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BPS students, faculty, and staff can ice skate for free this winterWhen it comes to 2024 in Boise State athletics, the conversation starts with the Broncos’ football team and their run to the College Football Playoff, but it is far from ending there. Another run for the men’s basketball team to the NCAA Tournament, a Mountain West regular season title in women’s soccer, a late season run in the conference softball tournament and a national controversy involving the Broncos volleyball were all storylines that followed the Bronco athletic program over the past year. BSU FOOTBALL In any event, it was the football team that dominated headlines throughout the year. The hype started at the end of last season, and Boise State lived up to it. The Broncos went 12-1, repeated as Mountain West Champions and not only earned a bid to the College Football Playoff, but earned a first-round bye into the Fiesta Bowl, where they will play Penn State on Tuesday. Bronco running back Ashton Jeanty also caught national headlines with his eye-popping statistics and highlight-reel runs. Those stats and highlights won him both the Doak Walker Award, given to the best running back in the country and the Maxwell Award, given to the most outstanding player, and was a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, which was given to Colorado’s Travis Hunter. Due to Boise State’s status as a Group of Five conference member, many across the country argued that the football team was seeded higher than they deserved, at No. 3. BRONCOS HOOPS For Boise State’s men’s basketball team, the Broncos believed they were under seeded. The Broncos brought a 22-10 record in with them to selection Sunday, including a 6-5 record against Quad 1 opponents. Ranked No. 26 in the NET rankings, bracketologists across the country thought Boise State boasted a strong resume, worthy of a No. 7 or No. 8 seed. The Broncos got a No. 10 seed and were relegated to the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, where they lost to Colorado 60-53. Boise State, which had hoped to earn its first-ever NCAA Tournament win in program history, instead fell to 0-10 all-time in the Big Dance, including an 0-for-3 stretch over the last three years. VOLLEYBALL CONTROVERSY Boise State’s volleyball team also made headlines in 2024 for off-the-court reasons that took a political term. The issue surrounded a San Jose State volleyball player, reported to be transgender. The Idaho Press is not identifying the player because she, nor San Jose State have publicly commented on her gender identity. During the regular season, the Broncos forfeited two Mountain West matches against the Spartans. The Broncos never identified a reason for the forfeitures, but the first one in September came after women’s sports activist Riley Gaines reportedly petitioned all Mountain West members to boycott games against the Spartans due to the reported transgender player. Utah State, Wyoming and Nevada all forfeited conference matches, while Southern Utah forfeited a non-conference match. Shortly after Boise State beat Utah State in the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament, the Broncos dropped out of the tournament, with a matchup against San Jose State in the semifinals, effectively ending their season. “The decision to not continue to play in the 2024 Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament was not an easy one,” Boise State said in a statement following its third forfeiture. “Our team overcame forfeitures to earn a spot in the tournament field and fought for the win over Utah State in the first round on Wednesday. They should not have to forgo this opportunity while waiting for a more thoughtful and better system that serves all athletes.” BEST OF THE REST Two other Bronco teams saw their postseason run fall short in championship rounds. In May, the Broncos’ softball team hosted the Mountain West Tournament at Dona Larsen Park, entering the tournament as the No. 5 seed. Against No. 4 Fresno State, the Broncos trailed 4-1 entering the seventh inning before Hollie Farmer and Alycia Flores homered to tie the game and true freshman Sophia Knight had a RBI go-ahead single in extra inning to give the Broncos the 5-4 win. After falling to top-seeded San Diego State in double-elimination play, Boise State topped No. 2 UNLV after Jordyn Hutchins hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in extra innings a Boise State won 5-4 and the Broncos took a 4-1 win against No. 3 Nevada to set up a rematch in the championship against San Diego State. The Aztecs scored two runs each in the fifth and sixth innings to win the title, 6-3. In the fall, the women’s soccer team won the Mountain West regular season title, but lost to Utah State 2-1 in the conference tournament title, ending all hope of an NCAA Tournament bid. Elsewhere in Bronco sports in 2024: Former Boise State track and field national champion Marisa Howard represented Team USA in the Olympics in Paris in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase. She finished seventh in her first-round heat. ... Cole Rueck won the men’s golf individual Mountain West championship, the first Bronco to do so since 2017. ... Boise State’s men’s tennis team won the Mountain West regular season and tournament titles. It was the second straight year the Broncos won the tournament title. ... Boise State won the inaugural Mountain West Gymnastics Championship, with Emily Blackson winning the NCAA Regional Meet on bars and finishing sixth at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors.Watts scores 20, Washington State takes down Boise State 74-69

It's the perfect time to buy holiday decor for next year – these are the best Christmas decoration sales to shop before they sell out

Godaddy CFO Mark McCaffrey sells $526,590 in stockReal Madrid suffered a 2-1 LaLiga defeat at Athletic Bilbao as Kylian Mbappe missed from the penalty spot again. Alex Berenguer prodded the hosts ahead after 53 minutes before Mbappe – who failed to convert a Champions League penalty against Liverpool last week – sent his kick too close to Bilbao goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala. Jude Bellingham appeared to have rescued a point for Real after scoring for the fourth successive league game 12 minutes from time. 📸 PORTERAZO. JULEN, JULEN! JULEN JULEN! 🦁 — Athletic Club (@AthleticClub) But Federico Valverde’s mistake two minutes later gifted Gorka Guruzeta the winner in front of a delirious San Mames crowd. On a busy night of second-round Copa del Rey action, Villarreal suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Pontevedra while there were wins for Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia. Fiorentina went out of the Coppa Italia to Empoli on penalties on an emotional night at Stadio Artemio Franchi. Viola were back in action after Edoardo Bove’s health scare forced their weekend league fixture with Inter Milan to be abandoned during the first half. Midfielder Bove collapsed on the pitch and required emergency medical treatment. He was taken to hospital but regained consciousness in intensive care. Esposito's penalty books Empoli's place in the next round 💪 — Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) Empoli led at half-time through Emmanuel Ekong’s fourth-minute opener before Moise Kean and Riccardo Sottil put Fiorentina ahead. Sebastiano Esposito struck 15 minutes from time to make it 2-2 and take the last-16 tie into extra time, Empoli eventually winning 4-3 on penalties. Benjamin Sesko opened the scoring and Luis Openda struck twice as RB Leipzig brushed aside Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 in the German DFB Pokal. Second-half goals from Denis Vavro, Jonas Wind and Yannick Gerhardt saw Wolfsburg beat Hoffenheim 3-0. Cologne knocked out Hertha Berlin 2-1 after extra time with Dejan Ljubicic converting a penalty in the final seconds, while Augsburg prevailed 5-4 on penalties against Karlsruhe after a 2-2 draw.

The white-bearded Christian saint whose acts of generosity inspired America’s secular Santa Claus figure is known worldwide — but Saint Nicholas’ origin story is not. The legends surrounding jolly old St. Nicholas — celebrated annually on Dec. 6 — go way beyond delivering candy and toys to children. St. Nicholas was a fourth century Christian bishop from the Mediterranean port city of Myra (in modern-day Turkey). “Much of the rest is legend. There’s not really a lot of hard historical evidence about St. Nicholas,” said the Rev. Nicholas Ayo, author of “Saint Nicholas in America: Christmas Holy Day and Holiday.” But whether the stories are true is not so much the point, said Ayo, an 89-year-old retired Notre Dame University professor named after St. Nicholas. “There’s no Santa Claus that lands on the roof, but there’s a desire in people’s heart for an unconditional love that doesn’t depend on your behavior, but the fact that you’re somebody’s child.” Devotion to St. Nicholas — also referred to as St. Nick — spread during the Middle Ages across Europe and he became a favorite subject for medieval artists and liturgical plays, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. He is the patron saint of Greece and Russia, Moscow and New York, as well as charities, children and pawnbrokers. He also is the patron saint of sailors. In 1807, Italian sailors took the remains of St. Nicholas from Myra to the seaport of Bari, on the southeast coast of the boot of Italy. They built a church in his honor; relics believed to be his are kept in Bari’s 11th century basilica of San Nicola. St. Nicholas Day is celebrated every year on Dec. 6, typically by filling the stockings and shoes children leave out overnight with sweets and toys. It also is a fitting date for the patron saint of sailors. “The December feast day of Saint Nicholas coincides with the beginning of the winter storm season on the Mediterranean,” Ayo wrote. Legends surrounding St. Nicholas’ generosity appear in texts ranging from medieval manuscripts to modern-day poems, including how he interceded on behalf of wrongly condemned prisoners and miraculously saved sailors from storms. One of the most famous legends, Ayo said, features the aging father of three young women who didn’t have means to pay for their dowry. St. Nicholas is said to have thrown gold pieces into the man’s window. “It is the quintessential Nicholas,” Ayo wrote. “It requires no miracle, no credulity from the hearer, and no superstition at any level. What is needed is only a generous heart ready to give of his wealth in a self-effacing way that others may come to know a deep love in their life.” k inspired Santa Devotion to St. Nicholas seems to have faded after the 16th century Protestant Reformation, except in the Netherlands where his legend remained as Sinterklaas. In the 17th century, Dutch Protestants who settled in New York brought the Sinterklaas tradition with them. “The Dutch had St. Nicholas on the bow of the first ship that went into New York harbor,” Ayo said. Eventually, St. Nicholas morphed into the secular Santa Claus. Artist Thomas Nast, an engraver in Morristown, New Jersey, who illustrated the front cover of Harper’s magazine for many years, played a key role in the transformation, Ayo said. “He followed the description of Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas — and Clement Clarke Moore’s ‘Twas the Night before Christmas’ poem,” Ayo said. “So, that’s how that got changed. But in Europe, the bishop shows up in bishop’s clothing at the door sometimes.” Get local news delivered to your inbox!None

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump's movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire and fellow entrepreneur and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump's Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when , a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said were doing so to enrich themselves. Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer's comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former , whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar." Musk and Ramaswamy, , weighed in, defending the tech industry's need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump's world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift, and his presidential transition team did not respond to a message seeking comment. Musk, the world's richest man who has , was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump's movement but his stance on the tech industry's hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry's need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent," he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Trump's own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also , including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” , which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump's businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including , and his social media company behind his Truth Social app for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country" and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," he told the “All-In" podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump's budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes.Not only does beer taste great, there are health benefits associated with it, too: expertSyrian rebels advance on Damascus