Christina Carreira made the trip across the Blue Water Bridge separating Port Huron in southeast Michigan from the Canadian town of Sarnia so many times that border officials came to know her by name.

They would ask how practice went. How she fared in her latest competition. What was next for Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, her longtime ice dance partner, and whether they’d heard any news as the Milan Cortina Olympics approached.

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“Most of them were very friendly,” Carreira says.

The news the couple was waiting for finally arrived in November, when all the paperwork and years spent commuting from Port Huron to their training base in London, Ontario, paid off: Carreira, who was born in Montreal, had become a U.S. citizen.

That cleared the way for her to compete for the country at the Winter Games.

“The process of becoming an American was pretty tough, and it took forever,” Carreira says. “It was very, very stressful.”

The rules of the International Olympic Committee state that athletes must be citizens of the nation they represent. Many countries are accommodating to foreign talent, offering expedited citizenship through a practice known as “sports migration.” That is rarely the case in the U.S., where athletes typically must endure the yearslong process like anyone else.

In fact, the inability of pairs skater Alisa Efimova to get her passport in time — despite the efforts of U.S. Figure Skating, the Skating Club of Boston and even her elected Massachusetts senators — kept her from being on the American team headed to Italy.

It was a blow to the U.S. squad, too. Efimova and her partner, Misha Mitrofanov, are the reigning pairs national champions.

“We were waiting for a last-minute miracle to make it happen,” Mitrofanov says.

Carreira didn’t want to leave her citizenship situation to a miracle. And she didn’t want anybody reviewing her application to have any questions about it. So, rather than staying in Canada for a few days at a time, the 25-year-old would make the two-hour drive each way — longer if the bridge was out or there was road work — on a daily basis to get their training accomplished.

“I would listen to podcasts. I’d listen to music. I’m a huge ‘Dance Moms’ fan,” Carreiera says with a laugh.

One of the biggest rivals of Carreira and Ponomarenko — besides teammates Madison Chock and Evan Bates — are Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron. She also was born in Montreal and has spent most of her career representing Canada, but had to search for a new partner when Nikolaj Sørensen was suspended by Skate Canada.

Cizeron was available after Gabriella Papadakis stepped away following their gold medal for France at the Beijing Olympics, so Beaudry asked him to team up early last year.

She was granted French citizenship in November, eight months later, and the IOC approved her nationality change in December.

There are many such cases in figure skating.

Anastasia Golubeva was born in Moscow but represents Australia in pairs with her partner, Hektor Moore. Olga Mikutina was born in Ukraine but has represented Austria for nearly a decade. Israeli-born Alexandra Feigin competes for Bulgaria, and pairs skater Deanna Stellato-Dudek, who still calls Chicago home, represents Canada in pairs with Maxime Deschamps.

Such nationality switches happen in plenty of other sports, whether it be American hockey players representing other, less powerful nations on Olympic ice, or San Francisco native Eileen Gu choosing to represent China in freestyle skiing.

Yet the movement of an athlete from another nation to the U.S. is relatively rare because its a long, tedious and time-consuming process.

“I’ve lived in the U.S. for almost 10 years at this point,” says Olympic ice dancer Vadym Kolesnik, who was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, who gained his American citizenship last summer and will compete in Milan with his partner, Emilea Zingas.

“I have a car. I have a house. I have a dog. I feel very honored to represent the U.S. at such a high level,” Kolesnik says.

“He represents the American dream very well,” Zingas says. “When he got here he didn’t speak the language; he learned the language. He works here, he puts so much into representing the United States well. It is very special.”

Newly minted Americans such as Carreira and Kolesnik realize they’ve obtained their citizenship during a fraught geopolitical time. Many actions of the Trump administration, whether related to Greenland or domestic immigration, have been deeply unpopular, especially among Europeans preparing to welcome the world to the Olympics.

They frankly have no idea how they will be received when they perform at the Milano Ice Skating Arena beginning next week.

“No matter what,” Carreiera says, “it’s an honor for me to represent the U.S. I’ve lived here for half of my life. I really consider it my home.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/05/christina-carreiras-olympics-us-citizenship/ 

For three weeks, the NHL and PWHL will halt games as many players take their talents to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics.

NHL players will represent their countries in the Olympics for the first time since 2014. The league opted out of participating in 2018 and had to pull out two months before the 2022 games in Beijing after COVID-19 had caused a slew of rescheduled games.

While Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard wasn’t selected to Canada’s roster, Hawks forward Teuvo Teräväinen will play for defending Olympic champion Finland.

In the women’s competition — which begins Thursday, one day before the opening ceremony — Team USA has three Illinois-born players, headed by four-time Olympian Kendall Coyne Schofield of Palos Heights.

Joining her are Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park), who also played on the 2022 U.S. team that took the silver medal, and Tessa Janecke (Warren), who’s making her Olympic debut.

Bedard’s omission sparked intense discussion. Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said the Hawks center’s shoulder injury, which sidelined him for 12 games in December and early January, had “not a lot” to do with the decision.

Bedard, who entered Wednesday night’s final game before the break with 23 goals and 30 assists in 43 games, took the Olympic snub in stride. In the future, though, he hopes to be a no-brainer pick for the roster.

Blackhawks center Connor Bedard falls toward the ice after being pushed by Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro during the third period Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, at the United Center. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

“When you don’t meet an expectation or meet one of your goals, the only thing to do is look in the mirror and see where you can get better,” Bedard said. “That’s not on who’s picking the team, that’s on the players, and that’s the positive I’ve taken out of that.”

Teräväinen, 31, is the lone Hawk who will play in the Olympics. He also missed some time last month with an upper-body injury but returned Jan. 27.

“It’s an exciting time being back from a little injury, and then the Olympics are coming too,” Teräväinen said. “It’s tough because we were playing like every day here, so you have to keep your focus here. And at the same time, some big games are coming too.”

It’s his first Olympics, but he has represented Finland in other competitions. He was the captain of the gold-medal team in the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship and played for his country in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the 2018 World Championship.

He also was named to Finland’s roster for the inaugural NHL 4 Nations Face-Off last February but saw limited ice time (16:57) in two games. He was a healthy scratch in the third game, in which Finland was eliminated by Canada.

He’ll look to have more of an impact in Italy.

Blackhawks center Teuvo Teräväinen looks to pass against the Capitals on Jan. 9, 2026, at the United Center. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

“I try to be myself playing my game, and that’s why they have picked me on the team,” Teräväinen said. “(I’ll) try to make some plays when I can (and) be good on the defensive side.”

Finland’s roster includes NHL standouts such as the Dallas Stars’ Mikko Rantanen and the Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho.

“I played with all of them, so I think that’s going to be one of our biggest strengths because we know each other really good,” Teräväinen said. “Good to see them again and hang out and go to work.”

The Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan is still a concern leading up to the games. It’s not 100% finished, and there are questions about the ice quality due to the late start of the rink’s construction.

NHL players also will have to adjust to the rink size of 60-by-26 meters (196.85-by-85.3 feet), which is shorter and wider than an NHL rink (200-by-85 feet).

“We’ll see how that feels (and if) it’s going to be safe for everyone,” Teräväinen said. “I’m excited to see (if) the rink is going to be ready.”

The women’s tournament begins Thursday with three games at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena and one at Santagiulia. Team USA takes on Czechia at Milano Rho (9:40 a.m. CST, Peacock).

The Americans’ first game at Santagiulia is Monday against Switzerland.

“As long as it’s frozen, we’ll be there,” Coyne Schofield said. “We can’t control anything else other than that. (I’m) just excited to get over there.”

Coyne Schofield owns one gold medal and two silvers from her previous Olympic trips to Russia, South Korea and China.

“Each experience and the preparation leading up to the Olympic Games have been unique in their own ways,” she said. “Fast forward to now, 2026, we are playing in a pro league (and) our league is going to pause and we’re going to have an Olympic break.”

The PWHL is growing as the premier professional women’s hockey league. Coyne Schofield’s Minnesota Frost recently visited Allstate Arena in Rosemont on the league’s Takeover Tour to face the Ottawa Charge and Joliet native Taylor House. Another game on the tour between the Montréal Victoire and New York Sirens set a women’s hockey attendance record of 17,228 at Capital One Arena in Washington.

The women’s Olympic tournament could continue the viewership trend. That momentum, and the easing of pandemic restrictions, will make these games extra special for Coyne Schofield.

Minnesota Frost forward Kendall Coyne Schofield controls the puck in the third period against the Ottawa Charge during the PWHL Takeover Tour at Allstate Arena on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

“The journey between 2022 and 2026 has been special, it’s been hard, but it’s been so rewarding,” she said. “That’s one thing that separates (this from) the other three by far.”

The Olympic freeze is long for a hockey fan wanting NHL and PWHL games back, but it goes by in the blink of an eye for the players. That’s something Coyne Schofield learned after her first Olympics in 2014 — to enjoy the blur.

“It’s something that I not only learned through the Olympics, but also the World Championships, is these tournaments (are) a sprint, it’s not a marathon,” she said. “When we get on the ground in Milan, it’s a sprint to the finish line.

“It’s an experience that you work your whole life for, and you blink and it’s over. What I learned is it goes by so fast and to enjoy each day, each moment, and embrace it.”

Olympic preparation is different from a PWHL or NHL game. The stakes for each game are higher, and there’s that heavy weight of representing your country. What advice does Coyne Schofield have for her younger teammates such as Murphy and Janecke?

First, take in the rare opportunity. Second, don’t drastically change what got you there in the first place.

“The way you prepare is what has allowed you to be at the pinnacle of the sport,” Coyne Schofield said. “Whether you’re preparing for a practice, a pro game, a college game, Olympic game, that process has allowed you to be the best you.

“Really the difference is when you’re playing for Team USA, you’re on a super team. The difference is owning your role and knowing your role may be different and embracing that difference … knowing it is likely going to be different because the team is made up of 23 all-stars. The team that can adjust, adapt and settle into whatever role is being asked of them, those are the teams that usually come out on top.”

Minnesota Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield greets her son, Drew, and husband, Michael Schofield, before the start of a game against the Toronto Sceptres on March 30, 2025, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Coyne Schofield’s long list of career accolades also includes six 4 Nations Cup titles, two World Championship gold medals and back-to-back Walter Cups in the PWHL.

Now, she says, she has checked off the biggest accomplishment of her career — becoming a hockey mom. Her son, Drew John Schofield, 2, has become a driving force for the Frost captain.

“Becoming a mom has allowed me to be the best version of me that has ever existed,” Coyne Schofield said. “I’m excited to go into the games knowing that I think I’m my best self on and off the ice.

“The balance, the perspective and the patience that becoming a mom has provided me has allowed me to be a better hockey player and ultimately the best mom that I can be. (I can) balance both and be great at both at the same time.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/05/teuvo-teravainen-kendall-coyne-schofield-olympics/ 

Ben Johnson walked past George Halas’ fedora, sitting inside a glass case in the main entryway at Halas Hall in Lake Forest.

It was Jan. 21, 2025, and it was Johnson’s first day as head coach of the Chicago Bears. Circling the entryway stood a ring of Bears employees who broke into applause as Johnson strode to the center of the room. The Lombardi Trophy from Super Bowl XX sat in a case in front of Johnson as he addressed the room.

The Bears had landed the most in-demand coaching candidate in years. His presence loomed over the 2024 season. As the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, he was in charge of the NFL’s best offense.

And here he was, in the Halas Hall lobby. Johnson spoke to the crowd with his wife, Jessica, and their three young children beside him.

“This is going to be a challenge,” he said. “I’m well aware of that.”

A year later, almost to the day, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams had the football in his hands in overtime with a chance to lead his team to the NFC championship game.

In between those two moments, Johnson reignited Chicago’s football passion. Shirts with Johnson’s postgame rallying cry — “good, better, best” — flew off the shelves. Wild comebacks became the team’s calling card, earning it the “Cardiac Bears” moniker.

By the time the playoffs began, the Bears had become the surprise team that seemingly everybody was rooting for. Their divisional playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams was the most-watched prime-time event in America since last year’s Super Bowl, with an average viewership of 45.4 million and a peak of 52.6 million.

The Bears lost that game in heartbreaking fashion as Williams threw a costly interception in overtime that turned the tide.

“I’ve been saying that Chicago deserves a winner and just hoping that we gave this city something to be proud about,” safety Kevin Byard III, a team captain, said the next morning.

Johnson is one of five finalists for the NFL Coach of the Year award that will be announced Thursday night in San Francisco. A lot had to happen to bring his vision to life. Much like a fourth-quarter comeback, it didn’t happen all at once.

“There is no detail too small,” said Declan Doyle, Johnson’s offensive coordinator until late last week.

From the moment Johnson set foot in Halas Hall, his intense energy and attention to detail, his dedication to the relationship with his quarterback and his ability to foster a never-say-die attitude sparked a turnaround. All three showed up when the Bears pulled off the greatest postseason comeback in franchise history against the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round.

Johnson laid it out in its simplest form on that first day in the Halas Hall lobby. Nothing was more important than the locker room, he said, and the franchise would need everybody to pour everything they had into serving the players.

“And if we do that, the wins are going to come,” Johnson said. “The playoffs are going to come.”

Coaching with ‘a chip on his shoulder’

Bears coach Ben Johnson, left, and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle prepare for a game against the Eagles on Nov. 28, 2025, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Doyle traveled north to Detroit. It was 2022 and he had an interview with Lions coach Dan Campbell and the team’s newly appointed offensive coordinator: Ben Johnson. Doyle, then an offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints, had previous experience working with Campbell in New Orleans.

He did not, however, have any experience with Johnson. The interview was for a job coaching the Lions tight ends that Johnson had vacated when he was promoted to coordinator.

“I went up, I interviewed, I thought I did really well,” said Doyle, who last week left the Bears to become the Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator. “The only one in the interview that I felt like didn’t like me was Ben because he was very on me about everything that I was presenting. He had a question for (everything).”

Doyle didn’t land the gig, but it wasn’t because Johnson didn’t like him. Doyle later realized it was a glimpse into the level of detail Johnson required of his coaches.

Doyle spent one more year in New Orleans before following Sean Payton to the Denver Broncos, where he became the tight ends coach. When Johnson landed the job in Chicago, he knew he would need an offensive coordinator who could think like he could.

He turned to Doyle, who at 28 became the NFL’s youngest offensive coordinator.

“I think he himself coaches and lives his life like he has a chip on his shoulder,” Doyle said. “His daily action rubs off on everybody else.”

If there was one thing the NFL at large underestimated about Johnson, it was that chip on his shoulder. Coaches who worked with him understood. Bears leadership felt it when Johnson interviewed for the job.

But folks outside the building had a vision for what an offensive guru is supposed to be. A common refrain on sports talk radio was whether Johnson had what it takes to lead a room full of alphas. The computer math whiz could draw up some nice plays on a whiteboard, but could he command the room?

The players learned quickly when the spring practice period began in April.

“He didn’t let (expletive) slide and he was just very adamant about it,” defensive tackle Andrew Billings said.

Johnson had experience coaching quarterbacks, tight ends and wide receivers, but it quickly became apparent that he knew the details behind every position.

In training camp, that thoroughness caught backup quarterback Tyson Bagent’s attention.

“He’s about as good of a position coach as every position coach that’s on our team,” Bagent said. “I think that’ll do wonders for us going down the line, just because it’s very crystal clear the expectations at every position.”

Johnson’s intensity set the tone from the top down. It was all the more apparent on game days. He approaches a game with laser focus. TV cameras rarely caught him showing any emotion.

“The fierceness in his eyes is what I first saw on that first day we spoke,” Williams told the Tribune in August.

That’s why it felt so surprising when Johnson huddled the team up after its first preseason win Aug. 17 against the Buffalo Bills at Soldier Field. He did something no one was prepared for.

Repeat after me, he said. And then he started the chant that would ignite the city.

“Good, better, best!” he shouted.

In the locker room, the players repeated his words, but everybody was a little bit unsure what exactly was happening.

“Are we supposed to know this?” Billings remembered thinking.

That was the first time the players heard the chant, which harked back to Johnson’s playing days at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, N.C.

Not for a few more weeks would Bears fans be introduced to the postgame victory chant. In the wrong hands, “good, better, best” could’ve come off as hokey or amateurish. It was, after all, a high school chant at its origin.

But when Johnson steps in front of the room, it feels anything but hokey.

“Because the energy that he does it with,” Billings said. “It’s that energy, man, you can tell it’s in his heart.”

The QB-play-caller connection: ‘This dude doesn’t seem like he likes me’

Bears players Rome Odunze, from left, DJ Moore and Caleb Williams listen as new coach Ben Johnson speaks after being introduced Jan. 22, 2025, at Halas Hall. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Williams wanted someone who would coach him hard. One day after the 2024 season ended, when asked what he hoped to see in his next coach, Williams said he wanted someone who was willing to have hard conversations.

“I don’t have an issue with being challenged,” Williams said. “I don’t have an issue with speaking truth between the coach and I.”

Johnson was high on Williams’ wish list — to the point he fell for a prank text claiming to be Johnson. When the Bears really did hire Johnson, the coach sent a selfie to Williams to make sure the quarterback knew it was really him.

From the beginning, Johnson prioritized the relationship between the offensive play caller and the quarterback. In his mind, the best way to forge that relationship is through one-on-one time together.

“The quarterback needs to be able to see the game through the play caller’s eyes,” Johnson said during his introductory news conference on Jan. 22, 2025. “In my opinion, that’s the only way it works.”

To dig into the nitty-gritty of the position, Johnson believes, it can’t happen in a meeting with other teammates. Egos get involved when those conversations take place in front of others.

It has to be one-on-one. So that’s what Johnson and Williams set about doing over the offseason.

Months later, after the Bears had locked up their first NFC North title since 2018, Williams reflected on his early relationship with Johnson and called it “fra-GEE-lay.”

“From my perspective, it was like, ‘Geez, this dude doesn’t seem like he likes me,’” Williams said.

Johnson threw a lot at Williams early on. During the spring practice period, the Bears offense looked the furthest thing from the top-10 unit it would become.

It was plagued by presnap penalties and procedural issues. On the first day of training camp, Johnson ordered the first-team offense off the field after another instance of presnap difficulties.

Johnson set a high bar for his offense and for his quarterback. He set a 70% completion rate as a mark for Williams to shoot for. He revamped Williams’ footwork too.

“We all know, more times than not when you talk about a young quarterback, the coaching he has early on in his career leads the direction of that career,” Bears quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett said.

Johnson wanted to build that foundation the right way.

Over time, the relationship started to feel less and less “fra-GEE-lay,” as Williams put it, because the results were there.

“You go out there on the football field, and what he’s saying works and the plays work and the alignments and assignments, they work,” Williams said. “That trust and loyalty starts to grow.”

Really good coaches ‘put you in tough positions’

Bears coach Ben Johnson speaks to defensive tackle Grady Jarrett during Family Fest at Soldier Field on Aug. 3, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Johnson stood at the front of the room and asked his players which Super Bowls they remembered most. Sitting in the team meeting, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett thought, No, he’s not going to start talking about …

On the screen came clips of Super Bowl LI, in which the New England Patriots erased a 28-3 third-quarter deficit against the Atlanta Falcons and won in overtime.

Jarrett was a second-year defensive tackle for the Falcons. They were tantalizingly close to bringing the Lombardi Trophy to Atlanta for the first time. Instead, they are remembered for all the wrong reasons.

“There’s a lot of scars,” Jarrett said of that experience. “At the same time, you’ve got to learn from your scars.”

In the nine years since, Jarrett has had plenty of time to come to peace with the outcome of that game. He’s proud to have been a part of that team and — no matter how painful the experience — a part of that game.

He wasn’t the only one in the room who could speak to that game. The Bears signed Jarrett in March, just days after trading for All-Pro guard Joe Thuney.

A four-time Super Bowl champion, Thuney started at left guard for the Patriots in Super Bowl LI. He was on the opposite emotional spectrum from what Jarrett experienced. Johnson saw an opportunity to make a point.

Both Jarrett and Thuney spoke during the meeting. Jarrett talked about developing a killer instinct and finishing off an opponent when it’s down. Thuney talked about how a comeback doesn’t happen all at once, but rather one play at a time.

Nobody knew what was in store for the 2025 Bears. Would they find themselves facing such a deficit in a playoff game?

“In the moment, it was more so about belief in each other, whether or not we would’ve had a comeback,” right tackle Darnell Wright said.

A banner featuring first-year Bears coach Ben Johnson hangs as fans watch the first quarter of the season opener against the Vikings on Sept. 8, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

That belief would serve the Bears well. In 17 regular-season games, 11 were decided by one possession. They went 7-4 in those games, including some dramatic comebacks and unexpected victories.

None was bigger than the 10-point comeback against the Packers on Dec. 20. The Bears recovered an onside kick to help set up the tying score, then won in overtime on Williams’ 46-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore.

“Part of really good coaches, in my experience, is they put you in tough positions in training camp and in practice to see how you handle it,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said. “And you get repetitions at it and it comes alive on game day, which it did.”

A comeback for the ages: ‘Nobody freaked out’

Bears wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, left, celebrates with quarterback Caleb Williams after defeating the Packers 31-27 in an NFC wild-card game Jan. 10, 2026, at Soldier Field. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

It all led to this. On Jan. 10, with the Bears trailing the Packers 21-3 at halftime, Doyle took the elevator from the coaches box down to the lower level at Soldier Field.

“You don’t know exactly what you’re walking into because you’re like, ‘OK, how are our guys going to be?’” he said.

Nobody would’ve been surprised if that locker room was dead quiet. Doyle walked in and passed by third-string quarterback Case Keenum.

“Well, we’ve been here before,” Keenum told him.

What Doyle witnessed was a team that wasn’t ready to give up. It was a team living out the message from that summer day when Johnson showed clips from the Patriots comeback.

“We keep a sterile locker room at halftime,” Billings said. “We’re not complaining. We’re not pointing fingers. It’s what needs to happen, what’s happened and what adjustments do we need to make. It’s like surgery in there.”

When halftime was over, Doyle felt a lot better riding the elevator back upstairs.

Just like Thuney had said months earlier, a comeback doesn’t happen all at once. Johnson told his players it would take a historic rally to win. They set about turning that idea into reality, one play at a time.

“Nobody freaked out,” Thuney later said. “Nobody flinched.”

Play by play, everything went the Bears’ way in the second half. They chipped away at the Packers lead with a pair of field goals. Running back D’Andre Swift scored a touchdown to make it 21-16 with 10:08 remaining. The Packers answered with a touchdown drive but missed the extra point. It was 27-16 with 6:36 to go.

Time was the enemy now, and Johnson had to put his trust in Williams.

“There’s not a whole lot you need to say to him on the sideline,” Johnson later said. “We just make sure we’re on the same page.”

Williams completed a ridiculous fourth-and-8 conversion on the next drive, floating away from a would-be tackler grasping at his ankles and finding Rome Odunze for 27 yards. Five plays later, he connected with Olamide Zaccheaus for a touchdown, then hit Colston Loveland for a 2-point conversion to make it 27-24.

The Packers missed a field-goal attempt and Williams quickly drove the offense downfield, throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Moore. The Bears defense came up with one final stop, and Soldier Field erupted into mayhem.

Back in the locker room, some two hours after the halftime reset, Johnson stood at the front of the room and said what every Bears fan was thinking.

“Man, (expletive) the Packers!” he yelled.

He handed out game balls, including one to Williams. But the quarterback turned it around on Johnson.

“It started with him,” Williams said to the team, pointing the football at Johnson.

One of his teammates interjected and told him to “get emotional.”

“For me personally …” Williams said, taking a long pause.

Off to the side, Zaccheaus and Bagent could be seen wiping tears from their eyes.

“He’s been monumental in my life so far,” Williams finished. “To his first playoff win as Chicago Bears head coach.”

The room erupted into cheers. Johnson held the game ball in the crook of his arm and told the team to bring it in. The game face was gone. This was pure emotion.

“Good, better, best!” he shouted.

What’s next? ‘We go back to square one’

Bears leadership, from left, coach Ben Johnson, Brian McCaskey, President/CEO Kevin Warren, Chairman George McCaskey and Patrick McCaskey listen as general manager Ryan Poles speaks at Halas Hall on Jan. 21, 2026, in Lake Forest. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Johnson stepped up to the lectern on Jan. 21, 2026, exactly one year since he arrived in Chicago. Three days earlier, the season ended with the loss to the Rams.

“There is no building off of this,” he said. “We go back to square one.”

The coach who was the same, consistent presence every day is not wavering as he embarks on Year 2.

The challenges will be plentiful. The Bears haven’t had back-to-back winning seasons since 2005-06. What about this new version is sustainable? Johnson pointed toward the physicality in the trenches and the fundamentally sound football his team played.

“But the last (thing) was being a poised unit, and this is the one I’m most proud about,” he said. “That ended up being our identity for most of the season and showed up in the playoffs as well. Just, we handle pressure better than most.”

The Bears will need that poise moving forward. The competition now has them in its crosshairs.

There are difficult roster decisions to be made and assistant coaching positions to be filled. That includes Doyle, the now-departed offensive coordinator. That also includes Byard, the veteran safety and team captain who led the NFL in interceptions and is set to become a free agent.

Byard doesn’t know what the future holds, but he does believe one thing is clear.

“I’ve said this from day one,” he said. “Chicago, the Bears, they got the right guy leading this team.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/05/chicago-bears-ben-johnson-year-one/ 

LIVIGNO, Italy — A backside double cork 1080! Followed by a cab triple cork 1440! Holy Crail, that was a sweet grab!

The snowboarders and freestyle skiers will be speaking a language all their own as they “shred some gnar” (ride some gnarly conditions) at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Can’t tell a melon from a method grab? No worries. Here’s a cheat sheet of some terms you might hear when the action starts in Livigno, Italy.

The main events

Halfpipe

Imagine a massive tunnel that you could drive a truck through, slice the top off, then transform it into hard-packed snow. That is the halfpipe where snowboarders and freeskiers take turns zooming across its inclined slope to gather speed before launching into a series of acrobatic jumps. The halfpipe at the Livigno ski resort hosting these Olympic events measures 220 meters (240 yards) in length, 22 meters (24 yards) in width, and rises to 7.2 meters (23.6 feet) in height.

Slopestyle

A course located on a slope where snowboarders and freestyle skiers take turns trying to put together the most polished and demanding series of tricks coming off rails and molded bumps for aerial lift. The Livigno slopestyle course allows for jumps that can exceed 25 meters (27 yards).

Big air

The third of the “park” events consists of athletes performing one single “big” jump. The Livigno big air jump ramp peaks at over 40 meters (yards).

The tricky details

180, 360, 540, 1440

The degrees of a spinning trick completed in a single jump. 360 is 1 complete spin, 720 two spins, etc. The most spins completed in competition are 6 1/2. That’s a 2340, both on snowboard and skis, and the massive spins like that almost always come in big air. On the halfpipe, anyone who pulls off a 1440 will be in contention for a medal. Important for street credibility: 2340 and the like are pronounced “twenty-three forty,” not “two thousand, three-hundred and forty.”

Backside

Facing backwards going into a rail on a slopestyle course, as well as when a rider or skier faces uphill when completing a spin on a jump. Frontside means a rider faces downhill when completing a spin.

Cork

A head-over-heels flip that produces a corkscrew effect. A double cork is two flips, a triple cork, three, etc. Triple corks are the trick that could win the men’s halfpipe.

Grabs

How the snowboarder reaches down and holds the board during a jump. There are many, but among those that come up for the top riders: Mute (front hand grabs the toe edge), melon (front hand grabs the back edge), stalefish (grab heel edge with rear hand). method (a melon but with a little flair, tweaking the board up and twisting) and, of course, the crail (both hands and back leg should be straight; do not try this at home). Judges look to see whether the rider actually grabs the board, not just places their hand on top of it, and some of these grabs need to be executed between bindings.

Grabs, Part 2

Freeskiing has its own glossary of these grabs, including Japan (behind and across to grab opposite ski) and seat belt (imagine putting a seatbelt on, but by bringing the buckle up to grab the latch).

Chloe Kim rediscovers love for Olympics. But will an injury derail quest for a 3rd straight gold medal?

Goofy

When a snowboarder leads with his “bad foot.” For a right-handed person, it would mean leading with the right foot.

Kicker

Another term for a slopestyle jump.

Lip

The top edge of the halfpipe.

Switch

Riding backwards, also called a “fakie.”

Rare and unusual terms

Tomahawk

A steak Shaun White ate at the X Games in Aspen that doubles as his preferred name for what’s more commonly known as the Double McTwist 1260, a trick with 3 1/2 spins (two of them head over heels) that starts with a backside spin and is still considered one of the toughest out there.

Cab

A basic of most halfpipe rides, it’s named after a skateboarder, Steve Caballero. It starts with a switch approach into a frontside spin.

Yolo

“You Only Live Once.” This is a Cab, double cork 1440 that was the focal point of the 2014 Olympics. White saw Swiss rider Iouri “iPod” Podladtchikov land it in the lead-up, then went about trying to perfect it himself; it was the iPod who pulled it off at the Olympics to win gold. The Yolo is still a relevant trick but in a sign of how much things have changed, it’s now a triple cork (or two) — not on the board eight years ago — that will likely win this year’s Olympics.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/05/snowboarding-blindside-goofy-olympics/ 

MILAN — Workers in hard hats and orange vests scurried around behind the scenes Wednesday inside the freshly built main hockey arena for the Milan Cortina Olympics. On the concourse less than 24 hours before doors open to fans, piles of broken-down Corona Zero boxes sat outside concession stands not far from a man on a scissor lift securing a pipe.

The secondary rink, 12 miles (19.31 kilometers) away on the other side of Milan, is a makeshift structure with a maze of supports holding up temporary walkways, with large black curtains surrounding the rink and hanging at each entryway to insulate it.

It’s ‘gold or bust’ for US men’s hockey at the Winter Olympics. The Americans are confident too.

The finishing touches are going down to the wire, but the concerningly slow pace of construction will not prevent the women’s tournament from getting underway Thursday following significant progress in recent weeks. And the men’s tournament, which welcomes NHL players back to the Olympics for the first time since 2014, is also on track.

“For the whole team that’s been working on it — that’s built the venue — it’s amazing what everyone’s accomplished,” said Veronika Muehlhofer, the venue manager at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. “We still have cleaning and things to perfect for the first game (Thursday), but these are my ninth Games, so you always come down to lots to do in the last few days. And then any time we drop the first puck, it’s like a big relief.”

Construction concerns began years ago and lingered until late January

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman began voicing concerns about the arena all the way back in 2023, before the deal was reached to send players in 2026 and ’30. League and union officials attended recent test events that raised optimism about the project getting completed in time for the men’s tournament, which begins next Wednesday.

“We’ve had to monitor it, and we’re constantly being assured that everything will be OK,” Bettman told the AP last week.

How close were things to not being ready at the arena that will host 24 men’s and nine women’s games? Less than 10 days ago, said ice master Don Moffatt, there was a layer of mud down the Zamboni tunnel all the way to the ice as recently as Jan. 25.

“Mud where you couldn’t take one step off the field of play without stepping in mud and then bringing it back onto the surface,” Moffatt said. “They were finishing temporary seats. They were cleaning the seats. They were pulling off all the plastic covers. I felt like I was in Arizona or Texas with a dust storm. … There was definitely some doubt there.”

Moffatt and his crew finally got to paint the ice on the night of Jan. 26, and for several days he kept everyone he could off the surface so it could settle in time for the first practices early this week. He skated on it to test it and came away satisfied.

“It was solid and dense,” Moffatt said. “It shows me that we made it the right way. We made it in slow, thin layers instead of just throwing a ton of water out there and let it freeze.”

What players who have been on the ice at the new arena think

France men’s ice hockey players take part in a training session ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

France men’s captain Pierre-Edouard Bellemare described it as gliding on an indoor lake. Switzerland women’s player Alina Muller called it pretty good, if not pristine conditions.

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“I guess it’s a little softer than other ice surfaces, but that’s why we are here a little bit earlier,” Muller said. “That’s why we practice here before we play. I think (it is) pretty good preparation in the PWHL playing in different venues.”

At Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena, which will host six men’s and 19 women’s games, there is the same level of indifference toward the ice quality.

“Ice is always going to be different wherever you travel,” U.S. women’s captain Hilary Knight said Tuesday. “Understanding that the Olympics is a massive event that kind of pops up for a very finite amount of time, there’s going to different challenges you have to overcome, so whether the ice is perfect or not, we’re here, we’re ready to play.”

Switzerland women’s coach Colin Muller felt practice at Santagiulia goes well for 20 minutes before snow builds up and it gets dicey.

“After 45 minutes, you’ve got to watch out if there’s a rut in the ice or something happens,” Muller said, acknowledging that women’s players are more used to hockey-only venues than the men are. “For us, it’s not normal. But I think for the NHL guys and stuff, they play on that kind of ice because they change it out for basketball. It’s probably what they’re used to.”

France men’s player Yohann Auvitu doesn’t want to criticize it because he thinks nowhere in the world has impeccable ice.

“When you’re playing in Florida and it’s 35 degrees (Celsius/95 Fahrenheit) outside, the ice is not good,” Auvitu said. “That’s how it is, so no complaints. There’s going to be three games a day, so I’m not expecting to have good ice. That’s just how it is. Just handle it.”

The rinks are all 3 feet shorter than in the NHL

All games are being played on rinks that are 60 meters long by 26 meters wide, or 196.85-by-85.3 feet. NHL dimensions are 200-by-85 feet (60.96 by 25.91 meters), so the ice will be slightly wider and more than 3 feet shorter.

“Obviously, as players we see it,” U.S. women’s player Taylor Heise said. “When you’re looking around, you’re not looking at the 3 feet you’re missing. You’re looking at all the things you’re gaining from it.”

What is missing is space in the neutral zone, and while the attacking zones are supposed to be the same size as the NHL, the shape is a little different, with Bellemare saying the corners feel more like ovals. That may not be a bad thing.

“The game might be even more offensive because of the fact that it’s smaller,” Bellemare said.

Most NHL players won’t arrive until Sunday, but the first impressions are positive. Even as Auvitu looked around at off-ice areas and remarked, “As you can see, it’s not even finished,” he downplayed some of the little aspects of hockey at the Olympics not being five-star quality.

“Locker rooms are fine — we have a little walk to get there,” Auvitu said. “But those things don’t really matter. It’s nowhere perfect, so I am not expecting perfection here.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/05/winter-olympics-hockey-arenas/ 

These Are America’s Healthiest States

Tyler Durden
Thu, 02/05/2026 – 06:55

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/these-are-americas-healthiest-states 

Associated Press

LONDRES (AP) — El primer ministro de Reino Unido, Keir Starmer, se disculpó el jueves con las víctimas de Jeffrey Epstein por haber nombrado a Peter Mandelson embajador del país en Washington a pesar de sus vínculos con el desacreditado financiero.

Starmer afirmó que Mandelson había “presentado a Epstein como alguien a quien apenas conocía”. En un discurso el jueves, dijo: “Lo siento (…) por haber creído las mentiras de Mandelson y haberlo nombrado”.

Starmer cesó a Mandelson en septiembre tras la publicación de correos electrónicos que mostraban que mantuvo su amistad con Epstein tras la condena al difunto financiero en 2008 por delitos sexuales relacionados con menores.

El líder británico enfrenta a nuevas presiones por el nombramiento después de que documentos recién publicados revelaran nuevos detalles de la estrecha relación de Mandelson con Epstein.

___

Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/05/lder-de-reino-unido-se-disculpa-con-vctimas-de-epstein-por-nombrar-embajador-a-peter-mandelson/ 

Few non-resident playwrights have exerted a broader influence on Chicago theater than Richard Greenberg, the author of “Take Me Out,” “Three Days of Rain,” “The American Plan,” “The Violet Hour,” “The Dazzle,” “The Well-Appointed Room” and many other titles, a good number of which premiered at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in the early years of the 21st century under the artistic direction of the late Martha Lavey, for whom the whip-smart and verbally driven Greenberg was among the greatest living writers.

Prolific and intellectually restless, Greenberg was in many ways the loquacious American version of the late Tom Stoppard, and in turn a significant influence on such Chicago writers as Tracy Letts.  When she wrote about “The Well-Appointed Room,” the fifth Greenberg play Steppenwolf had produced, the voraciously intellectual Lavey described Greenberg as “one of American theater’s most engaged and inquiring playwrights.”

Robert Falls, formerly Lavey’s opposite number at the Goodman Theatre, is also a longtime fan, even if Greenberg was more connected to the other big Chicago theater. ‘There is a rigor to Richard’s plays and a determination to go against any sentimentality,” Falls said.  “His characters are armored. They debate. They fall in love. They fall out of love. Language is usually their best defense.”

So when Greenberg died last summer — from cancer and at the age of 67 — the mourning in Chicago theater circles was as palpable as in New York. As it was, of course, within Greenberg’s own family.

“Richard did not read his reviews from either Chicago or New York,” the playwright’s droll brother, Ed, said in a recent telephone interview. “But we did. And if anyone said anything negative about his plays, that was the address to send the anthrax.”  The older Greenberg works in finance. “But I would always bring up Richard with my clients,” he said. “I was so very proud of my younger brother and all he accomplished.”

Ed Greenberg, who now supervises his late brother’s estate, will be in Chicago on Monday for the opening of Falls’ Goodman homecoming production of “Holiday,” the last Richard Greenberg play to be completed during his lifetime (although Ed said there were “four or five things on Richard’s computer,” yet to be mined).

“Holiday” is not exactly au fait with Greenberg’s other work.

Luigi Sottile and Christiana Clark perform on stage during a rehearsal of “Holiday,” Jan. 30, 2026, at the Goodman Theatre. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)

For one thing, it is a new, contemporary adaptation of a 1928 Philip Barry play, a romantic comedy best known from its adaptations to film, especially the 1938 movie directed by George Cukor and starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.  The movie is widely seen as a classic of the so-called “screwball comedy” genre, not a genre with which one immediately associates Greenberg. But his brother says that underestimates the eclecticism of his tastes and that Greenberg did not have any interest in baseball until he wrote “Take Me Out” and then turned immediately into an expert. “When Richard took on an interest, he devoured it,” Ed Greenberg said. “And he delighted in ‘Holiday.’”

“Holiday” follows a self-made investment banker named Johnny Case who meets an affluent woman named Julia Seton while on vacation in New York; the two plan to marry, and things complicate from there as Johnny’s plans for self-fulfillment rub up against the ideas of the woman’s rich father and her contrasting siblings come into play.

So what, exactly, did Greenberg do to this play? Modernized it, for one thing.

“It’s amazing how Richard succeeded in transporting the Philip Barry play to contemporary times in ways that are unique to Richard’s voice, while also making sure that it’s still ‘Holiday,’” said Miranda Barry, the playwright’s granddaughter, the keeper of his flame and an entertainment executive in her own right.

“Holiday,” one might reasonably say, is Barry’s second most famous play after another Barry work that also became a Hollywood classic, “The Philadelphia Story.”

“Richard follows the storyline of the original ‘Holiday’ very closely,” Miranda Barry said, “but the characters are completely contemporary. Julia is now a young entrepreneur with a wellness line. Her father is a more fully realized character. Richard’s style is both hilarious and all his own, especially his rhythm and wit.”

Barry, who was in Chicago watching rehearsals for several days, clearly viewed Greenberg’s work as ranging well beyond a polish or a mild update. “There is now a turning point where everything becomes much more serious,” she said. “Suddenly, everyone watching goes quiet because people are traveling on a journey to really think about whether it is better to live to work or work to live. It gets to the depths of the themes of this play that doesn’t fully happen with the original Barry play because it has all of this froth and zaniness.” The frothy zaniness was, of course, one of Barry’s Hollywood calling cards, but there always were serious themes submerged underneath.

Originally, “Holiday” was poorly timed. “It came out in 1928, just as the bottom fell out,” Miranda Barry said. “Nobody wanted to see a play about a man who wanted to stop working. So the tour was a disaster. But the times now are very different, obviously, and people are thinking about what really matters to them.”

The Greenberg and Barry estates, along with Falls, all share the same interested agent in George Lane, the legendary CAA deal-making personality, so that also explains this unusual marriage. And, indeed, there have been rumblings of a Broadway transfer already for “Holiday,” possibly with the addition of stars. A one-night benefit reading for The Acting Company in New York in the fall of 2024 featured Ella Beatty, Rachel Brosnahan, Lilli Cooper, David Corenswet, Hiram Delgado, Chris Perfetti, and the big draw John Slattery, of “Mad Men” fame. That doesn’t mean such actors would be interested in, or available for, a Broadway staging, or that Falls or a commercial producer would be interested in them, but “Holiday” has a long history as a star magnet.

Cast members perform on stage during a rehearsal of “Holiday,” Jan. 30, 2026, at the Goodman Theatre. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)

Monday night in Chicago, though, will see the world premiere of the last ever Richard Greenberg play, at least until Ed Greenberg decides to face whatever remains on his beloved brother’s computer. The Goodman cast features Luigi Sottile, Molly Griggs, Jordan Lage, Jessie Fisher, Bryce Gangel, Erik Hellman,  Alejandra Escalante, Rammel Chan, Wesley Taylor and Christiana Clark.

“This is simultaneously a Philip Barry play and a Richard Greenberg play,” Falls says. “If you came to the theater and had no idea who Philip Barry was, you’d just accept it as a contemporary Richard Greenberg play.”

Director Robert Falls, center, laughs with staff members during a break in rehearsal Jan. 30, 2026, for “Holiday,” at the Goodman Theatre. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)

Falls also said this is the first time in his long career he had worked on a new play without the playwright sitting next to him at rehearsal. “This is a new play and every new play I ever have done has been about me serving the playwright,” Falls said. “That’s still true here but this one can feel lonely. Richard is not here.”

But “Holiday” is there. Or, at least, arriving.  A new Richard Greenberg play and perchance a new favorite for his older brother.

“We enjoyed all of Richard’s work,” Ed Greenberg said to the suggestion. “We would talk about our favorites every once in a while and we’d try to be objective. But really, that was just to show that we are smart, analytical people and not just emotional.”

Through March 1 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; 312-443-3800 and www.goodmantheatre.org

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/05/holiday-goodman-theatre/ 

Dutch Government Refuses To Probe UK Travel Ban On Eva Vlaardingerbroek

Tyler Durden
Thu, 02/05/2026 – 06:30

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/dutch-government-refuses-probe-uk-travel-ban-eva-vlaardingerbroek 

Perhaps every filmmaker feels like they have to make their version of “Dracula” at some point — and it certainly helps that Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel has been in the public domain for decades, allowing just about anyone to take a stab at it. French filmmaker Luc Besson now offers his take on the notorious bloodsucker, starring his current muse, the actor Caleb Landry Jones (who starred in his 2023 film “DogMan”).

The result is what you might expect from the “cinema du look” pioneer, who is best known for “Léon: The Professional,” and his sci-fi space operas “The Fifth Element” and “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” Besson’s “Dracula” is over the top, highly stylized and speckled with outrageous creatures, visual effects and a plot that somehow connects Count Dracula to the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution. There is also, of course, sexual frenzy, but that element has always been baked into the Dracula tale.

Besson does take his personal liberties with Stoker’s novel, though the bones remain. Also titled “Dracula: A Love Story,” Besson positions Vlad II, Prince of Wallachia, Count Dracula (Jones) as a lovesick warrior, pursuing his dearly departed wife Elisabeta (Zoë Bleu) across the centuries, from 1480 to the late 19th century in Paris. He finds her doppelgänger in young socialite Mina Murray (also Bleu), who is a close friend of his vampiric consort Maria (Matilda De Angelis). Mina also happens to be engaged to Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid) a solicitor who pays a visit to the Count at his Romanian palace for a real estate deal. Meanwhile, a priest (Christoph Waltz) is hot on Dracula’s heels, hoping to destroy him and break the curse of vampirism he’s placed on every person he’s turned into a vampire.

Of course, we know this story — from the book, from Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” and most recently, from Robert Eggers’ Christmas 2024 sensation “Nosferatu” (and many, many more adaptations). Besson innovates with a subplot about Dracula’s foray into the world of perfume, as he develops an intoxicating fragrance in Florence using French lavender, testing the potion on the pre-Revolution socialites in towering white-powdered wigs.

Besson’s version is pitched somewhere between Coppola’s opulently designed version and Eggers’ more restrained sexual spookfest. But Besson adds his own bizarre flair, including an army of CGI gargoyles that do Dracula’s bidding. Anytime the film veers into computer-generated territory, it takes on a sheen of cheesy artifice. When the film is set within the confines of beautifully designed interiors, it’s far more compelling.

Besson always manages to get his actors on the same page he is, and both Jones and Bleu match the campy operatic tone in their melodramatic performances. De Angelis and Waltz are also a hoot together, she as a heaving, hissing vampire bride who can’t stop licking her chops, he as a bone-dry vampire hunter dedicated to his investigation.

But the script for Besson’s “Dracula” keeps getting distracted with multiple flashbacks — the film opens with a 15-minute prologue in which Vlad straps on his fanged helmet and rides into battle. When Elisabeta is killed, he renounces God and sets off on his quest for his love. As he tells his story to Harker, we get flashbacks to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, while Waltz’s priest, the most entertaining part of the film, disappears completely.

The film culminates in a showdown that sees the vampire making his last stand, sword in hand, and ultimately, Besson twists the novel’s last sacrifice to be more in line with his vision of the love-mad hero vampire.

A film should be evaluated for what’s on screen rather than what’s off, but with this film, one does have to sit with the accusations of sexual assault and misconduct levied against Besson (as well as his marriage to a pregnant teenager in his 30s) and how he positions Vlad/Dracula in his adaptation. The character is a decrepit monster, hundreds of years old, feeding off the blood of young women, and Besson presents him as a romantic hero and martyr for love.

Maybe every filmmaker should make their own Dracula — it’s a text that certainly can be quite illuminating.

Katie Walsh is a critic for Tribune News Service.

“Dracula” — 2 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for violence, some gore and sexuality)

Running time: 2:09

How to watch: In theaters Feb. 6

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/05/review-dracula-movie/