UR MAG

ShowBiz Celebs Lifestyle

Hot

Monday, February 9, 2026

High school classmates Mike Macdonald, Maria Taylor share Lombardi moment

February 09, 2026
High school classmates Mike Macdonald, Maria Taylor share Lombardi moment

The Wikipedia page for Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia features 11 names in its "Notable Alumni" section. A pair of them shared the stage at the Lombardi Trophy presentation afterSuper Bowl 60.

USA TODAY Sports

NBC Sports host Maria Taylorpresented the NFL's championship trophy to former classmate Mike Macdonald, the head coach of theSeattle Seahawks, on Feb. 8. Macdonald led Seattle to aSuper Bowl win– the franchise's second ever – in his second season as head coach. Taylor was fresh off of her first time as the lead host of a Super Bowl pregame show and also taking on trophy presentation duties for the first time.

While the two Centennial High School alums were on stage, they shared a moment together that Taylor later posted to social media.

"Just two kids from Centennial High School that made it to the Super Bowl! 🏆," Taylor wrote on social media platform X.

Advertisement

NFL NEWS, TAKES, FANTASY ADVICE:USA TODAY Sports has you covered with our NFL vodcast

Macdonald and Taylor also both attended the University of Georgia after they graduated from Centennial High School, paving different yet parallel roads to get to where they were for Super Bowl 60.

The Fulton County, Georgia high school still has a chance to send a third alum to the Lombardi Trophy stage in future years as well.Minnesota Vikingsrookie quarterbackMax Brosmeralso attended Centennial High School before heading to New Hampshire for college prior to his transfer to Minnesota.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) makes a catch against New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (25) during the first quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) runs against New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (25) during the first quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) makes a catch against New England Patriots safety Craig Woodson (31) and cornerback Marcus Jones (25) during the first quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Seattle Seahawks place kicker Jason Myers (5) celebrates with fullback Brady Russell (38) after kicking a field goal against the New England Patriots during the first quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Seattle Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall (58) sacks New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) during the first quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Seattle Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall (58) celebrates against the New England Patriots in the first half in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon (21) and Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (3) celebrate a stop against the New England Patriots in the first half in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) throws a pass against the Seattle Seahawks during the first quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. New England Patriots safety Craig Woodson (31) reacts after a play against the Seattle Seahawks during the first quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) breaks up a pass intended for Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (22) in the first half in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (3) and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon (21) react after a play during the first quarter against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) runs against New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (25) during the second quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Jason Myers #5 of the Seattle Seahawks kicks a field goal against the New England Patriots during the first quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium on February 08, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Rylie Mills (98) sacks New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) during the second quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Rylie Mills (98) reacts after sacking New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) during the second quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Sam Darnold #14 of the Seattle Seahawks calls out orders from the line of scrimmage during the first quarter of Super Bowl LX against the New England Patriots at Levi's Stadium on February 08, 2026 in Santa Clara, California.

Super Bowl 60: Check out best photos from Seahawks vs Patriots

NBC Sports doesn't own the broadcast right for the Super Bowl again until 2030. These two Centennial High School classmates – and the rest of the school's alumni – will have to wait until then to see if they share the Lombardi Trophy presentation stage again.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Classmates Mike Macdonald, Maria Taylor have Super Bowl moment

Read More

Chris Gotterup wins Phoenix Open in playoff after Matsuyama falters

February 09, 2026
Chris Gotterup wins Phoenix Open in playoff after Matsuyama falters

Chris Gotterup was on a roll when his fourth round at the WM Phoenix Open concluded Sunday. About an hour later, he picked up where he left off.

Gotterup posted a birdie on the first playoff hole after late mishaps by Japan's Hideki Matsuyama opened the door for him to win at TPC Scottsdale's Stadium Course in Arizona.

Gotterup, 26, notched his second victory of 2026 and the fourth of his young career. He shot a 7-under-par 64 and waited for a chance in a playoff.

"I just figured I'd stay loose," Gotterup said. "I didn't think this would happen, especially after Friday (71) and Saturday (70). But here we are."

Gotterup and Matsuyama ended up at 16-under 268 on a day when world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler made a strong move toward the top and created considerable buzz.

Gotterup has won three tour events in less than a seven-month span. This was his first time in a playoff.

"I'm having such a good time playing right now," Gotterup said. "Just so awesome. ... There's just so many people who believe in me."

Gotterup, who also won last month's season-opening Sony Open in Hawaii, posted birdies on five of the final six holes in the last round. The last of those came after he recovered from a wayward tee shot.

"I knew I had to make birdie on 18, but you never know," Gotterup said. "Hideki was playing great."

To end the fourth round, Matsuyama's erratic driving finally cost him. His tee shot on the 18th hole ended up in a bunker and his quest to scramble for par failed when he was off the mark on a 24-foot putt. He took his lone bogey of the round.

Then Matsuyama's tee shot on the playoff hole landed in the water alongside the fairway. Gotterup played it steady and recorded another birdie to seal the deal.

Two of Matsuyama's 11 victories on the PGA Tour have come in this tournament. He also won in 2016 and 2017, but he couldn't finish the quest this time.

"Was grinding all weekend," Matsuyama said through a translator. "Didn't have my best stuff, but hung in there. I wanted to avoid the playoff as much as I could, but I just hit a bad tee shot there in regulation at 18 and Chris made a good putt there in the playoff."

Matsuyama carried a one-shot lead on countryman Ryo Hisatsune into the final round.

Matsuyama was trying to win a fourth PGA Tour event in a 24-month period. This marked the sixth time that Matsuyama has been the outright leader through 54 holes on the PGA Tour, and he had won each of the previous five times. He overcame multi-stroke deficits to win the other times in this tournament, but he couldn't protect a lead Sunday.

Scheffler, who began his season two weeks earlier by winning The American Express, became the biggest story of the day for much of the round. He was within one shot of the lead through 15 holes, though he was playing several groups ahead of the last threesome. He finished with 64.

"The last three days I played really solid," Scheffler said, knowing Thursday's 73 cost him. "Overall, proud of the way I fought this week and definitely some good momentum going into next week."

Michael Thorbjornsen (67), Akshay Bhatia (67), South Korea's Si Woo Kim (68) and Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard (68) shared third place with Scheffler at 15 under.

Scheffler played the front side in 3 under and then strung together three more birdies on Nos. 13-15. That included sinking a shot from the fringe about 72 feet away on the par-4 14th. He also birdied No. 17.

With Scheffler's round complete, Thorbjornsen briefly catapulted into the lead with an 11-foot eagle putt on No. 15. He gave one of those strokes back with a bogey on the next hole after launching his tee shot beyond the green on the par-3 hole.

Thorbjornsen, a 24-year-old seeking his first PGA Tour triumph, settled for his seventh finish in the top five. Hojgaard is also 24 and without a tour victory.

China's Zecheng Dou had the day's best round with 63, moving him to 11 under and tied for 13th.

--Field Level Media

Read More

Super Bowl 2026: 5 plays that defined Seahawks' dominant win over Patriots

February 09, 2026
Super Bowl 2026: 5 plays that defined Seahawks' dominant win over Patriots

The Seattle Seahawks entered Sunday's Super Bowl one dominant performance away from establishing their defense as one of the greatest of all time.

Mission accomplished.

Anchored by a dominant defensive effort,the Seahawks rolled to a 29-13 win over the New England Patriotsfor the franchise's second Super Bowl championship. While Kenneth Walker III and Sam Darnold did what was needed on offense, Seattle's defense dominated the game and the highlight reel.

Here are the five plays that defined Seattle's Super Bowl victory:

Derick Hall's second sack leads to turnover

While Seattle had thoroughly dominated the game through three quarters, the outcome wasn't settled. Thanks to failing to score a touchdown, Seattle's lead was limited to two possessions at 12-0 as the third quarter wound down.

Derick Hall helped ensure that Seattle's defensive efforts wouldn't go to waste. With the Patriots facing third-and-5 near midfield in the final seconds of the quarter, Hall beat right tackle Morgan Moses and tracked down quarterback Drake Maye in a collapsing pocket.

He poked the ball loose for a fumble that defensive tackle Byron Murphy II recovered.

HUGE STOP. HUGE TURNOVER.📺:@SNFonNBCpic.twitter.com/b9RLRWXMfm

— xz* - Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks)February 9, 2026

The sack was the second of the game for Hall, who set the tone in the first quarter with a sack of Maye on New England's first possession that ultimately forced a punt. Now he'd forced the first turnover of the game at a critical juncture in the second half.

Seahawks capitalize with Sam Darnold's only TD

Seattle hadn't done much with the ball up to that point while tallying four field goals through three quarters. But Sam Darnold and Co. capitalized on Hall's strip sack.

Five plays after the turnover, Darnold found tight end AJ Barner for a 16-yard touchdown pass to extend Seattle's lead to 19-0.

In the end, it was Seattle's only offensive touchdown of the game. It was enough to secure the win as a late New England scoring surge fell short.

Darnold didn't have his best game while completing 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards with 1 touchdown. But he didn't collapse or even make a notable mistake, which was all the Seahawks needed from him Sunday night.

Drake Maye's bad interception

The Patriots responded to Darnold's touchdown pass with their first score of the day on a quick-strike touchdown drive that covered 65 yards on three plays, keeping pressure on the Seahawks.

But on New England's next possession, Seattle took the ball right back. With a chance to cut their deficit to one possession, the Patriots drove near midfield with momentum on their side. But Maye offered an underthrown ball into traffic that safety Julian Love intercepted and returned 35 yards.

35-YARD INTERCEPTION RETURN 🚨@_jlove20📺: SNFonNBCpic.twitter.com/xhikG5b7bZ

— xz* - Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks)February 9, 2026

Before the pick, that was New England's best chance to make it a game.

Seahawks score on defense

If Maye's first interception didn't ice the game, his second did. With Seattle holding a 22-7 lead late in the fourth quarter, Maye wound up for what was intended to be a deep pass. It barely moved forward. Cornerback Devon Witherspoon hit him as he released the ball.

Linebacker Uchenna Nwosu snagged it and took it 45 yards for what initially looked like a fumble return for a touchdown.

Scorers ruled the play an interception instead of a fumble and recovery.

No matter. The result of the play was the same: a Seattle touchdown and a 29-7 lead.

Kenneth Walker's big runs keep Seattle moving early

We're cheating here a bit. This is two plays.

But Kenneth Walker III's back-to-back big runs early in the game kept an otherwise stagnant Seattle offense moving.

With Seattle holding a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter, Walker broke containment around the left edge and ran 30 yards down the sideline to get into New England territory.

Kenneth Walker finds space for 30 yards!Super Bowl LX on NBCStream on@NFLPlus+ Peacockpic.twitter.com/IsQkiEskFp

— NFL (@NFL)February 9, 2026

After a Darnold incompletion on the ensuing first down, the Seahawks went back to Walker. He delivered again, this time with a 29-yard run up the middle and toward the right sideline to the New England 17.

Back-to-back big runs from Kenneth Walker 🔥Super Bowl LX on NBCStream on@NFLPlus+ Peacockpic.twitter.com/BKFWW8PAkP

— NFL (@NFL)February 9, 2026

Walker's two runs accounted for more than the 55 yards Seattle gained on the drive and set up Jason Myers for a 39-yard field goal and a 6-0 Seattle lead.

In the end, Walker's efforts added up to 135 yards on 27 carries (5 yards per carry). And his two big first half runs were a big reasonhe won Super Bowl MVP.

Read More

Marcus Samuelsson shares a comfort-food recipe for oxtail pepperpot with dumplings

February 09, 2026
Marcus Samuelsson shares a comfort-food recipe for oxtail pepperpot with dumplings

Oxtail is one of my favorite meats, and I like it best when it has been slow-cooked for hours, so I recommend cooking it the day before and letting it sit overnight. What makes this dish from mycookbook "The Rise"so homey and delicious is the mix of the oxtail and the dumplings, which everyone can relate to as being an example of comfort food at its finest.

This traditional Caribbean dish — mostly from Guyana — is made by stewing meat in a dark, rich gravy flavored with cinnamon, brown sugar, hot chiles, and cassareep, a special brown sauce made from cassava root. African Americans adapted the recipe using oxtail instead of offal, which are the internal organs of butchered animals. Regardless, this is a dish that only gets better with time in the pot.

Oxtail Pepperpot with Dumplings

Servings: 4 to 6

Ingredients

1 (4-pound) piece oxtail

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup vegetable oil

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 onion, diced

21 cloves garlic, minced

7 tablespoons minced ginger (3-inch piece)

2 plum tomatoes, diced

2 scallions, sliced

1 Scotch bonnet (or habanero) chile, stemmed and chopped

3 sprigs fresh thyme

7 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon whole allspice berries

6 cups chicken stock

2 cups all-purpose flour

2½ tablespoons cornmeal

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons water

For the oxtail: Season the oxtail on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat ¼ cup of the oil in a large (8-quart) Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the oxtail and brown on both sides, about 15 minutes.

Remove the oxtail to a paper-towel-lined dish. Heat the remaining ¼ cup oil in the Dutch oven and add the carrots, onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, scallions, chile, thyme, brown sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, and allspice and stir to combine. Return the oxtail to the pot, add the chicken stock, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook, covered, for 2½ hours, or until the oxtail is tender and the meat is falling away from the bone.

For the dumplings: Place the flour, cornmeal, and salt in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add the water and use your hands to work the mixture into a dough ball. Knead the dough in the bowl for 2 to 3 minutes. Divide the dough in half and cover one half with a damp towel.

Continue to knead one dough ball for 5 minutes, or until smooth. Roll the piece of dough into a 21- to 24-inch snakelike piece. Cut the dough into 1-inch pieces, set on a baking sheet, and cover with a damp towel.

Repeat with remaining dough ball.

Stir the dumplings into the oxtail stew for the last 30 minutes of cooking time and cook until dumplings are tender and cooked through.

Serve the stew with rice and peas.

Marcus Samuelsson is the chef behind many restaurants worldwide. He is also co-chair of the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), which focuses on underserved youth, and coproduces the annual Harlem EatUp! festival, which celebrates the food, art and culture of Harlem.

Excerpted from "The Rise" by Marcus Samuelsson. Copyright (copyright) 2020 by Marcus Samuelsson. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Read More

Migrants languish in US detention centers amid dire conditions and prolonged waits

February 09, 2026
Migrants languish in US detention centers amid dire conditions and prolonged waits

MIAMI (AP) — Felipe Hernandez Espinosa spent 45 days at "Alligator Alcatraz," an immigration holding center in Florida where detainees have reportedworms in their food,toilets that don't flush and overflowing sewage. Mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere.

Associated Press FILE - Work progresses on a new migrant detention facility dubbed FILE - President Donald Trump tours FILE - Cars wait to enter Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, Sept. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Juan Carlos Llorca, File) FILE - Migrants wearing face masks and shackles on their hands and feet sit on a military aircraft at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Tx., Jan. 30, 2025, awaiting their deportation to Guatemala. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez, File) FILE - Trucks come and go from the

Immigration Prolonged Detention

For the past five months, the 34-year-old asylum-seeker has been at an immigration detention camp at the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, wheretwo migrants died in Januaryand which has many of the same conditions, according to human rights groups. Hernandez said he asked to be returned to Nicaragua but was told he has to see a judge. After nearly seven months in detention, his hearing was scheduled for Feb. 26.

Prolonged detention has become more common in President Donald Trump's second term, at least partly because a new policy generally prohibitsimmigration judgesfrom releasing detainees while their deportation cases wind through backlogged courts. Many, like Hernandez, are prepared to give up any efforts to stay in the United States.

"I came to this country thinking they would help me, and I've been detained for six months without having committed a crime," he said in a phone interview from Fort Bliss. "It is been too long. I am desperate."

The Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot hold immigrants indefinitely, finding that six months was a reasonable cap.

With the number of people in ICE detention topping 70,000 for the first time, 7,252 people had been in custody at least six months in mid-January, including 79 held for more than two years, according to agency data. That's more than double the 2,849 who were in ICE custody at least six months in December 2024, the last full month of Joe Biden's presidency.

TheTrump administration is offering plane fareand $2,600 for people who leave the country voluntarily. Yet Hernandez and others are told they can't leave detention until seeing a judge.

Legal advisers warn that these are not isolated cases

The first three detainees that attorney Ana Alicia Huerta met on her monthly trip to an ICE detention center in McFarland, California, to offer free legal advice in January said they signed a form agreeing to leave the United States but were still waiting.

"All are telling me: 'I don't understand why I'm here. I'm ready to be deported,'" said Huerta, a senior attorney at the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. "That's an experience that I've never had before."

A Chinese man has been held for more than a year without seeing an immigration judge, even though he told authorities he was ready to be deported. In the past, Huerta said, she encountered cases like this once every three or four months.

TheDepartment of Homeland Securitydid not address questions from The Associated Press about why more people are being held longer than six months.

"The conditions are so poor and so bad that people say, 'I'm going to give up'," said Sui Cheng, executive director at Americans for Immigrant Justice.

The waiting time may depend on the country. Deportations to Mexico are routine but countries including Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia and Venezuela have at times resisted accepting deportees.

Among those detained for months are people who have won protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, who cannot be deported to their home country but may be sent elsewhere.

In the past, those migrants were released and could get a work permit. Not anymore, said Sarah Houston, managing attorney at Immigrant Defenders Law Center, who has at least three clients with protection under the U.N. torture convention who have been in custody for more than six months. One is from El Salvador, detained for three years. He won his case in October 2025 but is still in custody in California.

"They're just holding these people indefinitely," said Houston, noting that every 90 days, attorneys request the release of these migrants and ICE denies those requests. "We're seeing people who actually win their immigration cases just languishing in jail."

The Nicaraguan who wants to be deported

Advertisement

Hernandez, who doesn't have a lawyer, said he signed documents requesting to be returned to his country or Mexico at least five times. An Oct. 9 hearing was abruptly canceled without explanation. He waited months with no news, until early February, when he learned his new hearing date.

Hernandez, who has allergies and needs a gluten-free diet that he says he hasn't been getting since November, was arrested in July on a lunch break from his job installing power generators in South Florida. His wife was detained with him but a judge allowed her to return to Nicaragua without a formal deportation order on Aug. 28.

Both crossed the Mexican border in 2022 andrequested asylum. He said he received death threats after participating in marches against co-presidents and spousesDaniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.

If he returns, they plan to go to Panama or Spain because they fear for their lives in Nicaragua, he said. His files say only that his case is pending.

The Dominican who became a father while in detention

Yashael Almonte Mejia has been detained eight months since the government sought dismissal of his asylum case in May 2025, said his aunt, Judith Mejia Lanfranco.

Since then, he has been transferred from a detention center in Florida to Texas to New Mexico.

In November, Almonte married his pregnant American girlfriend via a video call and became the father of a daughter he hasn't seen in person. He was unable to attend the funeral of his sister who died in November.

"He has gone through depression. He has been very bad," his aunt said. "He is desperate and he doesn't even know what's going to happen."

Almonte, 29, came to the U.S. in 2024 and told authorities he cannot return to the Dominican Republic because he fears for his life. In January, he passed his initial asylum screening interview.

A Mexican man detained for a year

Some detainees are finding relief in federal court.

A Mexican man detained in October 2024 in Florida was held for a year even though he won a protection under the U.N. torture convention in March 2025.

"Time was passing and I was desperate, afraid that they would send me to another country," said the 38-year-old, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being detained again.

"I didn't know what was going to happen to me," he said, noting that immigration officials weren't giving him any answers.

The man said he had lived illegally in the United States from age 10 until he was deported. In Mexico, he ran his own business, but in 2023 decided to return and illegally crossed the border into the United States. He said he was looking for safety after being threatened by drug cartels who demanded monthly payments.

He was taking antidepressants when he found an attorney who filed a petition in federal court alleging he was being held illegally. He was freed in October 2025, seven months after a judge ordered his release.

But for Hernandez, the Nicaraguan asylum-seeker, desperation led him to request to be returned to the country he had fled.

"I've experienced a lot of trauma. It's very difficult," Hernandez said from Fort Bliss. "I'm always thinking about when I'm going to get out."

Read More