Chicago Sports

Ray Ferraro can pinpoint where the Blackhawks’ recent dominance began to turn.

“It started when they got slaughtered in that series against Nashville,” said Ferraro, who was a TV analyst for Games 3 and 4 of that 2017 playoff series, which the Predators swept. “They looked slower, smaller, not as strong, they looked old, even though they might not have been. And there was a reaction that precipitated some of the player movement.”

With former general manager Stan Bowman in charge, one of those moves was trading Artemi Panarin to the Blue Jackets in a deal for retread Brandon Saad. Panarin, now with the Rangers, is in the top 15 in the NHL in points this season, and Saad is in St. Louis.

“That’s a swing and a miss,” Ferraro said.

Ferraro will get a look at some other misses Saturday, when he calls the Blackhawks-Flyers game on ABC with play-by-play voice Sean McDonough and reporter Emily Kaplan. The broadcast will be accompanied on ESPN+ by an “IceCast,” which will feature cameras above the ice behind the nets to show how plays develop. Viewers will hear the same commentators.

Ferraro, ESPN/ABC’s lead analyst, continued his dissection of the Hawks’ downfall, noting former defenseman Brent Seabrook’s albatross of a contact, which paled in comparison to his production. Ferraro also said the Hawks failed to transition out of a win-now mode to a build-now mode, and those efforts proved costly.

“You blow out all your prospects and all your draft picks trying to stay in that position,” he said. “They don’t have any prospects.”

That’s where Ferraro thinks new general manager Kyle Davidson must focus first as he rebuilds the team. Ferraro said it’s imperative that the Hawks recoup the first-round pick they traded to the Jackets in the deal for defenseman Seth Jones and repopulate their prospect pool.

They can aid that effort by moving key unrestricted free agents-to-be, such as goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, defenseman Calvin de Haan and forward Dominik Kubalik. Ferraro said he’d even look to move Jones, whose eight-year, $76 million deal starts next season.

“How are you going to rebuild with a $9.5 million contact?” Ferraro said. “You’ve gotta take a hard look at the big-money contracts.”

That includes those of stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, whose deals count $10.5 million toward the salary cap and expire after next season.

“As players get older, loyalty cannot manifest itself in big-money, long-term contracts,” Ferraro said. “So if Kane and Toews are looking for four-year deals or whatever, I can only give one of them that, and it would be Kane.

“But what do you think the trade bounty for Kane is? He’s a difference-makers still. Toews is not. So are you looking at a grade-A prospect, a first and a second[-round pick]? You’re looking at a huge haul. Does that alienate all your fans? I don’t know. They gotta make that determination.”

Remote patrol

Loyola’s quarterfinal game against Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament will air at 2:30 p.m. Friday on NBC Sports Chicago. If the Ramblers win, they’ll play at 2:30 Saturday on CBS Sports Network. The championship game is at 1 Sunday on CBS.For the Bulls-76ers game Monday, NBC Sports Chicago will partner with NBC Sports Philadelphia for a “BetCast” alternative broadcast on NBCSCH Plus. Host Sara Perlman will be joined by 76ers analyst Jim Lynam, Bulls analyst Kendall Gill and PointsBet head oddsmaker Jay Croucher.Blackhawks TV voice Pat Foley is George Ofman’s next guest on the podcast “Tell Me A Story I Don’t Know.” The first of the two-part interview drops Tuesday. Read More

INDIANAPOLIS — New Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is just 38 and has never called a regular-season NFL play. But that didn’t stop his former boss, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, from making a prediction during this week’s NFL Scouting Combine.

“I think it’s a matter of time before he’s standing up at this podium as a head coach,” he said.

The path to a head coaching job for a young offensive coordinator has become well-worn by now. The last coaching cycle alone, the Broncos hired 42-year-old Nathaniel Hackett as head coach, the Dolphins hired 38-year-old Mike McDaniel and the Vikings hired 36-year-old Kevin O’Connell. All three worked for offensive-minded head coaches who called their own plays.

Working for defense-first Matt Eberflus, Getsy has a different kind of opportunity. The Bears’ offensive success — if they can find any — would be directly traceable to Getsy.

Now all he has to do is find a way to mold second-year quarterback Justin Fields into a consistently dynamic passer and runner. And find a way to protect him. And to maximize what few explosive playmakers the Bears have. And to drag the offense into the top half of the NFL in points scored for just the second time in 10 seasons.

If Getsy can do all that, he’ll make Bears fans forget his Packers roots. From 2014-21, Getsy spent all but one season in Green Bay. He was the Packers’ quarterbacks coach and pass-game coordinator the last two years. All-world quarterback Aaron Rodgers has praised Getsy, unprompted, in two offseason interviews.

“It all starts with the type of person that you’re getting,” LaFleur said. “And, I mean, he’s a super loyal dude, great family man, cares about everybody he’s around. His players feel that. I think he’s extremely detailed, he’s a really hard worker, always brings great ideas to the table. A great communicator. Brings, again, a lot of energy.

“We’re going to miss him. But I think Chicago definitely got a real guy down there.”

Eberflus knew he wanted someone from the Kyle Shanahan family of play-callers. Getsy connects to Shanahan through LaFleur.

“What family did they come from? And what style does that particular group play? And show? And the innovations they have with their plays,” Eberflus said. “That group to me has done that throughout, and that’s what brought me the interest in Luke throughout the whole process.

“I’ve been in the league almost 15 years now and those guys you look at, you say, ‘They’re hard to defend, they’re very innovative in the first 15 [plays], they’re great coming out at halftime, they’re really good in situations.’ And that’s what attracted me to Luke.”

Getsy will put his own spin on the system, which features trademark outside zone runs for which the Bears have vowed to make their offensive linemen lighter and faster. He figures to run read-option plays with Fields, given his world-class [for a quarterback] speed. Getsy’s passing game might more closely resemble that of Joe Moorhead, his mentor and current Akron head coach. Parts of the offense that Getsy customized for Rodgers the last two years won’t work with a mere mortal at quarterback.

Getsy has said he wants to learn his players’ strengths before installing his offense, even questioning the definition of a playbook during the offseason. His offense will remain theoretical until the Bears begin their offseason program April 4. Once players report, though, Eberflus is confident the coordinator can teach it to his players.

“If you can’t take your message from the board and put it onto the players and then take it to the field … that’s what we want to have with each guy,” Eberflus said. “That’s what Luke brings to the table. Because I’ve had lengthy conversations with him about his style and how he goes about his business, and it’s been outstanding.”

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Sixty-four years since its founding by its talented namesake, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater remains one of this country’s most popular, vibrant and indomitable modern-dance companies.

The longstanding troupe returned to the Auditorium Theatre Wednesday evening to reprise what had been annual visits prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, and it was good to see these first-rate dancers back in Chicago after a two-year absence.

And there were no post-hiatus artistic compromises. The company brought 32 dancers, the same number it had in 2019 when it marked the 50th anniversary of its first trip to the Auditorium Theatre.

And in a commendably ambitious gambit, one that few other companies could pull off, it is presenting three different programs in repertory during its stay (through March 6), each receiving two performances. These include one featuring Rennie Harris’ “Lazarus” and another focused on historical works choreographed by Ailey himself.

The company’s engagement began Thursday evening with a tribute to Robert Battle, who is marking his 10th anniversary as the company’s artistic director. He is also a distinguished choreographer, and a contingent of his works have become part of the Ailey repertory. (The line-up will be repeated 8 p.m. March 5.)

A program, or, in this case, two-thirds of a 2 1/4 -hour program, dedicated to a single choreographer can be challenging, because a sameness can set in if there are not enough differences in styles, moods or even numbers of dancers.

But good choreographers know how to vary things up, and that was certainly the case Thursday evening with the seven selections by Battle that nicely showed off his dancemaking abilities as well as the precision, athleticism and artistry of the Ailey dancers.

The evening opened with “Mass” (2004) the most portentous of Battle’s seven selections, featuring 16 dancers and running about 15 minutes. The choreographer has said the piece was inspired by the interaction of the chorus in Verdi’s celebrated Requiem Mass, but it is set to John Mackey’s “Mass,” a percussion piece with no overt sacred connotations.

With dancers wearing red, yellow and orange robes, the piece suggests some elusive community. Hints of religion pervade, like the dramatic, crisscrossing light from a single source above the stage to a recurring ritualistic gesture — cupped hands held horizontally in front of the body with the palms facing each other.

But all is not unity and harmony. The movements can be impulsive, even jerky at times and often one dancer becomes disassociated from the group. In one of the most striking moments, the dancers are clumped in a kind of circular mass. All heads face to the side or backwards except for one woman who shoots an unsettling gaze at the audience.

At the opposite end of the spectrum from the heaviness of “Mass” is “Ella” (2008), the title referencing the great jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, who is featured here at her rollicking, scat-singing best in “Air Mail Special (Good Enough to Keep).”

Although this piece lasts just four minutes, it was one of the evening highlights with its fun, high-stepping, show-dance style that could easily be imagined on some Vaudeville stage. It ends with Renaldo Maurice leaping into the splits as Ghrai DeVore-Stokes offers a high kick.

The jazzy spirit of “Ella” continued with “For Four” (2021), this time with the straight-ahead sounds of Wynton Marsalis. With heads bobbing, fingers pointing, hands clapping and arms swinging, the four dancers strutted, shuffled and spun their way through this showy piece.

Other Battle selections included “Unfold” (2007) an elegant, slow-unfolding and not obvious romantic duet set to a Charpentier aria sung by Leontyne Price; “Takademe” (1999), a witty solo with Kanji Segawa that tries to physically manifest the wildly inventive vocalisms of Sheila Chandra, and a lively ensemble excerpt from “Love Stories” (2004) with music by Stevie Wonder.

It might be possible to debate the company’s choice to include Ailey’s 1960 masterpiece, “Revelations” on all its programs, but it’s impossible to question the quality of the resulting evening-ending performance Thursday. The dancers bring obvious respect and emotional investment to this classic, ensuring that it remains as fresh and resonant as ever.

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North Dakota State’s Christian Watson is making a name for himself in the pre-draft process, starting with a big showing at Senior Bowl practices last month. Now, he’s hoping to carry over that momentum into the NFL Scouting Combine.

And a bunch of teams are taking notice and showing interest, including the Chicago Bears.

As Watson met with the media at the combine in Indianapolis, he revealed that he has met with the Bears so far in the predraft process. Watson met with the team in Mobile at the Senior Bowl and had another meeting with them in Indianapolis per Zack Pearson of the Bear Report:

The 6-foot-5, 208-pound receiver out of Tampa Bay, Florida stood out at North Dakota State for four seasons and had a career year in 2021, catching 43 passes for 800 yards and 7 touchdowns. While he’s not projected as a day one pick right now, his stock continues to rise.

He should be a prospect that is there on day 2 if the Bears keep their No. 39 overall pick.

Make sure to check out our Chicago Bears forum for the latest on the Monsters of the Midway.

Make sure to check out our Bears forum for the latest on the team.

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It will be a long time before we know who’s playing for the Blackhawks next season. But we’re getting closer to knowing who will broadcast for them.

At the Hawks’ town-hall event Feb. 2, president of business operations Jaime Faulkner said the team was close to naming a successor to Hall of Famer Pat Foley, whose contract is expiring after the season. In the month since then, we’ve been able to narrow the field.

Of the seven who have filled in for Foley, the top four candidates are Mike Monaco, Stephen Nelson, Jason Ross Jr. and Chris Vosters. Though Monaco has become known in Chicago for his fill-in work with the White Sox, Bulls and Hawks, he would be tough to nab because of his commitments at ESPN, where his star is on the rise. The Hawks like his work, but he might not work out.

That would leave Nelson, Ross and Vosters, who will have the most TV appearances of the fill-ins through March, barring any changes. Vosters is scheduled for his seventh game March 31. Nelson’s games March 10 and 12 will give him five. Ross will stay with four, but he’s scheduled for five games on radio this month in place of John Wiedeman.

Of those three, it’s clear that Vosters has emerged as the leading candidate. Ross could end up spelling Wiedeman on radio and filling in for Vosters if he has a conflict. Nothing is finalized, but the Hawks would like to be able to reach an agreement with their new regular voice and allow for a passing of the torch.

Vosters would be a great choice. In just six games, he has shown noticeable improvement. My biggest criticism of him early on was he lacked a strong goal call. That has changed. He has good energy and a smooth delivery, doesn’t appear to get rattled and creates a good rapport with his analyst. And let’s be honest: Who wouldn’t want to look like him?

Vosters has extensive play-by-play experience, calling several sports for Big Ten Network, Fox Sports, ESPN, NBC Sports and Stadium. He has worked at three Olympics, including the last one, where he called hockey. That gives him a sizable edge over Nelson, who has been solid in his appearances but is best-known for hosting “Intentional Talk” on MLB Network. He has called games on MLB and NHL Network.

Ross has wowed not just the Hawks, but BTN and ESPN, for whom he has freelanced. His baritone voice belies his age (23), and it’s obvious the Hawks are looking to get much younger with their broadcast teams. Plus, he’s the first Black TV play-by-play broadcaster in franchise history. His hiring would go a long way as the Hawks work to repair their image from a tumultuous season.

With Vosters and Ross in place, the next spot to examine is TV analyst. Eddie Olczyk’s contract also expires after the season, and other analyst jobs around the NHL will be open. The Hawks always have accommodated Olczyk’s national TV work, and his presence on that stage is a good look for them. But if they’re committed to a youth movement – they’ve given analyst Colby Cohen a lot of face time in the booth, and Caley Chelios has more games scheduled – it’d be tough for fans to lose Foley and Olczyk.

The Hawks have 22 broadcasts left this season on NBC Sports Chicago. (Somehow, they still have five national appearances, too.) Those should be dedicated to honoring Foley and his 39 seasons. The promised seasonlong celebration of him has yet to begin. But little has gone according to plan this season, and that’s just rotten timing.

But for Vosters and Ross, their timing couldn’t have been better.

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Kevin Iega Jeff grew up in New York City, watching old musicals starring the likes of Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and the Nichols Brothers.

So it was no surprise he fell in love with dance.

“All of those incredible male dancers inspired me so much,” Jeff said.

In his early teens, he joined then-New York City mayor John Lindsay’s “Teenage Performing Arts Workshop” program. It exposed a whole new world to him, he said, showing him it was possible to have a career in the performing arts.

He went on to study at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and The Juilliard School and later performed on Broadway.

In the mid-1990s, Jeff was hired as the artistic director for the Joseph Home Chicago Dance Theater. Around the same time, he decided he wanted to create a new space to show “the power of dance and how it can entertain audiences but also transform lives.” So he co-founded Deeply Rooted Dance Theater.

For 25 years, it’s been a company where he says the Black aesthetic can thrive through Black dancers — combining modern, classical, American and African American traditions in dance and storytelling.

“We don’t have many institutions that uphold the traditions of Black dance or Black theater,” Jeff said. “So those traditions can quickly fade away if we don’t grow institutions to hold the information and to pass it on.”

Deeply Rooted Dance is based downtown at 17 N. State Street, but most of its programming has been on the South Side. Now, the company has begun offering workshops at the Mayfair Arts Center, 8701 S. Bennett Avenue. in Calumet Heights on the South Side.

The aim, according to Jeff, is to help create interest in one of the company’s major goals — opening what will be called the South Side Center for Black Dance and Creative Communities in 2024.

Classes at the MAC will cover introductory ballet, modern, hip-hop and African-based dance techniques. While some workshops will be led by Deeply Rooted Dance instructors and company members, there will also be guest choreographers.

The new workshops will include three youth programs, for kids 3 to 6 years old, for those 7 to 12, and for teenagers.

Deeply Rooted Dance also is expanding what it calls its Mature H.O.T Women program — which stands for “health-conscious, optimistic and triumphant” — providing technical and strength training for dancers 25 and older, a program that’s been popular at the company’s main location.

Susan Trice, 68, started doing that program seven years ago. Her husband recently had died, and it was a hard time for her. She said she found a sense of community in the dance program.

“It is just a way to be seen,” Trice said. “It’s something that we can embrace into our own experiences in life and be able to then express in our dance.”

Tracey Franklin, who is Deeply Rooted’s dance education director, said the women’s program is for “the community to know that being expressive and being an artist doesn’t stop when you’re a certain age.”

The company also has started a new “Men Moving” workshop, artistic director Nicole Clarke-Springer said, to offer a “safe space” for men who want to dance.

“There is a stigma, if we were going to be quite honest, with men dancing, especially among the African American community,” Clarke-Springer said. “Making this art and this technique of modern dance and ballet accessible to young African American men is exciting to me.”

Breaking that stigma is exactly why Jeff came up with the Men Moving workshop. He said even though “our culture pushes men away from dance,” when he went to South Africa he saw close to 50 young boys “dancing their heads off” in a school gymnasium.

There also will be male mentorship opportunities for kids 10 to 17 years old and a program called Creative Communities, led by Jeff, that will include singing and acting workshops as well as dance.

Deeply Rooted also plans to send writers out into the community to collect people’s stories and use those to create a performance. Jeff said he’s done similar programs around the country and aims to build ties with people that might help foster community development.

“I just hope it opens up the possibility of human engagement and expanding one’s scope for their own lives and that it really helps to enhance the community’s health,” he said. “When you’re working through the arts, you’re being challenged to engage with people in a way where you have to problem solve, and, in that process, find solutions where we can become better people together.”

Cheyanne M. Daniels is a staff reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times through Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster the paper’s coverage of communities on the South Side and the West Side.

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Patrick Finley and Jason Lieser welcome Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus and Over the Cap to break down the Bears’ salary cap situation and what moves they’ll make later this month.

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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As a freshman and sophomore, Devontae Hall was a blur. Always the fastest player on the court, at times it seemed his goal was simply to showcase that impressive quickness.

Hall is Hyde Park’s senior leader now. He’s a First Team All-City guard and he knows how to use his quickness. He knows the right moments to press all the way down on the gas pedal and when to ease up a bit.

Hall played his role to near perfection on Wednesday in Darien, leading the Thunderbirds to a 51-48 win against Mount Carmel in the Class 3A Hinsdale South Sectional semifinals.

The Caravan had a chance to tie the game on the final shot but Mount Carmel guard DeAndre Craig’s three-pointer rimmed out.

Hyde Park (23-7) held Craig, also a First Team All-City guard, to 12 points.

“I was looking forward to the matchup,” Hall said. “It was tough. Everyone locked in on defense and communicated so we did well.”

Hall finished with 16 points. He ripped away a steal on the very first play of the game and then sealed the win with two free throws with 17 seconds left.

In between, he deferred more to his teammates. Junior Camron Williford scored 13 and Damarion Morris added seven points for the Thunderbirds.

“I started off slow but Cam picked me up,” Hall said. “My teammates all had my back and I just helped finish it off.”

Hyde Park led throughout. Mount Carmel (28-5) pulled within one point on two free throws from Craig with 2:08 left but never took the lead.

“We fought all the way through,” Caravan coach Phil Segroves said. “Two times it looked like the door was closed and our guys mounted an unbelievable comeback, scrapped, and got back in the game.”

Senior Elijah Jointer led Mount Carmel with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Angelo Ciaravino added 11 points and five rebounds.

“We’ve been working really hard to build this,” Segroves said. “If you want to be an elite program in Chicago you have to continue to work. Being 28-5 has to be one of the top teams [in Mount Carmel history] in 122 years. I’m awfully proud of our guys.”

Hyde Park took its lumps in the Red-South/Central this season, losing to Simeon, Curie, and Kenwood. The Thunderbirds beat Hillcrest to win the Big Dipper Holiday Tournament but fell short in most of their big games.

Somehow, the team’s chemistry never fell apart during the rough times.

“It’s all about trusting the process,” Williford said. “Coach always says there is going to be adversity and we have to keep pushing through. We just kept working and trusting the coaches.”

Hyde Park will face Simeon in the sectional championship game on Friday. The Wolverines dominated the first matchup, winning 79-49. That was the first big Red-South/Central game for the Thunderbirds though, they fared much better in the losses to Curie and Kenwood and nearly beat Young on the road in the city tournament.

“We’re trying to accomplish something big here,” Williford said. “We want to go to state and we aren’t accepting anything less.”

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With the 2022 NFL Draft just under two months away, prospects are in Indianapolis for the annual scouting combine. Hundreds of prospects are looking to impress scouts, teams and media members as drills begin Thursday.

But before that, prospects were able to meet with the media to answer questions about the predraft process. And during Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave’s session, he was asked about his former teammate and current Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields. Olave seems open to the idea of reuniting with Fields in Chicago.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” he said during the media session. “Having him in college as my quarterback, I know what he can do on-and-off the field and I know how hard he works. I feel like we’re very similar in ways and I feel like we can complement each other if we do end up on the same team.”

The duo played two years together at Ohio State and made a connection right away. In 20 games, they combined for 98 catches for 1,569 yards and 19 touchdowns, becoming a lethal threat for the Buckeyes offense and making two trips to the College Football Playoff.

While fans envision reuniting the duo, it’s easier said than done.

Olave currently has a first-round grade on him and with Chicago sitting at No. 39 overall, they’d need him to fall a bit. That’s not impossible but it’s not likely either. A big run at two other positions and maybe players like Drake London, Olave’s teammate Garrett Wilson, Treylon Burks, and Jameson Williams going before him would help too.

One thing that should keep fans optimistic is that there is a long way to go between now and April and anything can happen in the draft.

Make sure to check out our Chicago Bears forum for more on the monsters of the midway!

Make sure to check out our Bears forum for the latest on the team.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Garrett Wilson figures to be drafted long before the Bears go to the podium with their first selection — seventh pick of Round 2 — next month. His fellow Ohio State teammate, Chris Olave, might be, too.

Both, though, can still dream of a reunion with Justin Fields, their former college quarterback.

“If that would happen, that would be awesome,” Wilson, who caught 70 passes for 1,058 yards last year, said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I haven’t really thought about where I’d be playing. Anywhere would be a blessing. Definitely to link back up with Justin at the NFL level would be a dream come true, for sure.”

Wilson is expected to be chosen in the first half of the first round. Olave, who caught 65 passes for 936 yards last year, could go late in the first. The Bears, though, traded this year’s first-round pick as part of a package to move up and pick Fields last year.

“Justin is a great player, a great dude, and I can’t wait to see his career take off … ” Olave said. “Having him in college as my quarterback, I know what he can do on and off the field. And I know how hard he works. I feel like we’re very similar in ways and I feel like we could complement each other if we do end up on the same team.”

Two second-year quarterbacks relied on former college teammates last year: LSU Tigers-turned-Bengals Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase combined for 1,455 passing yards, while Alabama Crimson Tide-turned-Dolphins Tua Tagovailoa and Jaylen Waddle posted 1,015.

Wilson praised Fields’ leadership — he was a captain in 2020.

“He’s really a special dude,” he said. “Special on the field as well. But what he did off the field, all of that was real.”

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