A brand-new Shen Yun performance is coming to Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in downtown Seattle this spring, from March 27 to April 5. Purchase tickets from McCaw Hall or at ShenYun.com.

World-renowned theatrical experience pushes boundaries and revives ancient culture

How often do you get to see a show that touches your heart and dazzles your senses? When was the last time you had a fully immersive experience that moved your soul?

Shen Yun is a multidisciplinary Chinese performance known around the world. Its an authentic Chinese experience you wont see in China today.

Shen Yun is a transporting experience that takes you to almost heavenly realms, says Michael Green, spokesperson for the local Shen Yun presenter.

Sit down at a Shen Yun performance and youll experience elegant, acrobatic dancing, beautiful bel canto vocals, spectacular costumes and high-tech sets. Each of the seven performance groups tours with its own live orchestra, with top-caliber musicians playing original compositions on Chinese and Western instruments.

Modern Revival

In 2006 a group of artists gathered in New York to revive a traditional art form for the modern era. Thirteen years later, Shen Yun has become the worlds premier classical Chinese dance company touring 150 cities around the world.

Each year Shen Yun creates a completely new show with brand new stories, music, costumes and choreography. So whether youve seen Shen Yun before or are experiencing it for the first time, youre sure to have a novel, moving experience.

5,000 years of stories

With Shen Yun youre not just watching a show, youre experiencing a rich history almost like youre living though it, Green says.

The performance has the power to make personal connections with audience members, often moving them to tears.

It hits so deeply in a positive way, Green says, Thats the power of the show. Everyone benefits in some way.

A brand-new performance is coming to Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in downtown Seattle this spring, from March 27 to April 5. Purchase tickets from McCaw Hall or at ShenYun.com.

Every Shen Yun performance includes dancing, singing and a live orchestra with top-caliber musicians playing original compositions on Chinese and Western instruments. A brand-new performance is coming to Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in downtown Seattle this spring, from March 27 to April 5. Purchase tickets from McCaw Hall or at ShenYun.com.

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Spectacular multidisciplinary performance journeys through 5000 years of civilization - Seattle Weekly

We regularly hear people asking about L&Ds function within a business and where it should sit in relation to HR and the business units. For instance, is it a function of HR or a partner of the business in and of itself? Do the two need one another or can they work independently?

In our view, often when L&D is a mature and established department, it tends to remain as a function of HR. When this is the case, however, there appears to be a sense of detachment from the primary business drivers (provision of services or products). In contrast, when we have witnessed L&D aligned with key business areas and objectives, this close working is usually driven and led by the business areas themselves rather than by L&D.

For L&D to be a partner within the business, they must first and foremost understand the company purpose and strategy.

We see very different imperatives driving training procurement for a more traditional, HR-based approach, versus the procurement of L&D services directly by the business areas themselves. All too often, it feels as though L&D are passive participants in the business, rather than proactive in bringing their services and capabilities to the party.

With an increasing business focus on efficiencies and cost savings, however, competitive advantage being derived through customer experience, and the ongoing pressures of digital transformation, L&D has a real opportunity to take a seat at the transformation table. They can do this by focusing training around specific business needs and by building cohorts of people with similar problems to solve rather than having courses open to all.

Whilst we have the desire to create a Peter Senge style continuous learning organisation, we also must appreciate that L&D cannot be a passenger on the business journey; it has to be seen as a key component within the organisation that measurably supports change and growth.

Generally the spend on training is low only 12% of companies have a budget of more than 600 per annum per employee. If, however, that training improves performance by 20%, reduces errors or complaints by 15%, reduces the cost to serve by 10%, then suddenly the spend per head is largely irrelevant.

In a situation where you can measure a positive return on investment in-line with the corporate agenda, L&D is no longer a cost to the business, but rather a value-add service contributing to the success of the organisation. At a time when some businesses are converting face-to-face learning to e-learning specifically to save money, L&D really does have an opportunity to show the measurable value add and play an essential part in business growth.

Some of the most successful L&D teams are made up of a mix of L&D professionals and people from the business areas, those who understand what we do and how we do it and can translate that into training requirements.

There is also a correlation between colleague engagement and customer experience. By getting it right for colleagues within your business, you are often helping to get it right for customers interacting with your business improving the human experience (something that we call HX), as well.

For L&D to be a partner within the business, they must first and foremost understand the company purpose and strategy. Secondly, they will need to work in partnership with HR. If HR and L&D work collaboratively to ensure a healthy people function that is aligned to the company purpose, ultimately everything else should cascade from there.

This includes measuring peoples performance and contribution. If you understand what your customer needs and how you are going to provide that, you will be able to provide training that directly supports that business purpose. Furthermore, when personal performance measures and learning outcomes align with the business purpose, the result is a positive one for all.

Certainly, some of the most successful L&D teams are made up of a mix of L&D professionals and people from the business areas, those who understand what we do and how we do it and can translate that into training requirements. When a transformation strategy is being shaped, L&D need to be involved early on and those people with both the business insight and the L&D experience will play an extremely important part in ensuring the business has the skill set it needs to be successful.

So where should L&D sit? Its probably the wrong question to ask. Rather what is critical is that whatever your organisational design or operating model L&D sits where it can link closely to the business agenda and where it can best deliver measurable, positive benefits.

Interested in this topic? ReadHelping change the role of L&D by changing roles in L&D.

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Business-aligned learning: the role of L&D - TrainingZone.co.uk

New data shows Delta Air Lines is the most on-time airline in all of North America. Cirium just released its on-time performance numbers for 2019. Delta was also the number No. 3 worldwide according to the travel and data analytics company, which released its findings on Thursday. As we previously reported, Aeroflot was the most punctual in the world.

Cirium releases the report every year, and shares the worlds best performing airlines and airports for on time ratings. Well share the airports data soon. Across all 10 network airlines in North America, performance improved by 1% year over year with an average on-time performance of 79.93%.

Alaska Airlines also performed well in the annual review, placing second. Delta has now taken top honors the past three years in a row. Rounding out the top five were No. 3 Southwest (more than 81.32% on-time), No. 4 Spirit (81.19%) and American (79.89%). Americans numbers came despite a dispute with mechanics that the airline says created widespread operational issues.

Cirium analysts wrote, Southwest Airlines is another worthy runner-up, having finished in third place despite overcoming challenges with recent maintenance delays in the first half of the year, as well as the impact of the 737 MAX groundings.

Overall, Southwest Airlines, Allegiant Air, WestJet, JetBlue and Frontier all improved on-time performance from 2018.

Cirium also pointed out that ninth-ranked JetBlue improved its performance slightly this year.

Delta Air Lines also took third place in the global mainline category with 85.7% of flights arriving on time.

Jeremy Bowen, Cirium CEO, said: Airlines and airports which consistently operate on time and go that extra mile for their customers deserve to be recognized in an increasingly competitive environment and should be justifiably proud of reaching such a world-class industry standard.

New Delta partner, Latin American airline LATAM was the top ranking airline in the category of global network airline with 86.7% of the flights in its network arriving on time. ANA was No. 2 with 86.5% of its flights on time. Delta was number in this category as well followed closely by Japan Airlines and Iberia.

Cirium analyzed 600 sources and more than 100,000 flights a day to compile the ratings.

A timely reminder from Cirium time is money.

American Express recentlyadded trip delay insurance, which covers round-trip flights purchased entirely with an eligible card. If your trip is delayed by more than six hours due to a covered reason, this perk will reimburse unexpected expenses such as meals, lodging and personal-use items up to $500 per trip with the following cards:

The information for the American Express Corporate Platinum card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

And, if your trip is delayed more than 12 hours due to a covered reason, youll be eligible for expense reimbursement of up to $300 with these cards:

Additional reporting by Victoria Walker.

Featured image courtesy Clint Henderson/The Points Guy

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Delta Air Lines is the most on-time airline in North America - The Points Guy

With all eyes watching, the presumed top pick in next April's NFL Draft did nothing to hurt his stock on Saturday night.

With the Heisman Trophy already in tow, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow put on a performance like we've never seen in the still brief history of the College Football Playoff. The top ranked Tigers were a two-score favorite against Oklahoma and anyone who wagered on the SEC champs would have barely broken any kind of sweat watching how quickly LSU jumped out to a lead. By halftime, LSU had scored 49 points and Burrow had connected for all seven of his TD passes, four of them to Justin Jefferson.

There is a history of underwhelming and even losing history of Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks on the National Championship stage and no winner of college football's most-prized, personal accomplishment has ever won the title in the CFP format.

Burrow will get the chance to be the first on Monday, January 13 as LSU rolled past Oklahoma in the semifinals, 63-28.

Read more:
Burrow Backs Up Heisman Trophy w/Record-Breaking Performance - WTMM 104.5 The Team - ESPN Radio

Upcoming events include Center for Leadership programs for women, emerging leaders and supervisors.

Women Lead

Faculty from some of the top business schools in the nation, business coaches for Fortune 100 companies, national award-winning leadership consultants and best-selling business authors will be among the facilitators of a new University of Dayton Center for Leadership certificate program launching in March geared toward maximizing the leadership potential of women. "Feedback from our partners indicated a need for a program focused on addressing challenges and opportunities facing women in leadership in a more intensive program that teaches tactics and hands-on skills proven by research along with networking opportunities," said April Mescher, Center for Leadership director of strategic partnerships and marketing. Mescher said women who will benefit most from "Women Lead" are "accomplished leaders ready to further cultivate their strengths and refine their own personal brand of leadership in an environment surrounded by other diverse, high-achieving, uplifting female influences." Sessions during the program that runs from March 12 to Sept. 1 will help participants navigate their leadership identity, leverage mentorship, refine communication and negotiation skills, and create a career map with a work-life balance. Participants also will use Linkage's Advancing Women Leaders 360 Assessment to gain insight into leadership strengths. Click here for more information, including pricing, and to register for Women Lead or call 937-229-3115.

Emerging Leader Program

Employers can help develop future executive leaders with training on the finer points of leadership and business skills during the 2020 Emerging Leader program at the University of Dayton Center for Leadership. Registration is open for the next 12-month, 17-session program that begins Jan. 23, and is geared toward helping employees chart a path to executive leadership. Presenters include faculty from the University of Dayton's School of Business Administration along with consultants to Fortune 500 companies. The Emerging Leader Program is open to the public and costs $13,000; $12,000 for partner organizations. Participants receive a certificate in leadership and admission to two of the Center's future executive development programs.

Supervisory Leadership Certificate ProgramThe Center for Leadership is accepting applications for the session of this 10-session program that starts Jan. 15. The Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program is a development program spanning six months for leaders in public, private and not-for-profit organizations. This program will assist front-line leaders or anyone preparing for a leadership role in developing skills to help them maximize individual and team performance. Upon completion of the program, they also receive two additional days of Supervisor and Professional Development programs. The cost is $4,300; $4,000 for partner organizations. Supervisory Leadership Certificate facilitators average a 4.62 on a five-point scale in participant reviews. Participants in the most recently completed cohort report a 43.5 percent increase in their competency level. One participant said: "I have found most valuable the ability to listen to and to be exposed to individuals from all over the region, as well as to be able to share in their insights and gain an appreciation for the similarities and differences among us."

Professional Development Programs

Jan. 23: "Coaching and Evaluating Performance." This session is designed to enhance management skills and prepare participants for the changing demands of today's workforce. Participants will learn concepts and skills to develop the skills of staff members or correct performance issues.

Jan. 29: "Leveraging the Cross-Generational Workforce." This year, there will be four generations in the workforce. There's a culture clash brewing in the workforce as each generation carries their own values, attitudes and work styles to the office. Left unchecked, it can be disruptive and even toxic to the work environment. This program is for leaders who want to understand employees of all generations so they can find ways to effectively communicate and motivate everyone from old-school to new-school.

Feb. 4: "The Energy Bus: Driver of Positive Change." This interactive program is built around Jon Gordons best-selling book, The Energy Bus. It will help you learn about your impact as the driver of the bus, create a positive vision and eliminate negativity.

Feb. 5: "The Power of Positive Leadership." This program will help leaders in building a strong and positive organizational culture, create clarity through a strong vision and focused actions, and pursue excellence and hold people accountable in a positive way, while confronting, transforming and removing negativity from their team.

Feb. 6: "Effective Decision Making." This program utilizes group exercise, movie clips, real-world examples and case studies to help participants analyze and improve decision-making skills.

Feb. 6: "Going from Peer to Supervisor." This program will guide new supervisors through the transition from individual contributor to leader. Through small group exercises, group discussion and role playing, participants also will learn strategies, behaviors and critical interactions that lead to becoming an effective supervisor.

Feb. 11: "IMPROVing Interpersonal Communication." Leaders with a mastery of the various facets of communication are becoming increasingly rare. Acquiring these skills can be overwhelming and can leave some thinking they may just not have what it takes. This course will use the proven methods of improvisation training to identify weaknesses and create new strengths.

Feb. 13: "Essential Problem Solving for Team Members: Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt." Participants will gain the knowledge and skills to lead Lean Six Sigma problem solving teams through the five-step Lean Six Sigma Problem Solving process.

Feb. 18: "Time Management and Personal Productivity." This session will help with establishing and scheduling priorities, navigating common productivity obstacles and engaging others productively.

Feb. 19: "Leading Change at the First Level." Leading major change is not the same as leading day-to-day operations. In this program, participants will explore the patterns that differentiate great change leaders, focusing on the complicated role of the front-line leader who must follow and lead simultaneously.

Feb. 26: "Elevate Your Personal Leadership Brand for Women Leaders." Today, more women are seeing themselves as catalysts and leaders in helping their community navigate a new way of operating, including from how to conduct business to managing relationships and family. This program will enlighten, strengthen and motivate women in leadership positions and women who are aspiring to positions of leadership. It will enable women to trust their abilities to be powerful forces for positive expansion and growth in their organizations.

March 5: "Leadership is Everyone's Business." Participants will discover how they have shown leadership to meet business and personal challenges, allowing them to gain the confidence and skill to increase their use of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders.

March 10: "Emotional Intelligence: Becoming More Effective in Reaching Others." This session provides an in-depth look at the domains and competencies of the emotional intelligence model, which improves your ability to affect change in yourself and others. You will learn how to recognize and identify emotions that drive behaviors. Key takeaways are how to positively influence a challenging situation or personality. Additionally, you will learn about negotiation, power, influence, teamwork and development.

March 11: "Communications Skills for Leaders." Participants will gain tips to establish goodwill and motivate audience action, organize content strategically for optimal audience engagement, and increase presentation confidence through audience analysis and preparation.

March 17-18: "Project Management Essentials I & II." This program focuses on the practical skills, tools and techniques used to effectively manage all phases of a project initiation, planning, execution and closing. Participants will work on a practical case study project in small groups to clarify the project's goal and objectives, identify deliverables, create a work breakdown structure and build a schedule.

March 19: "Work-life Balance Transformation: Cultivating and Facilitating Change." This program will help leaders learn how and why they need to put their physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs first. It also will train leaders on how to build, implement and execute a work-life balance plan so they can be extremely successful at work and home.

March 26: "Productive Conflict Management." Participants will practice different approaches for managing conflict between individuals and teams, review the five conflict styles, and assess their specific conflict style by utilizing the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument.

April 1:"Professional Communication and Presence." This session will help participants create awareness of how image influences perception and its relationship to professional development and understand non-verbal communication and the message it sends.

April 7: "Navigating Difficult Conversations." This interactive workshop helps participants build strong communication and conflict resolution skills plus understand the casualties of unresolved conflict productivity loss and employee turnover, among others.

April 14: "Boost Results through Effective Delegation." This program utilizes a personal delegation assessment, analyzes delegation challenges, and draws from group exercises to increase accountability for yourself and your teams. This program also will help leaders implement a delegation approach proven to increase productivity and follow up on employee progress without micromanaging.

April 15: "Essential Problem Solving for Team Members: Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt." Participants will gain the knowledge and skills to lead Lean Six Sigma problem solving teams through the five-step Lean Six Sigma Problem Solving process.

April 21: "Going from Peer to Supervisor." This program will guide new supervisors through the transition from individual contributor to leader. Through small group exercises, group discussion and role playing, participants also will learn strategies, behaviors and critical interactions that lead to becoming an effective supervisor.

April 22: "Strengths-Based Leadership." This session will help participants define the benefits of focusing on their strengths, explore how strengths impact decisions and utilize strengths to fulfill the basic needs of employees.

April 23: "Building Success and Connection through Workplace Storytelling." A compelling story is the fastest route to human connection and influence. Stories make presentations better, make ideas stick and help people persuade. This interactive program will teach participants how to distinguish themselves and their companies through the stories they tell and develop a personal story people want to hear to better connect with customers, employees and colleagues.

April 28: "Coaching and Evaluating Performance." This session is designed to enhance management skills and prepare participants for the changing demands of today's workforce. Participants will learn concepts and skills to develop the skills of staff members or correct performance issues.

May 5: "Advanced Project Management." This is a follow-up to Project Management Essentials I & II. Participants will take a closer look at the concept of critical path and how to use it when executing a project. The class also includes a two-hour exercise during which participants work in teams to make decisions and develop a project schedule for a client.

May 12:"Assertiveness. Communicating with Impact" This program will help leaders identify their preference for one of the four personal influence styles and learn how individual styles may hamper interpersonal communication.

May 13:"Effective Decision Making." This program utilizes group exercise, movie clips, real-world examples and case studies to help participants analyze and improve decision-making skills.

May 19: "Powerful Presentation Skills." Participants will learn to use powerful business presentation skills to influence behavior and reach desired outcomes, including tips to reduce nervousness, best practices for visual aids and how to have a strong connection with your audience.

May 28: "Coaching and Evaluating Performance." This session is designed to enhance management skills and prepare participants for the changing demands of today's workforce. Participants will learn concepts and skills to develop the skills of staff members or correct performance issues.

May 28: Maximize Your Potential at Work: Individual Lean Six Sigma. Designed for employees at all levels of an organization, participants will learn the three-step process for continuous improvement.

June 2: "Leading Change at the First Level." Leading major change is not the same as leading day-to-day operations. In this program, participants will explore the patterns that differentiate great change leaders, focusing on the complicated role of the front-line leader who must follow and lead simultaneously.

June 3: "Project Leadership." This program focuses on the five skills necessary to effectively lead the people associated with a project - identify, communicate with and influence stakeholders; develop a productive project team and make effective project decisions.

June 11: "Employee Engagement: Communicate & Coach High Performance Teams." This program defines what employee engagement is and why it matters. Participants will define and apply strategies in communication to engage employees through clarity in messaging, building trust and fostering interaction. Participants also will learn and apply effective performance management practices that motivate employees in their own development by setting strong goal statements and using effective feedback and coaching.

June 16: "Leadership is Everyone's Business." Participants will discover how they have shown leadership to meet business and personal challenges, allowing them to gain the confidence and skill to increase their use of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders.

June 17-18: "Project Management Essentials I & II." This program focuses on the practical skills, tools and techniques used to effectively manage all phases of a project initiation, planning, execution and closing. Participants will work on a practical case study project in small groups to clarify the project's goal and objectives, identify deliverables, create a work breakdown structure and build a schedule.

June 23-24: "Advanced Problem Solving for Team Leaders: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt." This session will help participants gain basic knowledge and skills to lead effective problem-solving teams; understand the five-step Lean Six Sigma problem-solving process called DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control); and understand when and how to use problem-solving tools and techniques.

June 24: "Communications Skills for Leaders." Participants will gain tips to establish goodwill and motivate audience action, organize content strategically for optimal audience engagement, and increase presentation confidence through audience analysis and preparation.

June 25: "Going from Peer to Supervisor." This program will guide new supervisors through the transition from individual contributor to leader. Through small group exercises, group discussion and role playing, participants also will learn strategies, behaviors and critical interactions that lead to becoming an effective supervisor.

The cost for a professional development program is $395 for the general public, $345 for University of Dayton alumni and $299 for center partners.

Executive Development ProgramsFeb. 12:Lead, Follow or Get out of the Way: Accountability for Superior ResultsbyLinda Galindo, an expert in the field of personal and organizational accountability and high-performance executive team building. She is a co-author of 85% Solution,Where Winners Liveand the author ofWay to Grow.

March 24 (morning):Crucial Conversations for Leaders: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are HighbyJoseph Grenny, co-author of fourNew York Timesbestsellers and creator of four award-winning training programs of the same titles -Crucial Conversations,Crucial Accountability,Influencer, andChange Anything.

March 24 (afternoon):Influencer: The New Science of Leading ChangebyJoseph Grenny.

April 16:Innovation is Everybody's Business: How to Ignite, Scale and Sustain for a Competitive AdvantagebyTamara Ghandour, creator of the Innovation Quotient Edge Assessment, the only tool to measure people's natural innovation strengths.

May 14:Intentional Purpose: Building Your Brand As A LeaderbyDorie Clark, a marketing strategy consultant, professional speaker and frequent contributor to theHarvard Business Review. She is recognized as a branding expert forForbesandInc.magazines and is the author ofReinventing You,Stand Out, andEntrepreneurial You.

The cost for executive development programs is $995 for the general public, $945 for University of Dayton alumni and $897 for center partners.All sessions for every program run all day, unless otherwise noted, and will be on the University of Dayton River Campus at Daniel J. Curran Place.For more information about Center for Leadership programs and to register, call 937-229-3115 or visitthe Center for Leadership website.

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Briefly speaking - University of Dayton - News Home

The NFL playoffs are here. The timing of turning the page to a new year and getting 12 teams with 0-0 records is delightful. It also means taking our preseason projections, tossing them to the curb and starting over with an NFL playoff projection.

We know the 2020 NFL playoff schedule through the divisional round, and we have lines for Wild Card Weekend. Anything past that is my personal projection. Just like -- in case you can't figure this out -- my entire layout here. These are predictions and projections. We'll update them every week.

If you need more immediate content and breakdowns on the upcoming playoff games, may I suggest checking out our Pick Six Podcast, our daily NFL pod with emergency episodes for coach firings and breakdowns from every single slate of NFL games.

You can listen to the latest episode, where the Superfriends make bold playoff predictions and revisit their preseason predictions, in the player below, and you can subscribe to the show right here.

Get into the playoff action by playing CBS Sports Playoff Pick'em. Pick the games for yourfree chance to win $5,000or start a fully customizable pool with friends. Terms apply.

This is the easiest pick of Wild Card Weekend in my opinion. The Texans had another great year and won another division title under Bill O'Brien. But they're not the most inspiring team out there. The problem is, even with Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller, the Texans love to run Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson. This should be a wide-open offense but instead they tend to try and be conservative. I believe that plays directly into the Bills' hands -- you can beat Buffalo on the ground, but I'm not sure Houston has the juice up front to do it. Running the ball, giving up points and getting behind, then having to throw against the Bills secondary? That's a recipe for disaster.

PROJECTED SCORE: Bills 24, Texans 17

The Titans are going to be the trendy underdog for Wild Card Weekend after hammering the Texans' backups and everyone seeing the Patriots gag away a first-round bye thanks to a home loss to the Dolphins. No thanks! I'll be on the Patriots here, because, well, they are the Patriots. I do worry a little bit about the Titans' ability to run the ball in a physical nature, but we're talking about Ryan Tannehill going into Gillette Stadium in a prime-time game against Tom Brady. As much as I like the Titans, I'm not there yet with this Tennessee team, especially if everyone is picking it to win.

PROJECTED SCORE: Patriots 31, Titans 21

The worst possible scenario for the Vikings broke out, with the Saints landing the No. 3 seed and Minnesota heading to New Orleans. It's a tough place to play, no one is hotter than Drew Brees right now, Alvin Kamara looks healthy and we haven't seen the Vikings look good in the past few weeks. I would assume everyone will back the Saints to win and cover -- I think Minnesota will keep it close in a shootout. Mike Zimmer is a very good coach and it's a 1 p.m. ET game, so that's good for Kirk Cousins? If Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook are both ready to roll for this game, I believe the Vikings will keep it close in a shootout but ultimately come up just short.

PROJECTED SCORE: Saints 35, Vikings 31

Two bruised and battered fighters getting in the ring for this one. The Seahawks are missing tons of players and the Eagles are, frankly, missing even more. If you knew every single person catching passes from Carson Wentz on Sunday, you're either the biggest Eagles fan in the world or, more likely, a big, fat liar. I don't know how this is going to go, but I wouldn't want to bet against either one of these teams pulling off something crazy. The Seahawks have the better quarterback with playoff experience, so for now I'll take them. Here's the one thing I would worry about: The Seahawks love to run the ball and are stubborn about it until they get in a pinch. The Eagles are good against the run and you can destroy them through the air. Will Brian Schotteinheimer be smart enough to adjust? For now, I'll say yes.

PROJECTED SCORE: Seahawks 21, Eagles 17

All spreads after the wild-card round are my projections.

Third time is a charm! The Seahawks advance only to get a rubber match against the 49ers in San Francisco, where Russell Wilson and Co. won on Monday Night Football in a crazy game earlier in the season. This line is really high, but the 49ers were just -3.5 at Seattle and managed to cover (although they probably should have lost). I wouldn't want to fade Wilson getting more than a touchdown in a spot like this, but I also wouldn't want to get in the way of the 49ers having just played Seattle and having just gotten to rest while the Seahawks traveled across the country for a physical brawl against Philly. The 49ers with two weeks to prep and get healthy have a massive advantage here.

PROJECTED SCORE: 49ers 28, Seahawks 24

Another rematch, with the Ravens having won and covered in the first game in Buffalo. That's also an extra week for the Ravens to prepare for the Bills and their defense and for Baltimore to get healthy after sitting everyone in Week 17. No one has been hotter than the Ravens, but I don't think the time off necessarily hurts their offense. It's not a rhythm passing situation where Lamar Jackson just got nuclear. It's a situation where they can rest up, prep to smash the ball down the Bills' throats and invent creative new offensive schemes. The Ravens with a bye are very dangerous.

PROJECTED SCORE: Ravens 35, Bills 17

Rematch number three! The Patriots will be heading back to the scene of last season's AFC Championship Game, and how the game against the Titans plays out might dictate what happens in this matchup. If the Patriots are in a dogfight with Tennessee and get beat up by Derrick Henry, they could limp into Kansas City. Juan Thornhill's injury is a major concern, but this secondary for the Chiefs is really playing well down the stretch. I think they're a legit dangerous defense, and I don't think the Patriots will be able to throw on them. The Chiefs are a substantially better team.

PROJECTED SCORE: Chiefs 27, Patriots 21

Struggled with this line, because I think people will be all over the Saints if they're not favored, or maybe even up to -3. However, I'm just not sure the Saints would be -9 at home, so I think it would open at a pick 'em before moving in New Orleans' direction. The Saints are 5-1 to win the title, while the Packers are 12-1. That's a remarkable disparity considering one team has to play three games and the other is getting a bye.

PROJECTED SCORE: Saints 17, Packers 10

If this matchup doesn't happen, people will be legitimately upset. This is the best possible AFC Championship Game, a preview of battles that could take place for years to come between Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. We should sign up for this matchup every year for the next decade-plus as football fans. I will certainly sign up for it now. The Chiefs actually beat the Ravens earlier this season; people forget that! I think they beat the Ravens again -- they have the better passing attack and have morphed into a consistent defense. I'm a little worried about injuries to the secondary (Juan Thornhill is a big blow) and you could see the Ravens running downhill all day on this team. But I think the Chiefs have enough to hold them off and win this game.

PROJECTED SCORE: Chiefs 24, Ravens 21

Barely avoided the bracket that was loaded with chalk, thanks to the Saints being the No. 3 seed in the NFC. I think they're the better team than Green Bay, so they can certainly advance without home-field advantage. This would be an epic matchup, harkening back to the 2011 divisional-round shootout from the Alex Smith days. I don't know exactly how comfortable I would feel fading Kyle Shanahan at home, but the way Drew Brees and Co. have been playing, I think the Saints are going to make a deep run.

PROJECTED SCORE: Saints 24, 49ers 21

Epic matchup between two great offenses -- hopefully the weather in Miami cooperates! -- with the Saints returning to the scene of the crime 10 years since they won their only Super Bowl. Unfortunately for Brees and Sean Payton, it's time for Andy Reid to win his first. The oft-maligned time manager comes through with a title thanks to Patrick Mahomes and a solid defensive performance from the Chiefs as Kansas City brings home the championship.

PROJECTED SCORE: Chiefs 31, Saints 28

See original here:
2020 NFL Playoff Bracket Projection: Chiefs get Andy Reid first Super Bowl win over Saints - CBS Sports

Kenny Chesney has three,Miranda Lambert has four songs as a solo artist and one collaboration, andCarrie Underwood has two of the50 best country songs of the 2010s.

The decade's biggest and best songs come from country artists still relevant today, mostly.

Who has the No. 1 song of the 2010s? We'll hold that secret for now, but you can be assured this artist is one of the most important (perhapsthemost important) artist of the last 10 years, and the song is one still flirting with country airplay charts in 2019 and 2020 a half-decade after it debuted!

Artists like Eric Church, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and Tim McGraw helped define the 2010s in country music, but in the last two or three years newcomers like Midland, Dan + Shay and Brett Young have put down a strong stamp. All make the list at least once, asdoFlorida Georgia Line, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift (twice!) and Sam Hunt.

Rankings on this list are based on radio and sales figures, reader feedback, staff opinion and influence. All songs released between Jan. 2, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2019 were considered, although a song's ability to maintain relevance through the years gave it more credibility, and thus a higher ranking.

Here Are the Top 50 Country Songs of the 2010s:

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50 Best Country Songs of the 2010s - Taste of Country

Zoe Comerford, Executive Sports Editor|December 28, 2019

Markus Howard (0) drives to the paint in Marquette's 106-54 win over Central Arkansas Saturday afternoon.

Photo by John Steppe

Markus Howard (0) drives to the paint in Marquette's 106-54 win over Central Arkansas Saturday afternoon.

Photo by John Steppe

Photo by John Steppe

Markus Howard (0) drives to the paint in Marquette's 106-54 win over Central Arkansas Saturday afternoon.

Jack Phillips

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Eight days after Markus and Jordan Howard became the No. 1 brother scoring duo in NCAA history, the Golden Eagles dominated Jordans alma mater, the Central Arkansas Bears, 106-54 Saturday afternoon at Fiserv Forum in Marquettes final nonconference game for the 2019-20 season.

The 52-point victory is the sixth-largest winning margin in program history and the biggest in head coach Steve Wojciechowskis tenure. The last came Nov. 18, 2001, when Marquette beat Chicago State by 53 points.

Obviously (we) played well, got a big lead and then to maintain that lead throughout the game with just a couple lulls here and there was a good performance for us, Wojciechowski said.

It was all Markus early as he had 14 points in the first five minutes, shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, all 3-pointers. With his first three, Markus passed Steve Novak for the all-time 3-point leader at MU.

As a team, Marquettes offense was on fire and shot 80% from beyond the arc in the first five minutes. MUhad a 21-point lead by the 9:46 mark in the opening half. That advantage only grew as the Bears could not stop the Golden Eagles hot shooting.

The Golden Eagles took charge of the first half, shooting 52% from the field including 8-for-14 from 3-point range along with six steals and eight assists.

MU went into halftime up 57-24. Markus, who had more points than the whole Bears team, sparked the offense with 25 points, three assists and two steals.

Weve been sharing the ball and thats working a lot for us, Torrence said. The more we share it, the happier we feel, the more fun were having on the court and the more wins were going to get.

Central Arkansas had no answers for MU in the second half as the Golden Eagles controlled every facet of the game from shooting to pressure defense.

For the majority of the second half, Marquette shot 62% from the field, and Central Arkansas deficit was at least 47 points.

Meanwhile, nothing was going right for the Bears. UCA had struggled from beyond the arc in the first half, going 1-for-10. It did not get any better after the break, finishing 20% from 3-point range.

Markus exited the game a minute later with 30 points on 9-for-13 shooting, five 3-pointers, five assists and two steals.

Its about building habits. You never want to play the score, Wojciechowski said. You always want to be up 53 points. We take that every day. But the reality is, you need to build good habits and maintain habits in order to prepare yourself for whats coming. And whats coming is the gauntlet of the BIG EAST, the top conference in the country.

Central Arkansas was plagued with foul trouble, ending the game with 27 personal fouls. Meanwhile, MU finished with 17.

Markus notched his fifth 30-point game of the season. Theo John had a season-high 12 points while Sacar Anim and Ed Morrow finished with 11 points each. Torrence, Brendan Bailey and Greg Elliott all put up nine points. Jamal Cain, who received his first start since November 2018 against Louisville, contributed eight.

Koby McEwen did not play due to a right thumb injury.

In 27 minutes off the bench, Torrence scored a career-best nine points, adding four assists and four rebounds.

Coach just said we have to have more guys step up, Torrence said. My role didnt change. Im a pass-first point guard. I get guys involved, and thats what Im going to do every time I get on court.

Marquette (10-2) does not play again until 2020 as the Golden Eagles begin BIG EAST play in the new decade, traveling to Creighton Jan. 1. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. Central Standard Time.

The Golden Eagles head to Omaha, Nebraska, having won eight of their last nine games.

This is a really (big) confidence booster, Torrence said. These games right here, were playing them to get ready for the BIG EAST.

This story was written by Zoe Comerford. She can be reached at isabel.comerford@marquette.edu or on Twitter @zoe_comerford.

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Howard powers hot-shooting offense past brother's alma mater - Marquette Wire

Amy Winehouse's personal items will be offered to benefit her foundation. Getty Images; Julien's Auctions

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Hundreds of dresses, shoes, jewelry, and accessories, worn by the late British singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse during some of her most iconic performances will be sold by Juliens Auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif., in November 2021, with all proceeds to benefit her eponymous foundation.

This will be the first time the most personal items of the five-time Grammy-award winning music star will be auctioned, according to Juliens Auctions. The sale will coincide with the 10th anniversary of the singers death in 2011 at age 27.

The pop diva toured and performed in numerous headline performances and ion various festivals.

"Amy Winehouse is one of the rare and remarkable music icons whose incredible power and soulful expression in every word and note she sang with her distinct voice remains unmatched by no other artist in music history, Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien's Auctions, said in a statement.

"We celebrate her singular talent and iconoclastic style in this collection of her most personal artifacts and wardrobe worn in her career defining moments," he said.

Born and raised in a family of professional jazz musicians and jazz music lovers, Winehouse taught herself how to play and write music at 14. In 2000, she became a featured vocalist with the prestigious National Jazz Orchestra at age 17.

She released her first album Frank in 2003, but it was her second album in 2006, Back to Black, that raised her to international stardom. The album, which contains classic hits such as You Know I'm No Good, Rehab, and the title song, Back to Black, sold close to 10 million copies worldwide.

Highlights from the sale include a few pieces by Italian couture brand Dolce & Gabbana. A mohair blend cardigan with leopard style pattern and self-tie belt worn by Winehouse has a presale estimate of between $1,500 and $3,000. She was photographed wearing the cardigan leaving the Hawley Arms Pub in Londons Camden neighborhood on March 3, 2011.

A Dolce & Gabbana knee-length leopard print pencil skirt that was hiked up into a mini skirt and worn by Winehouse for her performance at the 2008 BRIT Awards has a high estimate of $5,000; and a floral gold lam gown with fitted bodice is expected to fetch up $7,000.

Other iconic pieces include a stretch cotton Karen Millen dress with tropical print worn by Winehouse during her 2007 European tour, estimated at between $5,000 and $7,000; a pink-and-white gingham halter mini dress worn by the star during her 2011 Brazilian tour, with a high estimate of $7,000; and an oversized black patent Giorgio Armani handbag together with a card addressed to Winehouse from Armani, which is estimated to sell for between $1,000 and$2,000.

All proceeds from the sale will benefit The Amy Winehouse Foundation, established by her parents Mitch and Janis Winehouse on Sept. 14, 2011, which would have been her 28th birthday. The foundations mission is to raise awareness and support young adults with addiction problems.

Highlighted items will be on a global tour, debuting in Los Angeles on Jan. 17, 2020, and ending in Beverly Hills on Nov. 1, 2021. Other destinations include Santiago and Regin Metropolitana, Chile; London; and Ireland. Exhibition dates and details will be released at a later date.

The items will be offered at live auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Nov. 6 to 7, 2021, and online at juliensauctions.com.

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Amy Winehouses Personal Property to Be Auctioned - Barron's

The Gloaming: theres something strange in the neighbourhood. Photograph: Bradley Patrick/Stan

Every once in a while a film or television series comes around with an aesthetic so eye-watering it makes plaudits such as evocative or painterly seem manifestly inadequate. Occasionally as is the case with Stans eight-part mystery-drama The Gloaming, from creator and writer Vicki Madden the visual oomph of the production seems to manifest as a kind of viscous residue, sticking to your psyche the way a sweat patch clings to your armpit.

Take a bow, Marden Dean: the shows gimlet-eyed cinematographer, who also shot Breath, Boys in the Trees and The Infinite Man. The Gloaming is the latest in an emerging trend of Tasmania-based productions that view the island state as a place of terrible beauty, located somewhere south of the mainland and west of hell following on from Jennifer Kents period piece The Nightingale, Foxtels gothic drama Lambs of God, and another series helmed by Madden: the terrific, darkly ravishing 2016 disappearance thriller The Kettering Incident.

Like Kettering, The Gloaming is bathed in frosty moonlight and ensconced in fog and haze. It has a Scandi-noirish atmosphere and a plotline drawn from a more defined genre playbook: the police procedural thriller. A twisty narrative involving deaths and disappearances is led as is customary by a pair of good-looking detectives who discover the case they are working on Is Personal and may connect to a crime committed many years ago.

We see vision of events related to that crime in a surreal introductory sequence depicting young teenagers Jenny McGinty (Milly Alcock) and Alex OConnell (Finn Ireland) venturing towards a big old creepy house, past a forest of tall, bony trees and a collection of grimy tombstones. The propertys occupant is less than thrilled to see them and fires a shotgun at Jenny at point-blank range. This moment is depicted in a way that obscures the face of the attacker and the impact of the bullet.

Alex grows up to be a police detective played by Ewan Leslie delivering another highly effective, twitch-inducing performance following recent appearances in The Cry and Safe Harbour. Alex is directed to partner up with Molly, who is played by Emma Booth: a very commanding presence, here and in the icky 2017 horror-thriller Hounds of Love. The pair havent seen each other in a couple of decades and share some kind of a past although, three episodes in (the first three eps form the extent of this review) its not clearly exactly what.

Molly is called in to inspect a corpse at a crime scene early in the first episode, in a creepy and surreal moment, like a David Lynch production, and, like Twin Peaks, involving a body found near water in this instance, a very cinematic-looking waterfall in the background. This body has not been wrapped in plastic but wrapped in rather gnarlier barbed wire.

The significance of the barbed wire is one of several points of discussion. Many things are unclear, though its obvious that if youll pardon the Ghostbustery parlance theres something strange in the neighbourhood, with potential links to occult practices. Grace Cochran (Rena Owen), leader of the local church community, looks more than a little suspect. And the mentally unhinged young man Freddie (Matt Testro) is a dark horse: forever one step away, it seems, from taking the story to very twisted places.

The this time its personal connections that make the case of heightened interest to Molly and Alex, as well as some stilted dialogue, occasionally give The Gloaming a whiff of all-too-familiar dramatic contrivance, antithetical to its otherwise thrilling air of surprise and intrigue. Given the shows genre framework, you wouldnt call it strikingly original, but it sure is striking: particularly as a work of atmospheria.

Does Madden write the appearance of mist into her scripts? Did she breathe down the necks of Dean and the directors (Michael Rymer, Greg McLean and Sian Davies), reminding them to fog up the lens? Legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa extensively used wind machines, intensifying the environment and infusing his films with symbolic visuals: the winds of change, the winds of good and bad fortune, the winds signifying chaos and tumult. Madden is doing something similar with mist, here as in The Kettering Incident. Its menacing and mysterious qualities thicken up the frame, covering it with a kind of enigmatic, semi-translucent vapour.

In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens described a steaming mist in all the hollows as a force that roamed in its forlornness up the hill, like an evil spirit, seeking rest and finding none. He called it a clammy and intensely cold mist that made its slow way through the air in ripples that visibly followed and overspread one another, as the waves of an unwholesome sea might do.

Roaming forlornness, an evil spirit, an unwholesome sea: these feel like apt words to describe the brilliant brume of The Gloaming. Certainly better than evocative or painterly.

All episodes of The Gloaming are available to screen on Stan on New Years Day

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The Gloaming review shades of Twin Peaks in fog-swamped crime drama - The Guardian