Latest news with #Hartley
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Garrett Hartley's iconic 40-yard FG is the Saints Play of the Day
'I don't want you thinking about anything but hitting that fleur-de-[expletive]-lis' We're down to 40 days until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2025 regular season, and Garrett Hartley's 40-yard field goal against the Minnesota Vikings is our Saints Play of the Day. Now, a 40-yard field goal in itself isn't too exciting. But this kick in particular had the highest stakes of any play in team history. Hartley sent the Saints to Super Bowl XLIV by nailing his field goal in overtime of the NFC championship game. He followed Sean Payton's advice to aim for the team's black and gold fleur-de-lis waving on a banner between the uprights. It was one of the hardest-fought games in recent memory. The score was tied up four times and the Saints defensed hammered the Vikings offense, taking advantage of two Brett Favre interceptions and a three lost fumbles from Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, and Bernard Berrian. Minnesota's ball security proved to be their downfall when Favre threw his second interception in the final seconds of regulation; Tracy Porter picked it off, setting the stage for his iconic pick-six off of Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl. As for Hartley? His season to this point was wild. He'd been suspended for the first four games and was inactive during the next seven contests before getting called in to replace John Carney. He went 9-of-11 on field goals and 10-of-11 on extra points in the team's last five regular season games, but he kicked things into gear in the playoffs. Hartley was perfect on each of his field goals (including three of them in the Super Bowl from distances of 46, 44, and 47 yards) and all 12 of his extra point tries. It's not enough to say the Saints wouldn't have won Super Bowl XLIV without him. Without Hartley, they wouldn't have even gotten there.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Féile an Phobail: Thousands expected at west Belfast's 'window to the world'
Féile an Phobail, billed as Ireland's biggest community arts festival, returns this weekend with thousands expected to attend events over the next two in its 37th year, the festival pitches itself as a celebration of Irish culture, with a spectacle of music, art and comedy events as well as political year's festival will have added significance for one of its founders who will be conducting his long-running walking tours of Belfast City Cemetery for the final Hartley, a former Sinn Féin lord mayor of Belfast, said the graveyard is "a reservoir" of the city's history and the perfect place to reflect on the years gone by. "It's about the complexity of those who are buried here," Mr Hartley said."It's about the great and the good. Those who shaped Belfast in the 19th century, who made it the Silicon Valley of its day."It's about women, it's about the poor, it's about the working class, it's about my notions of death and how death plays a part in the humanity of human beings." Mr Hartley told BBC News NI that while he plans to take a step back he hopes to continue his involvement in other ways. He believes the festival has allowed west Belfast to "connect with the world in a time when it appears to be upside down"."I feel it has all the potential to tap into the Irish diaspora worldwide," Mr Hartley told BBC News NI."Féile was founded at a time when the demonisation of west Belfast was at its height and so it was an expression of the internal light in our community, the creative, artistic element aspects."We wanted to show the generosity of this community and its openness, and I think Féile continues to do that in a big way." The festival will also be "keepin' 'er country" with the return of a country music night after its sell-out debut in 2024.Féile Country Fest takes place on 2 Carter returns to the line-up alongside Claudia Buckley and The Whistlin' Donkeys. Speaking to BBC News NI, the country star said he was relishing another fantastic night at Falls Park."We're really excited for this year's Féile, we played their last year and it was one of the biggest gigs of the entire year and festival season," Carter said."In Belfast we've a good old crowd that follows us so it was great to see the tremendous success at last year's country night."The Liverpool native who now lives in County Fermanagh said being able to perform in front of thousands at the west Belfast venue was "a dream come true" and praised efforts to make the concert affordable for families. Controversy The festival has not been without week, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, one of its principal funders, asked organisers to remove its logo from the festival's sports events after a children's sports event was named after a former IRA chief of the past, there have been complaints about pro-IRA chanting at a gig by the band The Wolfe Tones.
Skift
22-07-2025
- Business
- Skift
Simplicity in Loyalty: The Way Out For Indie Hotels
Global Hotel Alliance is betting that simplicity, not scale, will win the next phase of hotel loyalty. With a transparent rewards currency and a sharp focus on leisure travelers, it's carving out a middle path for independents looking to compete without giving up control. Skift Podcast Compelling discussions with travel industry leaders and creatives who are helping to shape the future of travel. Compelling discussions with travel industry leaders and creatives who are helping to shape the future of travel. Learn More In the latest episode of the Skift Travel Podcast, Skift Founder Rafat Ali sat down with Global Hotel Alliance CEO Chris Hartley for a deep dive into the Alliance's unique approach to distribution, direct bookings, and consumer loyalty. What began in 2004 as a Star Alliance-inspired coalition of four independent hotel brands has grown into a global loyalty ecosystem – with leisure travelers at its core. With more than 45 independent hotel brands and 900 properties under its umbrella, GHA is proving that collaboration, not consolidation, might be the best path forward for independent operators. Listen to This Podcast Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS The Value of Simplicity At the heart of GHA's appeal is its loyalty program, GHA Discovery, and its transparent currency, Discovery Dollars. Unlike opaque, often-devalued points systems common among legacy programs, Discovery Dollars offer a simple, intuitive value: 1 dollar equals 1 U.S. dollar. It's a strategy that consumers understand immediately – and respond to. According to Hartley, members with Discovery Dollars in their wallet are 10 to 15 times more likely to book again through a GHA hotel. 'Simplicity and transparency are what travelers want most,' Hartley said. 'They're tired of guessing what their points are worth.' A Loyalty Program Built for Leisure GHA's portfolio skews heavily toward leisure travel, reflecting a broader industry trend that Hartley believes is redefining the very premise of loyalty. While traditional programs were designed for high-frequency business travelers, today's landscape is marked by blended travel and increasing leisure trip frequency, and it is shifting the economics. 'Leisure travelers are staying longer, paying more, and traveling more often,' Hartley said. 'That changes the whole loyalty equation.' GHA Discovery's focus on resort destinations, upscale experiences, and a high proportion of owner-operated properties has created a direct channel for engagement that often bypasses the commission fees of online travel agencies (OTAs). 'If you get loyalty right, people will do irrational things to stay with you. You just have to earn their trust,' Hartley said. Competing Without Consolidating Unlike major chains that subsume smaller brands into massive loyalty systems, GHA offers independent hotels a way to retain their identity while gaining the benefits of scale. 'Most of our brands want to remain independent,' Hartley said. 'But at a certain point, the economics make that hard. We're offering them a middle path.' GHA's model enables smaller hotel groups to negotiate global corporate deals, access preferred partnerships, and reduce their reliance on OTAs without giving up their branding or operational autonomy. 'We don't own hotels. We don't even run them,' Hartley emphasized. 'But we do give them access to a loyal, global audience and the tools to compete.'
News.com.au
15-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Australian Olympic swimming champion Cam McEvoy shares baby news, name revealed
Australian Olympic champion Cam McEvoy has announced the birth of his first child, much to the delight of the sporting world. Sharing the wonderful news on Monday, the 31-year-old swimmer said Maddi gave birth to their son, Hartley, last week. 'We walked into the hospital at 4pm, not knowing we were just hours away from meeting our son,' McEvoy said in a post on Instagram. 'Maddi was so calm that everyone in the room was shocked when they found out she was 8cm dilated. We had a well-thought-out birthing plan because of Maddi's heart which basically involved as little pain as possible to keep her heart rate down. 'But Hartley seemed to have different plans. Before we knew it, he was earth side in our hands before 7pm.' Maddi was born with a pulmonary valve defect which required four open-heart surgeries and she had a replacement pulmonary valve put in when she was still a teenager. But McEvoy confirmed that the delivery went well and both mum and bub are well. 'Words do so little for how much we love this little guy already,' he posted. 'Mum and baby are both doing exceptionally well.' The post was quickly flooded with well-wishes for the family from fellow Aussie champions. 'He's beautiful Cam! Congratulations to you both,' eight-time medallist Cate Campbell commented. 'What a beautiful boy, we will have the cutest fan club,' three-time champion Sarah Sjostrom said. 'He's already a stud,' Australian swimming legend Grant Hackett said. While McEvoy is in the middle of preparing for the World Championships later this month, he put his training on pause to be by his wife's side for their big moment. When he takes to the pool in Singapore he will set a new men's record for most appearances by a member of the Australian team. McEvoy will compete in the 50m freestyle – the event he won gold in at the Paris Olympics. During the Australian Trials in June, McEvoy finished first in the final with a time of 21.30. It remains the world-leading time this year and he will like his chances of claiming another gold later this month.
NZ Herald
14-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Real Life: Jon Hartley, Kiwibank chair and priest - ‘There's more to life than the corporate world'
'I went through a period of disillusionment with that corporate world, predominantly triggered by an incident where I encountered lying in the boardroom which I knew was lying, and it just shook me. 'And then I started to work through in my own mind, who did I want to be around? What sort of organisations did I want to be involved with? And, most importantly, a faith started to emerge.' The re-emergence of his Christian faith, which by his own admission had laid dormant for many years, would ultimately lead Hartley to make big changes to how he operated in his career. He became more selective with the organisations he served on the board of, effectively 'gave away' two days of work a week to focus on causes that matter, and later, opted to join the Anglican priesthood. Hartley told Real Life it was a combination of his wife Chris' strong faith, and searching conversations with a vicar friend, that led him to start asking the big questions about life. '[This friend] introduced me to having conversations about faith without trying to persuade me about what I should do,' he said. 'It was really introducing you to the idea that there's more – a mystery, a bigger transcendent component in life that we're invited into if we choose to be walking that path. 'I naively thought that, having given my life to Jesus, that was a hard decision. Actually, that was what led to all the hard decisions, because that then causes you to recalibrate all that's going on in your world.' Hartley was inspired by Bob Buford, a US entrepreneur who was compelled by his faith to pivot from a life of pursuing profits to one where he could use his considerable business acumen for good. It was the final push Hartley needed to change course. 'I literally stopped working for money for two days a week and gave those two days a week away,' he told Cowan. 'I didn't know where they were going to go, and that's when I found myself invited into the City Mission in Wellington where I spent 15 years, the last six as chair. Then World Vision involved me in their economic development [and] microfinance, using commercial skills for social purposes. 'That broadened my outlook in terms of outworking my faith, which was to use the skills that I had from the first 50-odd years of my life in ways which expanded me into touching the lives of people.' This work saw Hartley recently awarded the Queen's Service Order, in recognition of his decision to volunteer his skills in business, strategy governance, leadership development and transformative change management in the service of those living in poverty locally and internationally. Hartley is now retired, but continues in his roles as chair of Kiwibank and director of Ngāi Tahu Holdings, two organisations he says are 'systemically important' to New Zealand. He is also an Anglican reverend, a position that came about upon the recommendation of the Bishop of Wellington, who had noticed work he had been doing helping Christian leaders remain true to their faith in whatever sphere of influence they found themselves in. 'It's a discernment process, it's not a recruitment process,' Hartley says of the path to priesthood. 'One thing led to the other – and I have to say, I was only persuaded that it was the right thing for me after it happened, when I took my first communion.' Hartley told Cowan the role has opened doors for him to be able to help people in a new way. 'It invites questions, certainly, but I'm much more about doing things than trying to explain things, and so, certainly in places like World Vision, it's been instrumental in helping grow my faith – but also helping others grow their faith,' he said. 'I find myself now drawn into places like the Wellington Cathedral, where I help run services and I preach, and that is [about] connecting and bringing the real world into the church.' Hartley says the boards he's appointed to understand who he is and what he stands for, and that, 'as a consequence, you get the whole package.' 'There will be times where you will ask questions which may seem strange to others, but you know why you're asking them or you're making observations. But at the core of the gospel are principles which it's really hard to argue against in the way people live,' he told Real Life. 'I recently spoke at the cathedral and lamented the way we now speak of peace as an absence of war rather than a way of living. Those are the sort of insights which I personally feel I need to and should offer to share, to try and move people a little bit away from our neo-liberal world.' Despite the perception the church and the boardroom are worlds apart, Hartley says he doesn't live a compartmentalised life, instead allowing the purpose and values of all he's involved in 'seep across' into other places. 'It's interesting how many times that seepage actually leads to a much richer set of engagements and relationships around boardroom tables or on a field visit or within the church,' he says. 'Bringing the real world into the church – as well as bringing the church or the gospel into the real world – is part of the challenge I try and set myself.' Real Life is a weekly interview show where John Cowan speaks with prominent guests about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world. Tune in Sundays from 7.30pm on Newstalk ZB or listen to the latest full interview here. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
