The Barton Performing Arts Department invites&nbsp;the community to enjoy nostalgic, holiday-themed entertainment at its annual holiday concert “A Hometown Holiday” at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 2 in the Fine Arts Auditorium.

“The Holiday Concert is a great event to start the holiday season, with songs and dances that can bring joy and happiness to all ages,” Director of Choral Activities Dr. Eric Foley said. “The audience can expect to have a great time enjoying the moods and music that are a staple of the holiday season.”

The concert will feature holiday selections by Barton’s Concert Choir, Hilltop Singers, Barton Jazz Ensemble and Barton Dance Theatre.

While admission is free, donations are accepted and appreciated. All proceeds will benefit the Fine and Performing Arts students.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Barton Performing Arts Department invites&nbsp;the community to enjoy nostalgic, holiday-themed entertainment at its annual holiday concert “A Hometown Holiday” at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 2 in the Fine Arts Auditorium.“The Holiday Concert is a great event to start the holiday season, with songs and dances that can bring joy and happiness to all ages,” Director of Choral Activities Dr. Eric Foley said. “The audience can expect to have a great time enjoying the moods and music that are a staple of the holiday season.”The concert will feature holiday selections by Barton’s Concert Choir, Hilltop Singers, Barton Jazz Ensemble and Barton Dance Theatre.While admission is free, donations are accepted and appreciated. All proceeds will benefit the Fine and Performing Arts students.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Barton Performing Arts presents 'A Hometown Holiday' concert

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22DARLENE%20SUPERVILLE%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press</a>

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/michelle-obama">Michelle Obama</a>&nbsp;says it helps to focus on what you can control when you feel out of control.

Among the things she could control during the death and isolation of the pandemic, the racial unrest and threats to democracy were her spools of yarn and her knitting needles.

She labels such thinking the “power of small," and she writes in her new book, “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times,” that by focusing on a small task like knitting she was able to get through the worry, anxiety and stress of the past few unsettling years.

“The interesting thing about knitting and using your hands and making something is that it is meditative,” the former first lady said Tuesday night at the Warner Theater in Washington, where she kicked off a monthlong,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michelle-obama-book-tour-75a4b69fcb733115f47c4ef0345e1872">six-city publicity tour</a>&nbsp;to promote the book.

“In so many ways, it is like a faith,” she said, seated on stage with a friend, former daytime talk-show host&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ellen-degeneres">Ellen DeGeneres</a>, who engaged Mrs. Obama in nearly 90 minutes of often humorous conversation. “It's a thing that shuts your worrying mind and lets your hands take over.”

“I think about the knit and the purl, and the knit and the purl, and a row and a row and a row," the former first lady said, naming different stitches and techniques used in knitting. "And if you keep it up, and you're focused, you have a sweater.”

In the book, published Tuesday, she shares the contents of her “personal toolbox” — the habits and practices, attitudes and beliefs, and even physical objects that she uses to overcome her feelings of fear, helplessness and self doubt.

“This book is meant to show you what I keep there and why, what I use professionally and personally to help me stay balanced and confident, what keeps me moving forward even during times of high anxiety and stress,” she wrote in the introduction.

The 58-year-old wife of former President Barack Obama and mother of adult daughters Malia and Sasha wrote that the book, her third, is not a how-to manual, but rather is a “series of honest reflections on what my life has taught me so far.”

“Keep in mind, too, that everything I know, all the various tools I lean on, have come to me only through trial and error, over years of constant practice and reevaluation," she wrote. "I spent decades learning on my feet, making mistakes, adjustments, and course corrections as I went. I’ve progressed only slowly to where I am today.”

“The Light We Carry” is Mrs. Obama's first new work since the 2018 release of her bestselling&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-michelle-obama-scholarships-amanda-gorman-802b44803d0e03249bfd3b0a141b4864">memoir</a>, “Becoming,” which has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide, by far the most popular book by a previous first lady or modern president, including her husband.

As first lady, she wrote&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gardening-health-elections-campaigns-michelle-obama-6aa8104c65d04bc9bfbece3e258a9124">“American Grown,”</a>&nbsp;a book about the produce garden she had planted at the White House in 2009.

Mrs. Obama opened the tour in Washington and has events planned at Philadelphia’s The Met, Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, the Chicago Theatre and San Francisco’s Masonic before the tour closes at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.

Seated in a plush purple chair on stage at the nearly 100-year-old Washington theater, Mrs. Obama discussed her feelings after the 2016 election in which her husband was succeeded by Donald Trump. Coincidentally, Trump announced a third run for president during her appearance.

“If you guys recall, I said, ‘Don’t vote for this guy,'" she said, meaning Trump, who sought to undo much of Obama's record as president. “It hurt because you wonder — was it a rebuke of the eight years, the sacrifice we made? Was it complacency? What was it?”

The former first lady also discussed overcoming her fear of change and coming to the realization that she could not stand in the way of her husband's desire to run for president in 2008. He had given her veto power over his decision.

“Opportunity is on the other side of that,” she said, speaking of fear.

She also talked about the pandemic, saying her family handled it better than most because they were already used to isolation from the eight years they lived in the White House “bubble.”

She spoke about how hard it was as first lady — and still is — to make new friends she can trust, and how fun it is to watch her daughters “adult” as they share an apartment in California. The girls had returned to Washington to live with their parents during the pandemic.

Sasha had completed one semester at the University of Michigan before she came back home. Malia, who was enrolled at Harvard, spent her senior year at home and ended up missing out on a graduation ceremony because of COVID-19. So her parents staged a ceremony in their backyard, complete with commencement speakers.

“It was me, and Barack,” Mrs. Obama said, laughing. “We told her how lucky she was. She got us both.”

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22DARLENE%20SUPERVILLE%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press</a>WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/michelle-obama">Michelle Obama</a>&nbsp;says it helps to focus on what you can control when you feel out of control.Among the things she could control during the death and isolation of the pandemic, the racial unrest and threats to democracy were her spools of yarn and her knitting needles.She labels such thinking the “power of small," and she writes in her new book, “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times,” that by focusing on a small task like knitting she was able to get through the worry, anxiety and stress of the past few unsettling years.“The interesting thing about knitting and using your hands and making something is that it is meditative,” the former first lady said Tuesday night at the Warner Theater in Washington, where she kicked off a monthlong,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michelle-obama-book-tour-75a4b69fcb733115f47c4ef0345e1872">six-city publicity tour</a>&nbsp;to promote the book.“In so many ways, it is like a faith,” she said, seated on stage with a friend, former daytime talk-show host&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ellen-degeneres">Ellen DeGeneres</a>, who engaged Mrs. Obama in nearly 90 minutes of often humorous conversation. “It's a thing that shuts your worrying mind and lets your hands take over.”And therein lies the power, she said.“I think about the knit and the purl, and the knit and the purl, and a row and a row and a row," the former first lady said, naming different stitches and techniques used in knitting. "And if you keep it up, and you're focused, you have a sweater.”In the book, published Tuesday, she shares the contents of her “personal toolbox” — the habits and practices, attitudes and beliefs, and even physical objects that she uses to overcome her feelings of fear, helplessness and self doubt.“This book is meant to show you what I keep there and why, what I use professionally and personally to help me stay balanced and confident, what keeps me moving forward even during times of high anxiety and stress,” she wrote in the introduction.The 58-year-old wife of former President Barack Obama and mother of adult daughters Malia and Sasha wrote that the book, her third, is not a how-to manual, but rather is a “series of honest reflections on what my life has taught me so far.”“Keep in mind, too, that everything I know, all the various tools I lean on, have come to me only through trial and error, over years of constant practice and reevaluation," she wrote. "I spent decades learning on my feet, making mistakes, adjustments, and course corrections as I went. I’ve progressed only slowly to where I am today.”“The Light We Carry” is Mrs. Obama's first new work since the 2018 release of her bestselling&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-michelle-obama-scholarships-amanda-gorman-802b44803d0e03249bfd3b0a141b4864">memoir</a>, “Becoming,” which has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide, by far the most popular book by a previous first lady or modern president, including her husband.As first lady, she wrote&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gardening-health-elections-campaigns-michelle-obama-6aa8104c65d04bc9bfbece3e258a9124">“American Grown,”</a>&nbsp;a book about the produce garden she had planted at the White House in 2009.Mrs. Obama opened the tour in Washington and has events planned at Philadelphia’s The Met, Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, the Chicago Theatre and San Francisco’s Masonic before the tour closes at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.Seated in a plush purple chair on stage at the nearly 100-year-old Washington theater, Mrs. Obama discussed her feelings after the 2016 election in which her husband was succeeded by Donald Trump. Coincidentally, Trump announced a third run for president during her appearance.“If you guys recall, I said, ‘Don’t vote for this guy,'" she said, meaning Trump, who sought to undo much of Obama's record as president. “It hurt because you wonder — was it a rebuke of the eight years, the sacrifice we made? Was it complacency? What was it?”The former first lady also discussed overcoming her fear of change and coming to the realization that she could not stand in the way of her husband's desire to run for president in 2008. He had given her veto power over his decision.“Opportunity is on the other side of that,” she said, speaking of fear.She also talked about the pandemic, saying her family handled it better than most because they were already used to isolation from the eight years they lived in the White House “bubble.”She spoke about how hard it was as first lady — and still is — to make new friends she can trust, and how fun it is to watch her daughters “adult” as they share an apartment in California. The girls had returned to Washington to live with their parents during the pandemic.Sasha had completed one semester at the University of Michigan before she came back home. Malia, who was enrolled at Harvard, spent her senior year at home and ended up missing out on a graduation ceremony because of COVID-19. So her parents staged a ceremony in their backyard, complete with commencement speakers.“It was me, and Barack,” Mrs. Obama said, laughing. “We told her how lucky she was. She got us both.”

Michelle Obama opens tour for new book, 'The Light We Carry'

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JONATHAN%20LANDRUM%20Jr.%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer</a>

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Beyoncé has propelled herself into the highest Grammy echelon: The star singer claimed a leading nine nominations Tuesday, making her tied — with her husband Jay-Z — as the most nominated music act in the history of the awards show.

Beyoncé's “Break My Soul” reeled in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2023-grammy-award-nominations-music-89b5d3f6c70f918394a358a41c84ce9e">record and song of the year nominations</a>, while “Renaissance” — which ventured into the world of dancehall music — netted an album of the year nod. With Jay-Z also earning five nods this year, each spouse now holds the record for the most-ever Grammy nominations at 88 apiece.

Kendrick Lamar came away with the second-most nominations, with eight. Adele and Brandi Carlile both received seven nods. Harry Styles, Mary J. Blige, Future, DJ Khaled, The-Dream and mastering engineer Randy Merrill each picked up six.

Nearly half of this year’s leading nominees — announced by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, John Legend, Machine Gun Kelly and Smokey Robinson —are women and more than half are people of color, according to the recording academy. The ceremony will be held Feb. 5 in Los Angeles.

“This makes me feel very proud, but it makes me conscious of the fact that we have to maintain the work we have done,” said Harvey Mason jr., the Recording Academy’s CEO. He said there have been strides in the peer-driven voting system and increased membership, but he still believes more progress can be made.

“This year, I’m pleased with the result and work the voters did,” he continued. “We have almost 13,000 voters now. It’s really important work. I’m pleased to think they spent the time listening to the music and evaluating. I think you see by the type of nominations that they are not only going for just popular music or music that has a lot of streams. It’s just music of high quality.”

The academy added a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-026433f3356e976dbec7d16b3b7d7c65">special song for social change and five new categories including songwriter of the year</a>, which Harvey says will further help diversify the 65th edition of the annual awards.

The non-classical songwriter category will recognize one individual who was the “most prolific” non-performing and non-producing songwriter for a body of new work during an eligibility year. It will take a different approach than song of the year, which awards the songwriters who wrote the lyrics or melodies to one song.

Harvey said implementing the songwriters category is a “significant” step forward for the music industry. Last year, a rule update allowed that any songwriter, producer, engineer or featured artist on a work nominated for album of the year could ultimately earn a nomination.

“The academy and voters are placing a high importance on the craft of songwriting,” Harvey said of the new category, in which nominees include The-Dream, Amy Allen, Nija Charles, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Laura Veltz. “Personally, as a songwriter, I’m happy to see it being a significant part of our process. We realize that songwriting is at the heart of our industry. It’s one of the building blocks for every artist’s career.”

Harvey said it's his priority to earn the trust from the music community including The Weeknd and Drake, who are still unwilling to submit any of their music. Drake declined to submit his album “Honestly Nevermind” for the awards, but the Canadian rapper still received four nominations — including album of the year for his co-writing efforts on Beyoncé's “Renaissance.”

“Anything that has been looked at and talked about in the past, we're going to continue to look at it and improve it,” Harvey said. “As we do that work, our hope is that all artists feel comfortable and confident with the work the academy does.”

Beyoncé, the most decorated woman in Grammy history with 28 wins, could break the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti’s record for most awards won if she wins four awards. Solti, who has 31 Grammys, has held on to the record since 1997.

For the first time in Beyoncé's lauded career, she was nominated in the dance category. Her seventh studio project is up for best dance-electronic music album and “Break My Soul” is nominated for best dance-electronic recording. Other nominations include best R&amp;B song for “Cuff It,” R&amp;B performance for “Virgo’s Groove,” traditional R&amp;B performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa” and song written for visual media for “Be Alive,” the Oscar-nominated song from the “King Richard” soundtrack.

Other album of the year nominees include: Adele’s “30,” ABBA’s “Voyage,” Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti,” Mary J. Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous” (Deluxe), Carlile’s “In These Silent Days,” Coldplay’s “Music of the Spheres,” Lamar’s “Mr. Morale &amp; the Big Steppers,” Lizzo’s “Special” and Styles’ “Harry’s House.” Bad Bunny made history, with his album becoming the first sung entirely in Spanish to compete in the category.

Tracks competing with “Break My Soul” for record of the year include Styles’ “As It Was,” Doja Cat’s “Woman,” Adele’s “Easy On Me,” ABBA’s “Don’t Shut Me Down,” Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous,” Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5,” Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” and Carlile’s “You and Me On the Rock” featuring Lucius.

Three of Jay-Z’s nominations came through DJ Khaled’s “God Did,” a song featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend and Fridayy. The track is up for best rap performance and rap song along with song of the year, which also has Jay-Z nominated for his writing efforts on Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul.” The rapper also received a nod for album of the year for his work on his wife’s “Renaissance” album.

Young Thug and Gunna both received nominations despite being currently&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-crime-arrests-georgia-1b33395632861d48b1314e90a962148a">locked up in a racketeering criminal case.</a>&nbsp;The rappers are up for best rap song and rap performance through Gunna's “pushin P,” featuring Thug and Future.

Christina Aguilera's comeback to Latin music with her self-titled album earned her two nominations for best Latin pop album and immersive audio album. Among the 10 nominees for best new artist are Muni Long, Latto and Eurovision winner Maneskin.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JONATHAN%20LANDRUM%20Jr.%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer</a>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Beyoncé has propelled herself into the highest Grammy echelon: The star singer claimed a leading nine nominations Tuesday, making her tied — with her husband Jay-Z — as the most nominated music act in the history of the awards show.Beyoncé's “Break My Soul” reeled in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2023-grammy-award-nominations-music-89b5d3f6c70f918394a358a41c84ce9e">record and song of the year nominations</a>, while “Renaissance” — which ventured into the world of dancehall music — netted an album of the year nod. With Jay-Z also earning five nods this year, each spouse now holds the record for the most-ever Grammy nominations at 88 apiece.Kendrick Lamar came away with the second-most nominations, with eight. Adele and Brandi Carlile both received seven nods. Harry Styles, Mary J. Blige, Future, DJ Khaled, The-Dream and mastering engineer Randy Merrill each picked up six.Nearly half of this year’s leading nominees — announced by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, John Legend, Machine Gun Kelly and Smokey Robinson —are women and more than half are people of color, according to the recording academy. The ceremony will be held Feb. 5 in Los Angeles.“This makes me feel very proud, but it makes me conscious of the fact that we have to maintain the work we have done,” said Harvey Mason jr., the Recording Academy’s CEO. He said there have been strides in the peer-driven voting system and increased membership, but he still believes more progress can be made.“This year, I’m pleased with the result and work the voters did,” he continued. “We have almost 13,000 voters now. It’s really important work. I’m pleased to think they spent the time listening to the music and evaluating. I think you see by the type of nominations that they are not only going for just popular music or music that has a lot of streams. It’s just music of high quality.”The academy added a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-026433f3356e976dbec7d16b3b7d7c65">special song for social change and five new categories including songwriter of the year</a>, which Harvey says will further help diversify the 65th edition of the annual awards.The non-classical songwriter category will recognize one individual who was the “most prolific” non-performing and non-producing songwriter for a body of new work during an eligibility year. It will take a different approach than song of the year, which awards the songwriters who wrote the lyrics or melodies to one song.Harvey said implementing the songwriters category is a “significant” step forward for the music industry. Last year, a rule update allowed that any songwriter, producer, engineer or featured artist on a work nominated for album of the year could ultimately earn a nomination.“The academy and voters are placing a high importance on the craft of songwriting,” Harvey said of the new category, in which nominees include The-Dream, Amy Allen, Nija Charles, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Laura Veltz. “Personally, as a songwriter, I’m happy to see it being a significant part of our process. We realize that songwriting is at the heart of our industry. It’s one of the building blocks for every artist’s career.”Harvey said it's his priority to earn the trust from the music community including The Weeknd and Drake, who are still unwilling to submit any of their music. Drake declined to submit his album “Honestly Nevermind” for the awards, but the Canadian rapper still received four nominations — including album of the year for his co-writing efforts on Beyoncé's “Renaissance.”“Anything that has been looked at and talked about in the past, we're going to continue to look at it and improve it,” Harvey said. “As we do that work, our hope is that all artists feel comfortable and confident with the work the academy does.”Beyoncé, the most decorated woman in Grammy history with 28 wins, could break the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti’s record for most awards won if she wins four awards. Solti, who has 31 Grammys, has held on to the record since 1997.For the first time in Beyoncé's lauded career, she was nominated in the dance category. Her seventh studio project is up for best dance-electronic music album and “Break My Soul” is nominated for best dance-electronic recording. Other nominations include best R&amp;B song for “Cuff It,” R&amp;B performance for “Virgo’s Groove,” traditional R&amp;B performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa” and song written for visual media for “Be Alive,” the Oscar-nominated song from the “King Richard” soundtrack.Other album of the year nominees include: Adele’s “30,” ABBA’s “Voyage,” Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti,” Mary J. Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous” (Deluxe), Carlile’s “In These Silent Days,” Coldplay’s “Music of the Spheres,” Lamar’s “Mr. Morale &amp; the Big Steppers,” Lizzo’s “Special” and Styles’ “Harry’s House.” Bad Bunny made history, with his album becoming the first sung entirely in Spanish to compete in the category.Tracks competing with “Break My Soul” for record of the year include Styles’ “As It Was,” Doja Cat’s “Woman,” Adele’s “Easy On Me,” ABBA’s “Don’t Shut Me Down,” Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous,” Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5,” Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” and Carlile’s “You and Me On the Rock” featuring Lucius.Three of Jay-Z’s nominations came through DJ Khaled’s “God Did,” a song featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend and Fridayy. The track is up for best rap performance and rap song along with song of the year, which also has Jay-Z nominated for his writing efforts on Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul.” The rapper also received a nod for album of the year for his work on his wife’s “Renaissance” album.Young Thug and Gunna both received nominations despite being currently&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-crime-arrests-georgia-1b33395632861d48b1314e90a962148a">locked up in a racketeering criminal case.</a>&nbsp;The rappers are up for best rap song and rap performance through Gunna's “pushin P,” featuring Thug and Future.Christina Aguilera's comeback to Latin music with her self-titled album earned her two nominations for best Latin pop album and immersive audio album. Among the 10 nominees for best new artist are Muni Long, Latto and Eurovision winner Maneskin.

Beyoncé ties Grammy record after leading nominations with 9

LOS
 ANGELES (AP) — Beyoncé has propelled herself into the highest Grammy 
echelon: The star singer claimed a leading nine nominations Tuesday, 
making her tied — with her husband Jay-Z — as the most nominated music 
act in the history of the awards show.

Beyoncé's “Break My Soul” 
reeled in record and song of the year nominations, while “Renaissance” —
 which ventured into the world of dancehall music — netted an album of 
the year nod. With Jay-Z also earning five nods this year, each spouse 
now holds the record for the most-ever Grammy nominations at 88 apiece.

Kendrick
 Lamar came away with the second-most nominations, with eight. Adele and
 Brandi Carlile both received seven nods. Harry Styles, Mary J. Blige, 
Future, DJ Khaled, The-Dream and mastering engineer Randy Merrill each 
picked up six.

Nearly half of this year’s leading nominees — 
announced by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, John Legend, Machine Gun Kelly
 and Smokey Robinson —are women and more than half are people of color, 
according to the recording academy. The ceremony will be held Feb. 5 in 
Los Angeles.

“This makes me feel very proud, but it makes me 
conscious of the fact that we have to maintain the work we have done,” 
said Harvey Mason jr., the Recording Academy’s CEO. He said there have 
been strides in the peer-driven voting system and increased membership, 
but he still believes more progress can be made.

“This year, I’m 
pleased with the result and work the voters did,” he continued. “We have
 almost 13,000 voters now. It’s really important work. I’m pleased to 
think they spent the time listening to the music and evaluating. I think
 you see by the type of nominations that they are not only going for 
just popular music or music that has a lot of streams. It’s just music 
of high quality.”

The academy added a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-026433f3356e976dbec7d16b3b7d7c65">special song for social change and five new categories including songwriter of the year</a>, which Harvey says will further help diversify the 65th edition of the annual awards.

The
 non-classical songwriter category will recognize one individual who was
 the “most prolific” non-performing and non-producing songwriter for a 
body of new work during an eligibility year. It will take a different 
approach than song of the year, which awards the songwriters who wrote 
the lyrics or melodies to one song.

Harvey said implementing the 
songwriters category is a “significant” step forward for the music 
industry. Last year, a rule update allowed that any songwriter, 
producer, engineer or featured artist on a work nominated for album of 
the year could ultimately earn a nomination.

“The academy and 
voters are placing a high importance on the craft of songwriting,” 
Harvey said of the new category, in which nominees include The-Dream, 
Amy Allen, Nija Charles, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Laura Veltz. “Personally, 
as a songwriter, I’m happy to see it being a significant part of our 
process. We realize that songwriting is at the heart of our industry. 
It’s one of the building blocks for every artist’s career.”

Beyoncé,
 the most decorated woman in Grammy history with 28 wins, could break 
the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti’s record for most 
awards won if she wins four awards. Solti, who has 31 Grammys, has held 
on to the record since 1997.

For the first time in Beyoncé's 
lauded career, she was nominated in the dance category. Her seventh 
studio project “Renaissance” is up for best dance-electronic music album
 and “Break My Soul” is nominated for best dance-electronic recording. 
Other nominations include best R&amp;B song for “Cuff It,” R&amp;B 
performance for “Virgo’s Groove,” traditional R&amp;B performance for 
“Plastic Off the Sofa” and song written for visual media for “Be Alive,”
 the Oscar-nominated song from the “King Richard” soundtrack.

Merrill
 grabbed two nominations in the record of the year category for the 
second straight year for his work on Adele’s “Easy on Me” and Styles’ 
“As It Was.” It’s also his first time being nominated three times in the
 same year for album of the year.

Other album of the year nominees
 include: Adele’s “30,” ABBA’s “Voyage,” Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti,”
 Mary J. Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous” (Deluxe), Carlile’s “In These 
Silent Days,” Coldplay’s “Music of the Spheres,” Lamar’s “Mr. Morale 
&amp; the Big Steppers,” Lizzo’s “Special” and Styles’ “Harry’s House.”

Tracks
 competing with “Break My Soul” for record of the year include Styles’ 
“As It Was,” Doja Cat’s “Woman,” Adele’s “Easy On Me,” ABBA’s “Don’t 
Shut Me Down,” Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous,” Steve Lacy’s “Bad 
Habit,” Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5,” Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” and 
Carlile’s “You and Me On the Rock” featuring Lucius.

Three of 
Jay-Z’s nominations came through DJ Khaled’s “God Did,” a song featuring
 Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend and Fridayy. The track is up for best
 rap performance and rap song along with song of the year, which also 
has Jay-Z nominated for his writing efforts on Beyoncé’s “Break My 
Soul.” The rapper also received a nod for album of the year for his work
 on his wife’s “Renaissance” album.

Young Thug and Gunna both received nominations despite being currently <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-crime-arrests-georgia-1b33395632861d48b1314e90a962148a">locked up in a racketeering criminal case.</a> The rappers are up for best rap song and rap performance through Gunna's “pushin P,” featuring Thug and Future.

Christina
 Aguilera's comeback to Latin music with her self-titled album earned 
her two nominations for best Latin pop album and immersive audio album.

LOS
 ANGELES (AP) — Beyoncé has propelled herself into the highest Grammy 
echelon: The star singer claimed a leading nine nominations Tuesday, 
making her tied — with her husband Jay-Z — as the most nominated music 
act in the history of the awards show.Beyoncé's “Break My Soul” 
reeled in record and song of the year nominations, while “Renaissance” —
 which ventured into the world of dancehall music — netted an album of 
the year nod. With Jay-Z also earning five nods this year, each spouse 
now holds the record for the most-ever Grammy nominations at 88 apiece.Kendrick
 Lamar came away with the second-most nominations, with eight. Adele and
 Brandi Carlile both received seven nods. Harry Styles, Mary J. Blige, 
Future, DJ Khaled, The-Dream and mastering engineer Randy Merrill each 
picked up six.Nearly half of this year’s leading nominees — 
announced by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, John Legend, Machine Gun Kelly
 and Smokey Robinson —are women and more than half are people of color, 
according to the recording academy. The ceremony will be held Feb. 5 in 
Los Angeles.“This makes me feel very proud, but it makes me 
conscious of the fact that we have to maintain the work we have done,” 
said Harvey Mason jr., the Recording Academy’s CEO. He said there have 
been strides in the peer-driven voting system and increased membership, 
but he still believes more progress can be made.“This year, I’m 
pleased with the result and work the voters did,” he continued. “We have
 almost 13,000 voters now. It’s really important work. I’m pleased to 
think they spent the time listening to the music and evaluating. I think
 you see by the type of nominations that they are not only going for 
just popular music or music that has a lot of streams. It’s just music 
of high quality.”The academy added a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-026433f3356e976dbec7d16b3b7d7c65">special song for social change and five new categories including songwriter of the year</a>, which Harvey says will further help diversify the 65th edition of the annual awards.The
 non-classical songwriter category will recognize one individual who was
 the “most prolific” non-performing and non-producing songwriter for a 
body of new work during an eligibility year. It will take a different 
approach than song of the year, which awards the songwriters who wrote 
the lyrics or melodies to one song.Harvey said implementing the 
songwriters category is a “significant” step forward for the music 
industry. Last year, a rule update allowed that any songwriter, 
producer, engineer or featured artist on a work nominated for album of 
the year could ultimately earn a nomination.“The academy and 
voters are placing a high importance on the craft of songwriting,” 
Harvey said of the new category, in which nominees include The-Dream, 
Amy Allen, Nija Charles, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Laura Veltz. “Personally, 
as a songwriter, I’m happy to see it being a significant part of our 
process. We realize that songwriting is at the heart of our industry. 
It’s one of the building blocks for every artist’s career.”Beyoncé,
 the most decorated woman in Grammy history with 28 wins, could break 
the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti’s record for most 
awards won if she wins four awards. Solti, who has 31 Grammys, has held 
on to the record since 1997.For the first time in Beyoncé's 
lauded career, she was nominated in the dance category. Her seventh 
studio project “Renaissance” is up for best dance-electronic music album
 and “Break My Soul” is nominated for best dance-electronic recording. 
Other nominations include best R&amp;B song for “Cuff It,” R&amp;B 
performance for “Virgo’s Groove,” traditional R&amp;B performance for 
“Plastic Off the Sofa” and song written for visual media for “Be Alive,”
 the Oscar-nominated song from the “King Richard” soundtrack.Merrill
 grabbed two nominations in the record of the year category for the 
second straight year for his work on Adele’s “Easy on Me” and Styles’ 
“As It Was.” It’s also his first time being nominated three times in the
 same year for album of the year.Other album of the year nominees
 include: Adele’s “30,” ABBA’s “Voyage,” Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti,”
 Mary J. Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous” (Deluxe), Carlile’s “In These 
Silent Days,” Coldplay’s “Music of the Spheres,” Lamar’s “Mr. Morale 
&amp; the Big Steppers,” Lizzo’s “Special” and Styles’ “Harry’s House.”Tracks
 competing with “Break My Soul” for record of the year include Styles’ 
“As It Was,” Doja Cat’s “Woman,” Adele’s “Easy On Me,” ABBA’s “Don’t 
Shut Me Down,” Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous,” Steve Lacy’s “Bad 
Habit,” Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5,” Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” and 
Carlile’s “You and Me On the Rock” featuring Lucius.Three of 
Jay-Z’s nominations came through DJ Khaled’s “God Did,” a song featuring
 Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend and Fridayy. The track is up for best
 rap performance and rap song along with song of the year, which also 
has Jay-Z nominated for his writing efforts on Beyoncé’s “Break My 
Soul.” The rapper also received a nod for album of the year for his work
 on his wife’s “Renaissance” album.Young Thug and Gunna both received nominations despite being currently <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-crime-arrests-georgia-1b33395632861d48b1314e90a962148a">locked up in a racketeering criminal case.</a> The rappers are up for best rap song and rap performance through Gunna's “pushin P,” featuring Thug and Future.Christina
 Aguilera's comeback to Latin music with her self-titled album earned 
her two nominations for best Latin pop album and immersive audio album.

By JOHN M. SLOOP <a href="https://theconversation.com/american-exceptionalism-at-the-world-cup-why-many-soccer-fans-in-the-us-will-be-cheering-on-another-team-probably-mexico-192545">The Conversation</a>

Soccer fans will turn their eyes to Qatar starting Nov. 20, 2020, as <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022">the World Cup</a> gets underway. But in the U.S., the question of which team will be cheered on from afar isn’t entirely straightforward.

You see, one of the anomalies of being a “typical” soccer fan in the United States – a group to which <a href="https://as.vanderbilt.edu/communication/people/john-m-sloop/">I belong</a> – is that, you are not, in fact, a “typical” soccer fan.

For many team’s supporters, the World Cup becomes an event to affirm one’s national identity. This is true, as cultural critic <a href="https://history.duke.edu/books/language-game-how-understand-soccer">Laurent Dubois</a> notes, even among fans that are not jingoistic or nationalistic in any other environment.

Indeed, the nationalist fervor that <a href="https://polisci.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/u245/andrew_bertoli_paper_05-01-17.pdf">emerges among crowds</a> can boil over into xenophobic inter-national violence. As renowned soccer historian <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Age-Football-Soccer-21st-Century/dp/0393541479/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MM5WQSWMHLPY&amp;keywords=david+goldblatt&amp;qid=1668107171&amp;sprefix=david+goldblatt%2Caps%2C177&amp;sr=8-1">David Goldblatt</a>
 noted in reference to English soccer crowds in the late 20th century, 
their “essential xenophobia” revealed a “rabid insular nationalism that 
was just a few notches more extreme than the foreign policy of the most 
Europhobic government since the Second World War.”

For Americans, though, the experience can be very different. Factors ranging from the <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/15869/favrotie-sports-league/">relatively low popularity of soccer compared with other sports</a>, <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/most-popular-soccer-clubs-in-the-u-s/">familiarity with overseas clubs</a>
 and perhaps more importantly – especially to Americans of Mexican 
heritage – an attachment to countries deemed to be more traditional 
“soccer nations” mean that we Americans can find ourselves oddly divided
 over the nation we support in the global game.

Soccer has <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/2022/09/23/soccer-the-fastest-growing-major-sport-in-usa/">come a long way in the U.S.</a> over the last few decades in terms of its domestic league and growing a support base.

Yet, outside of our national teams – both the U.S. Women’s National 
Soccer Team (USWNT) and its male counterparts, the USMNT – Americans are
 <a href="https://today.yougov.com/ratings/sports/popularity/soccer-teams/all">more likely to be familiar with teams in Europe</a> than in their own domestic league, Major League Soccer (MLS).

Indeed, <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/most-popular-soccer-clubs-in-the-u-s/">2020 research</a>
 into the most popular clubs for Americans found that FC Barcelona 
topped the list, followed by Real Madrid – both from the Spanish La 
Liga. The next four teams – Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and 
Arsenal – all play in the English Premier League (EPL).

You have to go <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/most-popular-soccer-clubs-in-the-u-s/">down the list to 12th</a>
 to find an MLS team, LA Galaxy. They and Atlanta United are the only 
two American clubs in a list of the top 20 most popular teams – as seen 
by Americans.

What this means is that soccer fans in the U.S. are, in the case of 
the men’s game, likely following players whose national identities are 
somewhere on the globe outside the U.S., given the <a href="https://www.90min.com/posts/every-usa-player-europe-top-leagues">relative lack of U.S. men’s representation</a> on Europe’s biggest teams.

This whole “national identity thing” gets even messier when you dig 
deeper into what soccer games are actually the most watched in the U.S.

Both the MLS and European leagues have loyal followers in the U.S. Reviewing Thanksgiving sports-watching in 2020, reporter <a href="https://the18.com/en/soccer-news/liga-mx-usa-tv-ratings-vs-mls-epl-telemundo-tudn">Connor Fleming noted</a> that the 12 most popular EPL and MLS games during the period had television audiences of 203,000 to 744,000 viewers.

But those figures are dwarfed, Fleming noted, by the biggest overseas
 soccer match watched over the period: Chivas v. Club América. Mexico’s <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2009947-guadalajara-vs-america-el-super-clasico-date-time-live-stream-and-tv-info">El Súper Clásico</a>, as the game is known, drew a total of 2.5 million viewers watching on Univision’s TUDN – the self-proclaimed “<a href="https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/tudn-us-soccer-univision/">home of soccer in the U.S.</a>”

And this wasn’t a fluke. Data shows that Mexico’s top league, Liga MX, has a total U.S. viewership in the U.S. <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/mls-fails-close-tv-ratings-gap-premier-league-liga-mx-20190410-CMS-268477.html">bigger than the MLS and the EPL combined</a>. From 2016 to 2018, it grew by 46%, <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/mls-fails-close-tv-ratings-gap-premier-league-liga-mx-20190410-CMS-268477.html">according to analysis</a> in December 2021.

What does it mean for American soccer identity at the World Cup that a
 majority of U.S. soccer fans prefer the Mexican league over the 
domestic league? And how does this translate into support, in 
particular, for the U.S. men’s national team?

The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-womens-soccer-fifa-world-cup-best-american-team-2019-6">unparalleled success of the U.S. women’s team</a> – an American exceptionalism of a different sort – has led to <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tv/nwsl-championship-tv-ratings-are-a-record-breaker-20221102-WST-406608.html">soaring television ratings</a> for the National Women’s Soccer League and a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/us-womens-soccer-games-now-generate-more-revenue-than-mens.html">greater focus on the women’s national team</a> and “American” players.

Yet it is fair to say that hard-core support for both the U.S. men’s 
and women’s national teams among people living in America trails behind 
that of Mexico.

As sports writer <a href="https://michael-lore.com/2022/05/25/mexico-is-the-most-popular-soccer-team-in-the-u-s/">Michael LoRé’s observed</a> in an article earlier this year, with 60 million fans in the U.S., Mexico is “the most popular soccer team in the U.S.”

<a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/highest-selling-soccer-jersey-2020/">Jerseys of the Mexican national team outsell</a> those of both the U.S. men’s and women’s teams in the United States. This was <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/highest-selling-soccer-jerseys-in-2019/">true even in 2019</a>, the year that the U.S. women’s team won the World Cup and their jerseys <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-womens-world-cup/story/3892049/jersey-sales-soaring-for-uswntsetting-records">outsold that of the men’s team for the first time</a>.

Such is the popularity of the Mexican national team, especially in 
large West Coast cities, that it can play in front of a “home crowd” on 
foreign territory – perhaps the only national team that can claim to do 
so.

Games against the U.S. are now scheduled in the Midwest and South – 
in places like Cincinnati, Columbus, Ohio, and Nashville, Tennessee – to
 account for the imbalance in home support for the teams above and below
 the border.

Not all U.S.-based soccer fans are comfortable with the idea of Mexico being considered a “home nation.” In 2018, after the <a href="https://time.com/5258984/is-the-us-in-the-2018-world-cup/">U.S. men’s team failed to qualify for the World Cup</a> held in Russia, former U.S. national team star Landon Donovan took part in the “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/landon-donovan-world-cup-other-team-mexico-2018-6">My Other Team is Mexico” campaign</a> – aimed at marketing the sport in the U.S. despite the national team’s absence.

“USA fans,” Donovan <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/donovan-fellow-ex-usmnt-stars-war-words-mexico-support-232039315.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEDYiK0M3nMkv9bYlecsNs-o-g3-o-ZnBFaTN_loF4y9jj7Ph_UOz6NuHsvGxPMCkDytf2vaEQqb9KnOeL7HIJ-8fs5BhgAQzO2nPXKt-t5nQXBbXBJd4sKUaPjXSXngJWoddmNysX3Hd2auwYOYmye-ZaO-v4ygpU9f3Xy9Igxe">wrote on Twitter</a>,
 “our team may not be in Russia, but our neighbors to the south are. So 
join me and their proud #sponsor @WellsFargo to cheer on our other team,
 Mexico.”

The response was mixed. “Nah man!!! Mexico is not ‘my team.’ Mexico is a rival …,” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BkHLM5-g6RG/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&amp;igshid=1h3e8dn9i0ulz">replied Donovan’s former teammate</a> Cobi Jones. Others <a href="https://twitter.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1008100642571907072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1008100642571907072%7Ctwgr%5E96e49a6390c5a05630087d99c6392991da7e2bb5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F2781516-landon-donovan-criticized-by-past-present-usmnt-members-for-supporting-mexico">expressed similar sentiments</a> in what dissolved into a messy online debate.

Donovan’s support of the Mexican team in the 2018 World Cup was seen 
by some as a cynical marketing move to keep U.S. fans tuned into the 
World Cup. And it should be noted that the Mexican and U.S. soccer 
federations were at the time <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-usa/story/4393273/us-soccer-mls-owned-soccer-united-marketing-parting-ways-after-nearly-20-years">marketed by the same organization</a> – Soccer United Marketing – for all games played in the U.S.

Nonetheless, the debate that the “other team” campaign provoked opens
 up interesting questions concerning nationalism and patriotism.

Multiple soccer scholars such as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Soccer-Against-Enemy-Revolutions-Dictators/dp/1568586337/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=simon+kuper&amp;qid=1668106882&amp;sr=8-9">Simon Kuper</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Language-Game-How-Understand-Soccer/dp/0465094481/ref=sr_1_9?crid=25KW9MFUYTAQ5&amp;keywords=Laurent+dubois&amp;qid=1668106978&amp;sprefix=laurent+dubois%2Caps%2C136&amp;sr=8-9">Lauren Dubois</a>
 have suggested that a country’s soccer team can represent the nation’s 
values. As such, it might be telling that a large segment of people 
living in the U.S. embrace another team.

Given the complexity of the U.S. soccer fan base – one with a large 
contingent loyal to either the Mexican team or elite players at European
 teams – and with the competition for attention from other professional 
sports, it’s perhaps not surprising that supporter loyalty in U.S. is 
more divided than in other countries.

In a country that holds dear the notion that “<a href="http://www1.assumption.edu/ahc/#:%7E:text=%22E%20Pluribus%20Unum%22%20was%20the,from%20a%20collection%20of%20states.">Out of Many, We are One</a>,” what does it say that, in soccer at least, “Out of Many, We are Two.”

John M Sloop is a Professor of Communication Studies at Vanderbilt University.

By JOHN M. SLOOP <a href="https://theconversation.com/american-exceptionalism-at-the-world-cup-why-many-soccer-fans-in-the-us-will-be-cheering-on-another-team-probably-mexico-192545">The Conversation</a>Soccer fans will turn their eyes to Qatar starting Nov. 20, 2020, as <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022">the World Cup</a> gets underway. But in the U.S., the question of which team will be cheered on from afar isn’t entirely straightforward.You see, one of the anomalies of being a “typical” soccer fan in the United States – a group to which <a href="https://as.vanderbilt.edu/communication/people/john-m-sloop/">I belong</a> – is that, you are not, in fact, a “typical” soccer fan. For many team’s supporters, the World Cup becomes an event to affirm one’s national identity. This is true, as cultural critic <a href="https://history.duke.edu/books/language-game-how-understand-soccer">Laurent Dubois</a> notes, even among fans that are not jingoistic or nationalistic in any other environment. Indeed, the nationalist fervor that <a href="https://polisci.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/u245/andrew_bertoli_paper_05-01-17.pdf">emerges among crowds</a> can boil over into xenophobic inter-national violence. As renowned soccer historian <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Age-Football-Soccer-21st-Century/dp/0393541479/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MM5WQSWMHLPY&amp;keywords=david+goldblatt&amp;qid=1668107171&amp;sprefix=david+goldblatt%2Caps%2C177&amp;sr=8-1">David Goldblatt</a>
 noted in reference to English soccer crowds in the late 20th century, 
their “essential xenophobia” revealed a “rabid insular nationalism that 
was just a few notches more extreme than the foreign policy of the most 
Europhobic government since the Second World War.”For Americans, though, the experience can be very different. Factors ranging from the <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/15869/favrotie-sports-league/">relatively low popularity of soccer compared with other sports</a>, <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/most-popular-soccer-clubs-in-the-u-s/">familiarity with overseas clubs</a>
 and perhaps more importantly – especially to Americans of Mexican 
heritage – an attachment to countries deemed to be more traditional 
“soccer nations” mean that we Americans can find ourselves oddly divided
 over the nation we support in the global game.<h2>Where is Uncle Sam in the global game?</h2>Soccer has <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/2022/09/23/soccer-the-fastest-growing-major-sport-in-usa/">come a long way in the U.S.</a> over the last few decades in terms of its domestic league and growing a support base.Yet, outside of our national teams – both the U.S. Women’s National 
Soccer Team (USWNT) and its male counterparts, the USMNT – Americans are
 <a href="https://today.yougov.com/ratings/sports/popularity/soccer-teams/all">more likely to be familiar with teams in Europe</a> than in their own domestic league, Major League Soccer (MLS).Indeed, <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/most-popular-soccer-clubs-in-the-u-s/">2020 research</a>
 into the most popular clubs for Americans found that FC Barcelona 
topped the list, followed by Real Madrid – both from the Spanish La 
Liga. The next four teams – Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and 
Arsenal – all play in the English Premier League (EPL).You have to go <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/most-popular-soccer-clubs-in-the-u-s/">down the list to 12th</a>
 to find an MLS team, LA Galaxy. They and Atlanta United are the only 
two American clubs in a list of the top 20 most popular teams – as seen 
by Americans. What this means is that soccer fans in the U.S. are, in the case of 
the men’s game, likely following players whose national identities are 
somewhere on the globe outside the U.S., given the <a href="https://www.90min.com/posts/every-usa-player-europe-top-leagues">relative lack of U.S. men’s representation</a> on Europe’s biggest teams.<h2>The growth of Liga MX</h2>This whole “national identity thing” gets even messier when you dig 
deeper into what soccer games are actually the most watched in the U.S.Both the MLS and European leagues have loyal followers in the U.S. Reviewing Thanksgiving sports-watching in 2020, reporter <a href="https://the18.com/en/soccer-news/liga-mx-usa-tv-ratings-vs-mls-epl-telemundo-tudn">Connor Fleming noted</a> that the 12 most popular EPL and MLS games during the period had television audiences of 203,000 to 744,000 viewers.But those figures are dwarfed, Fleming noted, by the biggest overseas
 soccer match watched over the period: Chivas v. Club América. Mexico’s <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2009947-guadalajara-vs-america-el-super-clasico-date-time-live-stream-and-tv-info">El Súper Clásico</a>, as the game is known, drew a total of 2.5 million viewers watching on Univision’s TUDN – the self-proclaimed “<a href="https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/tudn-us-soccer-univision/">home of soccer in the U.S.</a>”And this wasn’t a fluke. Data shows that Mexico’s top league, Liga MX, has a total U.S. viewership in the U.S. <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/mls-fails-close-tv-ratings-gap-premier-league-liga-mx-20190410-CMS-268477.html">bigger than the MLS and the EPL combined</a>. From 2016 to 2018, it grew by 46%, <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/mls-fails-close-tv-ratings-gap-premier-league-liga-mx-20190410-CMS-268477.html">according to analysis</a> in December 2021. What does it mean for American soccer identity at the World Cup that a
 majority of U.S. soccer fans prefer the Mexican league over the 
domestic league? And how does this translate into support, in 
particular, for the U.S. men’s national team?The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-womens-soccer-fifa-world-cup-best-american-team-2019-6">unparalleled success of the U.S. women’s team</a> – an American exceptionalism of a different sort – has led to <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tv/nwsl-championship-tv-ratings-are-a-record-breaker-20221102-WST-406608.html">soaring television ratings</a> for the National Women’s Soccer League and a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/us-womens-soccer-games-now-generate-more-revenue-than-mens.html">greater focus on the women’s national team</a> and “American” players.Yet it is fair to say that hard-core support for both the U.S. men’s 
and women’s national teams among people living in America trails behind 
that of Mexico.As sports writer <a href="https://michael-lore.com/2022/05/25/mexico-is-the-most-popular-soccer-team-in-the-u-s/">Michael LoRé’s observed</a> in an article earlier this year, with 60 million fans in the U.S., Mexico is “the most popular soccer team in the U.S.” <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/highest-selling-soccer-jersey-2020/">Jerseys of the Mexican national team outsell</a> those of both the U.S. men’s and women’s teams in the United States. This was <a href="https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/highest-selling-soccer-jerseys-in-2019/">true even in 2019</a>, the year that the U.S. women’s team won the World Cup and their jerseys <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-womens-world-cup/story/3892049/jersey-sales-soaring-for-uswntsetting-records">outsold that of the men’s team for the first time</a>.Such is the popularity of the Mexican national team, especially in 
large West Coast cities, that it can play in front of a “home crowd” on 
foreign territory – perhaps the only national team that can claim to do 
so.Games against the U.S. are now scheduled in the Midwest and South – 
in places like Cincinnati, Columbus, Ohio, and Nashville, Tennessee – to
 account for the imbalance in home support for the teams above and below
 the border.<h2>Can you have an ‘other’ team?</h2>Not all U.S.-based soccer fans are comfortable with the idea of Mexico being considered a “home nation.” In 2018, after the <a href="https://time.com/5258984/is-the-us-in-the-2018-world-cup/">U.S. men’s team failed to qualify for the World Cup</a> held in Russia, former U.S. national team star Landon Donovan took part in the “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/landon-donovan-world-cup-other-team-mexico-2018-6">My Other Team is Mexico” campaign</a> – aimed at marketing the sport in the U.S. despite the national team’s absence.“USA fans,” Donovan <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/donovan-fellow-ex-usmnt-stars-war-words-mexico-support-232039315.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEDYiK0M3nMkv9bYlecsNs-o-g3-o-ZnBFaTN_loF4y9jj7Ph_UOz6NuHsvGxPMCkDytf2vaEQqb9KnOeL7HIJ-8fs5BhgAQzO2nPXKt-t5nQXBbXBJd4sKUaPjXSXngJWoddmNysX3Hd2auwYOYmye-ZaO-v4ygpU9f3Xy9Igxe">wrote on Twitter</a>,
 “our team may not be in Russia, but our neighbors to the south are. So 
join me and their proud #sponsor @WellsFargo to cheer on our other team,
 Mexico.”The response was mixed. “Nah man!!! Mexico is not ‘my team.’ Mexico is a rival …,” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BkHLM5-g6RG/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&amp;igshid=1h3e8dn9i0ulz">replied Donovan’s former teammate</a> Cobi Jones. Others <a href="https://twitter.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1008100642571907072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1008100642571907072%7Ctwgr%5E96e49a6390c5a05630087d99c6392991da7e2bb5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F2781516-landon-donovan-criticized-by-past-present-usmnt-members-for-supporting-mexico">expressed similar sentiments</a> in what dissolved into a messy online debate.Donovan’s support of the Mexican team in the 2018 World Cup was seen 
by some as a cynical marketing move to keep U.S. fans tuned into the 
World Cup. And it should be noted that the Mexican and U.S. soccer 
federations were at the time <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-usa/story/4393273/us-soccer-mls-owned-soccer-united-marketing-parting-ways-after-nearly-20-years">marketed by the same organization</a> – Soccer United Marketing – for all games played in the U.S.Nonetheless, the debate that the “other team” campaign provoked opens
 up interesting questions concerning nationalism and patriotism.<h2>A nation of two halves?</h2>Multiple soccer scholars such as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Soccer-Against-Enemy-Revolutions-Dictators/dp/1568586337/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=simon+kuper&amp;qid=1668106882&amp;sr=8-9">Simon Kuper</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Language-Game-How-Understand-Soccer/dp/0465094481/ref=sr_1_9?crid=25KW9MFUYTAQ5&amp;keywords=Laurent+dubois&amp;qid=1668106978&amp;sprefix=laurent+dubois%2Caps%2C136&amp;sr=8-9">Lauren Dubois</a>
 have suggested that a country’s soccer team can represent the nation’s 
values. As such, it might be telling that a large segment of people 
living in the U.S. embrace another team. Given the complexity of the U.S. soccer fan base – one with a large 
contingent loyal to either the Mexican team or elite players at European
 teams – and with the competition for attention from other professional 
sports, it’s perhaps not surprising that supporter loyalty in U.S. is 
more divided than in other countries.In a country that holds dear the notion that “<a href="http://www1.assumption.edu/ahc/#:%7E:text=%22E%20Pluribus%20Unum%22%20was%20the,from%20a%20collection%20of%20states.">Out of Many, We are One</a>,” what does it say that, in soccer at least, “Out of Many, We are Two.”John M Sloop is a Professor of Communication Studies at Vanderbilt University.<div><iframe src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192545/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe></div>

Why many soccer fans in the US will be cheering on another team (probably Mexico)

&nbsp; On this week's Tiger Talk, Voice of the Tigers Gerard Wellbrock speaks with Fort Hays State University Head Women's Basketball Coach Tony Hobson and Head Men's Basketball Coach Mark Johnson.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oNMdPLWZsxA"></iframe>
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp; On this week's Tiger Talk, Voice of the Tigers Gerard Wellbrock speaks with Fort Hays State University Head Women's Basketball Coach Tony Hobson and Head Men's Basketball Coach Mark Johnson.&nbsp;

🎥🏀 Watch This Week's Tiger Talk

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grammy.com/">Recording Academy</a>&nbsp;will announce nominees for the 65th Grammy Awards on Tuesday with some significant additions.

The academy earlier this year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-026433f3356e976dbec7d16b3b7d7c65">five new categories including songwriter of the year</a>&nbsp;to honor music’s best composer and a special song for social change award.

The non-classical songwriter category will recognize one individual who was the “most prolific” non-performing and non-producing songwriter for a body of new work. It will take a different approach than song of the year, which awards the songwriters who wrote the lyrics or melodies to one song.

This year’s announcement will be made on a livestream beginning at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific at&nbsp;<a href="https://live.grammy.com/">https://live.grammy.com/</a>. Among those announcing the nominees this year will be Olivia Rodrigo, John Legend, Machine Gun Kelly and Smokey Robinson.

Possible nominees include Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Harry Styles and Adele. Some other hopefuls include Lizzo and Steve Lacy, who both had two of the biggest songs this year.

The Grammy Awards will be handed out Feb. 5 in Los Angeles.

The new category for songwriters is a huge step forward. Last year, a rule update allowed that any songwriter, producer, engineer or featured artist on an album nominated for album of the year could ultimately earn a nomination.

The four other categories include best spoken word poetry album, alternative music performance, Americana music performance and score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JONATHAN%20LANDRUM%20Jr.%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer</a>LOS ANGELES (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grammy.com/">Recording Academy</a>&nbsp;will announce nominees for the 65th Grammy Awards on Tuesday with some significant additions.The academy earlier this year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-026433f3356e976dbec7d16b3b7d7c65">five new categories including songwriter of the year</a>&nbsp;to honor music’s best composer and a special song for social change award.The non-classical songwriter category will recognize one individual who was the “most prolific” non-performing and non-producing songwriter for a body of new work. It will take a different approach than song of the year, which awards the songwriters who wrote the lyrics or melodies to one song.This year’s announcement will be made on a livestream beginning at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific at&nbsp;<a href="https://live.grammy.com/">https://live.grammy.com/</a>. Among those announcing the nominees this year will be Olivia Rodrigo, John Legend, Machine Gun Kelly and Smokey Robinson.Possible nominees include Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Harry Styles and Adele. Some other hopefuls include Lizzo and Steve Lacy, who both had two of the biggest songs this year.The Grammy Awards will be handed out Feb. 5 in Los Angeles.The new category for songwriters is a huge step forward. Last year, a rule update allowed that any songwriter, producer, engineer or featured artist on an album nominated for album of the year could ultimately earn a nomination.The four other categories include best spoken word poetry album, alternative music performance, Americana music performance and score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media.

Grammy nominations to be announced, with 5 new categories

The doorbell rang and the lady of the house discovered a workman, complete with tool chest, on the front porch. “Madam,” he announced, “I’m the piano tuner.” The lady exclaimed, “Why, I didn’t send for a piano tuner.” The man replied, “I know you didn’t, but your neighbors did.”

Join fans of KZ Country on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

The doorbell rang and the lady of the house discovered a workman, complete with tool chest, on the front porch. “Madam,” he announced, “I’m the piano tuner.” The lady exclaimed, “Why, I didn’t send for a piano tuner.” The man replied, “I know you didn’t, but your neighbors did.”Join fans of KZ Country on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 11/15/22

By JEFFREY SCHAEFFER Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — An Iranian man who lived for 18 years in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport and whose saga loosely inspired the <a href="https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/2004/06-18/487003__terminal__leaves_you_waiting_a.html">Steven Spielberg film “The Terminal”</a> died Saturday in the airport that he long called home, officials said.

Mehran
 Karimi Nasseri died after a heart attack in the airport’s Terminal 2F 
around midday, according an official with the Paris airport authority. 
Police and a medical team treated him but were not able to save him, the
 official said. The official was not authorized to be publicly named.

Nasseri
 lived in the airport’s Terminal 1 from 1988 until 2006, first in legal 
limbo because he lacked residency papers and later by apparent choice.

Year
 in and year out, he slept on a red plastic bench, making friends with 
airport workers, showering in staff facilities, writing in his diary, 
reading magazines and surveying passing travelers.

Staff nicknamed him Lord Alfred, and he became a mini-celebrity among passengers.

“Eventually, I will leave the airport,” he <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-14-mn-55716-story.html">told The Associated Press in 1999</a>,
 smoking a pipe on his bench, looking frail with long thin hair, sunken 
eyes and hollow cheeks. “But I am still waiting for a passport or 
transit visa.”

Nasseri was born in 1945 in Soleiman, a part of 
Iran then under British jurisdiction, to an Iranian father and a British
 mother. He left Iran to study in England in 1974. When he returned, he 
said, he was imprisoned for protesting against the shah and expelled 
without a passport.

He applied for political asylum in several 
countries in Europe. The UNHCR in Belgium gave him refugee credentials, 
but he said his briefcase containing the refugee certificate was stolen 
in a Paris train station.

French police later arrested him, but 
couldn't deport him anywhere because he had no official documents. He 
ended up at Charles de Gaulle in August 1988 and stayed.

Further bureaucratic bungling and increasingly strict European immigration laws kept him in a legal no-man's land for years.

When
 he finally received refugee papers, he described his surprise, and his 
insecurity, about leaving the airport. He reportedly refused to sign 
them, and ended up staying there several more years until he was 
hospitalized in 2006, and later lived in a Paris shelter.

Those 
who befriended him in the airport said the years of living in the 
windowless space took a toll on his mental state. The airport doctor in 
the 1990s worried about his physical and mental health, and described 
him as “fossilized here.” A ticket agent friend compared him to a 
prisoner incapable of “living on the outside."

In the weeks before his death, Nasseri had been again living at Charles de Gaulle, the airport official said.

Nasseri's
 mind-boggling tale loosely inspired 2004's “The Terminal” starring Tom 
Hanks, as well as a French film, “Lost in Transit,” and an opera called 
“Flight.”

In “The Terminal,” Hanks plays Viktor Navorski, a man 
who arrives at JFK airport in New York from the fictional Eastern 
European country of Krakozhia and discovers that an overnight political 
revolution has invalidated all his traveling papers. Viktor is dumped 
into the airport’s international lounge and told he must stay there 
until his status is sorted out, which drags on as unrest in Krakozhia 
continues.

No information was immediately available about survivors.

By JEFFREY SCHAEFFER Associated PressPARIS (AP) — An Iranian man who lived for 18 years in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport and whose saga loosely inspired the <a href="https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/2004/06-18/487003__terminal__leaves_you_waiting_a.html">Steven Spielberg film “The Terminal”</a> died Saturday in the airport that he long called home, officials said.Mehran
 Karimi Nasseri died after a heart attack in the airport’s Terminal 2F 
around midday, according an official with the Paris airport authority. 
Police and a medical team treated him but were not able to save him, the
 official said. The official was not authorized to be publicly named.Nasseri
 lived in the airport’s Terminal 1 from 1988 until 2006, first in legal 
limbo because he lacked residency papers and later by apparent choice.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668455970577.jpg" alt="Charles de Gaulle Airport / Pixabay photo" />
 <figcaption>Charles de Gaulle Airport / Pixabay photo</figcaption>
 </figure>Year
 in and year out, he slept on a red plastic bench, making friends with 
airport workers, showering in staff facilities, writing in his diary, 
reading magazines and surveying passing travelers.Staff nicknamed him Lord Alfred, and he became a mini-celebrity among passengers.“Eventually, I will leave the airport,” he <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-14-mn-55716-story.html">told The Associated Press in 1999</a>,
 smoking a pipe on his bench, looking frail with long thin hair, sunken 
eyes and hollow cheeks. “But I am still waiting for a passport or 
transit visa.”Nasseri was born in 1945 in Soleiman, a part of 
Iran then under British jurisdiction, to an Iranian father and a British
 mother. He left Iran to study in England in 1974. When he returned, he 
said, he was imprisoned for protesting against the shah and expelled 
without a passport.He applied for political asylum in several 
countries in Europe. The UNHCR in Belgium gave him refugee credentials, 
but he said his briefcase containing the refugee certificate was stolen 
in a Paris train station.French police later arrested him, but 
couldn't deport him anywhere because he had no official documents. He 
ended up at Charles de Gaulle in August 1988 and stayed.Further bureaucratic bungling and increasingly strict European immigration laws kept him in a legal no-man's land for years.When
 he finally received refugee papers, he described his surprise, and his 
insecurity, about leaving the airport. He reportedly refused to sign 
them, and ended up staying there several more years until he was 
hospitalized in 2006, and later lived in a Paris shelter.Those 
who befriended him in the airport said the years of living in the 
windowless space took a toll on his mental state. The airport doctor in 
the 1990s worried about his physical and mental health, and described 
him as “fossilized here.” A ticket agent friend compared him to a 
prisoner incapable of “living on the outside."In the weeks before his death, Nasseri had been again living at Charles de Gaulle, the airport official said.Nasseri's
 mind-boggling tale loosely inspired 2004's “The Terminal” starring Tom 
Hanks, as well as a French film, “Lost in Transit,” and an opera called 
“Flight.”In “The Terminal,” Hanks plays Viktor Navorski, a man 
who arrives at JFK airport in New York from the fictional Eastern 
European country of Krakozhia and discovers that an overnight political 
revolution has invalidated all his traveling papers. Viktor is dumped 
into the airport’s international lounge and told he must stay there 
until his status is sorted out, which drags on as unrest in Krakozhia 
continues.No information was immediately available about survivors.

Iranian who inspired 'The Terminal' dies at Paris airport

By DEWEY TERRILL JC Post

JUNCTION CITY —&nbsp;Justin Aaron of Junction City has advanced into the live round of "The 
Voice" on NBC. Aaron said there are four contestants on each team for a 
total of 16 contestants. 

"In the live playoffs, which happen Monday, every
 act gets to sing a song and after they sing the voting lines are open. 
Everyone go out and download 'The Voice' official app." 

You can vote 10&nbsp; times for your favorite artist.

"In the top 16 round, you are 
actually able to vote for two artists on each team. With that being said,&nbsp; the two artists with the highest number of votes on the Tuesday 
elimination show automatically move through. The bottom two stand before
 the coaches and each coach is able to pick one contestant. That will be
 the top three on each team."

Live rounds go from the top 16 down to the end of the season in mid-December when the next winner of "The Voice" is crowned.

By DEWEY TERRILL JC PostJUNCTION CITY —&nbsp;Justin Aaron of Junction City has advanced into the live round of "The 
Voice" on NBC. Aaron said there are four contestants on each team for a 
total of 16 contestants. "In the live playoffs, which happen Monday, every
 act gets to sing a song and after they sing the voting lines are open. 
Everyone go out and download 'The Voice' official app." You can vote 10&nbsp; times for your favorite artist."In the top 16 round, you are 
actually able to vote for two artists on each team. With that being said,&nbsp; the two artists with the highest number of votes on the Tuesday 
elimination show automatically move through. The bottom two stand before
 the coaches and each coach is able to pick one contestant. That will be
 the top three on each team."Live rounds go from the top 16 down to the end of the season in mid-December when the next winner of "The Voice" is crowned.

Kansas man will perform in the live playoff round of 'The Voice'

LONDON (AP) — Just minutes after finishing the last Premier League match before the <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup">World Cup</a>, Manchester United duo Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen both questioned the decision to stage the tournament in Qatar.

Fernandes
 said the World Cup “should be done in a better way,” criticizing the 
timing of the tournament and highlighting Qatar's treatment of migrant 
workers.

The Qatar World Cup — which starts next weekend — is the 
first to be played in November and December rather than in June-July 
because of the desert nation's searing heat in the summer. Qatar has 
also faced intense scrutiny of its treatment of the hundreds of 
thousands of migrant workers who were needed in the tiny emirate since 
the World Cup hosting rights were won 12 years ago. Amnesty 
International says dozens may have died from apparent heat stroke.

Qatar's
 views on homosexuality — which is criminalized in the country — has 
also been heavily criticized and the comments by Fernandes indicated 
that players will not hesitate to speak up about issues even as the 
tournament draws near.

“It’s not exactly the time we want to be 
playing in the World Cup,” Fernandes, who plays for Portugal, told Sky 
Sports after a 2-1 win over Fulham. “We know the surroundings of the 
World Cup, what has been in the past few weeks, past few months, about 
the people that have died on the construction of the stadiums. We are 
not happy about that at all. ... We want football to be for everyone, 
everyone has to be included and involved in a World Cup because a World 
Cup is the world. It’s for everyone, it doesn’t matter who. But for a 
World Cup it’s more than football, it’s a party for fans, players, 
something that’s a joy to watch, (it) should be done in a better way."

Eriksen,
 who will play for Denmark in Qatar after recovering from suffering 
cardiac arrest during a game at last year's European Championship, 
echoed Fernandes' comments.

“I totally agree with Bruno. There is a
 lot of focus on it, how the World Cup has happened and why it is in 
Qatar. Everyone agrees it hasn’t been done in the right way," Eriksen 
said. “We are footballers, we play football — politics is about 
something above us to make that decision. Of course we try to say our 
thing and do what we can. We want to get focus on it, but the change has
 to come from somewhere else.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668448327601.jpeg" alt="Fulham's head coach Marco Silva, left, speaks with Manchester United's Christian Eriksen during the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Manchester United at the Craven Cottage stadium in London, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Leila Coker)" />
 <figcaption>Fulham's head coach Marco Silva, left, speaks with Manchester United's Christian Eriksen during the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Manchester United at the Craven Cottage stadium in London, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Leila Coker)</figcaption>
 </figure>LONDON (AP) — Just minutes after finishing the last Premier League match before the <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup">World Cup</a>, Manchester United duo Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen both questioned the decision to stage the tournament in Qatar.Fernandes
 said the World Cup “should be done in a better way,” criticizing the 
timing of the tournament and highlighting Qatar's treatment of migrant 
workers.The Qatar World Cup — which starts next weekend — is the 
first to be played in November and December rather than in June-July 
because of the desert nation's searing heat in the summer. Qatar has 
also faced intense scrutiny of its treatment of the hundreds of 
thousands of migrant workers who were needed in the tiny emirate since 
the World Cup hosting rights were won 12 years ago. Amnesty 
International says dozens may have died from apparent heat stroke.Qatar's
 views on homosexuality — which is criminalized in the country — has 
also been heavily criticized and the comments by Fernandes indicated 
that players will not hesitate to speak up about issues even as the 
tournament draws near.“It’s not exactly the time we want to be 
playing in the World Cup,” Fernandes, who plays for Portugal, told Sky 
Sports after a 2-1 win over Fulham. “We know the surroundings of the 
World Cup, what has been in the past few weeks, past few months, about 
the people that have died on the construction of the stadiums. We are 
not happy about that at all. ... We want football to be for everyone, 
everyone has to be included and involved in a World Cup because a World 
Cup is the world. It’s for everyone, it doesn’t matter who. But for a 
World Cup it’s more than football, it’s a party for fans, players, 
something that’s a joy to watch, (it) should be done in a better way."Eriksen,
 who will play for Denmark in Qatar after recovering from suffering 
cardiac arrest during a game at last year's European Championship, 
echoed Fernandes' comments.“I totally agree with Bruno. There is a
 lot of focus on it, how the World Cup has happened and why it is in 
Qatar. Everyone agrees it hasn’t been done in the right way," Eriksen 
said. “We are footballers, we play football — politics is about 
something above us to make that decision. Of course we try to say our 
thing and do what we can. We want to get focus on it, but the change has
 to come from somewhere else.”

'Not happy': Man United duo criticizes Qatar World Cup

How does a cucumber become a pickle? It goes through a jarring experience.

How does a cucumber become a pickle? It goes through a jarring experience.Join fans of KZ Country on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 11/14/22

By JAMES BELL 
Hays Post

The annual Festival of the Trees fundraiser silent auction is underway
at the Arc Thrift Shop in downtown Hays, showcasing incredible creativity that
results in Christmas decorations featuring an array of bold colors and dramatic
themes.

Funds from the event will go toward the ARC Park, 3300 Hillcrest Drive,
<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/7fc4457d-51ad-46fc-8e33-98d7ecd0f3f9">where
construction began on an amphitheater in September</a>.&nbsp;The park already
features a playground with accessible playground equipment and a splash pad.

While the fundraiser is decidedly a Christmas affair, the sale marks
the culmination of a year’s work.

“I
start in January, when donations are coming in, and I plow through all the
Christmas stuff, and I just set stuff aside,” said Kathy McAdoo, Arc of Central Plains executive director. “And then
from all that stuff that gets set aside, this gets created.” 

She said
unusual things come in, but that only makes for more unique decorations.

“The
more unusual, the better,” McAdoo said. “It's different every year because the
donations are different every year. But the cool thing is this to look at what
you can do with things you buy in a thrift store.”

After
setting items aside in June, work began handcrafting various Christmas
adornments from those donations made to the Arc Thrift Shop, 600 Main.

<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/064162df-c34f-4803-8f92-dc21f82eb50b">Those
creations that will soon help fund the park and brighten homes during the
holidays for years to come are the work of two dedicated volunteers, Donna McKenzie and Joan Heier, McAdoo said.</a>

“If it
weren't for them, this wouldn't happen,” she said. “Not at all.”

The pair’s creativity was on full display this
year, with decorations and trees made from items sometimes never thought of as Christmas
decorations.

Examples include a Christmas wreath made from a
horse collar and a neon Elvis sign that stands in as a tree topper.

But creating one-of-a-kind
Christmas decorations out of them is a valuable way to help the community and
more than a bit of fun, Heier said.

“When I
first started doing it, it was like, ‘Oh, my goodness, you can come and create
something from something that someone else has given away, And it will benefit
the IDD community as well.’ OK!” she said. “And through that process, I have
made wonderful friends. It just makes me feel good to see that something is
being used and reused and redone, and it's not being thrown away and going for
a wonderful cause.”

McKenzie said just recently she
saw a heartwarming reminder of why the months of work are so valuable in a post
on the ARC Park Facebook page that showed an area resident enjoying the accessible
playground.

“His smile
is just huge, and his mom says, 'We come here because this is the only park he
can be a kid at,' ” she said. “And so that's my purpose in being here.”

Exploring
fun ideas to create the decorations makes it even better, McKenzie said. 

Among her creations this year are felt mice — cleverly placed around one tree, visible
to only the most attentive passerby — and bees made out of old beads. 

“I like
to find things and turn them into entirely different things,” McKenzie said.

Among
her favorite decorations this year is a Nutcracker ballet-themed tree featuring the felt mice and ballet fixtures.

“And
then I have the Buddy the Elf tree, which I have a lot of the phrases from
Buddy the Elf the movie with Will Ferrell,” McKenzie said.

One of Heier’s favorites is a tree featuring a tabletop-sized
nativity.

“That
was the inspiration for the tree,” McAdoo said. “That is where that came from,
we built a tree around that nativity. And that happens frequently, one little
thing becomes the inspiration for a whole tree. Like the Elvis light.”

Another item of note during this
year’s auction features trains from volunteer Cal Mahin.

“He
donated all of these Hallmark Christmas ornaments,” Heier said. “And when they came in, it was like, ‘I really
want to do something with that tree.’&nbsp;

“And
we're calling it Cal’s Train Tree,” she said.

While many of the trees and decorations are
made of repurposed items, some of the auction items are vintage Christmas
decorations or fashionable modern pieces that had been donated.

“We get
things like Waterford ornaments and other things that are out in the hallway
that, you know, we don't have to do anything with,” McAdoo said. “But they're
unique enough that we include them in the auction because they're unique. And
they're a little more high-end.”

She said
the best way to experience the amount of detail and creativity put into
this year’s silent auction is to visit the Arc Thrift Shop, open from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

“It's
important to go online and see them,” McKenzie said. “But coming in person, you
get to see the trees up close and personal and really look at them and kind of
go, ‘Oh, look what they did with this and turned it into that.’ ”

To view items online and bid, visit
<a href="https://www.haysarcpark.org/">haysarcpark.org.</a>

McAdoo
encourages everyone to “bid high and bid often.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668110213933.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By JAMES BELL 
Hays PostThe annual Festival of the Trees fundraiser silent auction is underway
at the Arc Thrift Shop in downtown Hays, showcasing incredible creativity that
results in Christmas decorations featuring an array of bold colors and dramatic
themes.Funds from the event will go toward the ARC Park, 3300 Hillcrest Drive,
<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/7fc4457d-51ad-46fc-8e33-98d7ecd0f3f9">where
construction began on an amphitheater in September</a>.&nbsp;The park already
features a playground with accessible playground equipment and a splash pad.While the fundraiser is decidedly a Christmas affair, the sale marks
the culmination of a year’s work.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668109981793.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>“I
start in January, when donations are coming in, and I plow through all the
Christmas stuff, and I just set stuff aside,” said Kathy McAdoo, Arc of Central Plains executive director. “And then
from all that stuff that gets set aside, this gets created.” She said
unusual things come in, but that only makes for more unique decorations.“The
more unusual, the better,” McAdoo said. “It's different every year because the
donations are different every year. But the cool thing is this to look at what
you can do with things you buy in a thrift store.”After
setting items aside in June, work began handcrafting various Christmas
adornments from those donations made to the Arc Thrift Shop, 600 Main.<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/064162df-c34f-4803-8f92-dc21f82eb50b">Those
creations that will soon help fund the park and brighten homes during the
holidays for years to come are the work of two dedicated volunteers, Donna McKenzie and Joan Heier, McAdoo said.</a> “If it
weren't for them, this wouldn't happen,” she said. “Not at all.”The pair’s creativity was on full display this
year, with decorations and trees made from items sometimes never thought of as Christmas
decorations.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668110230038.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Examples include a Christmas wreath made from a
horse collar and a neon Elvis sign that stands in as a tree topper.But creating one-of-a-kind
Christmas decorations out of them is a valuable way to help the community and
more than a bit of fun, Heier said.“When I
first started doing it, it was like, ‘Oh, my goodness, you can come and create
something from something that someone else has given away, And it will benefit
the IDD community as well.’ OK!” she said. “And through that process, I have
made wonderful friends. It just makes me feel good to see that something is
being used and reused and redone, and it's not being thrown away and going for
a wonderful cause.”McKenzie said just recently she
saw a heartwarming reminder of why the months of work are so valuable in a post
on the ARC Park Facebook page that showed an area resident enjoying the accessible
playground.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FHAYSARCPARK%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0jZCKN7kHfzfYY3tSFzrA84kZLDzKkPRjdB1smXih8DZ8bqj3h7hP3q5ZqjNrnqYbl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="748" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>“His smile
is just huge, and his mom says, 'We come here because this is the only park he
can be a kid at,' ” she said. “And so that's my purpose in being here.”Exploring
fun ideas to create the decorations makes it even better, McKenzie said. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668110287805.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Among her creations this year are felt mice — cleverly placed around one tree, visible
to only the most attentive passerby — and bees made out of old beads. “I like
to find things and turn them into entirely different things,” McKenzie said.Among
her favorite decorations this year is a Nutcracker ballet-themed tree featuring the felt mice and ballet fixtures.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668109939989.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>“And
then I have the Buddy the Elf tree, which I have a lot of the phrases from
Buddy the Elf the movie with Will Ferrell,” McKenzie said.One of Heier’s favorites is a tree featuring a tabletop-sized
nativity.“That
was the inspiration for the tree,” McAdoo said. “That is where that came from,
we built a tree around that nativity. And that happens frequently, one little
thing becomes the inspiration for a whole tree. Like the Elvis light.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668109994716.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Another item of note during this
year’s auction features trains from volunteer Cal Mahin.“He
donated all of these Hallmark Christmas ornaments,” Heier said. “And when they came in, it was like, ‘I really
want to do something with that tree.’&nbsp;“And
we're calling it Cal’s Train Tree,” she said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668110006728.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>While many of the trees and decorations are
made of repurposed items, some of the auction items are vintage Christmas
decorations or fashionable modern pieces that had been donated.“We get
things like Waterford ornaments and other things that are out in the hallway
that, you know, we don't have to do anything with,” McAdoo said. “But they're
unique enough that we include them in the auction because they're unique. And
they're a little more high-end.”She said
the best way to experience the amount of detail and creativity put into
this year’s silent auction is to visit the Arc Thrift Shop, open from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668110019110.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>“It's
important to go online and see them,” McKenzie said. “But coming in person, you
get to see the trees up close and personal and really look at them and kind of
go, ‘Oh, look what they did with this and turned it into that.’ ”To view items online and bid, visit
<a href="https://www.haysarcpark.org/">haysarcpark.org.</a>McAdoo
encourages everyone to “bid high and bid often.”The auction closes at 5
p.m. Nov. 15.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668110192297.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668110272893.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>

Creativity on display during Festival of the Trees ARC Park fundraiser

By MARK PRATT Associated Press

A
 deeply personal collection of love letters in which a teenage Bob Dylan
 tells his high-school sweetheart that he envisions changing his name 
and selling a million records is going up for sale in Boston.

The 
Hibbing, Minnesota, boy — still known then as Bob Zimmerman — wrote the 
42 letters totaling 150 pages to Barbara Ann Hewitt between 1957 and 
1959. The missives, to be auctioned by RR Auction, have never before 
been made public and shed light on a period in the folk-rock icon’s life
 for which not much firsthand information is known.

“This archive 
is one of the most culturally important of the 20th century we have ever
 offered,” said RR Auction Executive Vice President Bobby Livingston, a 
big Dylan fan.

The collection, including a lavish Valentine's card, is a “first-person account of Dylan's formative years,” he said.

Hewitt's
 daughter found the letters after her mother died in 2020. They, along 
with the original envelopes addressed in Dylan's handwriting, are being 
offered as a single lot with a starting bid of $250,000. Bidding closes 
on Nov. 17.

RR Auction is not releasing the exact content of the 
letters ahead of time, but they deal with timeless and universal teenage
 concerns: clothes, cars, and musical tastes, the auction house said.

By MARK PRATT Associated PressA
 deeply personal collection of love letters in which a teenage Bob Dylan
 tells his high-school sweetheart that he envisions changing his name 
and selling a million records is going up for sale in Boston.The 
Hibbing, Minnesota, boy — still known then as Bob Zimmerman — wrote the 
42 letters totaling 150 pages to Barbara Ann Hewitt between 1957 and 
1959. The missives, to be auctioned by RR Auction, have never before 
been made public and shed light on a period in the folk-rock icon’s life
 for which not much firsthand information is known.“This archive 
is one of the most culturally important of the 20th century we have ever
 offered,” said RR Auction Executive Vice President Bobby Livingston, a 
big Dylan fan.The collection, including a lavish Valentine's card, is a “first-person account of Dylan's formative years,” he said.Hewitt's
 daughter found the letters after her mother died in 2020. They, along 
with the original envelopes addressed in Dylan's handwriting, are being 
offered as a single lot with a starting bid of $250,000. Bidding closes 
on Nov. 17.RR Auction is not releasing the exact content of the 
letters ahead of time, but they deal with timeless and universal teenage
 concerns: clothes, cars, and musical tastes, the auction house said.Dylan,
 now 81, also included snippets of poetry and professed his love for 
Hewitt. Perhaps most impressively, he also imagined his future success.In
 one letter, he asks Hewitt for feedback about changing his name (Little
 Willie and Elston are mentioned in the letters), and writes about 
selling a million records (he's actually sold about 125 million) and 
appearing on “American Bandstand" in front of throngs of screaming 
girls.“They really give an insight into how he's going to present
 himself," Livingston said. “It shows that Dylan dreamed all this up, 
and it all came true — he foresaw it."Alas, like most teenage 
romances, it came to an end. In one of the last letters, the future 
Nobel laureate asks Hewitt to return the photographs he sent her.But
 it seems likely Dylan did not forget her. Hewitt's daughter told RR 
Auction that Dylan called her mother sometime in the late 1960s after 
he'd hit the big time and asked her to come to California. She turned 
him down.Hewitt was a redhead, and Livingston speculates that 
Dylan's references to redheaded or auburn-haired women in some songs 
were inspired by Hewitt, including “Tangled Up in Blue” where in one 
line he wonders “if her hair was still red."Hewitt moved on, 
apparently. She married another Hibbing man, but divorced in the late 
1970s after seven years and never remarried, her daughter told the 
auction house.