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Monday, December 20, 2021

NOBLE LEAGUE – BLUE

Noble Academy at Hansberry, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

Clifton Central at Herscher, 7:00

DePue at Midland, 7:00

Fenger at Marist, 7:00

Jones at Niles West, PPD

Leo at Bremen, 6:00

Lincoln Park at Morgan Park, 1:00

Montini at Downers Grove North, 1:30

Northridge at Rockford Lutheran, 7:00

Ogden at Austin, 5:00

Orr at Milwaukee Acad Science, 7:00

Peoria Heights at Roanoke-Benson, 7:00

Ridgewood at Aurora Christian, 6:00

St. Francis de Sales at Shepard, PPD

Taft at Loyola, PPD

Urban Prep at Longwood, 5:00

Waukegan at North Chicago, 7:00

Wheaton-Warr. South at Little Village, 2:00

Woodland at Earlville, 7:00

LAS VEGAS BISHOP GORMAN (NV)

De La Salle vs. Sheldon (CA), 11:00

MARENGO

Genoa-Kingston vs. Crystal Lake Central, 9:00a

Richmond-Burton vs. Sycamore, 10:30

Rockford Christian vs. Woodstock, 12:00

Woodstock North vs. Fenton, 1:30

Freeport vs. Stillman Valley, 3:00

Grayslake North vs. Marengo, 4:30

Rochelle vs. Harvest Christian, 6:00

Harvard vs. Wauconda, 7:30

STEINMETZ

Steinmetz vs. Intrinsic-Belmont, 11:00

at Chicago Academy

Chicago Academy vs. Holy Trinity, 3:00

WATSEKA

Donovan vs. Illinois Lutheran, 5:00

Tri-Point vs. Westville, 6:15

Cissna Park vs. LaSalette, 7:30

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Chris Noth has been fired from CBS crime drama the “The Equalizer” after three women came forward with sexual misconduct allegations against him.

The former “Sex and the City” star, 67, will be seen early next month in one more episode that has already been filmed. In “The Equalizer,” Noth played an old friend of Queen Latifah’s character who runs a private security company after years as a CIA director.

The announcement is the latest blow to Noth’s career after he was accused by three women in the past week of sexual assault in incidents going back to the early 2000s. On Sunday, A3 Artists Agency confirmed that Noth has been dropped as a client after signing with the talent agency in October.

And in a statement to the New York Post on Friday, Entertainment Arts Research CEO Bernard Rubin said his company would no longer purchase Noth’s tequila brand Ambhar Tequila.

“We thought it would be in our best interest to withdraw from the transaction,” Rubin told the outlet. “It would have been disastrous for us.”

The accusations were published days after Noth’s character, Mr. Big, died of a heart attack in the premiere episode of HBO Max’s “Sex and the City” sequel, “And Just Like That …”

The latest accuser, a 30-year-old tech executive, said the alleged encounter happened in 2010, when she was working as a hostess and lounge singer at the Manhattan restaurant Da Marino. She was 18 at the time and Noth was 55.

The account in the Daily Beast from Ava, who was granted a pseudonym, details an encounter with Noth in the back office of the restaurant as she prepared her late-night exit after work. Ava provided her story to the Daily Beast on Dec. 16 and said she wrote her account of the assault in October 2020.

In a report published Dec. 16 in The Hollywood Reporter, two women named only by pseudonyms, Lily and Zoe, accused Noth of sexual assault in separate incidents from the early 2000s.

“The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false,” Noth said in a statement following the THR report. “These stories could’ve been from 30 years ago or 30 days ago — no always means no — that is a line I did not cross. The encounters were consensual. It’s difficult not to question the timing of these stories coming out. I don’t know for certain why they are surfacing now, but I do know this: I did not assault these women.”

Zoe, who reached out to THR in October, told the outlet she met the actor in 2004 when she was 22 and working at a “high-profile firm where Noth and other celebrities regularly had business,” THR reported. She said he flirted with her and eventually invited her to the pool of a West Hollywood building before asking her to come to his apartment, where she said he raped her.

Zoe said she went with a friend to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she told staff she had been assaulted but would not tell the police who had assaulted her out of fear of retribution and not being believed.

Lily, whom THR said contacted the news outlet in August, said she met Noth in a New York City nightclub in 2005, when she was 25. She said he asked her to dinner before inviting her back to his apartment, where she “cautiously entertained” him kissing her but grew uncomfortable with his sexual advances and and was “kind of crying” as he had sex with her. Lily said she felt “totally violated” afterward and told a friend but refused to alert the police.

The Los Angeles Police Department checked into whether there was an open investigation involving Noth and found none, police Sgt. Hector Guzman said. The special victims bureau of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department also has no open investigation, sheriff’s Capt. Richard Ruiz said.

Noth dubbed the timing of the accusations questionable as the report was published a week after the premiere of the highly anticipated “Sex and the City” reboot. “And Just Like That” shocked fans when it killed off Mr. Big with a post-Peloton ride heart attack that launched the actor back into the pop-cultural zeitgeist and landed him a quick-turn ad with the stationary bike company.

Peloton scrubbed the video ad from its social media platforms Thursday following the allegations.

Since taking on the role of Mr. Big, the hotshot executive who serves as Carrie’s main love interest (and later, husband) throughout “Sex and the City,” Noth went on to roles in “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “The Good Wife” and reprised his Mr. Big role in the 2008 and 2010 “SATC” movies.

Read more at usatoday.com

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The entire starting secondary is out for the Chicago Bears. The starting right and left tackle are out for the Chicago Bears. Allen Robinson is out for the Chicago Bears (although he checked out on the team last week). This is just awful.

The Bears have been wrecked by injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak. This could be the Chicago Bears’ worst game ever played when they face the Minnesota Vikings.

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The wave of new COVID-19 cases sweeping across the NHL, as well as every other sports league, hasn’t spared the Blackhawks after all.

Veteran defenseman Calvin de Haan was placed in COVID protocol Monday, becoming the Hawks’ first case in this current surge. It’s the first time the Hawks have had anyone out with COVID since Tyler Johnson and Isaak Phillips were removed from the list on Nov. 10.

There are several reasons to be optimistic that de Haan’s infection won’t spread to his Hawks teammates and cause a full-blown outbreak.

First, he had been held out of the Hawks’ last two games — Friday against the Predators and Saturday against the Stars — with an illness, even though it was considered non-COVID-related at the time. And second, the Hawks did not hold practice Sunday or Monday.

But considering the unpredictability of COVID’s spread, and the trends being observed league-wide at the moment, the Hawks must be concerned nonetheless.

They’re now one of 24 teams with at least one player in COVID protocol, with de Haan increasing the total number of players in protocol to 120 — more than 16% of the entire league — as of Monday afternoon.

The league has temporarily tightened safety measures, re-instituting many of of the strict masking and distancing rules that were in place during the 2021 season last spring, to try to control the outbreak.

“It’s probably driving them nuts that we’re reminding them every day [about] the hygiene part of it, and to make sure we do all the right things to follow the protocols,” Hawks interim coach Derek King had said pregame Saturday.

No amount of restrictions seem to be able to preserve normalcy at the moment, though. With nine teams shut down through Christmas — and U.S.-Canada border travel halted by the NHL, very few games are taking place.

Just four of the eight games originally scheduled for Sunday around the league were actually played. Of Monday’s five originally scheduled games, precisely one — Blues at Stars — took place. Only two of the 10 games originally scheduled for Tuesday have not yet been postponed, with the Hawks’ matchup against the Panthers already among the casualties.

That Panthers game postponement was the reason why the Hawks did not practice Sunday or Monday, in fact, so it could end up being a blessing in disguise.

The Hawks had planned, however, to take the ice at Fifth Third Arena for practices Tuesday and Wednesday before rematching the Stars on Thursday at home. That game leads into the holiday break, which the league clearly hopes will give every team a much-needed pause that could stem the tide of cases.

But even after the break, much remains uncertain. The Hawks are scheduled to host the Blue Jackets on Dec. 28, visit the Jets on Dec. 29, visit the Predators on Jan. 1 and host the Flames on Jan. 2. But the Jackets, Predators and Flames are all currently shut down due to exploding COVID cases and the Jets game would require cross-border travel.

Note: The Hawks sent prospect forward Josiah Slavin down to the AHL on Sunday, ending his first NHL stint after nine games. But he may well be called up again after Rockford’s matchup Tuesday against Milwaukee. He has played well despite his lack of production (zero goals, one assist) and spent much of Saturday centering Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat.

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Needing reinforcements after the coronavirus ravaged the team, the Bears added nine players to their roster for Monday night’s game against the Vikings.

Right tackle Germain Ifedi was activated from injured reserve and figures to start.

Eight practice squad players were promoted at areas of need: defensive backs Thomas Graham, Dee Virgin, Michael Joseph and BoPete Keyes; receivers Nsimba Webster and Dazz Newsome; outside linebacker Charles Snowden; and defensive end LaCale London.

The Bears have 14 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including all four members of their starting secondary: safeties Eddie Jackson and Tashaun Gipson and cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Artie Burns. Joseph and Keyes were signed only last week.

Receiver Allen Robinson, tackle Larry Borom, defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. and backup quarterback Andy Dalton were among the other players on the list.

Earlier Monday, the Bears announced that defensive coordinator Sean Desai had been cleared to return and call plays Monday night. He tested positive for the coronavirus Dec. 13 and said later in the week that he felt fine.

The Bears also put safety DeAndre Houston-Carson on injured reserve. He broke his arm against the Packers.

The Vikings, by contrast, enter the game with only three players on their active roster on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

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The best conference in the country? To this point, it has been the Big 12 — by plenty.

Baylor has been so dominant, it’s time to start asking if the Bears are even better than they were last season. Come on down, freshman Kendall Brown, you dunk machine, you. Best dunker since Vince Carter? That’s what some were buzzing about Saturday night as the Bears were mauling Oregon on the road.

Kansas is strong enough to stay in the hunt for a No. 1 or No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed the whole way. Iowa State has been perhaps the best surprise in the country. Texas has as much talent as anybody. Texas Tech, Oklahoma and West Virginia are in, or flirting with, the Top 25. TCU is off to a 9-1 start. The good stuff just goes on for this league.

They don’t give out awards in December, but it’s hard to picture the Big Ten, SEC or any other league matching the Big 12. Maybe if Purdue goes wire-to-wire in extraordinary fashion, Michigan State keeps improving throughout, Illinois gets Andre Curbelo back and catches fire, E.J. Liddell puts Ohio State on his back even more than he has already, Michigan rediscovers its own pulse … but that’s a lot of maybes.

Here’s the latest poll, out Monday:

AP Top 25

1. Baylor, 2. Duke, 3. Purdue, 4. Gonzaga, 5. UCLA, 6. Arizona, 7. Kansas, 8. USC, 9. Iowa State, 10. Alabama, 11. Michigan State, 12. Auburn, 13. Houston, 14. Ohio State, 15. Seton Hall, 16. Texas, 17. LSU, 18. Xavier, 19. Tennessee, 20. Kentucky, 21. Colorado State, 22. Providence, 23. Villanova, 24. Wisconsin, 25. Texas Tech.

(Click here to see the poll in more complete list form.)

My ballot

1. Baylor, 2. Purdue, 3. Duke, 4. Arizona, 5. Kansas, 6. Gonzaga, 7. UCLA, 8. Iowa State, 9. Kentucky, 10. Houston, 11. Alabama, 12. USC, 13. Auburn, 14. Xavier, 15. Colorado State, 16. Seton Hall, 17. Michigan State, 18. Texas, 19. Ohio State, 20. Oklahoma, 21. Providence, 22. Wisconsin, 23. LSU, 24. Texas Tech, 25. Illinois.

(Click here and then on “all voters” to see each voter’s individual ballot.)

Five things

o Kentucky’s 98-69 win against North Carolina was blow-your-hair-back impressive. That’s how you bounce back from a loss at Notre Dame. The Wildcats — with Oscar Tshiebwe setting the tone — outrebounded the Tar Heels by 18 and have a plus-16.5 rebounding margin through 11 games. I’ve got this team a lot higher on my ballot than most voters do, clearly.

o If I were king, I’d gather unbeatens USC, Iowa State, LSU and Colorado State for a little round-robin action to see what’s what. Anybody want to help me make this happen?

o The rise of Alfonso Plummer has made Illinois highly dangerous again. Since the team’s low point against Cincinnati, Plummer, a lefty transfer from Utah, has averaged 23 points over seven games. Nearly all of it has come from the three-point line, where good looks can be had as long as center Kofi Cockburn keeps passing out of double-teams.

o Why is anybody still voting for Villanova? The Wildcats just lost at Creighton by 20 after scoring all of 36 points in their previous game against Baylor. Maybe they’ll come back around, but right now they’re a mess.

o My ballot crashers: Providence and Illinois. Falling off it this time: Villanova and Arkansas.

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Melissa Compean’s lungs burned with each breath and thick smoke clouded her vision, but she knew her 7-year-old son was somewhere in the room.

She grabbed a blanket and put it over her face, reaching out until she finally felt her son’s arm. Brayden screamed out in pain, but Compean was relieved to know he was alive.

“I felt his arm and it was wet from being burned, so I was like, oh no, he’s hurt,” she said in a video released Monday by Loyola Medical Center, which treated Brayden for severe burns on his arms and hands.

Brayden FindlayLoyola Medicine

Compean said she was able to get her son to stand and guided him toward the window, which she had broken to get into the burning house. Her stepfather was waiting at the window for them.

“I’m terrified of fire, so me going into the fire was my mama bear response. I didn’t want him hurt at all,” Compean said. “I was trying to save him. Thank God, I faced my own fear.”

The boy’s grandmother, 60-year-old Susan Callopy, died in the fire that broke out Nov. 29 in the 5700 block of West 64th Street. Brayden suffered a life-threatening inhalation injuries and third-degree burns to his arms and hands.

Dr. Joshua Carson, regional director of Loyola’s burn center, said his team administered specialized aerosol treatments to reduce the swelling in Brayden’s airway. Later, they were able to safely insert a tube into his trachea for surgery.

One person died and a child was among three others injured in a fire Nov. 29, 2021, on the Southwest Side.Chicago Fire Media

The boy was on a ventilator for several days but is back to breathing on his own.

Brayden’s burns were treated with an special technique that focuses on the “regenerative properties” of a patient’s skin, Carson said. Unlike traditional skin grafts, the new technique requires a much smaller section of skin.

“You can mix it into a spray and you spray that skin on top of just little bitty pieces of graft,” Carson said. “So rather than have a big slab of his skin scarring up his arms, he’s got little lines of skin graft. And then he’s got this spray so that it can heal more like natural skin.”

Brayden will now head to a rehabilitation center, where he will work with therapists to rebuild muscles in his arms and hands. Carson said the technique they used should make it much easier for his hands to get back to where they were.

“For a kid like him at his age who needs to grow with his hands and use them, that’s I think a huge advantage,” the doctor said. “He’s healed really well, he won’t need anymore surgery.”

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The fire was reported early Monday in the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue and forced the evacuation of people in apartments on the first and second floors, Chicago police said.

By Sun-Times Wire Dec 20, 2021, 1:31pm CST

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They’re the actors known for portraying firefighters, paramedics, doctor and nurses on television, and now they want to share their real-life cooking and baking prowess.

Whether or not you’re a fan of “Chicago Med,” “Chicago P.D.” and “Chicago Fire” you can get a free digital copy of a special holiday cookbook brimming with recipes for the holidays (or year-round).

Universal Television, Wolf Entertainment and NBC are offering a free download of the “One Chicago Holiday Cookbook,” featuring a collection of recipes and family anecdotes from the casts of each of the three “One Chicago” branded series.

The cover of the “One Chicago Holiday Cookbook.”Courtesy Lori Allen/NBCUniversal

“For ten years, you’ve invited us into your living rooms … it’s our turn to invite you into our kitchens to share some tasty treats and family secrets,” writes Dick Wolf, creator and executive producer of the the series, in the cookbook’s foreword.

The colorful, 32-page book is divided into easy-to-follow recipes for appetizers and sides, entrees and desserts, and features a treasure trove of family photos, anecdotes, family stories and more from each of the stars who’ve made their recipes available.

Here are a few of the recipes included:

— pinwheel cookies, courtesy of S. Epatha Merkerson

— pear tart, courtesy of David Eigenberg

— spicy tofu with broccoli and cashews, courtesy of Marina Squerciati

— roast suckling pick, courtesy of Jason Beghe

— sabzi polo mahi (herbed rice with fish), courtesy of Dominic Rains

— sweet potato souffle, courtesy of Guy Lockard

–tteokguk (rice cake soup), courtesy of Brian Tee

— roasted Brussels sprouts, courtesy of Daniel Kyri

Below is the recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies from “Chicago Fire” star Christian Stolte’s daughter Greta.

You can download the entire cookbook for free here.

Greta’s Pumpkin Whoopie PiesGreta’s Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

INGREDIENTS: (kitchen scale highly recommended for best results; conversions are approximate)

1 29-ounce can canned pumpkin (or pumpkin puree)

460g (2 1/4 cups) brown sugar

205g (3/4 cup) vegetable oil

2 eggs

8g (1 3/4 tsp) vanilla extract

450g (3 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour

5g (1 tsp.) baking powder

5.5g (1 tsp.) baking soda

6g (1 tsp.) salt

14g (2 tsp.) ground cinnamon

6g (1 tsp.) ground ginger

6g (1 tsp.) ground cloves

5g (1 tsp.) ground nutmeg

400g (14 oz.) cream cheese

450g (4 cups) powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

For the cake:

1. Mix canned pumpkin, brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and 5 grams of vanilla extract

2. Sift all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg into the bowl with the wet ingredients

3. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients

4. Using a #50 scoop, spoon and arrange dollops of the mixture onto a silicone-baking-mat-lined cookie sheet

5. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes at 350?F

For the filling:

1. Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and remaining vanilla extract until fully combined

2. Transfer filling to piping bag, pipe filling onto the FLAT side of HALF of the (now completely cooled) pumpkin cakes.

3. Cap each filled cake with an unfilled cake.

The recipe page for Greta’s Pumpkin Whoopie Pies featured in the “One Chicago Holiday Cookbook.”Courtesy Lori Allen/NBCUniversalRead More