Latest news with #Thorns
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tigres downs Thorns 2-0 to reach championship of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup
MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Aaliyah Farmer and Thembi Kgatlana scored first-half goals and Tigres UANL defeated the Portland Thorns 2-0 on Wednesday night to advance to the championship game in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup. Tigres will play Gotham FC in Saturday's final in the inaugural edition of the continental club tournament. Gotham defeated Club América 3-1 in the earlier semifinal at Estadio Universitario. Advertisement Farmer, who played for USC before signing with the Liga MX Femenil club in January, scored in the 10th minute to give Tigres the lead. Thorns goalkeeper Bella Bixby misplayed a ball that had been passed back to her and Kgatlana took advantage with a goal that made it 2-0 in the 27th. 'I took the chance to press, and the ball was free to score,' Kgatlana said afterward. The National Women's Soccer League's Thorns pressed in the second half but Tigres' defense held. Goalkeeper Itzel González made seven saves for Tigres. The W Champions Cup is the annual women's club championship for the region and will serve as the qualification event for the FIFA Women's Champions Cup, which debuts next year. ___ AP soccer:
Winnipeg Free Press
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Tigres downs Thorns 2-0 to reach championship of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup
MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Aaliyah Farmer and Thembi Kgatlana scored first-half goals and Tigres UANL defeated the Portland Thorns 2-0 on Wednesday night to advance to the championship game in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup. Tigres will play Gotham FC in Saturday's final in the inaugural edition of the continental club tournament. Gotham defeated Club América 3-1 in the earlier semifinal at Estadio Universitario. Farmer, who played for USC before signing with the Liga MX Femenil club in January, scored in the 10th minute to give Tigres the lead. Thorns goalkeeper Bella Bixby misplayed a ball that had been passed back to her and Kgatlana took advantage with a goal that made it 2-0 in the 27th. 'I took the chance to press, and the ball was free to score,' Kgatlana said afterward. The National Women's Soccer League's Thorns pressed in the second half but Tigres' defense held. Goalkeeper Itzel González made seven saves for Tigres. The W Champions Cup is the annual women's club championship for the region and will serve as the qualification event for the FIFA Women's Champions Cup, which debuts next year. ___ AP soccer:
IOL News
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- IOL News
Carol Thorns releases heartfelt tribute to loss with ‘Amazing Grace'
South African cellis, Carol Thorns, has just released a new single and video to honour the profound loss of loved ones. Image: Anita Olckers In a poignant tribute to lost loved ones, award-winning South African cellist Carol Thorns has released a new single and music video that captures the essence of grief and healing. The piece, a beautifully rendered version of the timeless hymn 'Amazing Grace', emerges from a deeply personal experience of loss that Thorns endured in 2024. 'I lost not only my mother and my 'second mother' (my aunt), but also two very close musician friends: singer Zami Mdingi and composer/producer Helmut Meijer,' Thorns shared. 'My heartache felt too much to bear. During that period, the only thing that brought me comfort was playing my cello.' Her connection to "Amazing Grace" served as a refuge in her time of sorrow, leading her to create a version meant to resonate with those also struggling with grief. Collaborating with renowned Australian pianist Kev Lee for the arrangement and South African producer Konstand Spies for the recording, Thorns found herself overwhelmed with emotion upon hearing the final edit of the single. Realising the profound impact the piece could have, she decided to film a music video to visually express the heartfelt sentiment encapsulated in her rendition. The music video was filmed in a candlelit chapel at The Sanctuary, an enchanting island-chapel located at La Roche in Franschhoek. With the challenge of capturing the serene ambience while contending with Disney-like wind gusts, a team readied 600 candles, determining not to let the elements disrupt their emotional expression. 'Although it all looks perfectly serene on camera, the wind was gusty, and we scrambled to tape closed the gaps around windows and under doors,' Thorns explained. 'Yet, incredibly, not one person spoke throughout the recording. It was an extraordinary experience.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Thorns' heartfelt message of solace found immediate resonance with audiences. The very first feedback she received was from a listener who shared, 'I'd phone you to tell you how absolutely beautiful your 'Amazing Grace' is but I'm sobbing my heart out. My mom died in October last year… and I'm trying to find a way to make peace with it.' This response deeply moved Thorns, showcasing the power of music as a connector during shared periods of mourning. 'It brings me a sense of peace to know that this song and video bring comfort to others,' she said. 'I have been a musician for many decades, and this moment in time has made me feel truly connected to the bigger picture— the ineffable bond we share as humans in our collective experiences.' Celebrated as a trailblazer in the electric string genre, Thorns' artistry has enthralled audiences around the globe. Her innovative projects like The Bubble, CODA Africa, and the visually stunning Galaxy Dress have established her as a creative force in the music scene. Notably, her solo album 'Sanctuary' received a nomination for the 2023 South African Music Awards (SAMA), further highlighting her influential standing in the industry. Having shared the stage with icons like Vanessa Mae and Elton John, and performed for the likes of J Lo and John Legend, Thorns continues to elevate the profile of the cello on a global scale. Her electric cello has wowed audiences across various regions, leaving a memorable impression with each performance, including her recent act at the Bidvest Gala Dinner in Reykjavik, Iceland. The release of the 'Amazing Grace' video demonstrates that Thorns not only captures the musical essence of hope and healing but also embraces an important dimension of human connection in our shared journey through loss.
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
About 3 in 10 US adults follow women's sports, a new AP-NORC poll finds
When Meghan Sells heads to Providence Park to watch Oregon 's professional women's soccer team, she finds herself among a fairly mixed crowd — groups of young women, dads bringing their children, youth players checking out the Thorns' latest match. The physician's assistant is a self-described lifelong sports fan and former softball player who 'will watch any sport.' That includes both collegiate and professional sports for women, putting Sells squarely in a fan base that suddenly has more options than ever before and is seen as fertile ground for teams and advertisers eager to ride the rising interest in the women's game. About 3 in 10 U.S. adults follow women's professional or college sports 'extremely,' "very' or 'somewhat' closely, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That's lower than the share who follow men's sports by the same measurements — about half — but it also shows that Sells is far from alone. As interest and investment in women's sports have picked up in recent years, so have the entry points for fans. The meteoric rise of Caitlin Clark, the University of Iowa phenom-turned- WNBA star, helped bring wider attention to women's basketball, and increased streaming availability, international success and name, image and likeness deals have elevated the value and viewership of women's sports. 'Growing up, I feel like the only sports I was able to really see on TV were men's — which is fine, I like men's sports,' Sells said. 'But I enjoy watching women's sports more. ... I think the more that you see it on TV, the more you're going to have younger people interested in it.' The poll found that women's sports fans — those who follow women's sports at least 'somewhat' closely — are different from men's sports fans. Fans of women's sports, while not a majority-female group, are more gender balanced than men's sports fans. Those who follow women's pro sports also are more casual in their fandom than men's pro sports fans, tending to say they attend or watch games occasionally rather than frequently. People who follow men's sports, by contrast, are more likely to identify attachments to teams as opposed to players. The survey was conducted just before the start of the 2025 WNBA season, an expansion year for the league. Coming off a season in which attendance records were set (and reset ), the league will debut a new franchise — the Golden State Valkyries — and up the number of regular season games from 40 to 44. In 2026, two additional teams will join the league, including one in Portland, Oregon. Sells, who's been in the city for about a decade, said she is prepared to get season tickets. Different fan bases Men's sports at both the collegiate and professional levels remain more popular than women's sports, the poll found. About one-third of U.S. adults said they watch, listen to or read about men's collegiate sports at least 'somewhat' closely, and more than 4 in 10 say they follow men's pro sports. By contrast, about 2 in 10 say they follow women's collegiate sports at least 'somewhat' closely, and a similar share say they follow women's pro sports. A greater share of men than women say they follow professional or collegiate sports overall, but the gender balance was more even among women's sports fans. Around half of fans of women's sports are male, the survey found, compared with about two-thirds of fans of men's sports. This could be in part due to the overlap between the fandoms: About 90% of U.S. adults who follow women's sports at least 'somewhat' closely also say the same about men's sports, though about half of people who follow men's sports said they also followed women's sports. As women's sports increase in popularity and accessibility, a relatively large share are casual fans. While close to 9 in 10 of both men's and women's pro sports fans say they frequently or occasionally watch, listen to or read about their respective professional sports, a higher percentage of women's sports fans say they are only occasional consumers. That includes people like Matthew Behr, 58, a lifelong fan of the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Brewers in his home state of Wisconsin. He doesn't watch a lot of basketball, he said, but when the sport crosses into news coverage, he will read up on it. That's how he started following Clark, whose final seasons at Iowa were credited with bringing new viewers to the sport and who now plays for the Indiana Fever. 'I was seeing it on MSNBC,' he said. 'I don't watch a lot of basketball. It's not a men's and women's thing. If she was playing in a women's football league, I'd probably watch that.' Attending games Men's sports — with larger leagues, bigger TV deals and a more expansive media ecosystem — have a more fervent audience. About two-thirds of men's sports fans said they 'frequently' or 'occasionally' attend a professional sporting event in person, compared with roughly half of women's sports fans. One possible reason women's sports fans aren't showing up at sporting events is they're less likely to be attached to a specific team. Only about one-third of women's sports fans said the teams they support or follow are 'extremely' or 'very' important to why they follow the sport. For men's fans, the figure was around 50%. However, nearly identical shares of men's and women's sports fans said that certain athletes they support were at least 'very' important to why they follow women's sports. Bernard Seltzer, a high school administrator and math and science teacher in Tampa, Florida, considers himself a general sports fan and said he enjoys watching the most skillful athletes, regardless of their gender. Even at the high school level, he is impressed by the finesse he sees female athletes demonstrate. 'Sometimes it's more impressive than watching masculine people banging their heads against the wall,' he said. ___ The AP-NORC poll of 1,260 adults was conducted April 17-21, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Associated Press
13-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
About 3 in 10 US adults follow women's sports, a new AP-NORC poll finds
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Meghan Sells heads to Providence Park to watch Oregon's professional women's soccer team, she finds herself among a fairly mixed crowd — groups of young women, dads bringing their children, youth players checking out the Thorns' latest match. The physician's assistant is a self-described lifelong sports fan and former softball player who 'will watch any sport.' That includes both collegiate and professional sports for women, putting Sells squarely in a fan base that suddenly has more options than ever before and is seen as fertile ground for teams and advertisers eager to ride the rising interest in the women's game. About 3 in 10 U.S. adults follow women's professional or college sports 'extremely,' 'very' or 'somewhat' closely, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That's lower than the share who follow men's sports by the same measurements — about half — but it also shows that Sells is far from alone. As interest and investment in women's sports have picked up in recent years, so have the entry points for fans. The meteoric rise of Caitlin Clark, the University of Iowa phenom-turned-WNBA star, helped bring wider attention to women's basketball, and increased streaming availability, international success and name, image and likeness deals have elevated the value and viewership of women's sports. 'Growing up, I feel like the only sports I was able to really see on TV were men's — which is fine, I like men's sports,' Sells said. 'But I enjoy watching women's sports more. ... I think the more that you see it on TV, the more you're going to have younger people interested in it.' The poll found that women's sports fans — those who follow women's sports at least 'somewhat' closely — are different from men's sports fans. Fans of women's sports, while not a majority-female group, are more gender balanced than men's sports fans. Those who follow women's pro sports also are more casual in their fandom than men's pro sports fans, tending to say they attend or watch games occasionally rather than frequently. People who follow men's sports, by contrast, are more likely to identify attachments to teams as opposed to players. The survey was conducted just before the start of the 2025 WNBA season, an expansion year for the league. Coming off a season in which attendance records were set (and reset ), the league will debut a new franchise — the Golden State Valkyries — and up the number of regular season games from 40 to 44. In 2026, two additional teams will join the league, including one in Portland, Oregon. Sells, who's been in the city for about a decade, said she is prepared to get season tickets. Different fan bases Men's sports at both the collegiate and professional levels remain more popular than women's sports, the poll found. About one-third of U.S. adults said they watch, listen to or read about men's collegiate sports at least 'somewhat' closely, and more than 4 in 10 say they follow men's pro sports. By contrast, about 2 in 10 say they follow women's collegiate sports at least 'somewhat' closely, and a similar share say they follow women's pro sports. A greater share of men than women say they follow professional or collegiate sports overall, but the gender balance was more even among women's sports fans. Around half of fans of women's sports are male, the survey found, compared with about two-thirds of fans of men's sports. This could be in part due to the overlap between the fandoms: About 90% of U.S. adults who follow women's sports at least 'somewhat' closely also say the same about men's sports, though about half of people who follow men's sports said they also followed women's sports. As women's sports increase in popularity and accessibility, a relatively large share are casual fans. While close to 9 in 10 of both men's and women's pro sports fans say they frequently or occasionally watch, listen to or read about their respective professional sports, a higher percentage of women's sports fans say they are only occasional consumers. That includes people like Matthew Behr, 58, a lifelong fan of the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Brewers in his home state of Wisconsin. He doesn't watch a lot of basketball, he said, but when the sport crosses into news coverage, he will read up on it. That's how he started following Clark, whose final seasons at Iowa were credited with bringing new viewers to the sport and who now plays for the Indiana Fever. 'I was seeing it on MSNBC,' he said. 'I don't watch a lot of basketball. It's not a men's and women's thing. If she was playing in a women's football league, I'd probably watch that.' Attending games Men's sports — with larger leagues, bigger TV deals and a more expansive media ecosystem — have a more fervent audience. About two-thirds of men's sports fans said they 'frequently' or 'occasionally' attend a professional sporting event in person, compared with roughly half of women's sports fans. One possible reason women's sports fans aren't showing up at sporting events is they're less likely to be attached to a specific team. Only about one-third of women's sports fans said the teams they support or follow are 'extremely' or 'very' important to why they follow the sport. For men's fans, the figure was around 50%. However, nearly identical shares of men's and women's sports fans said that certain athletes they support were at least 'very' important to why they follow women's sports. Bernard Seltzer, a high school administrator and math and science teacher in Tampa, Florida, considers himself a general sports fan and said he enjoys watching the most skillful athletes, regardless of their gender. Even at the high school level, he is impressed by the finesse he sees female athletes demonstrate. 'Sometimes it's more impressive than watching masculine people banging their heads against the wall,' he said. ___ The AP-NORC poll of 1,260 adults was conducted April 17-21, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
