| | | | | | | | | | | Axios Sports | | By Kendall Baker ·Feb 16, 2022 | | 👋 Good morning! There has yet to be a truly iconic moment at these Olympics. Could we see one tonight in the USA-Canada women's hockey final? Today's word count: 1,592 words (6 minutes). Let's sports... | | | | | | 1 big thing: 🥇 American women lead the way |  | | | Photo Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photos: Getty Images | | | | For the second time in seven months, American women are ensuring that Team USA comes home with plenty of hardware, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. State of play: As of Tuesday night, women had won 13 of Team USA's 17 medals in Beijing, with nine coming in women's events and four coming in mixed events. By the numbers: 108 of Team USA's 224 members are women, marking the 11th consecutive Winter Olympics that the U.S. has tied or broken the record for most women competing for a single nation. - The U.S. is also the only nation to have four different women win individual gold in Beijing: Jacobellis, Kim, Humphries and Jackson.
- American women were similarly impactful last summer in Tokyo, comprising 54% of the team (329 of 613) and winning 58% of the medals (66 of 113), including 23 of 39 golds.
The backdrop: This is a momentous year for American women's sports, with Title IX turning 50 in June. That legislation directly impacted the Olympic pipeline by making college athletics more accessible to women.  Data: IOC; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios The big picture: Women's increased Olympic presence is hardly limited to the U.S. Representation has steadily grown since the first modern Games in 1896, the last time women were barred from competing. - Women comprised just 2.2% of athletes in their first Summer Games (1900) and 4.3% in their first Winter Games (1924). They didn't crack 10% until 1936, 20% until 1960 or 30% until 1994.
- Now, the Olympics are nearly gender equal: A Winter Games-record 45% of athletes in Beijing are women, and 49% of athletes in Tokyo were women, a Summer Games record.
More Olympics: - USA hockey eliminated: The top-seeded American men lost a quarterfinal penalty shootout, 3-2, to Slovakia.
- Valieva in first: Kamila Valieva controversially took first place in the short program and is expected to win the event after tomorrow's free skate.
|     | | | | | | 2. 📺 Super Bowl ratings rebound |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | Super Bowl LVI drew 112.3 million viewers across all platforms, per Nielsen and NBCUniversal. That's a 14% increase from last year and the largest audience in five years. By the numbers: 101.1 million Americans watched on live TV, up from 96.4 million last year. Another 11.2 million watched on Peacock and other digital platforms, as streaming numbers continue to climb. - NBC: 99.2 million
- Telemundo: 1.9 million
- Peacock, etc.: 11.2 million
Between the lines: Cincinnati has the highest ratings of any local market, followed by Detroit, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Kansas City. Los Angeles didn't crack the top 10. The big picture: The NFL rebounded in a big way this season following the pandemic-stricken 2020 campaign. Regular-season viewership was up 10%, a record 34 games were decided on the final play, and the playoffs were incredible. | | | | | | | | 3. 🏈 Good luck getting back to the Super Bowl |  | | | Drink it up, fellas. Might not last. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images | | | | If history is any indication, there's a two-in-three chance that either the Rams or Bengals miss the playoffs next season. Wild stat: So far this century, at least one of the two Super Bowl teams has gone on to miss the playoffs the following season a whopping 64% of the time. 2000s: The Rams and Titans both returned to the playoffs in the wake of the century's first Super Bowl. But over the next nine years, at least one Big Game participant went on to miss the postseason. - 2000: Rams 23, Titans 16; Neither missed
- 2001: Ravens 34, Giants 7; Giants missed
- 2002: Patriots 20, Rams 17; Both missed
- 2003: Bucs 48, Raiders 21; Both missed
- 2004: Patriots 32, Panthers 29; Panthers missed
- 2005: Patriots 24, Eagles 21; Eagles missed
- 2006: Steelers 21, Seahawks 10; Steelers missed
- 2007: Colts 29, Bears 17; Bears missed
- 2008: Giants 17, Patriots 14; Patriots missed
- 2009: Steelers 27, Cardinals 23; Steelers missed
2010s: This decade bucked the trend, with both Super Bowl participants returning to the playoffs six out of 10 times. And yet: There was not a single repeat champion. - 2010: Saints 31, Colts 17; Neither missed
- 2011: Packers 31, Steelers 25; Neither missed
- 2012: Giants 21, Patriots 17; Giants missed
- 2013: Ravens 34, 49ers 31; Ravens missed
- 2014: Seahawks 43, Broncos 8; Neither missed
- 2015: Patriots 28, Seahawks 24; Neither missed
- 2016: Broncos 24, Panthers 10; Both missed
- 2017: Patriots 34, Falcons 28; Neither missed
- 2018: Eagles 41, Patriots 33; Neither missed
- 2019: Patriots 13, Rams 3; Rams missed
2020s: The 49ers followed up their Super Bowl trip with a dud, while the Chiefs and Bucs kept winning. As for the Rams and Bengals, they own the third- and fourth-best title odds next season. Go deeper: Good luck copying the Rams' championship blueprint (FiveThirtyEight) | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Start a new morning habit. | | |  | | | | Every weekday, host Niala Boodhoo fills you in on the important news and interesting stories you won't hear anywhere else. In 10 minutes, you'll hear the latest in everything from politics to space to race and justice. Listen now for free. | | | | | | 4. ⚡️ Lightning round |  | | | Screenshot: @TJQuinnESPN (Twitter) | | | | ⚾️ Eric Kay trial: Four MLB players testified Tuesday that they received oxycodone pills from a former Angels employee accused in the death of Tyler Skaggs. One of them, Matt Harvey, also admitted to cocaine use. 🏈 O'Connell, confirmed: The Vikings will introduce new head coach Kevin O'Connell tomorrow, making official what had been reported for weeks. O'Connell, 36, just won a Super Bowl as the Rams' OC. 💍 Biles engaged: After four Olympic gold medals, Simone Biles finally got a ring. The 24-year-old announced her engagement Tuesday to Texans safety Jonathan Owens. 🏀 Good read: Inside KD's role in the Harden trade (Jake Fischer, B/R) "Brooklyn coaches noticed Harden would roll his eyes when an after-timeout play was designed for Durant." | | | | | | | | 5. 🏀 New book: Coach K's reign |  | | | Courtesy: Mariner Books | | | | Duke officials wanted to hire Tommy Amaker as Mike Krzyzewski's successor, but Coach K preferred Jon Scheyer, according to a new book by Ian O'Connor due out next Tuesday. - Amaker played for Krzyzewski from 1982 to 1987 and was an assistant for nine seasons before becoming Seton Hall's head coach in 1997. He later coached Michigan, and is now at Harvard.
- Scheyer played for Krzyzewski from 2006 to 2010 and was an assistant for six seasons before being promoted to associate head coach in 2018. He was named Coach K's successor in June.
What they're saying: "Mike had to explain to Tommy why he couldn't be the guy," one Duke source said, according to the book. "He can be Don Corleone when he needs to be." More inside: - Mike and Bob: The book details Krzyzewski's turbulent relationship with Bob Knight, who coached him at Army. After years of tension, they "broke up" at a reunion in 2015.
- Mike and Quin: O'Connor also examines Coach K's relationship with former assistant and current Jazz head coach Quin Snyder. "I think I saw jealousy from K to Quin," said one Duke player.
ICYMI ... Coach K didn't return to the bench for the second half of Duke's win over Wake Forest Tuesday night, with school officials saying he was "not feeling well." Scheyer coached the second half. Pre-order. | | | | | | | | 6. 🌎 The world in photos | | Photo: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista via Getty Images PARIS — Kylian Mbappé scored a brilliant goal in the final seconds of injury time to lead PSG past Real Madrid, 1-0, in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 matchup. - Elsewhere: Manchester City destroyed Sporting Lisbon, 5-0, in Tuesday's other Champions League action.
Photo: Emilee Chinn/Getty Images PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby scored his 500th goal on Tuesday, joining Alex Ovechkin as the only active players — and Mario Lemieux as the only Penguins — to reach that mark. - Of note: Naturally, it came against the Flyers. Crosby's 50 goals vs. Philly are the most of any opponent.
Photo: Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points (17/21 FG) to lead the Bucks past the Pacers, 128-119, his first 50-piece since last year's NBA Finals. - Of note: Giannis' 21 attempts are the fourth-fewest ever in a 50-point game. "It's hard to fathom scoring 50 on 21," said his head coach.
| | | | | | | | 7. ❤️ Welcome back, Christian | | Eight months after his near-death experience at Euro 2020, Christian Eriksen returned to the field this week, assisting on a goal for Brentford in a friendly — on his 30th birthday! Welcome back, Christian. | | | | | | | | 8. 📺 Watchlist: USA vs. Canada |  | | | The U.S. women's hockey team huddles up at the net. Photo: Elsa/Getty Images | | | | U.S. women's hockey looks to defend its gold medal in a rematch of the 2018 final against Canada (11:10pm ET, NBC). - Canada (four) and the U.S. (two) have won all six gold medals since women's hockey debuted in 1998, and they've met in all but one final (Canada beat Sweden in 2006).
- "It's the most beautiful rivalry," said American Hilary Knight. "It gets the best and worst out of both of us at the same time."
More to watch: | | | | | | | | 9. ⚾️ MLB trivia |  | | | Photo: Greg Fiume/Getty Images | | | | Ryan Zimmerman, aka Mr. Walk-Off, is retiring after 16 seasons with the Nationals, who made him their first-ever draft pick in 2005. - Question: Who's the only active player with a longer one-team tenure?
- Hint: He's been with the same team since 2004.
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. 🇪🇬 1 Egypt thing: Flying past the pyramids | | Source: Giphy I can't believe Red Bull built these pyramid-shaped structures just for this video shoot. Amazing. Full video. | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Start a new morning habit. | | | | | | | | Every weekday, host Niala Boodhoo fills you in on the important news and interesting stories you won't hear anywhere else. In 10 minutes, you'll hear the latest in everything from politics to space to race and justice. Listen now for free. | | | | Talk tomorrow, Kendall "Can't stop watching" Baker Trivia answer: Yadier Molina (18 seasons with the Cardinals) 🙏 Thanks for reading. Follow us on Twitter (@kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy) and tell friends to sign up here. |  | Bring the strength of Smart Brevity® to your team — more effective communications, powered by Axios HQ. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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