Who was the Murfreesboro area TSSAA boys athlete of the week for Feb.… — and more

The Winter Olympics in Milan continue with Day 10 featuring key events in alpine skiing, ice hockey, and figure skating. Fans can expect thrilling competitions as athletes vie for medals in these popular winter sports.

Coverage includes the men's slalom in alpine skiing, crucial ice hockey matches, and the women's free skate in figure skating. Tune in to catch the action from these exciting events.

Mohamed Salah was speaking from a position of experience and expertise. “He is one of the best players in the world right now,” said a man who could have been described in such terms for much of the past decade. Many a Liverpool player in that time has been asked to eulogise about Salah. Now it may have been a sign of a shift in the pecking order at Anfield that he was being invited to praise Dominik Szoboszlai.

Salah did, and willingly. While, when the Egyptian was dropped in November and the Hungarian took his spot on the right wing, they are friends, and when Szoboszlai has borrowed Salah’s yoga-inspired goal celebration against Barnsley, it was an affectionate tribute. Now, in another role reversal, Szoboszlai has outscored Salah.

Arne Slot has had his disagreements with Salah this season but, without going quite as far as the winger, said: “I think there are a lot of very good-to-elite football players in the world but I definitely agree with Mo that Dom is one of them.”

A statistic may support that argument. Szoboszlai’s latest all-action display came against Brighton in the FA Cup but this season, only Kylian Mbappe has more goal contributions in the Champions League. He has eight, scoring four, assisting four. There are big contributions among them. Szoboszlai has a late winner against Inter in San Siro. He supplied Alexis Mac Allister for the only goal against Real Madrid. He took the corner for Virgil van Dijk’s injury-time decider against Atletico Madrid. He put Liverpool ahead in Marseille.

No wonder, then, that Salah said: “This season we rely on him so much.” There had been, however, a temptation to wonder if his status would slip this season, following the arrival of Florian Wirtz. Instead, he has started every Premier or Champions League game this season, apart from when he has been banned. It was evident Slot liked Szoboszlai in his debut year at Anfield; but it was notable, too, that the head coach said that, to play in midfield for Liverpool, you had to score goals. The Hungarian got too few, eight in 49 then.

“When said that I maybe had to add that you need to run a lot if you play in the midfield for Liverpool,” said Slot now. “But I think what I meant was, as a No.10, you need to produce goals.”

Which Szoboszlai is now doing, but from a variety of roles. He reached double figures for the campaign on Saturday – equalling his best return for RB Leipzig – but the 10th came with a powerful surge from deep as a central midfielder. His spectacular free kicks against Arsenal and Manchester City each came when operating as a right-back. “He hasn’t always played in the No 10 position but is producing more and more goals,” noted Slot.

Part of it stems from his set-piece expertise; so do his assists. Szoboszlai can take free kicks that Salah used to get or corners that, in previous years, would have gone to Trent Alexander-Arnold. He has long struck the ball in a way that exudes class. Now it brings more menace. More excitement, too: when striding forward but outside the box on Saturday, the Liverpool faithful were calling on him to shoot.

When he does, he seems to be turning Liverpool’s goal-of-the-season award into a one-man contest. Their player of the year prize had already felt decided: Szoboszlai again. One comparison with Liverpool’s past could be Danny Murphy, their player of 2002-03 but in a disappointing campaign when too many others underachieved.

Yet the barnstorming run that brought his goal on Saturday and his ferocious long-range shooting are more reminiscent of perhaps Liverpool’s most iconic captain, who was also no stranger to starring as others struggled. “Actually, I am not playing a Steven Gerrard season although he was a legend for the club,” insisted Szoboszlai. “I try to do my own story.”

Everything in it can revolve around him. He seems to have inherited some of Gerrard’s main-character energy. Szoboszlai has gone into overdrive in 2026. In his last nine games, he has five goals, two assists, one goal given away in ridiculous fashion against Barnsley and one red card. He was man of the match at Arsenal and, had Liverpool held on to their lead against Manchester City, probably would have received the award again. He has looked a worthy inheritor of Gerrard’s No 8 shirt.

He may yet get his armband. Szoboszlai looks a leader and a path to the captaincy is opening up. Alexander-Arnold left last summer, Andy Robertson may follow this, perhaps Salah too. Virgil van Dijk has 18 months left on his deal and is 34. Szoboszlai seems a possible successor.

“He is still young,” warned Slot. “He has a lot of attributes already, especially when it comes to leading by example. There is still a step to make in terms of leadership, a voice in the dressing room if I compare him to Virgil, which is completely normal. Virgil is 34 and has seen [James] Milner, [Jordan] Henderson and these players, so it’s really good for Dominik that he sees Virgil.”

But when Salah sees Szoboszlai now, he believes he is watching one of the world’s best players. And that is a sign of what a stunning season the Hungarian is having.

Arizona softball wrapped up the Bear Down Fiesta on Sunday with an 8-0 victory over Creighton to move to 8-3 on the season. Our recap of the game can be found here.

Below is what Caitlin Lowe, Tayler Biehl and Emma Kavanagh had to say after the game:

Lowe on Arizona winning despite not having Regan Shockey: “Yeah, she just wasn’t feeling very well, which was honestly, I mean, it’s never a good thing, but it was nice to get Tele (Jennnings) a start and get her some at bats today, which felt great. It was nice to get (Addison Duke) in in centerr and kind of see just how everybody stepped up around that decision. (Sereniti Tric leading off was great to see that. And they just kind of went to work. So it was great. It was like a next man up situation.”

On how the team’s pitching did this week: “I think after Friday, I was happy with everything, honestly. I think the pitchers were fantastic, super sharp, excellent at their role. I thought behind the plate, we did really well stealing strikes. Emma (Kavanagh) did a great job today. (Sydney Stewart) did a great job all weekend. And Grace (Jenkins) kind of getting thrown back there for an inning. And then defensively, like I was telling Christian, they rolled some really tough ground balls to our infield today, and they made it look pretty seamless. So Bitty staying with one. Jenna really working through a couple hard ones. So I thought, all in all, really great stuff.

On what Kavanagh provided this weekend: “She’s uber competitive. Obviously wants every single at bat she can get, and she does a great job for us behind the play. Brings a lot of energy. A lot of different things than Stew brings. They have different strengths. It’s great to see her come through there at the end. And you obviously want to be able to put someone away when you can against a really good team. So yeah, just excited for her and her growth, and the versatility is crazy. And so the buy in for us, being able to do different things is going to be really important this year. And I’ve been extremely confident with everyone coming off the bench. And two of our best at bats this weekend were pitch hit at bats, which was really cool to see, too. Just being ready.”

On Biehl producing from multiple spots in the lineup: “Well I think this year specifically she’s so bought into the offensive piece of her game, and that’s been really exciting. Because we’ve all known she’s had it in her. It was just her, just remembering that she had it in her. And what we were seeing kind of on Friday was just, there’s so many people that were tight, and Tayler was having loose, confident at bats. I mean, from game one through the the entirety of everything that we’ve done so far. So we were just like, we’re gonna stack it, like the confidence, the swagger, and then it felt like everybody relaxed after that. So wanted to mix it up and just keep trying something new. And I think we’ve done a really good job. It’s hard to do sometimes, but we’ve been committed to making different things happen.”

Biehl on whether she’s changed her approach at the plate: “No, definitely not. I feel like with Sereniti and Regan being in front of me for most of the game this weekend, it was like they were gonna get on base. So I just need to do my job of bunting and just moving them over and playing my type of game. So no different approach, just different people in front of me, behind me, when I’m high fiving the lineup, but I’m still trying to do my thing and just do my job, regardless of if there’s corners on base, nobody on two outs, whatever that is.”

On being told she’d be moving up in the lineup: “Not much, just to keep doing what I’m doing. They have faith in me to be moved up in the lineup all over right now, and so just continuing to channel that faith that everybody has and all my teammates and stuff having in me. So nothing much, just to stay true to who I am.”

Kavanagh on her performance: “It was just great day to be alive as usual. I think our hunger was what showed on the field, was wanting it more than everybody else, no matter what happened in the at bat, before, after you, and even your own at bat. And I think that’s just what fed me today, was being able to play the sport I love every day, and I just let the hunger go.”

On whether there’s a different approach when she’s behind the plate vs. being the DP: “No, I show up pretty much the same every day. I’m a pretty out there person. And today I just was excited to get to catch Jalen (Adams). Her stuff was legit, and she just looked fantastic. And then when I DP, it’s just the same mentality of swing, big, miss big if I want to.”

On the catching group: “Fantastic. There is nothing other than that to say about this group of catchers. Everyone has their own strong suit of something, and I think that’s what makes us the best catching, probably in the country. I’m going to say, and I know we show it every single day, and it’s just the versatility we have is unbelievable. Between two righties and a lefty catcher. It just brings really good, really good versatility.”

Extreme fire conditions are forecast for approximately half of Victoria tomorrow, authorities have warned.

The dangerous combination of heat, dry fuels and gusty afternoon storms has prompted the severe warning, with residents urged to prepare for potential bushfires.