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J-Hope of BTS speaks as the group accepts the favorite pop duo or group award Sunday at the American Music Awards. | Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Megan Thee Stallion drops out as a performer but wins three awards

South Korean superstars BTS were crowned artist of the year at the American Music Awards on Sunday, brushing aside challenges from Taylor Swift, Drake and The Weeknd as they took home a total of three awards and teamed up with Coldplay for a raucous “My Universe” and closed the show with “Butter.”

“Seven boys from Korea, united by love for music, met the love and support from all the armies all over the world,” said BTS’ RM after the group won their artist of the year for the first time. “This whole thing is a miracle. Seriously, we would never take this for granted.”

The band was also named favorite pop duo or group and got the favorite pop song award for “Butter.”

The show celebrated the best popular music for a second pandemic year with a mix of live and taped performances. Silk Sonic’s Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak kicked off the awards on a funky R&B note with their taped performance of “Smokin Out the Window” and Jennifer Lopez taped her “On My Way” from her upcoming romantic comedy “Marry Me.”

An earlier scheduled performance of “Butter” by BTS and Megan Thee Stallion was scrapped after the rapper cited personal reasons for dropping out Saturday. She turned out to be a big winner, named favorite female hip-hop artist as her “Good News” won for favorite hip-hop album and her “Body” was crowned favorite trending song, a new award this year.

Olivia Rodrigo came into the night with a leading seven nominations but only took home the crown for favorite new artist of the year. “Writing songs is my favorite thing in the whole world and I am so grateful for everyone who has embraced my music,” she said.

Rodrigo lost favorite pop album to Taylor Swift’s “evermore.” In a taped speech, Swift told her fans: “I’m so lucky to be in your life.” Swift also won for favorite female pop artist, giving her a career total of 34, the record for the most awarded artist in AMA history.

Rodrigo performed her hit “traitor” live on a stage covered with flowers and Carrie Underwood and Jason Aldean brought a little country to the stage when they sang their taped duet “If I Didn’t Love You.” With a little help from Julieta Venegas and Tainy, Bad Bunny performed his hit “Lo Siento BB :/.”

Among live performances, Italian band Maneskin made its U.S. awards show debut with the viral hit “Beggin.'” Chloe of Chloe x Halle floated down onto the stage to perform her hit debut single as a soloist “Have Mercy,” swinging her hair and twerking. Mickey Guyton got loud cheers while singing her patriotic song “All American” in a silvery dress, periodically screaming out “How y’all doing?”

The fan-voted awards show aired live from Los Angeles on ABC. Nominees were based on streaming, album and digital sales, radio airplay and social activity, and reflect the time period of Sept. 25, 2020, through Sept. 23, 2021.

Becky G won for favorite female Latin artists and thanked the Latinx community. “You are not alone,” she said. “We are the American dream.”

Machine Gun Kelly grabbed the favorite rock artist award. “I want to accept this for all the aspiring musicians, the one who desires to play an instrument, wants to rap, wants to sing — not just the rock artists, but all the artists,” he said.

Earlier Sunday, in awards announced before the show, Swift was named favorite female pop artist, Ed Sheeran got the favorite male award and Doja Cat featuring SZA on “Kiss Me More” was named collaboration of the year. Kanye West was named favorite gospel artist.

Underwood won for favorite inspirational artist and favorite female country artist and Doja Cat also won two other awards: favorite female R&B artist and her “Planet Her” was named favorite R&B album.

Luke Bryan was named favorite country artist and Bad Bunny was the favorite male Latin artist. The Weeknd was crowned favorite male R&B artist and Drake won the favorite male hip-hop artist. Gabby Barrett took home the favorite country album for “Goldmine” and favorite country song for “The Good Ones.”

For the older viewers, New Edition and New Kids on the Block performed together. The Boston-based groups took turns with the hits, trading hits: “You Got It (The Right Stuff”), “Candy Girl,” “Step By Step,” “Mr. Telephone Man” and uniting for “Can You Stand the Rain,” “Is This the End,” “Hangin’ Tough” and “If It Isn’t Love.”

The favorite Latin album went to Bad Bunny’s “El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo.”

Host Cardi B, wearing a constant stream of new outfits, revved up the crowd. Later her song “Up” was named favorite hip-hop song.

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Police tape cordons off a street in Waukesha, Wis., after a vehicle plowed into a Christmas parade hitting more than 20 people Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021. | Jeffrey Phelps/AP Photo

A live video feed of the parade from the city of Waukesha, located about 20 miles west of Milwaukee, as well as videos taken by parade attendees showed a red SUV breaking through barriers and speeding into the roadway.

WAUKESHA, Wis. — An SUV driver sped through a police line and into a parade of Christmas marchers on Sunday, hitting more than 20 adults and children in a horrifying scene captured by the city’s livestream and the cellphones of onlookers.

Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said “some” people had been killed but would not give an exact number. A person was in custody, he said, but he did not give any indication of motive.

One video shows a woman screaming, “Oh my God!” repeatedly after a group of girls wearing Santa hats and dancing with white pompoms is struck. Another shows the SUV plowing into members of a marching band, their music replaced with terrified screams

Fire Chief Steven Howard said 11 adults and 12 children were injured and transported to hospitals by his department. It was unknown how many people were taken to hospitals by others. Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin said it received 15 patients from the parade and no reported fatalities as of 8 p.m.

Police also had custody of the vehicle, Thompson said. The investigation was ongoing, with assistance from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

“What took place in Waukesha today is sickening, and I have every confidence that those responsible will be brought to justice,” tweeted the state’s top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Josh Kaul.

As the SUV broke through barricades, a Waukesha police officer fired his gun in an attempt to stop the vehicle, Thompson said. No bystanders were injured and Thompson said he did not know if the driver was struck by the officer’s bullets.

One video shows the moment the SUV broke through the barricades and the sound of what appears to be several gunshots.

The video taken when the pompom dancers got struck ends with a group of people tending to one of the girls who is on the ground.

Corey Montiho, a Waukesha school district board member, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his daughter’s dance team was hit by the SUV.

“They were pompoms and shoes and spilled hot chocolate everywhere. I had to go from one crumpled body to the other to find my daughter,” he said. “My wife and two daughters were almost hit. Please pray for everybody. Please pray.”

One entry in the parade, the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, posted on its Facebook page that “members of the group and volunteers were impacted and we are waiting for word on their conditions.” The group’s profile describes them as a “group of grannies that meet once a week to practice routines for summer and winter parades.”

Chris Germain, co-owner of the Aspire Dance Center studio, had about 70 girls in the parade ranging from as young as 2 being pulled in wagons to age 18. Germain, whose own 3-year-old daughter was in the parade, said he was driving at the head of their entry when he saw a maroon SUV that “just blazed right past us.” A police officer came by on foot chasing after, he said. Germain said he jumped out of his own SUV and gathered the girls who were with him.

“There were small children laying all over the road, there were police officers and EMTs doing CPR on multiple members of the parade,” he said.

Angelito Tenorio, a West Allis alderman who is running for Wisconsin state treasurer, said he was watching the parade with his family when they saw the SUV come speeding into the area.

“Then we heard a loud bang,” Tenorio said. “And after that, we just heard deafening cries and screams from the crowd, from the people at the parade. And people started rushing, running away with tears in their eyes crying.”

The Waukesha school district canceled classes Monday and said in a notice on its website that extra counselors would be on hand for students and staff. The parade’s list of entries included cheer, dance and band entries associated with district schools.

Gov. Tony Evers said he and his wife, Kathy, were “praying for Waukesha tonight and all the kids, families, and community members affected by this senseless act.”

Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, who was at the parade but left just before the incident, called it “an unspeakable tragedy, affecting us all as we work to overcome an extremely challenging two years and resume our cherished holiday traditions.”

The parade is sponsored by the city’s Chamber of Commerce. This year’s edition was the 59th of the event that’s held each year the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

Waukesha is a western suburb of Milwaukee, and about 55 miles north of Kenosha, where Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted Friday of charges stemming from the shooting of three men during unrest in that city in August 2020.

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A teen was shot Nov. 21, 2021, in Albany Park. | Sun-Times file

The 17-year-old was near an alley in the 5000 block of North Lawndale Avenue when a male approached him and opened fire, Chicago police said.

A teen was hurt in a shooting Sunday evening in Albany Park on North Side.

About 5:20 p.m., the 17-year-old was near an alley in the 5000 block of North Lawndale Avenue when a male approached him and opened fire, Chicago police said.

He was struck in the stomach and was transported to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in good condition, police said.

There was no one in custody.

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Is Matt Nagy finally near the end of the line? | Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Does anything matter anymore for the local football team?

Is Matt Nagy cooked? When will Justin Fields return? And does the rest of the season mean anything? Patrick Finley, Jason Lieser and Mark Potash take a nihilistic look at the Bears’ 16-13 loss to the Ravens.

New episodes of “Halas Intrigue” will be published regularly with accompanying stories collected on the podcast’s hub page. You can also listen to “Halas Intrigue” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Luminary, Spotify, and Stitcher.

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The Chicago Bears are in a very tough spot. They are now 3-7 after a disgusting display of football on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field. Thier losing streak is now at five as they sit in second to last place of the NFC North Division. Things are as pathetic as they have ever been in […] Chicago Bears: Sunday’s game was a disgusting disgrace – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & MoreRead More

Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart (28) is held back after a foul during the second half of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. | Carlos Osorio/AP

LeBron James was ejected after drawing blood on Isaiah Stewart’s face when they were tangled up while boxing out for a rebound on Sunday night.

DETROIT — LeBron James was ejected from the Los Angeles Lakers-Detroit Pistons game after drawing blood on Isaiah Stewart’s face when they were tangled up while boxing out for a rebound on Sunday night.

James’s left elbow and hand appeared to make contact with Stewart above the neck, sending him into a bloody rage. Detroit’s center had to be held back more than once, keeping him separated from the NBA superstar.

Stewart was also ejected from the game early in the third quarter. Lakers guard Russell Westbrook was assessed a technical after the officials reviewed the play and the fallout from it.

James was escorted off the floor.

A cup was tossed from the stands in suburban Detroit on an infamous night on Nov. 19, 2004, triggering what would come to be called Malice at the Palace, one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history when a melee with the Pistons and Indiana Pacers spilled into the stands.

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Bears safety Deon Bush (26) arrives too late to prevent Ravens wide receiver Sammy Watkins (14) from catching a 30-yard pass from Tyler Huntley that set up the winning touchdown Sunday at Soldier Field. | Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

After holding the Ravens to 238 yards and sacking Huntley five times in the first 58 minutes, the Bears’ defense withered again in crunch time — with egregious errors fueling the Ravens’ five-play, 72-yard touchdown drive in the final 1:33.

For more than three quarters, a short-handed Bears defense was doing the job you’re supposed to do against Tyler Huntley. And then, it all came apart.

“It’s sickening,” Bears linebacker Robert Quinn said after the Ravens drove 72 yards on five plays in the final 1:33 for a touchdown that beat the Bears 16-13 Sunday at Soldier Field. “It’s a punch to the gut. We had the lead. The Ravens had the ball. It was on our defense to close it out and we didn’t do it. Yeah, it’s a gut punch.”

On a third-and-12 play from the Bears’ 32-yard line and the Bears leading by three points with 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter, a miscommunication between safety Deon Bush and nickel back Marqui Christian left Sammy Watkins open for a 29-yard gain to the Bears’ 3-yard line. Running back Devonta Freeman scored on the next play

What happened?

“I’ll have to find out what kind of coverage breakdown there was,” coach Matt Nagy said. “They ran a couple of good chunks there with the DPI [a 21-yard pass interference call on Kindle Vildor] and that one there as well. I’ll have to look at that later.”

“I wasn’t covering on that play. I have no idea what the coverage was,” said Quinn, who was exceptional with 3 1/2 sacks, four quarterback hits and a forced fumble. “So I couldn’t tell you much about that.”

Answers were hard to come back after the latest collapse. The Bears did not make Vildor, Bush, Christian or any defensive backs available after the game. Nagy had to see the film, at least acknowledging the breakdowns. “Can’t happen. Can’t do it,” he said.

The evidence was on the field. As they positioned themselves near the line of scrimmage on the third-and-12 play, Bush and Christian seemed to get confused over who would cover Watkins and who would cover tight end Mark Andrews. They both went to Andrews, leaving Watkins free. Huntley rolled to his right, and with Quinn bearing down on him, threw to an open Watkins near the right sideline. Bush arrived only in time to knock Watkins out of bounds at the 3.

“I didn’t really see who it was. I just saw a guy wide open,” linebacker Alec Ogletree said. “Usually those kind of things happen with miscommunication and just not being detailed. A lot of games in this league are won or lost by you beating yourself.”

The Bears’ defense did that yet again in incriminating fashion Sunday. Until the final drive, they had held the Ravens to 238 yards and 3.4 yards per play. They had sacked Huntley — playing for Lamar Jackson, who was a late scratch because of an illness — six times. Earlier in the fourth quarter, safety Tashaun Gipson stopped a Ravens drive with a nifty interception at the Bears 14-yard line.

And after Andy Dalton’s stunning 49-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Goodwin gave the Bears a 13-9 lead with 1:41 left, it was time for the Bears defense to put the hammer down.

“Roquan [Smith] called us up right before we went out on that drive,” linebacker Travis Gipson said, “and he told us we had to finish the game.”

Instead, the Bears collapsed and let Tyler Huntley beat them. On first-and-10 from the 28 with 1:33 to go, Vildor’s pass interference infraction against Rashod Batemen went for 21 yards. Even a holding penalty against tackle Alejandro Villanueva that put the Ravens in the third-and-12 didn’t help the Bears. Somehow, when it came time to win or lose, they forgot to cover Sammy Watkins.

“It sucks,” Ogletree said. “Everyone wants to do the right thing and we all try to. But the great ones do it every single time. Especially in crunch time — that’s when you have to be your best. We just weren’t at our best at the end.”

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Andy Dalton completed 11 of 23 passes for 201 yards and had two touchdown passes after Justin Fields got hurt in the Bears’ 16-13 loss to the Ravens. | Getty

The Bears need time to make a determination on Fields’ rib injury, but they have a game Thursday against the Lions. Nonetheless, the simple question of whether Fields would start if healthy was met by a murky answer.

Welcome back to everyone’s least favorite game: Matt Nagy won’t say who his starting quarterback is.

As if the Bears don’t give off enough of an appearance of disorganization and dysfunction, they steered straight back into indecision after Justin Fields left the 16-13 loss to the Ravens with a rib injury and Andy Dalton replaced him.

When Nagy was asked in September whether Dalton would be reinserted as the starter once his knee was healthy, he had no reservation about making it clear that he would, though he obviously didn’t stick to that. But now, after Fields struggled against the Ravens, Nagy wouldn’t give a concrete answer despite being asked repeatedly whether Fields would start Thursday against the Lions if healthy.

“I’m not getting into any of that,” Nagy said.

When straightforward questions are met with circuitous answers, Nagy only fuels the doubt about whether he can handle this job. There are degrees of injury, so it’s reasonable that Nagy would want to see how much mobility he has before making the decision, but it should still be easy to say that it’s Fields’ job if he’s healthy.

He also said he didn’t know whether Fields had broken ribs. It stretches the imagination to believe that an NFL head coach wouldn’t know whether his starting quarterback has broken bones.

Fields couldn’t get anything going for the Bears before his exit in the third quarter. He completed 4 of 11 passes for 79 yards and ran four times for 23 yards. It was a dispiriting follow-up to his late-game surge that nearly beat the Steelers.

His absence, however long it lasts, makes a dreary season drearier. The next two months were supposed to be about the Bears illuminating their bright future with Fields at quarterback, so this is unfortunate.

Actually, that depends on who you ask.

Dalton was happy to be back — “Had some fun out there,” he said during a press conference that had a triumphant tone — and it’s worth noting that Nagy’s original plan was to start Dalton all season and keep Fields in a gadget role. Only after Fields showed unmistakable potential in two spot starts and Nagy faced a hailstorm of criticism for intending to send him back to the bench did he relent and make Fields the permanent starter.

To his credit, Dalton sparked a Bears offense that was lifeless until he checked in midway through the third quarter. He threw a 60-yard touchdown to Darnell Mooney on his second snap, then gave the Bears a 13-9 lead on his 49-yard spiral to Marquise Goodwin on fourth-and-11 with 1:48 left.

“I want to compliment Andy Dalton for being able to come in this game in this environment and right away get going,” Nagy said. “In a crucial situation, for him to make plays the way he did shows who he is as a quarterback, who he is as a person.”

It’d be overly harsh to totally dismiss Dalton’s performance — 11 of 23 for 201 yards and two touchdowns for a 107.3 passer rating — but it’s fair to point out that both of his touchdowns were on throws that any NFL quarterback could’ve made, including Fields.

While throwing a 60-yard touchdown pass sounds splashy, it was all Mooney and the blocking. Dalton zipped a screen pass to him two yards behind the line of scrimmage, Mooney got good blocks early from tight ends Jesse James and Cole Kmet, then weaved through three would-be tacklers to reach the end zone.

On Goodwin’s score, he had five yards of separation and the Ravens had no safety deep to pick him up.

Aside from that, the offense looked the way it did when Dalton originally held the job: limited. It was the same dink-and-dunk, quick-pass scheme that wasn’t getting the Bears anywhere at the beginning of the season. And going back to that, and Dalton, won’t accomplish anything.

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Darnell Mooney had a five catches for 121 yards and a touchdown. | Nam Y. Huh/AP

A roundup of news items from the Bears’ 16-13 loss to the Ravens.

The Bears made a lot of projections about their young players going into this season, and some of those haven’t worked out well. But they got it right on wide receiver Darnell Mooney.

With Allen Robinson out because of a hamstring injury, Mooney caught five passes for 121 yards and a touchdown in the Bears’ 16-13 loss to the Ravens.

The scary thing is that his numbers could’ve been even bigger, as he spent most of the afternoon running free of defenders. Bears quarterbacks Justin Fields and Andy Dalton targeted him on nearly half of their passes, and Mooney had at least two drops that cost him a chance to set a career-high in yardage.

“I just tried to take every opportunity I could and try to make the best of it, knowing A-Rob was out — big focal point of our offense,” Mooney said. “So I knew I would have to take care of the load. I was up for it.

“It was a lot of opportunities missed out there that I’m definitely very mad about.”

His 16 targets were the most by a Bears player this season.

With the big game Sunday, Mooney is already approaching the totals from his impressive rookie season and could exceed his 2020 yardage Thursday against the Lions. He now has 41 catches for 571 yards and three touchdowns and leads the team in all three categories.

Quinn, Smith star defensively

Outside linebacker Robert Quinn was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season after giving the Bears just two sacks in his first season of a five-year, $70 million contract.

Now he’s their most valuable defensive player.

With the Bears’ pass rush depleted by injuries to Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks, Quinn stepped up with a career-high 3 1/2 sacks against the Ravens. And considering he’s an 11th-year veteran and former all-pro, setting any career-high at this point is impressive.

It was also the most by a Bear since Jay Ratliff against the Dolphins in 2014.

That surge took him to 10 sacks for the season, making him the first Bear since Mack in 2018 to reach double digits.

Linebacker Roquan Smith also set a career high with 17 tackles, including two for loss. He went into Week 11 fourth in the league in tackles and now stands at 110. He has topped 100 in all four seasons with the Bears.

Santos’ new streak

After setting the franchise record by making 40 consecutive field goals, Bears kicker Cairo Santos has now missed his last two.

Santos was well short on the 65-yarder he tried at the end of the Steelers game, then missed wide left on a 40-yard try in the first quarter against the Ravens. It was just his second miss at Soldier Field in two seasons.

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Bears receiver Marquise Goodwin hauls in a touchdown Sunday. | Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Marquise Goodwin’s last 100-yard showing came more than three years ago: Oct. 15, 2018, when he played for the 49ers.

Takeaways from the Bears’ 16-13 loss to the Ravens:

Goodwin in bad loss

With Allen Robinson inactive Sunday because of a hamstring injury, the Bears still managed to get two receivers more than 100 receiving yards: Darnell Mooney and Marquise Goodwin.

Goodwin had four catches for 104 yards and what he hoped was the game-winning touchdown. Quarterback Andy Dalton checked into the play against man coverage with no safety help, and Goodwin hauled in the 49-yard touchdown.

“It was a simple go route and Andy made the perfect throw,” Goodwin said. “He made my job very easy. I know it looks like I made this crazy play, but I literally just ran under the ball.”

Goodwin’s last 100-yard showing came more than three years ago: Oct. 15, 2018, when he played for the 49ers.

Late switch

The Bears found out about Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson sitting out with an illness the same time the rest of the league did: 90 minutes before kickoff, when he was ruled inactive. Backup Tyler Huntley found out himself when he got a text from Jackson walking to the team bus.

Jackson — who coach John Harbaugh said didn’t have the coronavirus or the flu — was so sick on the team flight that he didn’t know when the plane landed.

“We thought he’d wake up this morning maybe feeling better,” Harbaugh said. “But he didn’t.”

Pick

Safety Tashaun Gipson’s interception of Tyler Huntley in the fourth quarter was the Bears’ first pick in six games, dating to DeAndre Houston-Carson’s interception at the Raiders. The Bears have five this year — only two more than the Jets, last in the NFL with three.

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