Chicago Sports

PHOENIX — Justin Fields and Kevin Warren used to be adversaries. When Warren was the Big Ten commissioner in 2020, he canceled the conference’s football season because of coronavirus concerns. Then the star quarterback at Ohio State, Fields started a petition that called for it to be reinstated, and went on a public relations offensive to push the issue.

Eventually, Fields got his wish. Five weeks later, the Big Ten reversed course and played a modified season.

The two have since become friendly. Now they’re partners.

Thursday, Fields told the Sun-Times that Warren had his full endorsement as the Bears’ new president/CEO, a role for which he was introduced last month.

“I love him,” Fields told the Sun-Times on Thursday at Super Bowl radio row.

The reason, Fields said: Warren is who he says he is.

“How he works with people, how genuine he is,” he said. “Just the kind of person he is — great.”

Warren visited Fields in the visiting locker room after the Bears lost to the Vikings earlier this year at U.S. Bank Stadium, the masterpiece he helped to build. Fields was spotted hugging Warren in the Bears’ weight room the day the president was introduced. But Fields’ first public comments about the hiring were even more significant.

During a week that has celebrated the first pair of black quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl game against each other, it’s worth noting where the Bears stand in — they have their first black president/CEO and their first black general manager, Ryan Poles, to team with Fields. Hiring Warren was a significant departure from the Bears’ way of doing things — he’s the first president they’ve ever hired who didn’t already work for the team, and the second who isn’t either George S. Halas or his descendants. He’ll inherit the job from a retiring Ted Phillips in April.

The admiration between Poles and Warren goes both ways. When he was introduced last month, Warren said he would have protested just as Fields did. He said he had “the greatest amount of respect” for the quarterback because “he wants to win championships.”

The Bears — who were a league-worst 3-14 last season — are a long way from doing that.

Fields’ trip to radio row might be the closest he gets unless the team’s rebuild fast-forwards. The Bears have the most cap space in the NFL and the No. 1 overall pick, though they’re likely to trade the latter for a stockpile of picks, this year and next.

Fields arrived in Phoenix as something he couldn’t say last season: a well-known NFL player.

If anything was clear Thursday, it was that Fields is, on a national scope, the face of a franchise that has so desperately searched for an offensive identity.

He signed autographs and posted for selfies while promoting an energy drink, C4. He repeated the same thing to those who asked: the 2022 season featured “a lot of ups and downs,” but he saw brighter days ahead. He defended his own running, saying that the focused on protecting himself when he ran for the second-most yards by a quarterback in NFL history.

He praised the Bears’ training staff for helping keep him healthy — they monitored how much he ran in games and practices, and knew how to taper him down

“It’s a long season,” he said. “You have to take care of your body.”

Meanwhile, the Bears — and Warren — have to take care of him.

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Seven White Sox will participate in the World Baseball Classic during spring training, including shortstop Tim Anderson and right-handers Lance Lynn and Kendall Graveman for Team USA. Rosters were announced Thursday.

It’s been known for some time that Anderson, Lynn, Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert (Cuba) and Eloy Jimenez (Dominican Republic) would participate. Thursday’s roster unveilings also included right-hander Jose Ruiz (Venezuela) and Graveman from the Sox bullpen.

Right-hander Nicholas Padilla, claimed by the Sox off waivers from the Cubs in September and added to the 40-man roster, will play for Puerto Rico.

The WBC runs from March 8-21. There are 20 teams this year, split into four pools with the top two teams from each advancing to an eight-team, single-elimination stage. The championship game is March 21.

The tournaments will be staged in Miami, Phoenix, Tokyo and Taichung, Taiwan.

Team USA, featuring Mike Trout, Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw and infield stars Trea Turner, Pete Alonso, Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and Anderson, is in Pool C with Canada, Colombia, Great Britain and Mexico. Team USA won the last tournament, in 2017.

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Thursday, February 9, 2023

Boys Basketball

PUBLIC LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Semifinals (at UIC)

Curie vs. Simeon, 5:00

Kenwood vs. Perspectives-LA, 7:00

CENTRAL SUBURBAN SOUTH

Niles West at Evanston, 6:30

INDEPENDENT

Parker at Lake Forest Academy, 6:30

MID-SUBURBAN WEST

Conant at Schaumburg, 7:30

SOUTH SUBURBAN BLUE

Hillcrest at TF North, 6:30

SOUTHLAND

Kankakee at Crete-Monee, 6:00

NONCONFERENCE

Amundsen at Clark, 6:30

Catalyst-Maria at Ag. Science, 5:00

Cruz at Soto, 5:00

Goode at Hancock, 5:00

Harvard at Genoa-Kingston, 7:00

Harvest Christian at Christ the King, 7:00

Islamic Foundation at Yorkville Christian, 7:00

King at Fenger, 5:00

Lane at Northside, 5:00

Morton Grove Academy at CPSA, 5:00

Southland at Universal, 7:00

Speer at Sullivan, 6:30

NOBLE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

Semifinals (at Mansueto)

Bulls Prep vs. Johnson, 5:30

Hansberry vs. Comer, 7:00

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NEW YORK – Arturas Karnisovas did his best to win the press conference, but the Bulls’ executive vice president of basketball operations knew he was short on ammo Thursday evening.

So he did what he could in explaining his team’s inactivity as the trade deadline came and went earlier in the day, hitting the talking points that mattered most – several times in some cases – and now he will sit back and watch the final 28 regular-season games play out.

Live to wheel-and-deal another day.

“I think I can start by saying we were pretty active at the trade deadline,” Karnisovas said, referring to the phone calls made and received. “It just didn’t seem like there were deals for us to make to improve this group. After a busy couple days, we came to the conclusion that this was the best group for us to give us the best chance to win.”

And that’s still the goal in this 2022-23 campaign, as tough as that was to see. Karnisovas still feels like there’s a product on the court that should not only win games, but make the playoffs.

Then, based on how far that playoff run is, address roster changes this summer, knowing what the market was asking for the last few days.

“This trade deadline showed us that we have a lot of good players that have a lot of value around the league and I think there’s ways to [improve it],” Karnisovas said. “I think we turned the roster around the last couple years. We’ve done deals in the summertime that a lot of people said we couldn’t do.”

According to Karnisovas, it was a buyer’s market, and the Bulls went into it looking to add to the roster, not subtract.

While he obviously wouldn’t get into the specifics of how many teams he spoke to and which players were the most sought after, he did say they were open to discussing almost everyone, especially with a record under .500.

The Sun-Times reported that there was some talk with the Knicks about Zach LaVine, but those talks never got past the specifics of the players.

LaVine said of the rumors surrounding him that if the team was performing better it wouldn’t have been an issue.

“Those speculations don’t come out with winning teams,” LaVine said. “Didn’t happen last year, so I think being one of the leaders of the team and understanding your positioning and the position of the team, your name is going to get thrown in stuff like that.”

All Karnisovas would say on the matter was he felt the East “shifted” on Thursday, and it was a shift the Bulls could take advantage of.

The gut punch for the fan base, however, was not only what the Bulls didn’t do, but what the rest of the league did pull off either on Thursday or the days leading into the deadline. The Bulls and the Cavs were the only two teams that were completely inactive.

Meanwhile, other organizations were completely changing the league’s landscape.

It started early Thursday morning, when Brooklyn sent two-time champion Kevin Durant to Phoenix, getting back a package that included forward Mikal Bridges. The same Nets team that earlier in the week sent Kyrie Irving to Dallas, ending the dreams that Brooklyn once had for a James Harden, Irving, Durant title run.

The dominoes quickly started falling after that, with the Lakers getting rid of Russell Westbrook in a three-team deal with Utah and Minnesota, Milwaukee adding Jae Crowder after he was sent to Brooklyn, and Toronto landing Jakob Poeltl from San Antonio, to name a few.

By the time the smoke cleared, the Western Conference really got interesting from the Lakers all the way up, while the top two teams in the East – Boston and Milwaukee – distanced themselves from the rest of the conference with additions.

The Bulls? Crickets.

“Mediocrity and average is not OK with us,” Karnisovas said. “But the next step is what’s going to happen for the rest of the season and then how we can address – during the draft and free agency – our shortcomings.”

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Hours after a man was fatally shot by two Chicago cops near an Irving Park bar, the city’s top cop told reporters Wednesday that the man was killed during “an apparent exchange of gunfire.”

But on Thursday, the city agency charged with investigating allegations of serious police misconduct cast doubt on the key claim that the 21-year-old died in a gunfight with officers.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability “can confirm a weapon was recovered at the scene and body-worn camera video captures the initial interaction as well as the subsequent shooting,” COPA First Deputy Chief Administrator Ephraim Eaddy said in a statement. “It is unclear, nor has it been determined by COPA, if the individual discharged his weapon at police.”

A police spokesperson declined to comment on COPA’s statement, noting the oversight agency is actively investigating the shooting.

At a news conference at police headquarters on Wednesday, Brown said the man who was killed had returned to Christina’s Place, 3759 N. Kedzie Ave., after being kicked out. A security guard at the bar heard arguing outside, and the man pointed a gun at the bouncer and other people in the area, Brown said.

The guard walked back into the bar and called police, and officers responded and were pointed in the man’s direction, Brown said. That’s when he ran toward an alley where there was “an apparent exchange of gunfire,” with two officers and the man all firing shots.

The man, who hasn’t been identified, was shot and pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. A gun equipped with an extended magazine was recovered, Brown said.

“From what we know now, based on looking at the body-worn camera [footage], the offender fired his weapon, and the officers fired their weapon,” he said, noting investigators have little indication of what led up to the shooting.

COPA offered a different initial account. The agency said the two officers found the man walking and suspected he was involved in an earlier “altercation.” After getting out of their vehicle, the officers chased the man and ordered him to drop to the ground, COPA said.

As the officers followed him into an alley, the man fell and was ordered to stay down, COPA said. When the man started to get up, both officers fired multiple shots.

At the scene, officers radioed that shots had been fired at police and called for an ambulance.

“We have one subject down in the alley; he still has the gun in his hand,” an officer told a police dispatcher. “We are not looking for any other offenders at this time.”

The shooting comes months after the police department unveiled a permanent foot-pursuit policy, which was implemented after the fatal police shootings of 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 21-year-old Anthony Alvarez stoked calls to reform the practice.

The policy notably bars officers from chasing a person simply for fleeing and advises them to reconsider pursuing someone who appears armed with a gun.

The officers involved in the shooting were taken to a hospital for “observation purposes” and were listed in good condition, Brown said. One of the officers involved in the shooting is a “veteran,” and the other is a probationary officer, he said.

Both will be placed on routine administrative duties for at least 30 days as COPA investigates, Brown said.

Video footage of the shooting will be released publicly within 60 days under a city policy, unless the disclosure is blocked by a court order.

“Investigators will continue to canvass the area and are attempting to identify and obtain additional video, as well as identify witnesses from the night of the incident,” Eaddy said. “We are committed to a full and thorough investigation to determine the facts related to this incident and if the actions of the involved officers are in accordance with department training and policy.”

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The Rangers made a big trade acquisition Thursday — and it wasn’t Patrick Kane.

The Blackhawks held another practice Thursday — and it didn’t include Jonathan Toews.

With three weeks left until the NHL trade deadline, Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson’s objective to extract as much value as possible out of his two cornerstone veterans is getting increasingly complicated.

Of course, none of this matters if Kane and Toews don’t eventually inform Davidson they’re willing to be moved. Kane hinted earlier this week he’s leaning toward entertaining trade possibilities, referencing “opportunities out there that are intriguing,” but he hasn’t firmly decided yet. Toews, meanwhile, hasn’t hinted anything in any direction.

But even if Davidson does get their green lights, finding suitable trade partners won’t be guaranteed. And the odds he can, while still fairly high, decreased Thursday.

On one hand sits the issue of Toews’ health. He was absent from on-ice activities Thursday for the fifth consecutive day since the All-Star break and was ruled out for Friday against the Coyotes and Saturday at the Jets. Those will be his fourth and fifth games missed due to “illness” since Dec. 5.

The good news is he did return to Fifth Third Arena to work out in the gym, after which it “looked like he was feeling good,” coach Luke Richardson said. He’s expected to work out again and maybe get on the ice Friday.

The details of Toews’ latest illness have been difficult to nail down. Richardson said Wednesday he believed Toews had the flu, but then said Thursday he actually “didn’t even ask him if he was flu-ish.” The most pressing question, obviously, is if this is connected to his chronic inflammatory response syndrome.

If Toews does return to action next week — say, Tuesday against the Canadiens — and looks the same as usual, this might prove to be a big fuss about nothing. But potential trade suitors like the Hurricanes, Avalanche and Jets are surely monitoring the situation closely.

On the other hand, Kane’s trade outlook also took a hit Thursday as the Rangers, the presumed frontrunner in his sweepstakes, swung in a different direction to acquire ex-Blues star Vladimir Tarasenko.

One of the main reasons behind the rampant Kane-to-Rangers speculation over the past few years has been Kane’s friendship with Hawks-turned-Rangers star Artemi Panarin. But Panarin is also close with Tarasenko, and the latter has now filled all of his new team’s available salary-cap space.

From the Rangers’ perspective, Tarasenko was both immediately available — rather than still contemplating his future — and not potentially inhibited by a nagging lower-body injury. Kane has downplayed the severity of his injury, insisting it isn’t actively affecting him, but reports have drifted out of New York for weeks suggesting his injury was particularly disenchanting to them.

Western contenders like the Stars, Kings and Golden Knights are still theoretically logical fits for Kane. But the precedent-setting return the Blues received for Tarasenko probably didn’t excite Davidson much, either.

The Rangers gave up the later of their two first-round picks as well as a fourth-round pick. They also swapped a depth forward (Sammy Blais) and a low-tier prospect (Hunter Skinner) for a depth defenseman (Niko Mikkola).

Kane is a bigger star than Tarasenko and has always been more productive — even this season, in which he touts 35 points to Tarasenko’s 29 — but he is three years older. Their pending unrestricted free-agent statuses and no-trade clauses (allowing them to dictate where they want to go) are identical.

So Kane’s value might be slightly higher than Tarasenko’s, but likely not by much. That means the Blues’ move not only eliminates a top Kane bidder but also throws cold water on the Hawks’ presumed asking price of a package of a first-rounder and high-tier prospect.

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Quinton Ford loves going to the movies, and now that he’s retired, he’s catching up to three a week as a member of AMC Theatres’ Stubs subscription program.

But news that the nation’s largest theater chain is planning on charging more money for prime seating is making him and other Chicago movie buffs think twice about taking a trip to the theater.

“I’m a little disappointed; I understand it’s tight, but I think it’s a little bit much to be asking from customers,” Ford said as he walked out of a showing of “80 for Brady” at AMC’s Block 37 location in the Loop. “It’s an impact, definitely.”

Earlier this week, AMC unveiled a new pricing scheme in which seat location determines how much a movie ticket costs. Seats in the middle of the auditorium will cost a dollar or two more, while seats in the front row will be slightly cheaper.

AMC said the pricing plan, dubbed “Sightline,” has already been rolled out in some locations and, by the end of the year, will be in place at all U.S. AMC theaters for screenings after 4 p.m.

“I don’t like it,” Gary Monroe said as he walked into the Loop AMC location. “It sounds like a cash grab, honestly.”

He thinks the strategy might pay off financially for AMC as there are many willing to pay a little extra for a better experience.

Monroe said he prefers to sit in the “optimal” middle seat when he goes to the movies, but he doesn’t like the idea of having to pay extra for the privilege every time.

“I could see how someone could look at it and say it’s just a dollar, but if you go to the movies and you’re always paying an extra dollar than anyone else in the theater that seems a little unfair,” Monroe said. “It’s definitely gonna make me think twice about it.”

Even some movie stars are unhappy with the move. Elijah Wood said in a tweet that the new initiative “would essentially penalize people for lower income and reward for higher income.”

Those who want to pay less for the “value sightline” seats, have to be a Stubs member. Ford said he may not be affected, but he doesn’t think it’s fair for other people who love going to the movies and have no other option but to go to an AMC theater.

“I think that they’re kind of one of the only theater companies in town, so it’s kind of a monopoly,” Ford said. “I mean how much more do you need.”

Contributing: AP

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PHOENIX — Count former Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, among those who don’t want the Bears to build an indoor stadium in Arlington Heights.

“The dome thing, you’re not going to sell me on a dome ever for the Bears,” Urlacher told the Sun-Times on Thursday at Super Bowl radio row. “We’re an outside team. Our fans like it. The teams that come play us don’t like it.”

The Bears are in escrow on the 326-acre former Arlington Racetrack site, for which they’ve agreed to pay $197.2 million. As part of the agreement, the Bears cannot publicly entertain other options, including renovating Soldier Field on the lakefront, while in escrow. The Bears can re-engage after escrow closes, but have said their focus in building an indoor stadium — alongside restaurants, bars, hotels and shops — in the northwest suburb.

Urlacher would rather they stay downtown.

“I like Soldier Field — because it’s Soldier Field,” he said. “That’s where the Bears play.”

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PHOENIX — Brian Urlacher wouldn’t want to be in Bears general manager Ryan Poles’ shoes this offseason.

“It’s not a position I would want to be in,” Urlacher, the Bears’ Hall of Fame linebacker, told the Sun-Times on Thursday. “I’m sure they don’t want to be in that position, either. No one wants the No. 1 pick — it means you had a [crappy] season.

“There’s going to be a player there that can probably help them a whole lot, or you trade it and get a lot. My thing is if you trade it … People think that if you trade it and get a ton of picks … that doesn’t mean those picks are going to be good.”

Urlacher, who was on Super Bowl radio row stumping for the U.S. Border Patrol Mental Health Initiative, singled out one prospect he’d want the Bears to draft: Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson.

“You need help on defense,” he said.

He’s still annoyed that Poles traded another off-ball linebacker, Roquan Smith, to the Ravens in October. Smith was named to his first Pro Bowl and signed the contract extension he’d once sought from Poles.

“Roquan was good — we got him in the first round,” he said. “Traded him. That drives me crazy, still.”

No on dome

Count Urlacher as someone that doesn’t want the Bears to build an indoor stadium in Arlington Heights.

“I like Soldier Field — because it’s Soldier Field,” he said. “That’s where the Bears play. The dome thing, you’re not going to sell me on a dome ever for the Bears. We’re an outside team. Our fans like it. The teams that come play us don’t like it.”

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NEW YORK — Billy Donovan was very transparent in the final days leading up to the NBA trade deadline.

The Bulls coach insisted on Tuesday that he liked the roster as is, and more importantly, so did his bosses.

So with the deadline passing on Thursday afternoon, the idea that the Bulls didn’t make a deal wasn’t one of shock.

“You mean blow the whole thing up? I don’t see [that],” Donovan said after loss in Memphis. “The way I would look at it from my perspective is I know that I really, really like our guys a lot in terms of working with them, and where the heart and the spirit is at. And I think [executive vice president of basketball operations] Arturas [Karnisovas] likes this group better. As much as I do, I think he likes them too. He wants to continually see these guys get better.”

They’ll get that chance now that they’ve made the decision to stand pat.

That doesn’t mean they weren’t at least open for business in the listening department.

A source told the Sun-Times that the Bulls and New York Knicks were revisiting talks about two-time All-Star Zach LaVine that had broken off on Wednesday night.

The roadblock ended up being the players involved, even with the Bulls getting back draft capital in the package.

The Bulls had inked LaVine to a max deal last offseason, paying him $215 million for five seasons. A source did say that the Bulls weren’t as married to LaVine as some think, and could again test the market on the two-time All-Star this summer.

One of many decisions the Bulls will have to now make.

Nikola Vucevic will be an unrestricted free agent and Coby White will be a restricted free agent. The Bulls have only crossed over the salary cap line once, so will have some tough calls to make on how they want this roster to look moving forward.

Karnisovas was scheduled to talk before the game with the Nets tonight in Brooklyn.

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