Chicago Sports

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher called Nick Saban a “narcissist” Thursday after the Alabama coach accused the Souheastern Conference rival Aggies of using name, image and likeness deals to land their top-ranked recruiting classes.

Less than 24 hours after Saban said Texas A&M was essentially “buying” players, Fisher called an impromptu news conference in College Station, Texas, and did not hold back in blasting college football’s most accomplished coach, who is also his former boss when the two were at LSU.

“First of all, I’d like to say it’s a shame that we have to do this. It’s really despicable,” Fisher said in a session that lasted about 10 minutes. “We never bought anybody, no rules are broken. Nothing was done wrong.”

Texas A&M had the consensus No. 1 recruiting class in the country for 2022 after beating Alabama during the regular season. The Tide’s class was No. 2.

The Crimson Tide lost to the Aggies last season, but went on to win the Southeastern Conference and play for the national title. The Aggies finished 8-4 in their fourth season under Fisher, who, like Saban, is among the highest-paid coaches in the game.

“It’s despicable that a reputable head coach can come out and say this when he doesn’t get his way or things don’t go his way,” Fisher said. “The narcissist in him doesn’t allow those things to happen — it’s ridiculous — when when he’s not on top. And the parity in college football he’s been talking about. Go talk to coaches who have coached for him. You’ll find out all the parody. Go dig into wherever he’s been.”

While speaking at an event in Birmingham, Alabama, Saban said some schools were spending “tons of money to get players.”

“You read about it, you know who they are,” Saban said Wednesday. “We were second in recruiting last year. A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image and likeness. We didn’t buy one player. But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to sustain that in the future, because more and more people are doing it. It’s tough.”

Fisher was an assistant under Saban in the early 2000s at LSU, working as offensive coordinator on the Tigers’ 2003 national title team. That relationship is now badly damaged.

“We’re done,” Fisher said, adding Saban reached out by phone but he did not take the call. “He showed you who he is. He’s the greatest ever, huh? When you got all the advantages, it’s easy.

“There’s a reason I ain’t went back and worked for him, with opportunities. I don’t want to be associated with him,” Fisher added.

He said Saban’s comments were insulting to Texas A&M and the families of the players who signed with the Aggies.

“Some people think they’re God,” Fisher said. “Go dig into how God did His deal. You may find out about a guy, a lot of things you don’t want to know. We build him up to be this czar of football. Go dig into his past or anybody who’s ever coached with him. You can find out anything you want to find out what he does and how he does it.”

Texas A&M plays at Alabama on Oct. 8. The Southeastern Conference holds its spring meetings in Florida the week after Memorial Day, with all football coaches and athletic directors gathering, along with Commissioner Greg Sankey. The event has not been held in person for the last two years.

The 56-year-old Fisher won a national championship in 2013 as head coach at Florida State before receiving a 10-year contract for $75 million to leave Tallahassee and coach Texas A&M in 2017.

“I don’t cheat. I don’t lie. If you did my old man slapped me across the face. Maybe someone should have slapped him (Saban),” Fisher said.

The NCAA lifted most of its rules barring athletes from earning money from sponsorship and endorsement deals last July, but there are concerns among many in college sports that NIL deals are being used to as recruiting inducements and de facto pay-for-play. Last week, the NCAA issued guidance to Division I members to clarify its rules against boosters being involved in recruiting.

This is the second time this year Fisher has publicly defended his program after signing one the highest-rated recruiting classes in the history of rankings.

In February, Fisher went off on competitors who were pushing rumors that Texas A&M had spent $30 million on NIL deals to land its star-studded recruiting class.

“Clown acts,” Fisher said then. “Multiple coaches in our league.”

On Wednesday night, the 70-year-old Saban, who has won six national championships, was more targeted in his critique of the current state of college football then he has been in the past.

Saban also mentioned Jackson State and Miami in his remarks.

Jackson State coach Deion Sanders, an NFL Hall of Famer, landed one of the top recruits in the country in cornerback Travis Hunter, who had been committed to Florida State until a signing day flip in December.

Sanders has denied Jackson State made any impermissible offers to Hunter to get him to sign with the historically black college that competes in the second tier of Division I football.

“You best believe I will address that LIE Coach SABAN told tomorrow,” Sanders tweeted Wednesday night. “We as a PEOPLE don’t have to pay our PEOPLE to play with our PEOPLE.”

Hunter also chimed in on social media Thursday.

“I got A mil? But my mom still stay in a 3 bed room house with five kids,” he tweeted.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The White Sox aren’t walking, they’re chasing bad pitches and they’re not scoring runs.

Other than that, all is well for a team trying to get over the .500 mark with Memorial Day, a traditional first benchmark to the season, fast approaching. A team in the midst of the championship window it spent years building toward.

The Sox ranked fourth in walks, third in on-base percentage and seventh in runs in the majors when they won 93 games and the AL Central last season. They’re last in walks, 29th in on-base percentage and 26th in runs this season entering their game against the Royals Thursday with an 18-19 record.

What gives?

“Every year is different,” Sox outfielder Andrew Vaughn said Thursday. “We did what we did last year, and this year is different. Some guys are chasing. It gets to the point where there is a little press.”

Vaughn said he was pressing last season when he went hitless in his first three games.

“I wanted a hit so bad,” he said. “And finally it’s like, ‘screw it, let’s go out there and play the game.’ ”

A lineup featuring Tim Anderson (.338) at the top but with six batting averages of .215 or less (Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu, AJ Pollock, Gavin Sheets, Reese McGuire, Josh Harrison) Thursday took on Carlos Hernandez (0-3, 9.11 ERA), who owns a 2.70 ERA in 20 innings against Sox. Sox hitters, like Hernandez, have experienced peaks and valleys.

Mostly valleys in 2022.

“It’s baseball, there are always ups and downs,” Vaughn said. “Right now a lot of guys are on that downfall. We’re not stringing together hits. Yesterday [Wednesday, a 6-2 loss] I had an opportunity with the bases loaded and didn’t get it done. It’s happened this year with a lot of guys.”

Luis Robert, one of the peaking Sox with a recent 14-game hitting streak, struck out three times Wednesday. With Tim Anderson on second and one out in the first Thursday, he struck out on an offspeed Hernandez pitch in the dirt.

A two-run homer by Hunter Dozier against Vince Velasquez in the first and an RBI single by Nicky Lopez in the second against Vince Velasquez put the Sox in a 3-0 hole Thursday as the Royals threatened to take the rubber match of a five-game series.

The Sox appeared to be proactive about taking pitches, and Anderson walked for the second time, stole two bases and scored on Robert’s single to make it 3-1 in the third. Abreu walked twice and Pollock also walked.

After the game Wednesday, manager Tony La Russa huddled with hitting coach Frank Menechino and assistant hitting coach Howie Clark. The Sox were 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position, which was no way to pass the struggling Royals for 25th in runs scored.

La Russa approves of the job the coaches are doing.

“I’m in the cage a lot,” La Russa said. “The players will tell you the messages they’re getting, whether it’s strategy or mechanical, with both those guys it’s sound. We’re just not executing.

“If you coach or manage in the big leagues and if somebody points a finger at you and that bothers you, you’re doing the wrong thing for a living.”

These are challenging times for La Russa, 78, the second-winningest manager ever with a Hall of Fame pedigree hired out of retirement by chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to guide the Sox in this championship window. But they’re not tougher times, he said.

“If we’re struggling, now I have another gear I can go to? That’s bull–,” he said. “All you do is make decisions, so you better give it your same all the time. No, I take every game like it’s the last game of my life.

“This script hasn’t been written. We are in charge of writing it ourselves to the extent that we can improve and play the best baseball we can.”

NOTE: Friday starter Dallas Keuchel, who opens a three-game series in New York, is 4-4 with a 2.06 ERA average over 10 career starts against the Yankees.

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The Chicago White Sox are wrapping up a five-game series with the Kansas City Royals, splitting the first four meetings. The White Sox notably are seeing their rotation not only return to form but start to see more than enough arms in the rotation.

The White Sox bounced back from a rough weekend against the New York Yankees with back-to-back wins. Moreover, the team received a start from Johnny Cueto, who made his first start of the season and might become a regular on the pitching staff now.

Cueto’s strong start

Johnny Cueto finally made it to the MLB roster and didn’t disappoint. On Monday, Cueto pitched six scoreless innings in a game the White Sox eventually won 5-3 in 10 innings.

What makes Cueto’s outing stand out is how he stepped up on the mound and his approach. At 36-years-old, Cueto isn’t going to overwhelm hitters with his stuff. Instead, the right-handed pitcher has to methodically attack batters, which he did constantly to the Royals lineup.

Cueto heavily relied on his slider and sinker in the game, two pitches that Dallas Keuchel, another veteran in the rotation often uses. However, unlike Keuchel, who has struggled at times this season, Cueto keeps hitters on their heels with his multiple windups, something he’s mastered in his 15 years on the mound. The quick pitch, the shimmy, and everything in-between mess with the batters’ timing.

As a result, it’s likely the White Sox will continue to rely on Cueto, especially as the fifth or even sixth pitcher in the starting rotation.

Martin’s debut

Davis Martin was called up to make his debut in the MLB for Tuesday’s second game of a doubleheader. Martin looked nervous and understandably relied on his fastball in his first career start as a result. 44 of the 91 pitches thrown against the Royals were fastballs and they were all over the place, displaying his raw but high caliber talent.

Despite the struggles that many pitchers have in their first start, Martin still put together a strong game for the White Sox. The 25-year-old pitched five innings and allowed only one run while tossing seven strikeouts. It was the type of start that fans wanted to see from their young pitcher.

The offense didn’t help, scoring only one run in the 2-1 loss but the start gave fans a lot to look forward to, especially with the season progressing. Moreover, Martin proved that he has the pitches to become a viable starter in the rotation if he can start locating the strike zone and finding an ideal quadrant for the fastball.

White Sox get Giolito back

Lucas Giolito has had a rough start to the season, to say the least. His performance on the mound has been great but only two months into the season the top of the rotation starter has already gone to the injury list and the COVID-19 list this season. Giolito returned and pitched on Wednesday, leaving a chaotic shuffling of the roster.

While the Royals tacked on two runs, Giolito looked like hadn’t missed a step. In five innings, Giolito had seven strikeouts with his fastball changeup combination leaving the Royals batters guessing throughout the night. The White Sox bullpen, which has been a strength this season, unraveled, allowing four runs in three innings. However, the game again showed the ceiling of the starting rotation, a rotation that helped the team win the division last year.

Giolito might not be the ace of the rotation this year, with Dylan Cease having a breakout season in the rotation. However, Giolito still has ace-caliber stuff and continues to make his mark on the pitching staff. The White Sox didn’t win the series, at least not the way fans hoped against a lowly Royals team, but it’s been that kind of start for this team, one they just have to power through before the wins start to pile in.

Do the White Sox have too many arms in the rotation?

Eventually, Lance Lynn will return to the rotation. Whether it’s late June or even early July, the White Sox will get Lynn back in the rotation, who was their best pitcher last season.

With Lynn back, the White Sox could potentially have a six or even seven-arm rotation, which in today’s game, is a good problem to have. However, the pitching staff at the moment could suffice with six pitchers and help keep every start well-rested.

In addition, the White Sox could use more pitchers on the roster altogether. Martin could by midseason become a starter that carries the backend of the rotation while Cueto could provide solid games once a week. The White Sox pitching staff is fine at the moment and one could argue is only looking more promising each week.

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

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ATHENS, Greece — Vangelis, the Greece-born electronic composer who wrote the Academy Award-winning score for the film “Chariots of Fire” and music for dozens of other movies, documentaries and TV series, has died. He was 79.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and other government officials expressed their condolences Thursday. “Vangelis Papathanassiou is no longer among us,” Mitsotakis tweeted.

Greek media reported that Vangelis died in a French hospital Wednesday.

Born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou on March 29, 1943 near the city of Volos in central Greece, Vangelis started playing the piano at age 4, although he got no formal training and claimed he never learned to read notes.

He played in several bands and solo, but his huge breakthrough came with the score for “Chariots of Fire,” a 1981 film that told the story of two British runners in the 1920s. Vangelis’ score received one of the four Academy Awards the film won.

The signature piece is one of the hardest-to-forget movie tunes worldwide — and has also served as the musical background to endless slow-motion parodies.

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LaVar Ball lives by the credo of “speak it into existence.”

That could be very good news for the Bulls.

Appearing in an interview with ESPN 1000’s David Kaplan, the boisterous father of point guard Lonzo Ball was very confident that his son would be ready for the start of the 2022-23 regular season. There was growing concern that might not be the case, especially with Ball having several setbacks in his comeback attempt from left knee surgery throughout the second half of this past season.

LaVar, however, did his best to ease some minds.

“You know what, he should be ready for the season this year,” LaVar Ball said. “Because he’s going to stay out here [in Los Angeles} and get it done the right way. Sometimes you have to get your own guy to say, ‘OK, this is how we gotta do this.'”

LaVar went on to say that he told Lonzo, “If all else fails, go back to the basics, which is come back to me and let me get you right because you were never hurt when you were with me.”

The elder Ball thought the Bulls took the wrong approach in trying to get Lonzo back up and running after he underwent the surgery, as well as was working back from a bone bruise. LaVar felt that the team’s training staff should have done most of the rehab in the pool, as well as strengthening the other muscles around the knee, rather than the usual treadmill, out-of-water, rehab.

He also pointed out that the Lakers took a similar approach to Ball’s knee rehab back in 2019, “where they got you on these rubber bands and you’re not doing any strength training or anything like that for your legs, you’re gonna get hurt.”

Kaplan asked Ball if Lonzo would need another surgery this summer, and he responded, “He won’t need another surgery. He’s just going to be out here in L.A. and they’re going to train him a different way, which is something he’s used to.”

But it wouldn’t be a LaVar Ball interview if he didn’t go all LaVar.

According to pops, he’s also got a secret ingredient that will make sure that Lonzo would be good to go by fall camp.

“And I told him he’d better go back to ‘Big Baller’ style and stop trying to drink that god-dang almond milk, and drink you some Vitamin D whole milk,” Ball insisted. “People see me, I don’t got no bone spurs and all that stuff. You drink that weak stuff, you’re going to get some of that.”

In his first season with the Bulls, Ball played just 35 games before the knee betrayed him. But what an impactful 35 games it was. He not only emerged as the best two-way player in the starting unit, but pushed the tempo with the ball in his hands and was huge as the kick-out outside shooter when defenses collapsed on Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.

Ball led that starting unit with 42.3% shooting from three-point range, and did so by averaging 7.4 attempts per game.

When Ball went down in mid-January, the Bulls were 27-13 and sitting atop the Eastern Conference as one of the surprise teams of the first half. The point guard duties fell onto several other players, but Ayo Dosunmu earned most of the playing time there with the starting unit.

Dosunmu, who finished Second-Team All-Rookie, had some very capable moments, but obviously couldn’t bring what Ball did to the position.

Lonzo Ball did speak to the media recently, and while he was disappointed by the injury, he was focusing big picture.

“We had a lot of promise I felt like,” Lonzo Ball said. “And we had a lot of goals that I don’t think were met, mainly due to a lot of health issues. You can’t change the past. I think everything happens for a reason. For me, it’s now about moving forward and getting ready for next year.”

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HARRISON, N.J. — The Fire spent significant money on their 2022 squad but have yet to see that investment translate into results. Salary figures released Tuesday showed that forward Xherdan Shaqiri is MLS’ highest-paid player at $8.15 million.

But Wednesday night, the team couldn’t hang on for a needed win, conceding a late equalizer to draw 3-3 on the road against the New York Red Bulls.

Shaqiri did his part, giving the Fire a 3-2 lead in the 89th minute that looked like it would end the their six-game winless streak. But the lead lasted only two minutes as Red Bulls forward Patryk Klimala scored to keep the Fire in search of their first victory since March 19.

“In the blink of an eye, we let it slip away,” Fire coach Ezra Hendrickson said.

Klimala also scored both of the Red Bulls’ goals in their 2-1 win against the Fire at Soldier Field on April 30. The Fire have picked up only two points in their last seven MLS games.

“I’m disappointed because we came here to win the game,” Shaqiri said. “We have to learn from these mistakes. We have to manage the game better.”

Tuesday’s salary release from the MLS Players Association also ranked the Fire fifth-highest in the league with a total guaranteed payroll of $17.65 million.

A defensive downturn has been the biggest reason for the Fire’s recent struggles. After a bright start that saw the team allow only two total goals in its first seven league games, the Fire have allowed 14 in their last five. Two calamitous defensive mistakes led to a 2-1 loss against FC Cincinnati on Saturday, and things weren’t much better against the Red Bulls.

“This was definitely two points dropped,” Hendrickson said. “It feels like a loss.”

The Red Bulls opened the scoring in the 20th minute thanks to a penalty given away by defender Jhon Espinoza. Goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina dove in the right direction, but he wasn’t able to stop Lewis Morgan’s shot. Espinoza, making only his second league start of the season, was subbed off at halftime.

New York scored its second goal in a similarly charitable way. Slonina was well positioned to stop a speculative shot from Red Bulls midfielder Cameron Harper, but the youngster mishandled the ball, and it looped over his head and into the net.

Slonina also was at fault for FC Cincinnati’s decisive goal Saturday, but growing pains are to be expected, and he might have a lot on his mind. After celebrating his 18th birthday Sunday, Slonina was called up by Poland on Tuesday for next month’s UEFA Nations League games. He is eligible to play for Poland and the United States but has yet to decide which country he will represent.

“[Slonina is] a mentally tough kid,” Hendrickson said. “He’s still our No. 1.”

The offense was the bright spot for the Fire, whose three goals matched their season high. Several recent acquisitions in addition to Shaqiri made contributions, showing a return on the team’s spending.

Chris Mueller scored his first goal for the Fire in his third appearance since joining the team from Scottish team Hibernian FC two weeks ago. He lashed the ball into the roof of the net after a give-and-go with Brian Gutierrez in the 38th minute, tying the game at 1.

Shaqiri also was involved in the Fire’s second goal. His corner kick in the 49th minute found Jhon Duran at the near post, and he flicked the ball to Wyatt Omsberg for the defender’s first MLS goal.

“I’m hungry for more,” Shaqiri said.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Central command?

How about Central outmanned.

With a 6-2 loss to the 14-22 Royals Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium, the White Sox fell to 6-12 in the AL Central, dropping below .500 with their second straight defeat that evened up a lengthy five-game series that concludes Thursday afternoon.

That’s hardly a path to a title the Sox were heavily favored to win.

In his first start after coming back from a bout with COVID-19, Lucas Giolito pitched five innings of two-run ball, striking out seven. After allowing a leadoff homer to Bobby Witt Jr. in the third, Giolito struck out six of seven batters, retired eight of the last 10 batters faced and left in a 2-2 tie.

Against Reynaldo Lopez in the sixth, the Royals got an RBI triple by Emmanuel Rivera past a diving Adam Engel right and a sacrifice fly by Kyle Isbel to make it 4-2. MJ Melendez hit his second homer of the series, a two-run shot against Ryan Burr, to make it 6-2.

Giolito landed on the COVID related injured list on May 13, three days after allowing one run on six hits in a season-high seven innings against the Guardians. He threw 92 pitches, 55 strikes against the Royals and left with a 2.84 ERA.

Tim Anderson’s RBI single against Royals starter Zack Greinke tied the game in the fifth. The Sox have scored three or fewer runs in five of their last six games.

Abreu searching for a groove

With four hits, three walks and no strikeouts in the series, Jose Abreu hoped to get his season jumpstarted after a supbar month and a half.

“I wasn’t planning on having that slow start, but those things happen,” Abreu said through a translator. “I’ve been working hard. I never put my head down. I’m just trying to get results. Hopefully sooner rather than later, I’ll start producing again.”

Abreu doubled and scored on Leury Garcia’s two-out single against Zack Greinke in the second for the Sox’ first run. But he was retired his next three times up, leaving Anderson stranded at second with an inning-ending groundout against Josh Staumont in the seventh.

After driving in two runs with a double in a 3-2 win in Game 1 Tuesday, Abreu got an unwanted rest from La Russa in the second game of a split doubleheader Tuesday.

“He’s the one who knows,” Abreu said. “I mean, how many wins does he have? 2,000-something. He knows how to take care of the guys.”

Eloy still building

More than three weeks removed from surgery to repair a torn hamstring tendon, Eloy Jimenez (hamstring) might be about two weeks away from a rehab stint.

“The biggest issue is the strength of that hamstring,” La Russa said. “They’re not convinced that it’s built up enough for everyday play.”

This and that

Michael Kopech (paternity list) will pitch Saturday in New York if his new baby is born in time, La Russa said, and Johnny Cueto will pitch Sunday with Dylan Cease getting extra rest. If not, Cueto will pitch Saturday and Cease Sunday.

*Lance Lynn, who went through fielding drills Wednesday, was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Lynn, who has been on the injured list since April 4 following surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right knee suffered during spring training, is eligible to be reinstated from the injured list on June 6.

*After pitching five innings of one-run ball in a spot start Tuesday, right-hander Davis Martin was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to create an “outdoor entertainment venue liquor license” in time for live music this summer at the Morton Salt Shed cleared a key hurdle Wednesday, amid concern that it would pave the way for more of the same at Lincoln Yards and the River West site of a Chicago casino.

The City Council’s License Committee advanced the mayor’s plan 13-2, over strenuous objections from neighboring Ald. Michele Smith (43rd), downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), and Friends of the Chicago River.

Smith’s motion to postpone the vote for at least a month to work out the kinks failed by a closer vote, 8 to 5.

Smith is the mayoral ally who chairs the City Council’s Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight.

During a surprisingly lengthy debate on an outdoor music venue project years in the making, Smith argued the planned development of the Morton Salt facility, 1357 N. Elston Ave., never contemplated an outdoor music venue, let alone an arena with 3,000 seats located just 125 feet from residential buildings.

Of even greater concern to Smith is that the mayor’s ordinance would open the door to similarly large outdoor riverfront music venues at two nearby sites: the proposed Bally’s casino at Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street in River West, and the massive mixed-use development known as Lincoln Yards.

“This is a dramatic U-turn. Even if this is a great project — I mean, it’s a beautiful project. But this ordinance allows large-scale venues in ways that will dramatically impact the entire area. We are not trumpeting the Chicago River as a new entertainment corridor,” Smith said.

Smith branded the ordinance a “new turn against” Chicago’s plan to “spread entertainment into the neighborhoods.” She noted the city has made “substantial investments” in the Uptown Theater, the Congress Theater and “many venues” on the South Side.

“I am very concerned that this will bring a level of, once again, downtown-centered, white-people-oriented kinds of entertainment that will really hurt smaller venues and other large venues that intend to compete,” she said.

Prior to the final vote, Smith read directly from a letter from Friends of the Chicago River strongly opposing the Morton Salt music venue the potential for a similar concert space at a Bally’s Chicago casino.

Those guidelines are “incompatible” with the city’s own river design guidelines, which called for a “connected greenway along the river that overlooks public parks and natural habitats” thereby offering a “peaceful, natural contrast to the urban environment,” the letter states.

Reilly focused on the door that has now been flung wide open for even more outdoor music venues close to residential buildings.

“If it only applied to Morton Salt, I wouldn’t have an issue with it. But, as Ald. Smith mentioned, this keeps the door open for lots of other open-air venues, possibly along the river and certainly, the Chicago casino site would also fit the criteria,” Reilly said.

“I’m also concerned about that 125 feet [buffer from nearby residences]. When you look at the proposed casino venue, conveniently that leaves out about 7,000 residents of River North from that notice area. That’s of considerable concern to me.”

Reilly cited his notorious struggles with what he called “bad liquor license owners” downtown.

“Say we have a venue that opens. They’ve invested these millions and millions of dollars in it. And they become a chronic source of nuisance complaints. Imagine families with young children, babies. … And multiple nights a week, their windows are shaking because, unfortunately for them, they have speakers facing across a river at them,” Reilly said.

“Say we get 100 complaints a month. What remedy would exist? The venue — whether at the casino site or another part of the river — would argue, ‘We’ve invested all this money. You’re not shutting us down. We’re gonna fight you in court.'”

Noting that he struggled with abuses at Bottled Blonde for years before shutting that bar down, Reilly said: “This is a venue on steroids.”

Local Liquor Control Commissioner Shannon Trotter said the new venue will have a liquor license as well as a public place of amusement license.

“All of those are subject to all of the regular disciplinary or public nuisance processes that we have,” Trotter said.

“But we’re really trying to design the ordinance so that any outdoor music does not create a nuisance. That’s why you see … all special events and/or concerts at any concert venue or sports stadium — they all end at 10 [p.m.]. Amplified sound throughout the city ends at 10. And this ordinance is consistent with that. It’s also consistent with patio hours.”

Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), whose ward includes both the Morton Salt and Bally’s casino sites, took umbrage at the claim that the planned development never contemplated an outdoor music venue.

“What we’re doing over here is no secret. This stuff actually started under the past administration,” Burnett said.

“We changed the PMD [planned manufacturing district] to allow for all of these things to happen and everybody was on board. Now we’re at the ninth hour and it’s like a big deal.”

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Cubs reliever David Robertson bounced in and out of the line of Cubs relievers playing catch in left field, getting his arm loose before the series finale against the Pirates on Wednesday.

After over a week on the COVID-19 related injured list, a week that Robertson described as “pretty boring,” he was finally back with the team and activated on Wednesday. He was available to pitch the same day.

Cubs starter Marcus Stroman, who was also on the IL with no injury designation, is scheduled to start Thursday, opening a four-game series against the Diamondbacks. He was cleared to rejoin the team and throw a bullpen Tuesday, but the Cubs will have to reinstate him front he IL and make a corresponding move before his start Thursday.

“This is a version of our rotation that we [envisioned] coming out of spring training,” Ross said. “It’s just now finally all coming together on [May 18]. So, that’s exciting from my seat.”

To make room for Robertson on the active roster, the Cubs optioned right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. to Triple-A on Wednesday. To clear a space on the 40-man roster, the Cubs transferred outfielder Michael Hermosillo from the 10-day IL (left quad strain) to the IL with no injury designation, which generally indicates a COVID-19 related move. Hermosillo was on the last road trip with the Cubs.

Robertson described his symptoms as “typical.”

“I definitely needed five days off,” he added. “And then after that, it’s just a matter of getting my energy levels back up to join the team.”

He stayed in Chicago and played catch with Stroman when they had the opportunity. Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy left nets for them to throw to.

“I’m glad I’m vaccinated and boosted and all that,” Robertson said. “I think it helped.”

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Tarik Cohen recently wrote a painful, touching and unsparing article about his life for The Players’ Tribune. It’s a letter to his 17-year-old self, and the raw honesty of it is remarkable. It’s a hard read, but you’ll be better for taking it on. I’m sure he’s better for writing it.

The former Bears running back has been through so much — is going through so much — but there’s something good out there waiting for him. There has to be. He’s known death after death and injury after injury, but how he has reckoned with his sorrow and addressed his challenges tells me there’s a happy ending on the horizon. I’m rooting like hell for it.

In his letter, we learn of the massive guilt he lugged around after Dante, his younger brother, became involved in drug dealing and eventually got shot in the head, leaving him paralyzed. And more guilt and pain came his way when Tyrell, his twin brother, died after fleeing the scene of a one-car accident. What if Cohen had been around more for them while he was chasing his dream of being an NFL player? What if he had kept them on the straight and narrow? Would that have been enough to save them?

Chicago had known some of the details of what had happened to his brothers while he was playing for the Bears, but we had no way of knowing the agony that was his fellow traveler. If we could have consoled him, if we could have let him know that we were there for him, as flimsy as that sounds, perhaps that might have helped ease his pain. Might have let him know he wasn’t so alone. The cheers and the gasps over his ability to change directions seem shallow now, as if we were all missing the bigger point, the point being that here was a suffering man.

The oohs and aahs went away when he injured his right knee during a punt return against the Falcons in 2020. He had torn the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments, and fractured the tibial plateau. He hasn’t played football since. The Bears waived him in March. In April, Dante, the brother who had been paralyzed in a shooting, died in a car accident.

Jesus.

And now, a little more than a week after his article ran in The Players’ Tribune, more bad news: Cohen reportedly ruptured his right Achilles tendon Tuesday during a workout that was being livestreamed on Instagram.

It sounds like way too much Biblical smiting, like Job getting through four quarters of affliction only to find out there’s an overtime of more abuse coming. But here’s where it gets better. Here’s where I hope Cohen goes back and re-reads that letter he wrote to his younger self. I hope he focuses on the last two paragraphs and embraces them for all their worth, which is everything:

“You will never be fully clear of the pain. And that’s OK. You wouldn’t want to forget the past anyway. Your past … it’s all just part of who you are now.

“But who you are can be so much more than just hurt.”

He’s so much more than the hurt he’s feeling right now over being hurt again. There’s pain, yes, but there’s also a resilience and a perspective to him that will have the final say in the story of his life. If he can make his way back from two terrible injuries and play again, it will be an incredible achievement. But judging by the letter and how he has responded to the suffering and challenges of his 26 years on the planet, he’s so much more than a football player.

He’s still the 5-foot-6 ball of muscle who went from North Carolina A&T to the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft to first-team All-Pro as a return specialist in 2018. But he’s also the uncle to his twin brother’s two young children, the one who vowed in his public letter to take care of their needs:

“First off, buy them a house. All cash. In their names. Free and clear. Theirs to use and own. Give them that security. Next: Make sure college and any other school expenses are fully paid for both of them. Put that money away. Have it all set up. Do this stuff now. Immediately. Because you love them and you want them to feel good, and to know that they’re loved. But also do it as a tribute to Tyrell. In his name. Honor him in that way.

“And then just keep being there for them in a way that shows the world how proud you were to call Tyrell your brother.”

That’s Tarik Cohen. And he’s going to be OK.

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