cooper DeJean has been among the best nickel players in the league, and if Bowers is being covered by a linebacker on routes from a normal tight end alignment, Nakobe Dean could flex his coverage chops. Dean entered last week allowing a 47.4% completion percentage when targeted this season, according to Next Gen, the lowest among 734 linebackers with at least 15 targets in a season since 2018. He did surrender three catches on three targets Monday, however.
The Eagles defensive backs and linebackers will have their hands full with Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, who is more of a receiver.
DeJean, meanwhile, pitched a shutout on three targets Monday and was a big part of taking the Chargers’ Ladd McConkey out of the game. Entering Monday, DeJean had a league-high 408 coverage snaps from the slot and had allowed just a 59.0% completion percentage, according to Next Gen, the seventh-lowest number in the NFL on a minimum of 20 targets, and no touchdowns.
The Eagles should have the answers for Bowers, and Quinyon Mitchell will likely see a lot of Tre Tucker.
The Eagles have a big advantage when the Raiders are in obvious pass situations.
91.9%
This isn’t specific to the game, but we’ve been tracking playoff chances here for most of the season, so why not continue doing so?
For all of the panic about the Eagles during their three-game skid — to be fair, there is reason to worry — they are still almost a lock to win the division. Sure, they have to play the games, but the Eagles have a favorable schedule the rest of the way.
According to FTN Fantasy, they have a 91.9% chance of making the playoffs, and a 91.5% chance of winning the NFC East. They are most likely (73.6%) to finish with the No. 3 seed in the NFC and will have a home playoff game.
The magic number to win the NFC East is just three. Any Eagles win or Dallas loss drops it, and the Eagles might be double-digit favorites in three of their remaining four games starting with Sunday. They’re still in the driver’s seat.
Syrah is the name of the most intense member of a group of spicy red grapes native to the Rhône Valley region of France. However, many American wine drinkers are more familiar with it as shiraz, the name the grape goes by in Australia. While this week’s wine is not the kind of lightly sweet, cheap, and cheerful “fruit bomb” made famous Down Under, it does deliver explosive flavor worthy of its cheeky label.
Syrah grapes make delicious wines in both California and Washington State, but there’s little incentive for growers to plant it when cabernet sauvignon commands higher returns. With small berries and skins as thick as those of cabernet sauvignon, syrah grapes yield nearly as much solids as juice.
Since color and flavor are found in the skin of grapes, not in their flesh or juice, this is an important style factor that determines how intense red wines can be. Syrah’s big flavor and deep color make it a natural choice for making bold and robust red wines, and its knack for resisting oxidation preserves a youthful, violet-tinged color longer than most before succumbing to the browning of age.
Flavor-wise, syrah wines have a distinctive spicy scent and flavor, reminiscent of wild berries and black pepper. In cooler climates, like its native France, syrah makes paler, more acidic wines that smell of salty foods like green peppercorns and cured meats. In warmer, sunnier regions like Washington’s Columbia Valley, though, syrah lends itself to making fuller-bodied powerhouse wines — like this one — that are dense with dark, jammy flavors that are decadent, dessertlike, and meant for immediate gratification. This premium bottling is a perfect example, with its concentrated flavors of blueberry pie and raspberry jam, accented with meaty aromatics that evoke barbecue ribs or beef jerky.
“Boom Boom” Syrah
Charles Smith “Boom Boom!” Syrah
Washington State, 14.5% ABV
PLCB Item #1501, on sale for $15.69 through Jan. 4 (regularly $18.69)
Crews are in the final stages of cleaning up the site where oil leaked into Ridley Creek after a tanker truck crashed near Media in September, according to municipal and county officials.
Ridley Creek Road will continue to have road closures from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. until the work is finished.
Work should be completed next week, said Larry Bak, the county’s hazmat crew chief. Crews from Lewis Environmental have removed the contaminated soil and are refilling the site. Environmental consulting firm Aquaterra is overseeing the remediation work and testing.
A Cardinal USA truck carrying home heating oil crashed on Sept. 22 while traveling north on the Route 1 Bypass at the border of Upper Providence and Middletown Townships. The truck swerved across the highway and rolled an undetermined number of times, according to Upper Providence Fire Marshal Alan Mancill.
The truck came to rest with the cab hanging off the east side of an overpass and a gash in its side that spilled 1,000 to 2,000 gallons of oil onto the roadway and into Ridley Creek below, Mancill said.
The cause of the crash is unclear and Upper Providence police could not be reached for comment.
Remediation work continues on Ridley Creek Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, under the Route 1 overpass in Media, Delaware County where a tanker overturned spilling thousands of gallons of home heating oil in September.
“I sent half of my team up onto the bridge to work with the tank truck, and I sent the other half of my initial response down to the creek to get in front of it as it was going downstream,” Bak said. The crew put containment booms across the creek to halt the spread of oil.
Aqua’s Ridley Creek water treatment facility is about a mile and a half downstream from the site. Bak said the facility was quickly alerted to shut off its intake after the spill. It was reopened after the water was deemed safe, but the booms remain in place just in case.
“I believe the expression is ‘an overabundance of caution,’” Bak said.
The site of the crash posed a challenge to the cleanup crew, with oil contaminating a hillside as well as the creek and marshy area below the bridge. Crews used a special excavator with 35-foot arms.
“It had to reach out and down because it’s a fairly steep hill,” Bak said. “It’s not an insignificant height.”
To reach the contaminated areas, the crew also built a dam from the Ridley Creek Road side with pipes underneath to let the creek flow underneath. The dam will be removed after work is complete, Bak said.
Once the work is done, soil will continue to be monitored for two years.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
After a nearly six-year legal battle between artists, preservationists, and neighbors, the Old City building and its celebrated mosaic were demolished.
The former Painted Bride Art Center building, once home to world-renowned artist Isaiah Zagar’s 7,000-square-foot mirror-and-tile mosaic, has started to come down.
The demolition equipment and growing dust at 230 Vine St. closes the book on a yearslong saga over the distinctive Old City building’s future.
Founded in 1969 as a gallery on South Street, the Painted Bride helped transform Old City into an artists’ corner of Philadelphia when it moved to the neighborhood in the ‘80s.
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Decades later, Zagar’s mosaic, titled Skin of the Bride and wrapped around the exterior of the building, became a point of contention when the organization tried to sell the building in 2017. The debate led to a nearly six-year legal battle involving artists, real estate developers, city government officials, and neighbors.
As demolition of the celebrated building begins, take a look back at the complicated legal battles that led to its razing.
Using grants and donations for a down payment, the Painted Bride moved to 230 Vine St. from its initial digs in South Philadelphia. The former elevator factory in Old City spanned 15,000 square feet and sold for $300,000.
Alley Friends Architects, a local firm, drew up plans for the space, which included a 225-seat performance venue and galleries.
Artist Ruth McCann arrives with her paintings at the new Painted Bride at 230 Vine St. on December 2, 1982..James L. McGarrity / Staff Photographer
"There's never been an Academy of Music for people who weren't famous, and now Philadelphia has one. We've deserved this for many years. New York has a dozen such spaces,” said Keith Mason, the Bride’s program director at the time.
1991
Isaiah Zagar begins installing his mosaics
Zagar worked on the Bride’s distinctive mural for nine years.
“Isaiah woke up at 5 a.m. each morning and drove down to 230 Vine St.,” recalled his wife, Julia Zagar. “He dreamed of it as being his masterpiece and worked 10-12 hours a day until he collapsed with exhaustion.”
Artist Isaiah Zagar working on his giant mosaic at the Painted Bride Art Center on Vine Street in the 1990s.Courtesy of Philadelphia Magic Gardens
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November 2017
Vine Street property goes on the market
After 35 years on Vine Street, the Painted Bride announced the building would be sold. Executive director Laurel Raczka said the organization was not in financial distress but chose to ditch the building so the Bride could explore new ways to present the arts.
The following month, Raczka also noted the changing vibes of Old City: "We don't feel like we belong here anymore,” she told The Inquirer.
The entrance to the Painted Bride Art Center, covered in Zagar’s mosaics.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Many in the arts community were perplexed. Performance artist Tim Miller, a founder of artistic spaces in New York City and Santa Monica, Calif., said, "Once [the Painted Bride] is gone, it will never be replaced. To discard it, to me, it feels reckless, unless it's the only way to survive."
March 2018
Painted Bride building is nominated for historic preservation
"The Painted Bride is one of his masterpieces," Smith said. "The building itself is a treasure."
Zagar, photographed for The Inquirer in the fall of 2017.Margo Reed / For The Inquirer
April 2018
Arts leaders beg the Bride to suspend sale plans
More than 30 of the city's most prominent artists, performers, and arts officials cosigned a three-page public letter calling for "a reexamination" of the Bride's situation and community-wide discussion about the organization's future.
Signers included: Joan Myers Brown, founder and executive artistic director of Philadanco; hip-hop dance sensation Rennie Harris; architect Cecil Baker; and Wilma Theater cofounder and director Blanka Zizka. The city’s chief cultural officer offered to facilitate a community conversation between the Bride’s leadership and local artists and art patrons.
The Bride’s leaders rebuffed the offer and said that they would continue to pursue "a sustainable business model."
June 2018
Historical designation passes the first hurdle
A committee of the Philadelphia Historical Commission unanimously agreed the Painted Bride building should be protected.
September 2018
Historical designation is denied
After a three-hour, public debate, Philadelphia’s Historical Commission voted 5-4 to reject designation, a move that opened the door for developers to acquire and demolish the building.
A few days earlier, Lantern Theater Company made a bid of over $2 million for the building, which would have preserved it as an arts space. The offer was rejected.
Lawyers for the Bride said that the law did not require approvals from the court but that the Painted Bride sought them nonetheless.
Architect and developer Shimi Zakin of Atrium Design Group poses with a sign on an interior mosaic in the Painted Bride Art Center building before closing on the sale.Courtesy of Shimi Zakin
The Bride’s petition stated that “given the history” of the building, the Bride “wishes to obtain approval of the sale from both the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General and the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court.”
August 2019
City allows townhouses
Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections issued a zoning permit to allow Atrium Design Group to build 16 townhouses at the site.
September 2019
Court blocks the sale, citing ‘priceless’ mosaic facade
Philadelphia Orphans’ Court blocked the sale, citing the likely destruction of the Bride’s “priceless” mosaic facade. Judge Matthew D. Carrafiello said the sale would "all but ensure the destruction of what many individuals consider to be a true treasure.”
“It is the sale of its property, including the mosaic, that will result in the liquidity necessary for Painted Bride to continue to fulfill its charitable purpose,” wrote Judge J. Andrew Crompton.
January 2021
Neighborhood group opposes proposal that would save the mosaics
The Zoning Board of Adjustments approved Zakin’s proposal, paving the way for him to move forward with the apartment building.
Shortly after, neighborhood groups appealed the decision.
March 2022
Building officially sold for $3.85 million
Despite the looming appeals hearing, many involved with the Bride and supporters of preserving Zagar’s artwork believed the mural had been saved when the building was sold to Zakin.
A Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge agreed with some neighbors that the mosaic in Old City could be preserved without allowing the developer to build taller and more densely than local zoning rules allow.
This rendering shows a potential design of the building proposed to replace the Painted Bride Art Center in Old City.Courtesy of Atrium Design Group
Emily Smith, executive director of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, which preserves and provides access to Zagar mosaics, said the planned destruction of the Painted Bride mosaic was a case of “NIMBY-ism at its most tragic.”
Over several weeks, the Magic Gardens Preservation Team used chisels, hammers, and small power tools to remove as much as they could from the facade. The mosaic was well-adhered to the brick, and this was a difficult process physically and emotionally. The crew was able to remove approximately 30% of the tiles for reuse in new mosaics.
Magic Gardens’ representatives attempt to save pieces of the iconic Zagar mosaic on all the exterior walls of the former Painted Bride before the building is demolished.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
September 2025
Demolition permit granted
Zakin received a demolition permit from the city and told The Inquirer that he plans to start demolition in late October. He said he anticipates that his building will be completed in about 2½ years.
Late November/Early December 2025
Demolition begins
Workers began to take down the interior of the building.
A digger works to demolish the inside of the former Painted Bride building on Dec. 8, 2025.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
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.
High school basketball has begun already, with several stellar players and teams back in action.
This season, the area has two national-level girls’ basketball players, a pair of sisters who could be the best in the Philadelphia Catholic League, the nation’s No. 1 player in another sport, and a player who suffered a torn ACL two years ago and is now dunking the ball in practice.
Here are some of the area’s top girls’ basketball players to watch out for in the 2025-26 season.
Reginna Baker
Neumann Goretti, 5-foot-7 junior guard
Baker returns as the leading scorer for the defending Catholic League and PIAA Class 4A state champions. She averaged 15 points as a sophomore and will now be the face of the Saints, after Catholic League MVP Carryn Easley and Amya Scott graduated.
She has improved as a two-way player, and received scholarship offers from eight Division I schools. She will likely become a 1,000-point scorer as a junior and earn strong consideration for PCL MVP, alongside Archbishop Carroll’s Alexis and Kayla Eberz.
Carter showed great courage playing in the PIAA Class 5A state championship before going down with an injury. She scored 23 points in Archbishop Wood’s 45-37 loss to South Fayette. This will be Carter’s third school in three years — she played her freshman year at Penn Charter — and she is high on the list of every major college program in the country. She can score from anywhere on the court, and will run the point for Vinny Simpson’s Friends’ Central team this season.
ESPN #12 2027 PG Ryan Carter of FCHS is the BEST thing since sliced bread. Carter made some plays against Germantown Academy that are nearly impossible seem effortless‼️🔥 pic.twitter.com/xXjrKE1hl0
The daughter of Ben Davis, the former major leaguer who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1995 MLB Draft, Riley Davis is the No. 1 lacrosse player in the country and is committed to Penn State for lacrosse. It is the reason why many schools backed off recruiting her for basketball. She is very athletic and a matchup problem. She has a height advantage over other guards, while being too fast for a center to stay with. She enters this season as one of the top scoring threats in the Inter-Ac League.
Penn State commit Riley Davis of Notre Dame, ranked as the top lacrosse player in the country, scored 15 points against Imhotep Charter, helping to secure a victory at home. pic.twitter.com/4rFbUYSiNP
Like her parents, Alexis Eberz is planning to attend Villanova. The oldest daughter of former Villanova stars Eric Eberz and Michele Thornton, Alexis may be the best player in the Catholic League and is a strong candidate for PCL MVP.
One of her major challengers for that title lives under the same roof, her younger sister Kayla. Alexis is one of the most potent three-point shooters in the area and has become more aggressive driving to the lane. She won a state championship as a freshman and is looking to finish a great high school career with the triple crown of a Catholic League championship, a District 12 title, and a PIAA Class 6A crown.
Kayla Eberz can handle the ball, shoot from a distance, rebound, defend, and at times dominate games. Only a sophomore, Kayla is receiving interest from numerous programs across the country, including Villanova, Michigan, and Marquette. What makes her unique is that she can defend anyone on the court, from point guards to centers. By the time she is a senior, Eberz projects to be one of the best players in the PCL and one of the most sought-after recruits in the country. She is among the best in Pennsylvania right now.
Eberz sisters (from left) Kelsey, Alexis, and Kayla last December.
Jada Lynch
Westtown, 5-11 junior guard
Lynch is the spitting image of her mother, former U.S. Open champion and tennis Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters, but the basketball gene came from her father, Brian Lynch, who played for Villanova. Jada plays for the Belgium under-18 national team. She shoots well and can shoot beyond the college three-point stripe. She is versatile, deceptively quick, can rebound, and has the competitive gene from her parents. She is getting attention from Power 4 schools.
Palmer is the best player in Pennsylvania and one of the best players in the country. She’s been playing high school varsity basketball since she was in eighth grade. She will be able to go to any top-10 program in the country. She simply dominates games with her ballhandling, shooting, rebounding, high basketball IQ, and with the energy she brings.
She can finish left- or right-handed, and has added a more consistent perimeter game. She’s also a team player, making it a point to get her teammates involved. She plays with poise despite the constant attention she has had on her since she was a freshman.
Jordyn Palmer (left) of Westtown shoots over Nasiaah Russell of Universal Audenried Charter during a game on Nov. 30, 2024.
Nasiaah Russell
Audenried, 6-3 junior center/power forward
This should be Russell’s breakout year. With the graduation of Philadelphia’s all-time leading scorer Shayla Smith, who is now at Penn State, it will be up to Russell to lead the defending Public League champions. Russell has grown an inch and gotten stronger since last season, now able to dunk. A dominant shot blocker, Russell averaged nine points, seven rebounds, and two blocks as a sophomore. She has made a complete recovery from tearing an ACL in her right knee as a freshman in December 2023.
Small is an athletic 6-2 forward who can do everything. Her strength is her defense and creating turnovers. She started at Scranton High as a freshman and arrived at Friends’ Central as a sophomore, displaying her athletic versatility to play multiple positions, block shots, rebound, and alter shots.
She is considered one of the best players in the state, and is now teamed with one of the country’s best players in Carter.
Atlee Vanesko
Westtown, 6-foot senior combo guard
Vanesko is bound for Ohio State. She is a three-year captain at Westtown, the premier program in the area. She can shoot, and at 6-foot, she is not afraid to rebound and defend. She is a pass-first guard. She can also knock down an open three.
Eight years after the Philadelphia arts community learned it could lose the 7,000-square-foot mosaic that for decades wrapped around an Old City building, the structure’s current owner has started to demolish it.
The fate of the building was the subject of an almost six-year legal battle. Artists and preservationists wanted to save the building. Neighbors opposed a developer’s plans to preserve it.
That developer — architect and building owner Shimi Zakin of Atrium Design Group — had proposed constructing apartments above the mural with a design The Inquirer’s architecture critic called “a terrific work of architecture.”
Zakin received a permit from the city in September to tear down the building. He plans to replace it with 85 apartments and about 6,000 square feet of commercial space. The new building would be six stories and 65 feet tall.
A digger operator walking through inside of the former Painted Bride building, Old City Philadelphia, Monday, December 8, 2025.
Zakin did not respond to a request for comment about the start of demolition at the site. In September, he told The Inquirer: “We are moving forward with an amazing project at an amazing location.”
He estimated that his apartment building would take about 2½ years to complete.
For now, a black wooden fence surrounds the former Painted Bride building while demolition equipment tears out its insides, and the walls await their turn.
The giant, inflatable positivity rabbit got the boot from the Eagles locker room after less than a week, but its spirit lives on a few stalls away.
Jordan Davis, whom defensive line coach Clint Hurtt referred to on the latest episode of Hard Knocks as a “big ass [freaking] Care Bear,” couldn’t shake the perpetual smile on his face on Wednesday. His optimism, he explained, hasn’t wavered, even amid a three-game losing streak in which the offense hasn’t eclipsed more than 21 points.
Vic Fangio’s defense has been operating on a different wavelength. Since the bye week, the Eagles have conceded nine total touchdowns, tied for the second-fewest in the league among teams that have played five games in that span. Davis was brilliant Monday night in the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, notching 1½ sacks, six pressures, and six stops, which Next Gen Stats defines as tackles that result in a successful play for the defense.
Jordan Davis has had a breakout year after receiving an offseason contract extension.
Last month after the Eagles’ narrow win over the Green Bay Packers, A.J. Brownexpressed his dismay about the defense putting a Band-Aid over the offense’s shortcomings too frequently. But the offense’s inconsistencies haven’t shaken the confidence of the defense, Davis explained Wednesday, four days before the Eagles’ Week 15 game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I know for me, personally, I’m never wavered by that stuff,” Davis said. “Offense is going to have their games. And I’m so deep into this faith in the offense that I have, that one day, hopefully very, very soon, it’s going to click. And when it does click, watch out. ’Cause we all know what we’re capable of. We all know that we’re capable of much more.
“We have to keep keeping the faith, because I feel like a lot of people are just kind of losing faith. And whether that’s y’all or whether that’s the fans, whatever. But me, I’m still 10 toes down for this team. I hope that we just go out there one game and we just put a 100 ball on them and we play a high level of defense. I‘m always telling them, I’m always confident. I always say before we walk out, go on the field for the game, I say, ‘Each and every [expletive] in this locker room, I have full faith in.’ Because I wouldn’t be playing this game at my purest confidence if I wasn’t confident in the team that I have behind me.”
Outside the locker room, that sense of confidence in the Eagles offense is waning. Jalen Hurts committed five turnovers (four interceptions, one fumble) in the loss to the Chargers. Brown and DeVonta Smith each had drops. Saquon Barkley had his second-longest rush of the season (a 52-yarder for a touchdown), but he also had his share of negative runs that have plagued him all season.
Still, Davis, the No. 13 overall pick for the Eagles in 2022 out of Georgia, remains a beacon of positivity inside the NovaCare Complex. He ought to understand the power of belief. Despite the slow start to Davis’ career, the Eagles picked up his fifth-year option in the offseason. Now, he is becoming the every-down defensive tackle the Eagles envisioned when they drafted him, stepping up while Jalen Carter has been dealing with shoulder injuries this season.
Davis is lending a bit of that sense of belief to his teammates on the other side of the ball, even if they might be lacking in it themselves.
“I’m grateful,” Davis said. “Because even though we’re not doing too hot on the offensive side, when you have somebody that they believe in you, they at least want to play hard for them. And if that’s all they give me, I’m cool with that. I’m cool with that. I just want them to feed off that energy, feed off that faithfulness that I have in them. I just want them to have that for themselves.”
He is consciously trying to keep the energy high despite the team’s misfortunes on the field. Davis cracks jokes when he can. He calls his teammates out when they aren’t smiling.
The offense’s struggles haven’t deflated him, nor has the external criticism, Davis explained. If anything, those factors have motivated him to play harder.
“I love the guys and it hurts my soul when I see all the talk and all the stuff going out here and just seeing everybody down and everybody kind of putting people down,” Davis said. “’Cause that’s not how I live. I live positively. But, two, these are my people you’re talking about.
“I see people talking negative about this stuff. I’m like, man, I really want to go to war for these guys, because man, these are my people you’re talking about. And I’m so confident in the things that they’re capable of doing.”
Injury report
The Eagles did not practice on Wednesday, so the injury report was an estimation. Carter (shoulders) and Lane Johnson (foot) were listed as would-be non-participants.
Johnson has missed the last three games, but the tackle was not put on injured reserve following the win over the Detroit Lions, indicating that he could return in less than four weeks.
Landon Dickerson (calf) was listed as limited. Zack Baun (hand) and Charley Hughlett (abdomen; injured reserve) were listed as full participants.
The Eagles are scheduled to practice for the first time this week on Thursday.
