Here’s a quick roundup of some of the mini-moments you may have missed on this week’s Morning Edition.

Oh, butter

One thing that will never go out of style is old laws. Mainly because there will always be some laws that don’t make as much sense in hindsight as they did when they were passed. This week’s law comes from Wisconsin. As Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep said on Monday, Wisconsin is a dairy-obsessed state. I mean, they are home of the cheeseheads. The law from the 1950s requires any butter sold in Wisconsin to receive a passing grade from the federal or state butter graders. However, not everyone is a butter purist as shown by an Associated Press investigation which found some Wisconsinites sneak across state lines to buy ungraded Irish butter. So now butter aficionados have sued to call an end to the government-mandated taste test. Butter luck next time, guys.

Gettin’ Iggy with it

If you’ve ever been to a sporting event you know there are different types of seating, and a lot of people prefer to be closer to the court. Those courtside seats just weren’t enough for one spectator at the Miami Open tennis tournament this week, though. During a tied 3-3 third set of a match between Jiri Vesely and Tommy Haas, Iggy decided to get up close and personal with the players. I should mention Iggy is an iguana. Yes, a lizard. As Morning Edition host David Greene said on Thursday, Iggy positioned himself on top of the scoreboard and caught the attention of, well, pretty much everyone. Play stopped and the officials tried to escort the reptile off the court. It didn’t quite work out for them, but when Iggy got a little frightened, he scurried away. Before Iggy made his exit, Haas got a selfie with the super fan. Haas lost, so Iggy might not be a lucky lizard, but he’s No. 1 in our hearts.

Flight plight

One of the latest security measures the Trump administration has taken revolves around restricting the in-flight use of electronics. The measures, that took effect on Tuesday, force those on flights coming to the United States from a number of majority-Muslim countries to place electronic devices in checked baggage. These devices include laptops, tablets and cameras. Phones are still allowed on flight. As you can imagine, this might put a strain on passengers with long flights whose lives are ingrained in technology. But as Morning Edition host Rachel Martin said on Friday, Royal Jordanian Airlines offered their passengers 12 tips to get through a 12-hour flight without the technology they’ve been able to use in the past. The measure isn’t exactly taking passengers back to the Stone Age, but as the airlines suggest, this is a chance to “engage in primitive dialogue from the pre-Internet era.” Some suggestions get more a bit philosophical like thinking “of reasons why you don’t have a laptop or tablet with you.”

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It’s hardly unusual for athletes, both amateur and professional, to have pregame rituals. But the NBA’s peculiar commitment to one grade-school snack goes deep: ESPN Magazine calls the PB&J sandwich the league’s “secret addiction.”

“In every NBA locker room, you’ll see a variety of different foods on the table, but PB&J — if there’s a locker room that doesn’t have it, I haven’t seen it,” ESPN reporter Baxter Holmes tells Scott Simon.

In this week’s ESPN Magazine, Holmes dug into how a first-grader’s lunch ended up as a locker room staple for professional basketballers.

The origin of the sandwich’s league-wide residence traces back to a 2007-2008 season Boston Celtics anecdote.

Former star Kevin Garnett, who’s hailed for revolutionizing the league’s pregame diet, fatefully “decreed one day when he was hungry — after a fellow teammate likewise said he was hungry — and wanted a PB&J — that, ‘Let’s get on that,’ ” Holmes says.

And, because Garnett played well that game: “We’re going to need PB&J in here every game now.”

“It spread from there,” Holmes says. “And that’s not to say that peanut butter jellies haven’t been consumed by athletes for a long time, but I’m certainly talking about on a mass-produced scale.”

But in the NBA, where a player’s body isn’t just a temple, but a corporation, it’s not the healthiest snack. So why PB&J?

In short, it’s a quick, easy-to-make comfort food that lifts players’ mentality. And, as busy as the athletes are, with “41 road games a year — they could have poor travel, they could not be feeling well, traffic,” Holmes says, they crave something familiar and easily digestible.

Cro-Magnon might not have taken his first step in search of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but, Holmes says, “all these components that he was looking for are contained within, it’s one of those magical foods in that way and because of it, the mental health benefits are what a lot of experts around the NBA say is actually one of its biggest benefit, just in simply, the opioids are released. It’s calming players down, making them happy. … There are some healthy fats and proteins and that gives them a little bit of energy. But the mental side of things, I mean, it truly is a comfort food.”

And these athletes aren’t scarfing down your average PB&J. Within the league, a number of players are known for their preferences.

“Russell Westbrook likes to butter the inside of the bread and then put peanut butter on it after it’s toasted,” Holmes relays. Carmelo Anthony likes his on a cinnamon raisin bagel.Latvian-born Knicks player Kristaps Porzingis hadn’t heard of a PB&J until he was drafted. “I fell in love,” he toldThe Wall Street Journal. “I grew up on PB&J’s as a kid — it fueled me,” Kevin Durant told Nike, amid a sneaker collaboration inspired by the star player’s penchant. “Actually, PB&J is still my go-to snack.”

Interview Highlights

On whether different teams have different PB&J traditions

Certainly. So much depends on location, preferences of certain players. The Lakers have theirs catered by Whole Foods, the San Antonio Spurs have theirs catered by HEB Central Market which they have a partnership with in San Antonio. You go up to Portland: Half of their peanut butter and jelly sandwich order is toasted because the star player Damian Lillard likes them that way. You go up to Milwaukee and they’re kind of one of the more interesting operations in the NBA. They do a PB&J buffet before the games, but the variety of nut butters and Nutella, all kinds of jams and jellies, different kinds of bread — they do peanut butter and jelly shakes, peanut butter and jelly oatmeal, waffles.

On whether the PB&J is a nutritional choice

Nutritionists I’ve talked to said it’s not the healthiest snack, but it is healthier than, say, greasy junk food that they might get in arena concessions — fried food, hamburgers, whatever the case may be — particularly if there’s just a little bit of hunger before a game. And then you dive a little bit into the science of it, and peanut butter and jelly is comprised of various components that humans enjoy, dating back to basically the Neanderthals when they were craving certain things for survival. Different kinds of fats and proteins and starches and what not, and this marriage of all these essential components are combined into PB&J. So when you ingest one, when you bite into one, these varied opioids are released. You’re happy, most people kind of recognize that.

On the Golden State Warriors’ PB&J ban that kick-started the “Great PB&J War of 2015“

They hired a sports scientist from Australia who wasn’t familiar with the peanut butter and jelly fad in the NBA. And he wanted to do away with a lot of unhealthy foods like candies and sodas, cookies, but he included peanut butter and jelly in that umbrella. And when the team got on the team plane for their first flight of the year, they saw it was gone and that was the first shot fired in what became a peanut butter and jelly war between him and the players. Eventually they got them back and he is no longer employed by the team.

On the Cleveland Cavaliers’ practice of keeping the good stuff to themselves

If you go around the NBA, you’re going to find all these little quirks all over the place when it comes to the peanut butter and jelly. But so they have a partnership with a fellow Ohio-based outfit in Smucker’s and they provide about a dozen of the company’s prepackaged “Uncrustables” PB&J’s to opposing teams every night, even though there are a few teams that have told me they try to keep their players away from those because they’re not very healthy.

Meanwhile, the Cavs make their own artisanal PB&J’s prior to tipoff with homemade grape and raspberry jelly, almond butter and banana, and peanut butter and banana sandwiches. So they give the opposing teams one thing and they make themselves something completely different.

Well there’s a whole new insight into how they were able to defeat Golden State in the last few seconds, of course which opens — what kind of PB&J does LeBron have?

I’m not particularly sure on his exact likes, but, I say this with feeling pretty confident, whatever it is that they’re making, I’m sure he likes. I mean you have to remember around the NBA — and I mentioned it earlier with the Portland Trailblazers — if a player who’s a star on that team has a particular preference, whether it’s crust or no crust, a certain kind of bread, a certain kind of jelly, nut butter, whatever the case may be — I guarantee you that that team is going to accommodate it, and that that’s probably going to be the key reason why they make whatever it is they make.

NPR’s Emma Bowman contributed to this story. More importantly, she takes her PB&J with raspberry jam, in between creamy peanut butter on both bread slices a la Lakers’ Brandon Ingram.

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The Wisconsin Badgers ousted the top-seeded Wildcats in a surprising upset in the second round of the men’s tournament. The eighth-seeded Wisconsin closed the game at 65-62, thanks to momentum brought by Nigel Hayes in the closing seconds.

Hayes’ layup lifted the Badgers from a tie before Vitto Brown’s free throw sealed the win for good.

Wisconsin gained the edge when Villanova called a timeout with 11 seconds remaining.

On Villanova’s next possession, star Josh Hart’s drive to the basket was disrupted by a clean steal by Wisconsin’s Vitto Brown. Brown was soon fouled, and missed his second free throw attempt. Villanova grabbed the rebound, but the Wildcats weren’t able to get a shot off within the final three seconds.

Hayes led Wisconsin with 19 points, while Bronson Koenig put up 3 three-pointers for his 17 points. Josh Hart led Villanova with 19 points.

Wisconsin now advances to their fourth consecutive Sweet 16 round to play the winner of the Florida vs. Virginia game on Friday night.

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To Harrison Browne, hockey has always been a pivotal part of life. He’s been in the rink for the past 15 years and currently plays for the Buffalo Beauts, a professional hockey team in the National Women’s Hockey League.

Last October, Browne came out, saying he identified as male, which made him the first openly transgender professional team sport athlete in the United States.

“I started to feel a really big disconnect between my personal identity and my professional identity,” Browne says. “Whenever I would hear my name announced … I just wanted to align it.”

He had come out privately to his friends and family while in college, and in his second year in the NWHL, he felt comfortable to make the statement publicly. In the months since, he says, the support has been overwhelming.

“My teammates, my coaches and the league did a great job of just treating me like a regular teammate.”

Even though he identifies as male in a women’s league, he sees himself as just an athlete.

“Every time I go to the rink. I’m an athlete,” Browne says. “I don’t think of myself as a woman. I don’t think of my teammates as women. We’re athletes, we’re teammates and we’re friends.”

Since coming out, Browne says he has received tweets and other messages of support on social media from fellow transgender athletes, who tell him “they are so thankful that there’s somebody out there that did what they couldn’t,” he says.

“I’m glad that I broke down a wall,” he says. “I’m glad that I was able to help people in need.”

Earlier this week Browne announced his retirement from professional hockey and is looking forward to transitioning after the season is over. Under NWHL rules, players who are transitioning are ineligible once they begin hormone therapy.

“I want to start transitioning and seeing myself in the mirror the way I see on the inside,” Browne says.

Browne’s season could come to an end soon as the Buffalo Beauts take on the New York Riveters in the semi-finals of the Isobel Cup playoffs Friday night. But he’s not thinking about that.

“I don’t think it’s hit yet, but it definitely will hit me once the buzzer goes,” he says.

After the season ends, Browne will continue to work with the NWHL as the leader of the inclusion board. He hopes that going forward he can be an advocate, speak at conferences and help athletes feel included.

Until then, Browne is focused on playing his best hockey, and winning a championship.

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The president and CEO of USA Gymnastics has resigned, months after an investigative report by The Indianapolis Staralleged that the organization ignored reports of sexual abuse by adults working in the sport, including coaches and a prominent doctor.

Steve Penny, who served as the group’s head for more than a decade, announced his resignation on Thursday.

In a statement, Penny did not apologize or admit any wrongdoing. He said he’s stepping aside “solely to support the best interests of USA Gymnastics.”

“It has been heartbreaking to learn of instances of abuse and it sickens me that young athletes would be exploited in such a manner,” he said.

The Indianapolis Star, which broke the story about allegations of widespread child sex abuse in the U.S. gymnastics world, reports that Penny “has been personally responsible for handling sexual abuse complaints since becoming president in 2005, according to his sworn testimony in a Georgia lawsuit.” It also notes that Penny “has grown the organization financially” in his tenure, and earned more than $600,000 in 2015.

Paul Parilla, the chairman of USA Gymnastics’ board of directors and the interim head of the organization, said the board believes Penny’s resignation “will help USA Gymnastics face its current challenges. … USA Gymnastics and the entire gymnastics community must work together to focus on keeping athletes safe.”

The organization is currently undergoing a review of its practices, in the wake of the explosive report from the Indianapolis Star.

As The Two-Way wrote in December, IndyStar journalists Tim Evans, Mark Alesia and Marisa Kwiatkowski reviewed hundreds of police and court documents and found that over two decades, at least 368 gymnasts alleged they were sexually assaulted or exploited by adults connected to the sport:

“[The journalists] reported that USA Gymnastics had ignored complaints and warnings about predatory coaches, and failed to report allegations to authorities.

“They now conclude that abusive coaches were ‘allowed to move from gym to gym’ — quietly fired from one gym before being hired at another. …

“They say it’s unclear from the records how many accusers and alleged abusers were USA Gymnastics members, ‘because the organization does not disclose that information,’ but that their research reveals widespread abuse across American gymnastics.”

You can read the Indianapolis Star investigation here. One of the reporters, Kwiatkowski, recently spoke with NPR about the pressure on Penny to resign. You can hear that interview here.

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The U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team — the reigning world champions — won’t be defending their title this year. They’re boycotting the championships as a protest against USA Hockey, citing stalled negotiations for “fair wages and equitable support” from the organization.

The U.S. national team is a dominant player in women’s ice hockey — they’ve medaled in all five Olympic Games that featured women’s hockey and won the world championships seven times since 2000. (Over the same time frame, the men won two Olympic and two World Championship silvers.)

The players are asking for higher wages — pointing out that in the past, USA Hockey paid them $1,000 a month for six months every Olympic cycle, and “virtually nothing” for the other 3 1/2 years. That works out to $1,500 a year.

Forward Meghan Duggan says it’s not fair for USA Hockey to pay them for only six months every four years when they train full time. “It’s 365 days a year to be an Olympic athlete,” she says. “It’s our life, our everything.”

The players do receive year-round support directly from the U.S. Olympic Committee — without which, Duggan says, “there would be no financial survival at all.”

Approximately half of the national team players hold “second or third jobs,” according to a press release from the lawyers representing the team.

Players on the men’s national team can also play on the NHL — where the minimum salary is more than half a million dollars. The NWHL, meanwhile, recently slashed its salaries, which were $10,000-$26,000 before the pay reduction.

In short, there’s “no apples to apples comparison” between the financial positions of the male and female Olympic teams, says John Langel, a lawyer representing the women’s team.

But their protest extends beyond paychecks. The women say there are pervasive, possibly illegal inequities in how USA Hockey treats male and female players — in terms of equipment, meals, hotel accommodations, staffing, marketing and PR, among other things.

The team’s lawyers highlight youth programs, in particular:

“At the younger levels, USA Hockey spends approximately $3.5 million annually to support a schedule of more than 60 games a season for boys participating in its National Team Development Program. There are no comparable development opportunities for girls, and the Women’s National Team plays only nine games in non-Olympic years. Over the course of its yearlong negotiations, the players have made repeated requests of USA Hockey for increased playing opportunities and financial support consistent with the boys’ teams.”

In a press release, USA Hockey said it was “disappointed” by the players’ decision to boycott the championships.

“USA Hockey has a long-standing commitment to the support, advancement and growth of girls and women’s hockey and any claims to the contrary are unfounded,” the organization said.

It also suggested that it has “proactively” increased its financial support for the women’s team and is preparing a package that “could result in each player receiving nearly $85,000 in cash over the Olympic training and performance period.”

Duggans and Langel say that’s misleading. Most of those funds wouldn’t come from USA Hockey. The figure represents mainly the money the players would get anyway from the USOC and is variable, depending on whether they win a medal and what kind.

It also only addresses payments during an Olympic year, not in the other three years that the women have to train and compete, the team says.

Besides, the stipend increase “does nothing to address the marketing and training support [which] is not on par with what it provides to the men’s and boys’ teams,” the women’s team said in a statement.

In the USA Hockey statement, president Jim Smith says, “USA Hockey’s role is not to employ athletes and we will not do so.”

Duggan said that was “difficult” to hear.

“They tell us when to be places, how long to be there. … We base where we live, what we do, when our alarms go off, when we sleep, what we eat, based on their orders, and their anticipation that we will show up and perform for them when asked.

“It is our life, every day, every minute — it’s for USA Hockey and this program.”

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A former Brazilian soccer player, sentenced to more than two decades in prison for ordering the murder of an ex-girlfriend, has returned to the sport. He was released from prison on a technicality and swiftly signed by a team.

The decision has prompted outrage in Brazil, The Associated Press reports. Multiple sponsors have pledging to drop their support for Boa Esporte, the team that signed Bruno Fernandes de Souza.

Souza — known as “Bruno” in Brazil — used to play for Flamengo, in Rio de Janeiro. But his career seemed to be over after he was convicted in the grisly 2010 murder of a former girlfriend, Eliza Samudio. CNN has more on the case:

“Bruno, his lover and his ex-wife were among nine people charged with torturing and murdering Samudio, who had been trying to prove [Souza] had fathered her son. …

“Samudio’s body was never found, but the goalkeeper’s cousin told the court Samudio had been demanding child support payments and that he had helped to dismember her body and fed her to several dogs.”

DNA eventually proved that Souza, who was married at the time, was indeed the father of Samudio’s child, the AP reports.

In 2013, Souza was convicted of ordering her murder, hiding her body and kidnapping their son. He confessed that he knew she was strangled and fed to dogs, but denied ordering her death himself, according to the BBC.

Souza was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison, but he was unexpectedly released about a month ago.

“A Supreme Court justice ordered his release on the grounds that his appeal to a higher court was languishing,” the AP reports.

Brazil is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman, as NPR’s Lulu Garcia Navarro reported in depth last summer.

“In Brazil, a woman is killed every two hours and assaulted every 15 seconds – often by someone she knows — according to a report from the nonprofit Mapa da Violencia,” Lulu wrote. There are “specific laws against femicide and violence against women” meant to stem the epidemic — “But those laws haven’t been working.”

For example, Lulu spoke with Andreza da Silva, whose sister was murdered after she reported her husband for abuse. Here’s more from Lulu:

“Her sister’s husband became relentless, Silva tells me. He would show up outside the house and threatened that if she didn’t come back to him, he would kill her.

“She and the family asked for help, but the police did nothing. The neighbors said nothing.

“She thought he would eventually leave her alone. But on that December morning in 2015, he finally made good on his threats — murdering her in plain view. She was 32.

” ‘Why do you think this happened?’ I ask Silva.

” ‘The men here think that if you are with a woman, you own her,’ she tells me.”

Teresa Cristina Cabral, a state judge in Brazil who works on domestic violence training and education initiatives, notes that when Bruno de Souza’s case was first unfolding some people were critical of Samudio, the murdered woman, for having been Souza’s lover in the first place.

“Her behavior was kind of judged … [like] since she was not a ‘good girl,’ she deserved to die,” she says.

And now, Souza’s return to professional soccer sends a disturbing message about Brazilian attitudes toward domestic violence, Cabral says.

“We don’t care if he killed a woman — it doesn’t matter, really, because it doesn’t have anything to do with his ‘professional’ behavior,” she says. And she worries about the impact on young soccer fans who might absorb the message: ” ‘Well, it’s just a woman that was killed, whatever.’ “

Cabral says she was encouraged to see some companies taking a stand against Boa Esporte for signing Souza, but that it’s clear cultural attitudes haven’t shifted on the issue.

Meanwhile, Boa Esporte stands by the controversial decision.

In one Facebook post, the president of the team suggested the team was doing something positive by giving him a job, which could provide “dignity.”

In another post, the team said Souza “deserves a new opportunity as a professional,” according to a CNN translation.

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