“Ticketmaster and the Senate saw the wrath of many Taylor Swift fans after chaos ensued while thousands of them hoped to get tickets to Swift’s first tour in four years,” Gracie Moore writes.
February is nationally recognized as Black History Month. Public officials across Kentucky have issued statements, highlighting notable members of the Black community and introducing new initiatives for the month.
On Feb. 1, Gov. Andy Beshear posted a video on Twitter recognizing Black History Month. He highlighted historical Black figures Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Kentucky’s own Muhammad Ali.
However, the main focus of Beshear’s video is Brig. Gen. Charles Young. In the video, Beshear goes on to tell the story of Young’s life.
Young was born to enslaved parents in 1864, in May’s Lick, Kentucky. After his parents escaped slavery, Young’s father enlisted in the military. The family moved to Ripley, Ohio, where the beginning of abolitionism was taking place.
Young was raised in Ripley, where he graduated from high school with academic honors. He went on to apply to West Point, where he earned the second highest marks but was not accepted until the candidate in front of him dropped out, according to the National Park Service website.
In 1889, Young became the third African American gradu-
ate of West Point.
In combat, Young earned praise from fellow soldiers and became the highest ranking African American in the military once he was promoted to lieutenant general.
“(Young’s) bravery, sacrifice, and service deserved a higher promotion,” Beshear said. “So in 2020, I posthumously promoted him to the honorary rank of brigadier general in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. I also asked the president to do the same on the national level, which he did last year.”
Beshear used the end of his video to express sentiments about the equality of all people, especially Kentckians.
“From creating a more equitable education system starting with universal pre-K, to restoring voting rights and working to ensure every single Kentuckian has access to quality and affordable healthcare,” Beshear said.
Lexington’s Mayor Linda Gorton also took to Twitter to recognize Black History Month. Her post on Feb. 1 highlighted the following events to be held by Lexington’s parks commemorating Black History Month:
Feb 15: Dunbar Centennial Celebration at Dunbar Community Center
Feb 18: Black History
Month Symposium at Artworks at the Carver School
Feb 22: Black Histo-
ry Movie Night at Kenwick Community Center
Feb 24: “Knowledge of the Neighborhood” – East End Matters at William Wells Brown Community Center
All Month: Black History Virtual Field Trips at Tates Creek Community Center
UK president Eli Capilouto has yet to make a press release recognizing Black History Month as of Feb. 8, but he is expected to and commonly does it later in the month.
In his 2022 Black History Month commemoration, Cap-
ilouto spoke about notable Black graduates throughout UK’s history. These graduates included:
Mary Ann Henderson, the first Black student to earn their degree studying at UK in 1950.
Sarah Clark Newby, a UK graduate who became the first Black teacher to integrate in Fayette County Schools in 1966.
Wilbur Hackett, the first Black varsity athlete to start at UK, who would go on to be the first African American
SEC team captain in 1969. Ruth Coleman, the first Black female to graduate from the UK College of Engineering in 1977.
Dr. John T. Smith, the first Black student to get a Ph.D. from UK in 1961.
“We have an incredible story to tell through the biographies of those who have blazed a trail at UK,” Capilouto said last year. “It is also a story that informs us and challenges us about what is left to do to create a community of concern and inclusion for everyone.”
This is Humans of UK, inspired by the Humans of New York Instagram series by photographer and author Brandon Stanton. This series dives into the individuals of UK as well as their stories, strifes and passions.
Michael Preacely, a professional opera singer and lecturer in voice at the University of Kentucky, is working to create a movement of unity through the power of music in Lexington.
Exposed to artists such as Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole by his great-grandmother, Preacely said he learned early on that music was going to change his life.
“My love for what I did just came from different sounds that I heard and also different sounds that I was able to make,” Preacely said.
Preacely attended Oberlin College in Ohio for voice and opera. From there, his passion for music only grew. He said his goal as an incoming student was to sing in Hall Auditorium, an Oberlin theater used for largescale opera and dance productions.
His very first opera was sung in Hall Auditorium.
“It’s amazing how that whole journey took me to Oberlin
and singing and cultivating my voice,” Preacely said.
Since that first performance, Preacely has been contracted by countless opera companies all across the nation. Those experiences have led him to what he’s doing now: teaching students and the future of opera.
Preacely’s experiences have allowed him to develop teaching styles and methods that enable him to better guide his students. Through music and testimonies, he teaches students to use their voice and to understand the power of singing.
Even at a young age, he said he felt he had the ability to teach,
not better, but differently.
“I’m not like any of the other professors, not to say that I think I’m special, but I am. I think that I am in my own way. We should all think (that) way because that’s what validates us in this world, our uniqueness,” Preacely said.
His passion for guiding the youth has led to his hope to start a movement of empathy, social awareness and collaboration through music in Lexington, he said.
Preacely, born and raised in Chicago, has been involved with United Voices Chicago, formerly Chicago Children’s Choir,
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and was able to bring them to Lexington in January. The group performed at the Singletary Center for the Arts at an event hosted by UK for the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
He witnessed first-hand how the transformative power of their music impacted the people of Lexington and knew this something his community needed.
“Individually, your voice is important, but collectively, that’s a movement. A movement starts with one person, but it moves with multiple people,” Preacely said.
Preacely said his goal with United Voices Lexington is simply to bring people together — from different walks of life, backgrounds and even parts of the Bluegrass. He also hopes for Uniting Voices Lexington to develop a partnership with UK that will strengthen the Commonwealth through unity.
“My hope is that we develop a partnership with the university to where we can be a catalyst for major change in the relationship between the university and the community,” Preacely said.
Uniting Voices Lexington will begin this fall for students in middle and high school, though the work to bring the movement to life has already begun.
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Students dance during the Underground Formal on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the Gatton Student Center in Lexington, Kentucky.
UK Student Activities Board (SAB) collaborated with Underground Perspectives to host the Underground Formal in the Gatton Student Center on February 4. Students streamed into the Grand Ballroom to bond with friends and break out their best dance moves. The event included appetizers, a 360 Photo Booth and music curated by DJ WarrenPeace.
Allyson Carson, president of SAB, said the event aimed to bring a high school dance experience to life.
“It allows students to come and have the opportunity to attend a formal, in case they didn’t have that experience in high school due to COVID,” she said.
Vice President of Underground Perspectives Jocelyn Grimsley mentioned Saturday’s event was the third Underground Formal she has attended thus far.
“It (has) definitely evolved. Something we want to try and work on is getting [the Underground Formal] promoted a lot sooner in time to help get more of the campus community here,” Grimsley said. “Over the years we’ve noticed an increase in size of people interested in it.”
Kylie Threatt, president of Underground Perspectives, has attended every Underground Formal since she was a freshman. According to her, the event has changed a lot over the years.
“One big thing that is really nice now is not having to wear a mask … we could tell everyone was having a good time, but I wish I could see everyone’s smiles,” Threatt said. “You can tell people are having fun and aren’t scared to be close to each other and are actually out on the dance floor having a good time.”
At 8 p.m., students began trickling in. Alex Nacke, one of the first to arrive, of-
fered his initial impressions of the event.
“It was a little empty so me and my friends went into the circle. We started dancing because there’s no point in going to a party and not making a fool of yourself. It’s time to let loose,” he said.
Warren Edwards, better known by his stage name DJ WarrenPeace, provided the music for the event. He has been DJ’ing since he was 15 years old.
“I was a music-lover first; being in love with music made me a DJ,” Edwards said.
He said he never makes playlists for events like this, he just plays it by ear.
“I’m just going off of what the energy in the room (is),” Edwards said.
“That’s why sometimes you might play something that (doesn’t) work. The vibe-read is wrong, so you just adjust.”
As the night carried on, partygoers filled the dance floor. Students paused only to grab a refreshment or rest their wearied feet. Meanwhile, SAB members worked shifts to ensure the event ran smoothly.
Kylie Threatt said there are four shifts for workers at the event, with 14 to 20 people in each shift.
Anaya Ali, an associate board of director at SAB, gave people wristbands to confirm they were checked in. Meanwhile, Emma Galdau served as a floater.
“I walk around and make sure that everyone is checked in and that they have a wristband on,” Ali said.
Others who work for UK provided security and medical services and oversaw the sound and lighting.
EMS workers and UK police offi-
cers stood on the perimeter against the walls, eyeing students and chatting with each other. No incidents requiring their services occurred that night.
Sophomore Julia Brillowski, who works for UK productions and services, kept track of the lighting and audio with the help of two others. She said a lot more preparation goes into their work than people would expect.
“There’s a whole roster of requirements and equipment that has been carefully selected by whoever’s holding the event, and we have to go through, usually a couple hours earlier, to set up everything and consult with (SAB) and make sure everything is in tip-top shape,” Brillowski said.
Other workers, like UK Athletics medic Matthew Callahan, served in case someone got injured during the dance.
Carson said the amount of security was typical for such an event.
Students offered mixed reviews after the event’s conclusion. UK senior Hannah Lynn Lamb said this year’s Underground Formal is the third one she has attended. Her favorite remains the first.
“There were more people, there was more music, and the food was better. I feel like [the Underground Formal] has lost a bit of luster. It’s just not as fun,” she said. “The music isn’t that good. There [are fewer] people. I can tell the first time it happened, everyone was so excited to do it, and now it just seems like no one’s that excited to be here.”
Another student, Grecia Garcia-Rodriguez, offered a more positive review.
“I think this is awesome. My roommate’s a junior, so she didn’t have her senior prom, so this is a really cool way for us to emulate that,” Garcia-Rodriguez said.
UK’s Martin Luther King Center gathered for its second annual Legacy Luncheon & Awards ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 2.
According to UKNOW, the event was a part of “MLK Center Legacy Week,” which aimed to commemorate the end of January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the start of February, which is recognized as Black History Month.
Other Legacy Week events included the Sister Circle & My Brother’s Keeper semester kick-off, Becoming Self-Made: A Dinner Discussion Exploring Entrepreneurship and What’s In a Dream: Open Mic Poetry Night.
The Legacy Luncheon & Awards closed a week of celebration and conversation and called attendees to never let social progress seize.
MLK Center Director Ja’Mahl McDaniel opened the event by acknowledging the commitment of past and present MLK Center members to the mission of the organization.
A video message from UK president Eli Capilouto, who was unable to attend, praised the work of the MLK Center and congratulated awardees.
Vice President for Institutional Diversity Katrice Albert described the awardees’ work as “hope and of light,” in contrast to the dark world that allowed for the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of the Memphis Police Department this past January.
“As we start the month off celebrating the awesomeness of Black history and Black excellence and heart health awareness month, like the remarkable valves of the heart, this luncheon is essential to telling our love story,” Albert
said. “For more than 35 years the University of Kentucky’s MLK Center has opened its doors and its heart to everyone on campus and the community.”
McDaniel said the MLK Center hosted over 36 distinctive programs in the fall semester. She called the center’s Plate of Discussion, Monthly Dialogue Series, Sister Circle, My Brother’s Keeper, identity initiatives and cultural heritage events “notable” programs
“To see so many folks from all different walks of life here to join us, to celebrate not only our legacy, but the
work that they are doing to contribute to that legacy is really important to me,” McDaniel said.
Commonly referred to as “Moma Vee” by her students, UK alumna Veleashia “Vee” Byrd also spoke at the awards ceremony.
She talked about her experience with the MLK Center as an undergraduate and the importance of building and leaving a lasting legacy.
“I really hope that the King Center spirit is still something that is invoked in students today because that is where
I learned who I was, who I could be and who I wanted to be,” Byrd said. Full list of Legacy Award Winners: Leadership Legacy Award (undergraduate student) - Myka Smith-Jackson Leadership Legacy Award (graduate student) - Ariel Robinson
Catalyst Award - Dr. Kendriana Price Community Impact Award - the National Society of Black Engineers
The Heart of the Beloved AwardCindy Sossa
University of Kentucky students and affiliates can access The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal for free with their university emails.
The partnership with NYT was headed by UK Libraries, the College of Communication and Information and UK’s Student Government Association and launched in September 2022. UK Libraries and the Student Government Association also partnered with the Wall Street Journal.
Brandon Erby, an assistant professor in the Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies department and affiliated faculty in African American and Africana studies, makes use of The New York Times often in his classes.
When assigning an article from The New York Times, Erby includes instructions for students to set up their student accounts.
“I know that, for me, I like to assign texts that deal with current issues and popular issues,” Erby said. “So, if I’m asking students to access these materials and these websites, I want them to be able to read the things that I asked him to take a look at. So, it has become standard practice with me at the beginning of (the) semester.”
ILLUSTRATION BY AKHILA NADIMPALLIWithout a subscription, articles from both WSJ and NYT are “paywalled,” meaning the reader has to pay for a subscription if they want to view the content.
“When we have sources that are behind paywall or you need to have a subscription to access them, I think you’re excluding a lot of people from receiving information
or receiving content, receiving knowledge,” Erby said. “And so, I think that complimentary access is important because it just broadens our ability to be knowledgeable citizens.”
Jen Martin, the outreach and engagement coordinator for UK Libraries, said there is a lot more to a New York Times or Wall Street Journal subscription than just reading
articles. Podcasts, lesson plans and more are available through the New York Times app and website, while the Wall Street Journal allows readers to access both current and previous issues and do crosswords.
“With these sources, you get all of the graphics, all the podcasts, everything that paid users get,” Martin said.
In addition to WSJ and
NYT, UK Libraries offers access to the full Vogue archive. This archive can be found through the UK Libraries database website.
Martin said that with misinformation being a major cause of concern in journalism and the news at large, having trusted sources may help to mitigate that.
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“These two newspapers are held to the highest standards of journalism, and so the hope is that any misinformation or information that is out of date will be corrected as soon as possible,” Martin said. “And therefore, you’re going to get the most reliable information at your fingertips instead of reading something on social media that then is debunked. You can rely on going to The New York Times or the Wall Street Journal and getting the most accurate information.”
Many students may not be aware of their access to NYT and WSJ, though. Freshman kinesiology major McKenna Major said she was not. Previously, if she had to read an article from The New York Times or Wall Street Journal for class, she would email her professors for an alternate way to read it.
“I think it’s important for like things like classes, because you can use them in a lot of your papers and your classwork. I know a lot of people love Wordle, and Wordle is through New York Times so you can access more with the subscription,” Major said.
Help accessing and traversing The New York Times and Wall Street Journal sites is available through UK Libraries.
“We have in-person help around the clock and on our website, where you would access and sign up for The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, we have a chat function. And, so, if you ever need any help, just look for the green chat button and that will connect you to somebody. Never feel afraid to reach out even if you think it is the simplest of questions,” Martin said.
Instructions on how students can activate these memberships can be found on UKNOW for The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
The University of Kentucky is at the forefront of a groundbreaking study that could change the way Alzheimer’s disease is treated.
The AHEAD Study is a clinical trial that studies the effects of lecanemab, a promising drug which just recently received an accelerated approval from the FDA on Jan. 6, 2023. UK is one site participating in the AHEAD study.
Dr. Greg Jicha, director of clinical trials at UK’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, explained how the recently approved drug works.
Lecanemab targets amyloid plaques that form in the brain. Amyloid plaques are a build-up of amyloid beta protein that occur in the brain. These plaques become toxic to the brain and start to kill and injure nerve cells, which then leads to memory loss, Jicha said.
The formation of these plaques is necessary for Alzheimer’s to develop. However one-third of seniors over the age of 65 with normal memory and cognition already have amyloid buildup in the brain, Jicha said. This is where the AHEAD Study comes in.
The AHEAD Study tests the effects of lecanemab on those who don’t show signs of
memory problems yet but do have amyloid plaques present in the brain. Alexndra Curtis, clinical trials research manager at the Sanders-Brown Center, said UK was the first trial site to enroll a patient.
Jicha said according to research conducted by the New England Journal of Medicine, lecanemab shows a 27% slowing in memory and thinking decline and a 40% slowing of loss of functional abilities.
Medication for Alzheimer’s has been around for decades, but these medications treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, not the cause.
Lecanemab is the first drug of its kind to target the disease itself.
“It’s like using a cough drop for COVID,” Jicha said. “It’ll make you feel better, but it won’t do anything about the COVID.”
The AHEAD Study hopes to answer questions about how amyloid plaques affect the brain and if the onset of Alzheimer’s could be delayed if the plaques are removed early enough.
Although results are promising, the research conducted by the AHEAD Study is going to take years. The AHEAD Study is in the middle of re-
cruitment and will be looking for participants for at least the next year.
The research and effects of lecanemab are just “the first crack in the iceberg,” according to Jicha.
“With this we expect, as experts in the field, an acceleration of other drug discovery to the point where one day we’re going to make an even larger impact and hopefully the day will come where Alzheimer’s is no more,” Jicha said. “It’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of work, but this is fundamentally the start of that process.”
that is received on Earth.
By Natalia Garcia news@kykernel.comGary Ferland, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UK, has been named a Fellow in the 2022 class of The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), according to a press release published on Jan. 31, 2023.
AAAS recognized Ferland for the continued development of his code, “Cloudy,” which has helped the astronomy community better understand light that is received through telescopes.
The goal of Cloudy is to use information received from telescopes to figure out what is happening in space based on the light they send back to Earth, Ferland said. Cloudy helps researchers better understand the highly specific information they receive from telescopes.
“We read the message in the star light,” Ferland said. “The amount of detail that we can see is superb. What we need is a way to interpret what this means.”
Cloudy takes into account known laws of physics and how atoms and molecules emit light. Ferland said this allows the program to do a complete simulation showing what is happening in space based on the light
He also said he is honored the Department of Physics and Astronomy would put effort into nominating him for this fellowship.
“It’s a wonderful acknowledgement. It’s very kind … and much appreciated,” Ferland said.
Ferland is one of the 505 scientists and engineers who received this lifetime honor in the last year.
While Ferland was only recently honored as an AAAS Fellow, Cloudy has been around for decades.
Ferland first started his work with Cloudy in 1978 at Cambridge University in Cambridge, England, after the launch of The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE).
IUE was the first space observatory sent into orbit to collect ultraviolet data. Ferland saw the opportunity to write a big program that would be suitable for it, and thus, Cloudy was born.
Cloudy has only grown since then, constantly evolving with the advancement of telescopes.
Ferland has collaborated with 18 students pursuing their doctoral degrees to write their theses about exploring different parts of the universe. If Cloudy couldn’t do the kind of exploration needed for their research, the students would help Ferland
develop Cloudy so it could.
“It was a lot of drunkard’s walk, stumbling our way through where the needs were. (Cloudy) was always very responsive to the needs of the telescopes that were
being launched,” Ferland said.
Although Cloudy has stayed up-to-date with the advancements of science and technology, even Ferland doesn’t know what Cloudy’s
future looks like.
“You know I wouldn’t try to predict the future. Astronomy is so wonderful that way. The universe isn’t as strange as we think, it’s stranger than we can think,” Ferland said.
Ticketmaster and the Senate saw the wrath of many Taylor Swift fans after chaos ensued while thousands of them hoped to get tickets to Swift’s first tour in four years.
The first round of tickets for the Eras Tour went on sale Nov. 15.
This was a pre-sale through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan Program, which their website said helps to prevent resellers and bots from buying tickets to ensure real fans have a higher chance of getting tickets.
But to Ticketmaster’s misfortune, this program didn’t work didn’t work as expected for Swift’s highly in-demand tour.
Some fans waited in queues that lasted two to four hours. Others experienced the site crashing right when they were about to buy tickets.
Fans were enraged after waiting for hours just to be kicked off the website. Plenty of resellers were able to snag tickets, though, with some StubHub listings as high as $12,000.
But even for the lucky ones, service and processing fees can reach around 30% of the ticket’s value, according to The Hustle.
First off, one company shouldn’t be able to profit this much on extra fees and
charges. Even more so, Ticketmaster should be held accountable for making promises they couldn’t keep.
Because of these flaws and faults, the U.S. Senate held a hearing for the Ticketmaster and Live Nation monopoly.
Filled with puns and reality show-like moments, the Jan. 24 hearing lasted three hours.
The CEO of SeatGeek, Inc., John Groetzinger said that many venues fear moving sales away from Ticketmaster at the risk of losing revenue
from Live Nation concerts.
Singer-songwriter Clyde Lawerence said that Ticketmaster doesn’t tell artists the service fee price ahead of time, which has led to his band having fees up to 82%.
The hearing brought up more ideas and questions, such as the fact that many of the fees charged with tickets are completely hidden from buyers.
There’s no way to figure out what some of the charges are from this company.
It’s frustrating for fans and
artists alike to only have one main avenue for buying and selling tickets. It’s completely unfair to those who do not have $500 to spend on a single ticket to see their favorite artist.
Monopolies may not be illegal, but when their power is misused, they can become immoral quite quickly.
I understand that being fair for every financial situation isn’t possible and sometimes luck plays a major role in getting tickets, but surely there are ways for Ticket-
master and Live Nation to make live events more accessible to all.
While I adore Swift and her music, there are more important things to focus on in the government.
If this many people took a stand against Congress about issues like gun violence and equal rights, changes might be made quicker.
However, I empathize completely with every fan fighting to get tickets, especially those like me who have been fans for quite some time. I have been lucky enough to go to almost every one of her tours with my mom, so the nostalgia and time with her make the lack of tickets even more upsetting.
While it’s important to hold big corporations accountable, it’s vital to understand that some issues hold more precedence than others. There’s nothing wrong with that. It just means that for every Ticketmaster fiasco you protest, try looking out for paths of action for climate change or human rights.
Hopefully this is the last time Ticketmaster blunders a presale, especially with Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE World Tour right around the corner.
Long story short, let’s just hope they can shake it off and fix the multitude of issues with ticket sales.
When Alix Earle created a video on TikTok promoting Mielle Organics Rosemary Mint Scalp & Hair
Strengthening Oil on Dec. 29, non-Black women decided to hop on the trend in hopes of unlocking hair growth like Earle.
Mielle Organics is a Black-owned hair care brand that creates products for Black women, and their products are truly amazing for maintaining healthy natural hair.
Even with the recent merger with Procter & Gamble earlier this year, they continue to give back to their community and put out great products that are trusted by many Black consumers, myself included.
However, I think nonBlack women can benefit from some of these products too, the Mielle Organics Rosemary Mint Scalp & Hair
Strengthening Oil specifically. The company still makes products exclusively geared towards women with hair types 3A and above.
Those hair types call for products that may be denser or more suitable for thicker and curlier hair. Mielle Organics’s products work on kinky, coily and curly hair,
no matter the race or ethnicity of a person.
I understand how some Black women are skeptical about non-Black consumers buying from a brand they have been loyal to – one that, from its inception, has catered to Black women specifically, especially when many mainstream beauty brands were not making products suitable for our hair type.
There are haircare brands out there for Black women, but many are not Blackowned, and from my experience, many have products that aren’t the best for natural hair.
For so long, Black-owned hair care brands lived in a secret oasis, untouched by those not in their target audience.
When I heard that nonBlack women were buying from Mielle Organics, I will admit I was confused and slightly territorial over this brand. Since it was created by a Black woman, for Black women, I thought it would be something unequivocally ours, something sacred we didn’t have to worry about sharing with everyone else in the world.
But I also see how good it is that people are buying into a Black-owned brands and, in turn, giving them more money for growth and expansion.
And I think more people
should do so. There are so many Black-owned brands out there that can benefit from more traction and support.
In 2020, many activists were encouraging people to buy from Black-owned businesses to combat the systemic racial issues faced by those in the Black community.
It’s important to continue this support of Black-owned businesses, no matter your race. If they have products you can benefit from, why not buy from them?
When you do, it helps bring wealth to a community who has not gotten the chance to fully embrace generational wealth or had the support of its non-Black counterparts to do so.
By buying into these businesses, consumers help close the racial wealth gap, creating more jobs and allowing companies to expand and grow with more profits, and it is an overall boost to our economy.
If you would like to find some local Black-owned
businesses here in Lexington, I encourage you to go to the Lextropolis Magazine’s Black Business Directory or the Lexington Black Business Guide provided on a Lexington food blog called The Sit-in.
I encourage everyone to buy from Black-owned businesses this February. Even when Black History Month is over, we should all continue to support small and Blackowned businesses as it benefits everyone in the long run.
Super Bowl Sunday is approaching, which for many means chicken wings, great commercials and cheering for whichever teams are still left in the competition.
For me, and I’m sure many others, the halftime performance is what keeps me engaged.
Sporting events leave little to be desired, but seeing my favorite singers and performers put together an ensemble of their best songs for the entire nation to view — now that’s entertaining.
This year is no exception. Rihanna is scheduled to perform in the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Feb. 12, which is thrilling for her fans who haven’t seen the who haven’t seen the artist return music until recently. Prior to her 2022 single “Lift Me Up,” Rihanna had not performed or released music since 2016.
During her performance, Rihanna is expected to play some songs like “Umbrella,” “Don’t Stop the Music” and “We Found Love” as well as some other hits from her discography.
As with most Super Bowl Halftime Show performances, Rihanna is expected to bring out some kind of musical guest to accompany her,
but she has yet to release any hints as to who she might bring on stage with her.
From Jay-Z to Britney Spears, Rihanna has ties to many artists in the music industry who are speculated to make an appearance. Some fans are anticipating an A$AP Rocky appearance given the pair’s public relationship and the recent birth of their son.
Though I think the addition of another artist would be entertaining, I believe Rihanna as a stand alone act would be best. She has many hits and few notable features, and given her success but recent absence from the stage, seeing her back and better than ever would be a perfect reintroduction for audiences as she makes her foray into the music scene again.
Despite the mystery surrounding Rihanna’s performance, it is exciting to see an artist who had such an impact on pop music in the 2000s and 2010s make a comeback at the Super Bowl, a crowning achievement for artists of all genres.
Another artist gaining attention for his Super Bowl debut is none other than Chris Stapleton. Recently, the NFL announced Stapleton would be singing the national anthem at the event.
As a Kentuckian, this addi-
tion to the Super Bowl roster is very exciting. Though not a big country music fan, I do appreciate Stapleton’s unique sound and his contribution to local issues, including his recent “Kentucky Rising” benefit concert that raised nearly $3 million for Eastern Kentucky flood relief.
However, not everyone is on the same page with this decision. Despite his eight Grammys, 10 ACM Awards and 14 CMA awards, many people are unfamiliar with the
country artist and are dreading his performance.
One comment left on the NFL’s post read, “This seems miserable,” in response to the singer’s performance, leaving many fans of Stapleton unhappy.
One fan wrote, “Too many people sleeping on Chris Stapleton. Educate yourselves people,” in response to the negative feedback.
Regardless, Stapleton has proved to be a great vocalist and performer, and to his fans
there is no doubt he will deliver at this year’s Super Bowl. Either way, his performance is not as anticipated as Rihanna’s, given both her elusiveness and popularity.
The show is expected to have some surprises in store and excite fans of Rihanna, who have been missing out on her music since the singer’s hiatus.
Until Feb. 12, fans can only guess what surprises from these performers await them.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, there’s few things that highlight the season in Lexington more than a love story from two members of some of Kentucky’s most popular athletic teams.
Newly engaged mens basketball guard CJ Fredrick and womens basketball guard Blair Green captured Big Blue Nation’s hearts with their endearing relationship that culminated in a ring to finish out 2021.
What started as group hangouts with the basketball team evolved into frequent walks together and competitive one-onone basketball games and, soon enough, Green found herself saying yes to a kneeling Fredrick in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, over the holidays.
That said, before their engagement story could come to be, several months of building a special friendship that would be pivotal in getting the couple through one of the most challenging periods of their athletics careers had to take place.
Going back to the beginning of the 2021-22 basketball season, both Fredrick and Green suffered season-ending injuries, a major blow to both the former, who was looking to play his first season since transferring, and the latter,
who was forced to miss her senior year with one of her close friends, eventual No. 1 overall WNBA Draft pick Rhyne Howard.
Luckily for the pair, their recovery process helped the duo lean on each other during their lowest moments and build themselves back up stronger than before.
“There’s not many times when someone totally understands what you’re going through, like what you’re feeling, the pressures you have and feeling like you’re missing out with your team,” Green said. “Having someone with me every day who was feeling the same way but keeping a positive attitude really helped me along the way by making it a little bit easier and kind of making it fun.”
Back in September, prior to their engagement, Fredrick spoke about the situation similarly, saying his relationship with Green allowed him to see the bigger picture of his injury and enjoy the rehabilitation and recovery processes with his best friend by his side.
Once the 2022-23 basketball season began with both Fredrick and Green back on the court, their love and support for each other continued to grow even while focusing on basketball.
“I just never saw it ending,” Green said.
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Soon enough, the talk of wedding rings and a future together became just as natural to them as dribbling a ball.
After Fredrick had successfully tricked Green into thinking that he was not going to pop the question until after the season had ended, he took her by surprise on a wintery night in Gatlinburg.
Bringing her to the top of the mountains, looking at Christmas lights in Anakeesta and listening to carolers, Green found humor in thinking Fredrick had just been filled with the holiday spirit.
“He pulled me over to the side at one time and started telling me all this sweet stuff and it still didn’t hit me that he was proposing,” Green said. “I thought he was still just having a moment.”
It didn’t click for Green that Fredrick was about to pull off the ultimate surprise with friends and family right around the corner.
“It really caught me off guard and all of a sudden I see the camera and one of my good friends, who is the photographer, coming out, and then his family’s there and I’m like, ‘How did you pull this off?’”
Though an engagement at the peak of not one but two college basketball seasons could seem like a lot, Green said not much changed between the two in how they go about their relationship and look at the rest of the season.
Just as they had supported each other as a dating couple, they continue to support each other as an engaged couple and are waiting until the season is over before allowing themselves
to think about wedding plans.
Now that the attention and masses of messages of love and support from Big Blue Nation have begun to settle down, Fredrick and Green have shifted their focus back to basketball and continue to lean on each other as they did when going through rehab together.
“After a hard loss or if I play badly, he’s always someone I can come to and he can just instantly make me feel better,” Green said. “One day, I was having a really bad day and he was like, ‘Man I played like that too. I can’t hit a shot, but you know what, the sun’s going to rise. Basketball doesn’t define me. I’m a child of God.’ (He helps me see) there’s a bigger picture and that stayed with me ever since he said that.”
With busy schedules to navigate, the duo continues to find joy in the little spontaneous ways to spend time together, whether they go on a date to a new restaurant or find somewhere to play arcade games, Green and Fredrick do not need much to be reminded of the unconditional love they have for one another.
As Green puts it, the engagement is “the cherry on top” of both her and Fredrick’s last seasons playing as a Wildcat and the journey they’ve experienced thus far together.
No matter what the future holds for them, Lexington can expect to see Green and Fredrick by each other’s side or on opposite sides of a friendly basketball game, with their relationship seemingly forever rooted in the hardwood of Kentucky basketball.
There was a time not so long ago when opposing teams dreaded entering the fortress of Kentucky Basketball, preparing to be plagued by electrifying players and fanatic spectators.
Since the move from Memorial Coliseum to Rupp Arena in 1976, Rupp has become a symbol of the storied success of the unrivaled dominance of the basketball program, with the team finishing the 2021-22 season undefeated inside the arena entirely.
Unfortunately for the Cats, it appears that reputation may be no more.
The magic that once filled the hallowed seats of Rupp has faded. The noise and energy sucked right out of the air.
The noise which erupted after historic wins and climactic finales has dwindled into slight murmurs, similarly comparable to that of this season’s mens basketball team.
In fact, the 2022-23 season marks the first time, excluding the pandemic year, that John Calipari has lost more than two games in Rupp Arena in a single season.
The Cats suffered another disappointing defeat at home on Tuesday night, falling to the Arkansas Ra-
zorbacks 88-73 in a display that was haunted by a disastrous second half by Calipari’s team.
The second half saw the Cats outscored 47-33, a collapse that was highlighted by weak interior defense and a deflating display of shooting.
Expanding upon the subpar frontcourt, the Cats let the Razorbacks score 46 points in the paint across both halves, making up more than half of their total points for the entire game.
John Calipari was adamantly frustrated with the lack of physical defense and the ease of Arkansas’s interior game.
“Our rim protection was awful,” Calipari said. “I can’t get guys to body up and do this stuff, and they did a great job of bodying up us.”
Arkansas also shot the ball incredibly well, thanks to the backcourt duo Anthony Black and Ricky Council IV, who put up 19 and 20 points, respectively.
The Razorbacks’ 62.7% shooting from the field marked the best shooting performance by an opposing team inside Rupp Arena since Northwestern State shot 65% in 1985 in the first season under head coach Eddie Sutton, who took over for Joe. B Hall.
Inconsistency and lack of physical defense has ravaged the Wildcats this season, with the Razorbacks utilizing the pick-and-roll to perfection, similarly to Kansas, which employed the same tactic to rile up Oscar Tshiebwe and Jacob Toppin.
On June 13, 2016, Nick Mingione was named the head coach of Kentucky baseball, replacing coach Gary Henderson, who had amassed many accomplishments in his seven-year tenure in Lexington.
UK wanted a leader to take place after Henderson resigned and Mingione fit that bill. His experience under then Mississippi State head coach John Cohen seemed to be enough to qualify him for the position.
In his last year at Mississippi State, the club went 4418-1 with an impressive 21-9 conference record. His “Student. Person. Player.” model was also very attractive to the athletic department, as he wasn’t just worried about getting guys to “the show” but also teaching them how to be better in school and as a person.
“Nick Mingione is exactly the kind of coach we hoped to hire when we began our search,” Kentucky Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart told UK Athletics after the hire. “His passion, tactical mind and tireless recruiting efforts made him an important part of Mississippi State’s staff during some great years for the program.”
Mingione shared that sentiment coming on as the coach
of the Wildcats.
“This is an opportunity I’ve dreamed about for more than a decade,” he said to UK Athletics. “From the moment I first stepped foot on campus I knew it would be a place I could call home.”
His first season was all that Kentucky fans expected out of the hire, with Mingione recording an overall 43-23 record with a 19-11 record in conference play.
The season would see Kentucky finish third in the SEC after the top two teams, Florida and LSU, tied for first.
The Cats would even earn the top batting average in the conference with no shortage of hitters, recording a .316 average on their way to the NCAA Tournament, where they would go on to reach the Super Regional before falling to in-state rival Louisville, ending their chances to hold up the trophy in Mingione’s first year.
Even with the loss, Mingione was named the National and SEC Coach of the Year. Then, things took a turn.
The program would go 2040 in conference under the Tarrytown, New York, native
the next two seasons.
COVID-19 sidelined the Cats for the 2020 season, perhaps giving Mingione a break from his troubling seasons and the criticisms hailing from BBN baseball faithful.
Then, things seemed back on track when the 2021 campaign saw the Cats start off hot in non-conference play with a solid 8-1 record in the month of February.
Unfortunately for Mingione, from March-May, the wins stopped coming as consistently as they had been when the Wildcats faced eas-
ier out-of-conference opponents. The Cats finished with an overall record of 29-23 and a conference record of 12-18, well below .500.
This is around when Mingione’s seat really started to heat up. Four-straight losing conference records started to lead some fans thinking maybe year one was simply a fluke.
Regardless, Barnhart thought otherwise and chose to hold on to him.
This past year, in 2022, Mingione’s “Bat Cats” finished seven games over an even mark while holding steady on the 12-18 conference record from last year, extending the losing record streak to five straight out of the six years he’s been at the helm. None of that is to mention mid-week losses to schools such as Ohio University and Eastern Kentucky in the process, the latter of which delayed the program from reaching its 2,000th victory.
This begs the question going into the 2023 season: should UK and Barnhart move on?
According to On3, Mingione’s contract runs through June 2025, with the coach also receiving a one-year extension if the team reaches the NCAA Tournament, which the seventh-year coach hasn’t done since his debut year back in 2017.
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Continued from page 14
According to A Sea of Blue, Mingione earns $400,000 a year with an additional $175,000 coming from guaranteed media and endorsements. Were the team to fire him without cause, UK would owe him anywhere from 50100% of his salary, with the timeframe between July 2021 and June 2022 ensuring he would earn 75% of his salary over the next two years.
All that being said, it’s possible not all is lost with the Kentucky baseball program, but whether or not that’s the case relies entirely on one thing: the Cats making it to the NCAA Tournament this season.
If the team makes the postseason, then it is possible things will work out — after all, some coaches need time to succeed — but if things don’t, that’ll mark just another year since 2017 that the Cats haven’t gone dancing.
In the case that he doesn’t make it, there is little room to do anything other than move on and find another coach to take over the program.
While the pairing started off appearing to be a match made in heaven, Mingione may simply not be the guy for this program anymore, and if he isn’t, Kentucky has to be careful not to just maintain the status quo out of an appreciation for off-the-field activities.
Kentucky baseball is set to kickoff its 2023 season on Friday, Feb. 18, in Elon, North Carolina, as it faces off against the Elon Phoenix in a three-game series. Mingione is set to lead the Wildcats in the series.
By Cole Parke sports@kykernel.com
Keaton Daniel made his way into the headlines this past season of track and field when he managed to break a school record, that he himself had set, on the pole vault during the the McCravy Memorial meet in January 2023.
Then, just within that same month, Daniel did it again, re-breaking the record in the Razorback Invitational in Arkansas.
While the accomplishments placed him in the spotlight, Daniel emphasized that breaking records is not what motivates him to continue to improve, rather, he just wants to improve himself every day.
“I try not to think about the records,” Daniel said. “I’ve been trying to shift my mindset and improve myself. Whenever you get caught up in the competition or what they’re jumping, that’s something you can’t control. Something I can control is aspiring to be the best athlete I can be. If you’re constantly doing it for the gratification of wins you’re going to (burn) out because during off-season training (the wins) aren’t there. I think rather than loving winning, learning to love
what you’re doing is key.”
That mentality plays into Daniel’s motto that he takes with him into competitions: “control the controllables.”
“You wake up and it’s, ‘What can I control today? What can I not?’” he said. “Those things that you can control, do to your 100%. Knowing that you’re putting your full effort and not half-assing things. If I’m going to do something I’m going to do it to my full extent and I think that’s a big part of pushing my -
self to be the best. It’s not about getting first or second or nationals, it’s ultimately about where I am trying to go with this and what type of person I’m trying to be.”
Daniel expressed an appreciation for the culture surrounding track and field, saying that the athletes he encounters at meets aren’t necessarily trying to defeat their opponents, they’re just trying to be the best versions of themselves.
“It’s probably one of the
best things about track,” he said. “(I was talking to) one of my friends — he’s from Arkansas — and I’m actually coaching him because his coach is busy. He went and jumped a PR (personal record) which is cool, I’m not going to take credit for it, but it’s cool seeing your friends succeed. It’s not like, ‘Ah, I knocked you down so you didn’t jump well and I beat you,’ no, we both jumped well and whoever came out on top, you went to the top.”
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“There was one point I said we’re throwing it to him every time,” Calipari said about Tshiebwe’s performance. “We were trying to get it in to him. I thought it worked at times, and other times they were getting around the post, they trapped him, or they just bodied him. He’s gotta be
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Originally hailing from Henderson, Nevada, Daniel came to get his start pole vaulting at the age of eight in Texas, though he wasn’t able to compete until he was 12.
He stated that the first four years of just trying to master a craft, rather than compete for wins, really helped him to fall in love with vaulting.
Daniel had known Kentucky Assistant Coach Kyle Grimes from the latter’s time at Texas A&M and, thanks in big part to the niche community created around track and field, was recruited to come to Lexington to continue his
better for us, but he will be.”
Chris Livingston, who was a rare bright spot in an otherwise bland offense, posted a career-high point-total of 13, but the staunch Razorback defense quickly swallowed up his opportunities in the second half.
“They crowded the court a little bit on him,” Calipari said. “He missed some shots, he had shots in the
second half but he missed some of them, but he did good. He’s getting better and better and getting more confident and mixes it up, and that’s all I can ask.” While not the first person to come to mind in terms of shooting the long ball, Livingston led the team in three pointers, making two out of his three attempts. Despite that, Livingston felt like his and the team’s
defensive intensity was severely lacking.
“I gotta be better,” Livingston said. “My intensity wasn’t as high as it should have been so I have to speak for myself.”
With Kentucky’s sixgame conference win streak now broken heading into a road rematch against Georgia, the Wildcats are once again going to be forced to regroup and earn a bounce-
back home victory next time out inside Rupp Arena, just as they did after losing to Kansas and South Carolina earlier this year.
Tip-off against the Bulldogs is scheduled for noon EST on Saturday, Feb. 11, and will also broadcast live on ESPN.
Kentucky’s next opportunity at home is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 18, when it hosts No. 6 Tennessee.
athletic career.
“I think (we have) a good friendship,” Daniel said. “It’s more level now, we’re a team. It wasn’t him telling me what to do and me doing it, it’s our accomplishment, like together we’re conquering these records. He definitely taught me a lot, not even just track but philosophy and all these things. We were traveling and it’s like 5 a.m., and we’re sitting on the bus talking philosophy. It’s funny and it’s definitely a really good mix.”
Daniel’s relationship with his coaches are far from the only ones he credited with creating the right environment for him to succeed, with the senior
also crediting his relationship with his girlfriend as well.
“I think having a really healthy relationship (is key for me),” he said. “It’s nice having an identity outside of pole fault. Like my girlfriend, just knowing that there’s something else after I can be like, ‘Okay, bad day today, but it’s fine, there’s still bigger things to go do.’ It’s been a really big motivator and kind of eases the bad days.”
Daniel also elaborated on how having a good work-life balance is key for having a healthy mind since becoming a college athlete.
“It’s definitely been a shift I’ve had to make since high school,” he said. “(In high school) track was
my way to release and a de-stresser. Now, track is the stress. (It’s important) to find times you can go and release and it means absolutely nothing. I really like fishing or going on bike rides and just making time for myself outside of track because as soon as you rely on track as the source of your happiness when you win you’re going to be screwed over.”
Daniel elaborated, saying he has a three-foot fishing rod that he takes with him during outdoor season and searches for canals or ponds to fish in wherever the team ends up, citing his favorite location as the University of Oregon and recalling seeing the slide marks of alligators when fishing in
Gainesville, Florida. While Daniel will have to wait a bit longer for outdoor season to return, he won’t have to wait much longer for his next opportunity to compete, with the track and field team taking part in two competitions this weekend: the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson and the Husky Classic at Washington.
Whether or not he breaks his own record for the fourth time this season, Daniel will continue to do what he loves and soar through the air in an effort to be the best version of himself he can be.
“(When you’re flying through the air) you’re falling and you’re fully aware,” Daniel said. “It’s a really good feeling.”