Chicago Sports

The White Sox game against the Red Sox Wednesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field will start in a delay due to rain in the area.

Rain fell heavily off and on at the ballpark in the hours leading to the scheduled start time of 7:10 p.m.

Left-hander Rich Hill and right-hander Lucas Giolito are slated to start for the Red Sox and White Sox, respectively.

The White Sox are looking to win consecutive season series over Boston for the first time since 2015.

The Red Sox routed the White Sox in the first game of the series Tuesday, scoring in each of the first five innings en route to a 16-3 victory.

The White Sox are 21-21. The Red Sox (20-22) have won six consecutive games.

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A homeless man well-known for walking the streets of the Loop was critically injured when he was set on fire while sleeping on Lower Wabash Avenue early Wednesday –almost six years to the day after he was viciously beaten in downtown Chicago.

Joseph Kromelis, 75 — known as “The Walking Man” and “The Walking Dude” — was lying on the ground in the 400 block of North Lower Wabash when someone walked up, poured a flammable liquid on him and lit it, police said.

A security officer from a nearby building used a fire extinguisher to put the fire out. Kromelis suffered third-degree burns to 65% of his body and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition.

The attacker was seen on surveillance video going to the Clark and Lake CTA station and taking a Blue Line train toward O’Hare. An alert issued by police Wednesday afternoon described the suspect as a tall male with a medium light complexion and wearing a black and white “Hoodrich” jacket and gray sandals.

Officials said Kromelis suffered severe burns and his chances of surviving them were not considered good.

“We were just told he’s most likely to die,” one late enforcement source said. He was identified through prescriptions found in his pocket.

Kromelis is well known to people who frequent downtown Chicago, easily recognized by his tall frame, striking facial features, long flowing hair and bushy mustache.

Six years ago — on May 24, 2016 — he was brutally beaten by someone with a baseball bat in the 400 block of East Lower Wacker Drive.The two were struggling over the bat when police arrived.

He was taken to Northwestern then too and was treated cuts and other injuries to his head and legs. Thousands of dollars were raised on his behalf through GoFundMe appeals.

His family said he moved to Chicago with his family from Lithuania when he was a kid and grew up above a bar his parents ran on Halsted Street. His parents sold the tavern and moved to southwestern Michigan when he was about 19.

The man stayed in Chicago, where he got a peddlers license and sold jewelry on the street and began wandering the streets of the Loop.

“We always worried … because he was on the street all the time,” his sister-in-law said at the time. “He just likes walking.”

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A homeless man well-known for walking the streets of the Loop was critically injured when he was set on fire while sleeping on Lower Wabash Avenue early Wednesday –almost six years to the day after he was viciously beaten in downtown Chicago.

Joseph Kromelis, 75 — known as “The Walking Man” and “The Walking Dude” — was lying on the ground in the 400 block of North Lower Wabash when someone walked up, poured a flammable liquid on him and lit it, police said.

A security officer from a nearby building used a fire extinguisher to put the fire out. Kromelis suffered third-degree burns to 65% of his body and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition.

The attacker was seen on surveillance video going to the Clark and Lake CTA station and taking a Blue Line train toward O’Hare. An alert issued by police Wednesday afternoon described the suspect as a tall male with a medium light complexion and wearing a black and white “Hoodrich” jacket and gray sandals.

Officials said Kromelis suffered severe burns and his chances of surviving them were not considered good.

“We were just told he’s most likely to die,” one late enforcement source said. He was identified through prescriptions found in his pocket.

Kromelis is well known to people who frequent downtown Chicago, easily recognized by his tall frame, striking facial features, long flowing hair and bushy mustache.

Six years ago — on May 24, 2016 — he was brutally beaten by someone with a baseball bat in the 400 block of East Lower Wacker Drive.The two were struggling over the bat when police arrived.

He was taken to Northwestern then too and was treated cuts and other injuries to his head and legs. Thousands of dollars were raised on his behalf through GoFundMe appeals.

His family said he moved to Chicago with his family from Lithuania when he was a kid and grew up above a bar his parents ran on Halsted Street. His parents sold the tavern and moved to southwestern Michigan when he was about 19.

The man stayed in Chicago, where he got a peddlers license and sold jewelry on the street and began wandering the streets of the Loop.

“We always worried … because he was on the street all the time,” his sister-in-law said at the time. “He just likes walking.”

Read More

A homeless man well-known for walking the streets of the Loop was critically injured when he was set on fire while sleeping on Lower Wabash Avenue early Wednesday –almost six years to the day after he was viciously beaten in downtown Chicago.

Joseph Kromelis, 75 — known as “The Walking Man” and “The Walking Dude” — was lying on the ground in the 400 block of North Lower Wabash when someone walked up, poured a flammable liquid on him and lit it, police said.

A security officer from a nearby building used a fire extinguisher to put the fire out. Kromelis suffered third-degree burns to 65% of his body and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition.

The attacker was seen on surveillance video going to the Clark and Lake CTA station and taking a Blue Line train toward O’Hare. An alert issued by police Wednesday afternoon described the suspect as a tall male with a medium light complexion and wearing a black and white “Hoodrich” jacket and gray sandals.

Officials said Kromelis suffered severe burns and his chances of surviving them were not considered good.

“We were just told he’s most likely to die,” one late enforcement source said. He was identified through prescriptions found in his pocket.

Kromelis is well known to people who frequent downtown Chicago, easily recognized by his tall frame, striking facial features, long flowing hair and bushy mustache.

Six years ago — on May 24, 2016 — he was brutally beaten by someone with a baseball bat in the 400 block of East Lower Wacker Drive.The two were struggling over the bat when police arrived.

He was taken to Northwestern then too and was treated cuts and other injuries to his head and legs. Thousands of dollars were raised on his behalf through GoFundMe appeals.

His family said he moved to Chicago with his family from Lithuania when he was a kid and grew up above a bar his parents ran on Halsted Street. His parents sold the tavern and moved to southwestern Michigan when he was about 19.

The man stayed in Chicago, where he got a peddlers license and sold jewelry on the street and began wandering the streets of the Loop.

“We always worried … because he was on the street all the time,” his sister-in-law said at the time. “He just likes walking.”

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A 2-year-old girl died after a fire broke out in an apartment building Wednesday morning in Roseland on the Far South Side, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

The child was found under debris in a second-floor bedroom of a courtyard building at 11035 S. King Dr., Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.

Firefighters “worked feverishly after they were told a child was in there,” Langford said. “The apartment was full of a lot of debris –furniture, objects that made it difficult to conduct the search.”

Firefighters tried to resuscitate the child but she was pronounced dead at Comer Children’s Hospital, Langford said.

The child’s mother was gone when the fire broke out, Langford said. She had dropped off her older children at school and was returning home with breakfast when she learned about the fire, he said.

Two adult relatives of the mother were in the home when the fire started and escaped to safety. The home had no working smoke detectors.

Firefighters responded shortly before 8 a.m. to several calls of a heavy fire coming from an apartment and a person possibly trapped inside, Langford said. The Fire Department sent extra personnel in anticipation of a rescue.

“When firefighters got to the scene, they knew the chances of survival were slim because fire was blowing out the windows,” he said.

Firefighters made an “aggressive search” and knocked down the fire with hoses, “hoping during the search the child was taken out before.”

The fire was extinguished before it could spread to adjacent units, Langford said. The building will be without power while Fire Department investigators look into the fire’s cause.

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Patrick Finley, Jason Lieser and Mark Potash break down what they’ve seen at the Bears’ OTAs, from Teven Jenkins playing right tackle to Jaylon Johnson running with second-teamers.

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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LONDON — Roman Abramovich’s 19-year ownership of Chelsea is ending after the British government approved the sale of the Premier League club by the sanctioned Russian oligarch to a consortium fronted by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly.

The government had to be sure that Abramovich, who was sanctioned over his links to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine, did not profit from the enforced sale of the club that his investment turned into one of the most successful in European football.

The reigning FIFA Club World Cup winners and 2021 European champions will be sold for 2.5 billion pounds ($3.1 billion) — the highest price ever for a sports team — with Premier League approval already granted on Tuesday.

Chelsea has been operating under a government license since Abramovich’s assets were frozen in March and it expires on May 31.

“Given the sanctions we placed on those linked to Putin and the bloody invasion of Ukraine, the long-term future of the club can only be secured under a new owner,” British Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said. “We are satisfied the proceeds of the sale will not benefit Roman Abramovich or other sanctioned individuals.”

There were weeks of discussions between officials from Chelsea and the government over securing the guarantee Abramovich could not gain financially. The sale proceeds will initially go into a frozen account before going to charity.

“We will now begin the process of ensuring the proceeds of the sale are used for humanitarian causes in Ukraine, supporting victims of the war,” the British government said in a statement. “The steps today will secure the future of this important cultural asset and protect fans and the wider football community.”

Delays approving the sale centered on the fate of 1.6 billion pounds ($2 billion) loaned to Chelsea by Abramovich since 2003 that provided the funding to build a men’s squad that won 21 trophies during his ownership. Government assurances were needed from Abramovich, who has not condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine, about writing off the debt that was linked to companies he controlled.

Boehly has already started attending Chelsea games in recent weeks since the club approved the sale to the consortium that also features Dodgers principal owner Mark Walter, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, and funding from private equity firm Clearlake Capital.

It was a hotly contested sale process, with four groups in the final running, before Boehly’s group was chosen on May 7 after guaranteeing 1.75 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) of investment in the team. The Ricketts family, owners of MLB’s Chicago Cubs, dropped their bid for Chelsea last month.

Chelsea fans have become accustomed to lavish spending under Abramovich, with more than $1 billion net spending on players.

Chelsea’s ability to sell match tickets and commit to new player spending has been curbed by the sanctions but now the new ownership is set to provide investment to manager Thomas Tuchel to strengthen the squad.

The certainty is that Chelsea will be playing in the Champions League next season after finishing third in the Premier League last Sunday despite the off-field turmoil. The women’s team won a league and cup double with a squad funded by Abramovich’s investment.

Chelsea had won the men’s championship only once — in 1955 — when Abramovich bought the club in 2003. Helped by expensive signings, the club won the Premier League two years later and has added four more since then, most recently in 2017.

Investment is needed in Stamford Bridge. Chelsea has the smallest and most dated stadium of the Premier League’s most successful clubs, with plans for a rebuild of the 41,000-capacity venue put on hold by Abramovich in 2018 when British-Russian diplomatic tensions deepened.

The $3.1 billion cost of Chelsea eclipses the $2.3 billion paid in 2018 for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.

As well as being part owner of the MLB’s Dodgers, Boehly also has minority stakes in the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

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Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet has a new role in the offense this season

Cole Kmet is working this offseason to take a giant leap in his third season with the Chicago Bears. Kmet told media after Tuesday’s OTA practice the Bear’s offense would feature the tight end position more and that he was improving his skills to match the scheme.

The former Notre Dame product said he was focusing on skills to be a better receiver and pass blocker. “Everythings got to be hands catch,” he said. “It’s hard to do now without pads on, but really craving violence through my blocks. That’s kind of the thing, especially on double team.

Good pass blocking from the tight end will open up his receiving opportunities in the new offense, Kmet said.    Kmet seems excited about the play-action movements in the offense. He named Green Bay Packers’ Robert Tonyan and 49ers’ George Kittle as examples of how the Bears will use tight ends this year.

Cole Kmet is learning a lot

New offensive coordinator Luke Getsy has wasted no time getting the playbook to his players in the offseason. Getsy has been specific in what he wants, Kmet said. He’s challenging Bears players to see what they are capable of.

“We’ve been getting a lot of info thrown at us,” Kmet said, “but it’s been good and we’re just trying to see how much we can absorb at once.”

On top of working out with the Bears, Kmet will be headed to “Tight End University” for the second year in a row he said. Per multiple reports, tight ends will be watching film and working out together during a three-day trip to Nashville this June.

Figuring out the endzone woes

Kmet was drafted by the Bears in the 2nd round of the 2020 draft. Since then, the former college standout has only been able to score two touchdowns in the NFL. Even though his touchdown stat line has not been impressive, Kmet did improve to 60 receptions and 612 yards receiving last year. But red-zone play is still a part of his game Kmet has found “lacking” in the past.

Kmet wishes he had two opportunities back from the 2021 season. One was a timing miscommunication with then-rookie quarterback Justin Fields against the 49ers; the second was a low pass against the Packers. Kmet believes Fields and he will have their timing figured out for the 2022 campaign.

Plenty of adversity has come Kmet’s way during his first three seasons with the Bears. Kmet named going through the quarterback carousel as a particular challenge. The Bears had Mitch Trubisky as the starter Kmet’s rookie season, and Andy Dalton was the starter in his second before being replaced by Fields. The Bears will have a new offensive coordinator in his third season.

“I mean it’s tough on a player trying to get a feel for guys and different kinds of scheme changes depending on who the quarterback is,” Kmet said. “So for me just always doing what I’m asked and that’s all you can control.”

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

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Simeon coach Robert Smith will lead a super-charged Wolverines team for one more season this winter before calling it an iconic career sometime next March. Then Tim Flowers, a current assistant and former Simeon player, will take over.

Flowers will become just the third coach at Simeon in 44 years, following 19 years of Smith and 24 seasons of Bob Hambric.

Smith has said he fully intends to take a big step back throughout the month of June, which is always the busiest offseason month for high school basketball coaches and programs. He will do so with a plan.

Being mindfully absent, Smith says that will allow Flowers to have plenty of control, gain experience and have his voice heard in preparation for taking over a year from now.

While the coaching news at Simeon earlier this month was the biggest of the offseason and reverberated throughout the Illinois high school basketball world, Smith’s announcement hasn’t been the only move and shake-up in area coaching.

Hyde Park hires Jerrel Oliver

A familiar and respected name in high school basketball circles over the past decade, Jerrel Oliver is taking over for Jamere Dismukes at Hyde Park.

Oliver was a longtime assistant coach at Curie and was also instrumental in running and coaching Team Rose in grassroots basketball play from 2013-2021.

Now he gets his shot at running his own program on the South Side where neighborhood rival Kenwood has rekindled its program.

“There is a rich tradition at the school and it’s a school that has so much to offer,” Oliver said. “It’s in one of the best conferences in the state, academics are still taken seriously and the area has really been built up.”

While Hyde Park is considered one of the plum jobs in the Public League, the head coaching position has been a bit of a revolving door over the past decade. Oliver hopes to build continuity there, just as his brother, Mike Oliver, did at Curie.

Oliver, who says he started getting the itch to run his own program over the past three or four years, likens Hyde Park to where Curie was in its early years of its development as a program.

“Like we had at Curie, the opportunity is there to take the program to another level, to take it to the top,” Oliver said. “It’s exciting to be at a place where, hopefully, you can be the first to accomplish some things there.”

Glenbard East turns to familiar face

There was a massive turnaround in the Glenbard East basketball program upon the arrival of coach Scott Miller in 1999. He took a downtrodden program that had two regional titles and one 20-win season in 25 years and had an eye-opening run.

Over a nine-year stretch from 2005 through 2013, the Rams averaged 21 wins a season with six regional championships and first sectional title in 47 years. That included a school record 28-win season and third-place finish in Class 4A in 2011.

As an assistant coach, Austin Nelson was around for all of it. He was Miller’s right-hand man for 19 seasons. Now it’s his turn as he takes over as head coach at Glenbard East following Al Biancalana’s two seasons leading the program.

Nelson’s last season with the program in 2019-20 ended with a regional championship. When Miller retired, Nelson stepped away for a couple of years.

“The opportunity at Glenbard East was too good,” Nelson said. “It’s a blessing to head up a program at a place I’m so familiar with.”

The Rams finished 7-25 this past year, so there’s a definite rebuild in Lombard, and it’s one Nelson is excited for as he begins his first head coaching stint.

A motivator of kids, Nelson is adamant about the first step in the rebuilding process.

“Bringing fun back to the program and pride in wearing that Glenbard East jersey is the first priority,” Nelson said. “We want kids to want to be back in the gym. We want them to have energy and to want to be part of something special.”

Maine South basketball comes full circle

Following two decades of Tony Lavorato running the Maine South program, where the veteran coach turned the Hawks into a perennial winner, Colin Wehman takes over.

Wehman is certainly familiar with Maine South basketball and has family ties with the Park Ridge school and program. He played under Lavorato at Maine South, and his grandfather, Bernard “Bernie” Brady, was the first head basketball coach in Maine South history.

“Any time you have a chance to come back and lead a program you played in and with how far back my roots go, I am thrilled about this opportunity,” Wehman said. “It’s a great place with a lot of athletic tradition.”

Although Wehman spent this past season as an assistant coach in Scott Hennig’s Geneva program, he has a ton of experience coaching in the Central Suburban League.

Wehman began his career as an assistant coach at Maine South in 2010-11. He spent four years on Glenn Olson’s staff at Niles North and recently spent six years as an assistant coach at New Trier under Scott Fricke.

“I have been a part of some great programs,” Wehman said. “A cool thing for me is that I’ve been with a lot of different great coaches with distinct and different styles. I hope to bring that versatility and the different philosophies that I’ve seen over the years. Over time I will inject my own style and philosophy.”

Under Lavorato, Maine South captured five regional championships and won a sectional title in 2010. The Hawks have averaged 21 wins a year over the past 14 seasons.

Now Wehman gets a shot at running a program and continue building a basketball program at what is considered a football school.

“My No. 1 priority is building relationships with these kids and to get them feeling excited about playing basketball here,” Wehman said.

Can Warren get it going again under Zack Ryan?

During Chuck Ramsey’s nearly two decades as head coach at Warren, the Blue Devils averaged 21 wins a season. That included two state runner-up finishes to go with seven sectional titles and 14 regional championships.

Ramsey retired following the 2012 season in which he won both regional and sectional titles.

Warren hasn’t won a regional or put together a 20-win season since.

Now it’s Zack Ryan’s turn to try and end that drought.

Ryan spent a couple of years at Mundelein as an assistant coach early in his coaching career. While there he played against and saw the success of those Warren teams in North Suburban Conference play. From afar he was intrigued with the success and history of the program as it dominated under Ramsey.

“For me, I love my time at Carmel and felt like we were going in the good direction, but Warren was always one of those jobs you have an eye on,” Ryan said. “It’s just a great basketball job, not just in Lake County but in the state of Illinois.”

During the interview process he became even more enamored with the job.

“They have a want to be really good at Warren, and they are ready for it,” Ryan said. “How important basketball was to them was obvious to me when interviewing. That was attractive to me.

The former Carmel head coach will be the third head coach at Warren since Ramsey built a powerhouse in the north suburbs. He heads to the Gurnee school as Carmel’s all-time winningest coach with 127 wins in eight seasons. Ryan also led the Corsairs to three regional championships.

Other coaching changes in the area

Buffalo Grove

Staying in the Mid-Suburban League, Buffalo Grove has hired Rolling Meadows assistant coach Kevin Geldon to replace Keith Peterson. Geldon has spent the past eight seasons on Kevin Katovich’s staff, including the past three seasons where the Mustangs have gone a combined 53-15.

Maine West

The Maine West basketball job has proven to be one of the tougher ones in the Chicago area over the past 25 years.

Yes, the 1997-98 team, led by Lucas Johnson and Kevin Frey, who transferred in from Mount Carmel for his senior year, led the program to a historic season. The Warriors won a school record 28 games and finished fourth in the state in Class AA.

But since then there have been few winning seasons and not a single 20-win season or even a regional championship.

Tom Prokopij did a solid job in his six seasons. But Prokopij, who won 16 games in his first year as head coach and went 19-8 in his second season, stepped down.

Dan Paxson takes over after leading the Niles North girls’ basketball program from 2007-2022.

Schaumburg

Schaumburg landed a new head coach with head coaching experience.

Jason Tucker, who spent seven seasons as head coach at Luther North (2010-2017) and four as head coach at Taft in the Chicago Public League, takes over the Saxons program.

Tucker also recently worked under coaching great Pat Ambrose at Stevenson as an assistant coach.

Tucker replaces Wade Heisler, who stepped down in March following seven seasons as head coach.

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A young girl died after a fire broke out in an apartment building Wednesday morning in Roseland on the Far South Side, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

The child was found under debris in the bedroom of a second-floor unit of a courtyard building at 11035 S. King Dr., Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. She was 2 or 3 years old.

Firefighters “worked feverishly after they were told a child was in there,” Langford said. “The apartment was full of a lot of debris –furniture, objects that made it difficult to conduct the search.”

Firefighters tried to resuscitate the child but she was pronounced dead at Comer Children’s Hospital, Langford said.

Firefightershad responded to several calls of a heavy fire coming from an apartment and a person possibly trapped inside, Langford said. The Fire Department sent extra personnel in anticipation of a rescue.

Two adults from the unit had escaped when firefighters arrived, Langford said. The rear door of the unit appeared to be locked and someone may have jumped to safety from a window, he said. There were no working smoke detectors inside.

“When firefighters got to the scene, they knew the chances of survival were slim because fire was blowing out the windows,” he said.

Firefighters made an “aggressive search” and knocked down the fire with hoses, “hoping during the search the child was taken out before.”

The fire was extinguished before it could spread to adjacent units, Langford said. The building will be without power while Fire Department investigators look into the fire’s cause.

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