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A 17-year-old boy was shot Sept. 11, 2021, in Princeton Park. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times file

He was inside of a home about 2:50 p.m. in the 9100 block of South Wentworth Avenue when someone he knew fired shots, striking him in the foot, Chicago police said.

A 17-year-old boy was wounded in a shooting Saturday in Princeton Park.

He was inside of a home about 2:50 p.m. in the 9100 block of South Wentworth Avenue when someone he knew fired shots, striking him in the foot, Chicago police said.

The teen was taken to Roseland Community Hospital in good condition, police said.

Detectives were questioning a person of interest.

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A man who was wounded in a shooting Sunday in South Shore has died.

Kelly Mitchem, 32, was pronounced dead Thursday at the University of Chicago Medical Center, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

On Sunday, Mitchem was in a vehicle about 5:20 p.m. in the 7000 block of South South Shore Drive when someone fired shots at him from another vehicle, Chicago police said.

Mitchem was struck and then crashed his vehicle. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition at the time, police said.

An autopsy released Saturday ruled his death a homicide, saying he died of multiple gunshot wounds, the medical examiner’s office said.

No arrests have been reported.

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At least 19 people have been wounded, three fatally, in citywide gun violence since Friday evening.

In the latest fatal shooting, a 12-year-old boy was found dead Saturday morning in the South Chicago neighborhood.

A witness found the boy unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head about 10:30 a.m. in the 8000 block of South Bennett Avenue, according to preliminary information from Chicago police. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 36-year-old woman was taken into custody in connection with the shooting, police said,

Hours earlier, woman was killed while sitting in a vehicle in Chatham on the South Side.

The 34-year-old was sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle with a group of people in a parking lot about 1:25 a.m. in the 8700 block of South Lafayette Avenue when she was shot in the head, Chicago police said. She died at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

On Friday, a person was shot dead in Englewood.

A male, whose age wasn’t immediately known, was near the sidewalk about 5:30 p.m. in the 7200 block of South Yale Avenue when someone opened fire, striking him in the armpit and hand, police said.

He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

In nonfatal attacks, two boys were shot while they were standing on a porch in Austin on the West Side.

They were on the porch about 10:30 p.m. Friday in the 5800 block of West Augusta Boulevard when someone inside a silver-colored SUV fired shots, police said. The boys, 12 and 13 years old, were struck in the leg and taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition.

Hours later, a 16-year-old boy was wounded when someone shot him in Gresham on the South Side.

The teen was walking through a gas station about 12:55 a.m. Saturday in the 7600 block of South Green Street when he was shot in the leg, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition.

At least 11 other people have been wounded in incidents of gun violence in Chicago since 5 p.m. Friday.

Last weekend, six people were killed and at least 61 others were wounded in citywide shootings over the holiday weekend.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2021 entered its second day Saturday afternoon in Union Park, as the West Loop staple returned from its COVID-19 hiatus in 2020.

The Day 2 lineup included another eclectic mix of hip-hop, R&B, indie rock and more. Horsegirl, Bartees Strange, Amaarae, Waxahatchee, Ty Segall & Freedom Band and more were among the afternoon acts. Saturday’s headliners include Jamila Woods and Angel Olsen, with St. Vincent closing out the night.

Hot on the heels of Lollapalooza last month, the music festival has strict COVID-19 safety protocols in place, requiring proof of full vaccination or a negative test within 24 hours for each day of the fest in order to gain entry.

In addition to the music, a popup art fair featuring the work of local artists make for perfect summertime shopping and browsing.

Here’s a look at the sights and sounds of Saturday’s shows:

Waxahatchee performs on the Green Stage at Pitchfork music festival at Union Park, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Waxahatchee performs on the Green Stage at Pitchfork music festival at Union Park, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Waxahatchee performs on the Green Stage at Pitchfork music festival at Union Park, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Festival-goers slowly sway and sing along as Waxahatchee performs on the Green Stage at Pitchfork music festival at Union Park, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Festival-goers sit in the grass and listen as Waxahatchee performs on the Green Stage at Pitchfork music festival at Union Park, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Check back soon for more from Saturday’s sets.

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Jose Carlos Vega was on his way to work at the World Trade Center 20 years ago Saturday when his life’s trajectory forever changed.

He remembers Sept. 11, 2001, being a normal yet extraordinarily beautiful morning in New York City. His train came to a premature and abrupt stop, and the conductor urgently yelled at passengers to get off.

Vega, unaware of what had happened and slightly aggravated that he had to wrestle through a crowd to walk the rest of the way to his office, made his way up the stairs from the subway station. He found the city eerily quiet, with the exception of some emergency vehicle sirens. That’s when he noticed a piece of paper floating down from above, which prompted him to look up.

“I followed the flow of the paper, which led my eyes to the World Trade Center, which I saw burning. After seeing the debris and other objects falling from the building, realizing that some of them were human beings,” Vega recalled in his native Chicago Saturday morning. “It didn’t actually register in my mind [until] later that evening.”

“There are things that I bore witness to on that horrific day that I choose not to share,” he continued. “I found myself walking backwards throughout the city, routinely turning around to look at the World Trade Center,” which he said was “hypnotizing and horrific at the same time.”

Veteran Carlos Vega speaks about his experience of the 9/11 attack during the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 at the Richard J. Daley Plaza in the Loop, Saturday morning, Sept. 11, 2021.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Vega remembers being in an auditorium and watching on screen as the twin towers collapsed, adding “we still would not believe it” to be truly happening.

Vega, who grew up in McKinley Park, recalled that devastating day in front of a crowd of hundreds of veterans and first responders who gathered downtown to reflect on the 20th anniversary of the events that changed the world.

The memorial event included Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Police Supt. David Brown and Fire Department Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt, all commemorating the nearly 3,000 lives lost and countless others impacted by the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The chorus of drums and bagpipes echoed through Daley Plaza. The music stopped just before 7:45 a.m. central time, marking the moment the first plane crashed into the North Tower. The congregation observed a moment of silence; the only sounds heard was the rumbling of a nearby ‘L train and the howling of wind between the skyscrapers.

A Chicago Fire Department helicopter flew over the crowd and Chicago Fire Battalion Chief Jake Jakubec struck a bell multiple times.

Patrick McParland, a Navy veteran who lives on the city’s Far Southeast Side, held up an oversized flag that he got from one of the vessels he worked on, saying: “I just looked at this as some way to pay tribute to those that have fallen, those who have lost family members, loved ones and friends. It’s a small token of my appreciation for what they’ve done.”

Vega’s niece Sonia Lopez called the event “really inspiring.”

“I think it’s just like a nice reminder to come together and remember to stay together,” said Lopez, who drove in from Wheaton to support her “Uncle Carlos.”

Lopez said she was in her eighth grade math class at the time of the attacks. Her teacher told the students to huddle under their desks. She recalled being fearful and unsure of what was happening.

When Lopez found out the World Trade Center had collapsed, she immediately worried for her uncle’s safety.

“I can’t believe it’s been 20 years… I still remember the feeling, the scare, the nervousness, like what [Vega] went through,” Lopez said.

The images from that day were burned into Vega’s memory. He said he’ll never forget the first responders who selflessly put their lives in jeopardy to help save others.

Witnessing the aftermath of the attacks inspired Vega to join the military, serving two tours in Iraq. Now, Vega said he helps veterans who struggle with post traumatic stress disorder.

“The way we live our life from this day forward will determine how we honor those that are no longer with us today,” Vega told the crowd. “Our mission is not over.”

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NEW YORK — Americans solemnly marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 on Saturday, remembering the dead, invoking the heroes and taking stock of the aftermath of the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil less than two weeks after the fraught end of the war in Afghanistan.

The ceremony at ground zero in New York began exactly two decades after the attack started with the first of four hijacked planes crashing into one of the World Trade Center’s twin towers.

“It felt like an evil specter had descended on our world, but it was also a time when many people acted above and beyond the ordinary,” said Mike Low, whose daughter, Sara Low, was a flight attendant on that plane.

Her family has “known unbearable sorrow and disbelief” in the years since, the father told a crowd that included President Joe Biden and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

But “as we carry these 20 years forward, I find sustenance in a continuing appreciation for all of those who rose to be more than ordinary people,” Low said.

The anniversary unfolded under the pall of a pandemic and in the shadow of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which is now ruled by the same militants who gave safe haven to the 9/11 plotters.

“It’s hard because you hoped that this would just be a different time and a different world. But sometimes history starts to repeat itself and not in the best of ways,” Thea Trinidad, who lost her father in the attacks, said before reading victims’ names at the ceremony.

Bruce Springsteen and Broadway actor Kelli O’Hara sang at the commemoration, but by tradition, no politicians spoke there. In a video released Friday night, Biden addressed the continuing pain of loss but also spotlighted what he called the “central lesson” of Sept. 11: “that at our most vulnerable … unity is our greatest strength.”

Biden was also scheduled to pay respects at the two other sites where the 9/11 conspirators crashed the jets: the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Together, the attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.

Calvin Wilson came to the Pennsylvania memorial to reflect on his brother-in-law LeRoy Homer, the first officer of the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew fought to regain control. Hijackers are believed to have been targeting the U.S. Capitol or the White House.

Wilson said he believes a polarized country has “missed the message” of the passengers’ and crew members’ heroism.

“We don’t focus on the damage. We don’t focus on the hate. We don’t focus on retaliation. We don’t focus on revenge,” Wilson said. “We focus on the good that all of our loved ones have done.”

Former President George W. Bush, the nation’s leader on 9/11, and current Vice President Kamala Harris were to speak at the Pennsylvania memorial. The only other post-9/11 U.S. president, Donald Trump, planned to be in New York, in addition to providing commentary at a boxing match in Florida in the evening.

Other observances — from a wreath-laying in Portland, Maine, to a fire engine parade in Guam — were planned across a country now full of 9/11 plaques, statues and commemorative gardens.

In the aftermath of the attacks, security was redefined, with changes to airport checkpoints, police practices and the government’s surveillance powers. For years afterward, virtually any sizeable explosion, crash or act of violence seemed to raise a dire question: “Is it terrorism?” Some ideological violence and plots did follow, though federal officials and the public have lately become increasingly concerned with threats from domestic extremists after years of focusing on international terror groups in the wake of 9/11.

New York faced questions early on about whether it could ever recover from the blow to its financial hub and restore a feeling of safety among the crowds and skyscrapers. New Yorkers ultimately rebuilt a more populous and prosperous city but had to reckon with the tactics of an empowered post-9/11 police department and a widened gap between haves and have-nots.

A “war on terror” led to invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the longest U.S. war ended last month with a hasty, massive airlift punctuated by a suicide bombing that killed 169 Afghans and 13 American service members and was attributed to a branch of the Islamic State extremist group. The U.S. is now concerned that al-Qaida, the terror network behind 9/11, may regroup in Afghanistan, where the flag of the Taliban militant group once again flew over the presidential palace on Saturday.

Melissa Pullis lost her husband, Edward, on 9/11. His namesake, Edward Jr., is serving on the USS Ronald Reagan, where he released a wreath bearing the words “Never Forget” into the water Saturday.

“I really don’t care about the Taliban,” said Melissa Pullis, who attended the ceremony with her other son, Andrew. “I’m just happy all the troops are out of Afghanistan … We can’t lose any more military. We don’t even know why we’re fighting, and 20 years went down the drain.”

Two decades after helping to triage and treat injured colleagues at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, retired Army Col. Malcolm Bruce Westcott is saddened and frustrated by the continued threat of terrorism.

“I always felt that my generation, my military cohort, would take care of it — we wouldn’t pass it on to anybody else,” said Westcott, of Greensboro, Georgia. “And we passed it on.”

Sept. 11 propelled a surge of shared grief and common purpose, but it soon gave way.

Muslim Americans endured suspicion, surveillance and hate crimes. The quest to understand the catastrophic toll of the terror attacks prompted changes in building design and emergency communications, but it also spurred conspiracy theories that seeded a culture of skepticism. Schisms and resentments grew over immigration, the balance between tolerance and vigilance, the meaning of patriotism, the proper way to honor the dead, and the scope of a promise to “never forget.”

Trinidad was 10 when she overheard her dad, Michael, saying goodbye to her mother by phone from the burning trade center. She remembers the pain but also the fellowship of the days that followed, when all of New York “felt like it was family.”

“Now, when I feel like the world is so divided, I just wish that we can go back to that,” said Trinidad, of Orlando, Florida. “I feel like it would have been such a different world if we had just been able to hang on to that feeling.”

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Associated Press Writer Michael Rubinkam in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

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At least 16 people have been wounded, two fatally, in citywide gun violence since Friday evening.

In the latest fatal shooting, a woman was killed while sitting in a vehicle Saturday morning in Chatham on the South Side.

The 34-year-old was sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle with a group of people in a parking lot about 1:25 a.m. in the 8700 block of South Lafayette Avenue when she was shot in the head, Chicago police said. She died at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Hours earlier, a person was shot dead in Englewood.

A male, whose age wasn’t immediately known, was near the sidewalk about 5:30 p.m. in the 7200 block of South Yale Avenue when someone opened fire, striking him in the armpit and hand, police said.

He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

In nonfatal attacks, two boys were shot while they were standing on a porch in Austin on the West Side.

They were on the porch about 10:30 p.m. Friday in the 5800 block of West Augusta Boulevard when someone inside a silver-colored SUV fired shots, police said. The boys, 12 and 13 years old, were struck in the leg and taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition.

Hours later, a 16-year-old boy was wounded when someone shot him in Gresham on the South Side.

The teen was walking through a gas station about 12:55 a.m. Saturday in the 7600 block of South Green Street when he was shot in the leg, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition.

At least 11 other people have been wounded in incidents of gun violence in Chicago since 5 p.m. Friday.

Last weekend, six people were killed and at least 61 others were wounded in citywide shootings over the holiday weekend.

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This year’s Pitchfork Music Festival kicked off Friday in the West Loop, where thousands of festival-goers converged in Union Park.

A nearly 15-year-old summer tradition typically set in July, Pitchfork Fest organizers canceled last year’s iteration due to the pandemic and pushed this year’s back to September, citing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Friday’s festivities were happening amid the nation’s rising COVID-19 cases, the recent reinstatement of an indoor mask mandate by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the recent COVID vaccine mandate for city workers by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the recent return to schools for Chicago Public Schools families and the addition of all 50 states to the city’s travel advisory.

In the months and weeks leading up to the festival, Pitchfork announced its own COVID protocols, similar to those announced by venues and other festivals in the last few months. Festival-goers are asked to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test obtained within 24 hours of each day they attend.

Organizers also recommended and encouraged attendees to wear masks “except when actively eating or drinking.” Signs were posted at entrances to emphasize the message. A line for the festival had stretched down Ashland Avenue by noon Friday, as a majority-masked crowd waited to be let in.

Security checks vaccination cards on Day 1 of the Pitchfork Music Festival on Friday.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Among those masked and waiting in line before the gates opened was Anna Ives-Michenver of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The 21-year-old had already flown in from the East Coast for Lollapalooza in July and decided to make the trek again for Pitchfork. She said it was important for her to experience concerts in person.

“It means a lot. That’s pretty much the one thing that I really love to do — is go see live music. So not being able to see live music for a year and a half was awful,” she said.

Further down the line was 23-year-old Chicagoan Gabriel Schubert, who said they’d been to several festivals this summer, including Lollapalooza. Schubert said they felt comfortable with the way summer festivals had been taking COVID precautions, although they ended up contracting the virus while in Iowa for the Hinterland Music Festival in early August.

“Funny enough, I actually got COVID while I was in Iowa. But you know I quarantined and everything — feeling all good now,” Schubert said. “If you’re vaccinated, it’s not as bad. Not as horrible. You’re not gonna go to the hospital, probably, fingers crossed.”

A sign asks people to wear a mask when shopping at a popup art fair on Day 1 at the Pitchfork Music Festival.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

By the time the gates opened around 12:25 p.m., some people continued to wear their masks as they stepped up to security checkpoints for what amounted to a slow, steady flow of fans. Many would do away with masks as they ventured further into the festival grounds.

Security checked proof of vaccination or testing and IDs multiple times, before sending festival-goers on to another lineup of security checking bags and frisking, while Pitchfork volunteers scanned tickets and handed out schedules.

To 20-year-old Andrew Lindaas, of Madison, Wisconsin, the process seemed thorough, noting security checked proof of vaccination and IDs more than once for many fans moving through the line.

Haley Leonhard (left) of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Andrew Lindaas, of Madison, Wisconsin, pose for a photo at the Renegade Craft Show popup at Pitchfork Music Festival.Matt Moore/Sun-Times

“They checked the vax card a lot,” Lindaas said in between checking out vendors the Renegade Craft Fair popup inside the park. “It was better than most establishments I’ve been into that do require that.”

Artists like Philadelphia’s Hop Along — who performed Friday — have enacted their own COVID precautions for their shows, which mostly align with Pitchfork’s. Before heading out on tour last week, the band shared on their social media they would be requiring proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter their shows, and requesting audience members to wear masks.

“Please don’t be the unmasked person in the center of the front row,” the band wrote in a recent Instagram post, saying their lead singer “doesn’t want to have to call people out every night.”

For 29-year-old Ben Stevens, a five-time Pitchfork goer from Dayton, Ohio, the festival felt like “a going away to the summer months” and a chance for fans to support artists who have struggled through canceled tours and show dates.

“I think that people are appreciative,” Stevens said, “because they know a lot of the artists have canceled shows and canceled tours, and this is an opportunity for you to see a lot of artists in a little bit of time.”

It’s just important for fans to remain safe and respectful of the protocols, Stevens added.

“I’m hoping that people will follow the rules and realize that there’s less for us to enjoy so let’s really enjoy the things that we can enjoy.”

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Providence Park, home of the Portland Thorns, is set to host its third National Women’s Soccer League championship game on Nov. 20, the league announced this week.

As one of the largest venues (capacity 25,218) in the growing league, it’s easy to see why the NWSL painted it as the perfect place for the title game.

But this arrangement is an epic fail on the league’s part for multiple reasons, the primary one being the illogical start time of 9 a.m. Pacific time.

“Obviously we want the final to be televised,” Red Stars midfielder Danny Colaprico said. “We feel underappreciated because we want to play at a time that works for our bodies.”

Players and coaches typically have their team meal four hours before kickoff.

Sticking with that routine would mean players arriving at Providence Park at 5 a.m. This is not just incredibly inconvenient, it’s unhealthy. Two of the biggest factors for players’ recovery are nutrition and sleep, and neither seems to be a priority here.

The game will be live on CBS, but some players have said they would rather the game not be televised if it meant a better start time.

In so many ways the league shows signs of evolution and growth. In 2022, the league will welcome Angel City FC and a team yet to be named in San Diego.

NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird and the league began negotiations with the NWSL Players Association ahead of the 2021 season to develop its first-ever collective bargaining agreement. The NWSLPA’s main priorities are seeking stability, equity and longevity for its athletes.

But the league had not lived up to its commitment to create a better league.

The championship game is one example.

When the NWSL announced its broadcast partnership with CBS Sports that included CBS airing four games, including the championship, it was exciting. National broadcasts are not something players or coaches take for granted, especially on networks that don’t charge fans extra to watch.

But the partnership covered only 14 of the league’s 120 games on CBS or CBS Sports Network. It is hardly beneficial when only 11.6% of regular-season games are broadcast on a major network while the rest are available only on streaming services.

CBS will broadcast college football all afternoon on Nov. 20, which accounts for the NWSL’s early kickoff time. Still, the reason doesn’t justify it.

Coaches and athletes that make up the professional women’s sports landscape are often quoted as saying an iteration of “you can’t be what you can’t see.”

A 30-year study by USC and Purdue published in March in SAGE Journals found that 95% of total television coverage focused on men’s sports in 2019.

The media landscape is asking for more readers, viewers and followers for women’s sports before they’ll invest in more coverage. But how can women’s sports expect to compete with men’s sports when they are getting only 5% of the total television time?

The NWSLPA launched a social-media campaign this year called #NoMoreSideHustles sharing the reality of what many players in the league have to do in order to make a living wage.

The players association estimates that one in three of its members make the league’s minimum salary of $22,000 a year. In comparison, the average salary for senior roster non-designated players in the MLS is $398,725.

Players in the league have side jobs that include babysitting and coaching. The Red Stars’ Sarah Gorden has modeled during her NWSL career to supplement her income.

The movie ”Field of Dreams” made the phrase “If you build it, he will come” universally known. The movie’s popularity turned into a prime-time baseball game on Fox last month featuring the White Sox and the Yankees. The game was so successful Major League Baseball announced the game will return in 2022.

Can you imagine if women’s sports leagues were part of an equitable media landscape?

They might be able to earn a living wage.

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LAS VEGAS — A year ago today, under a heavy anesthetic fog, veteran Vegas bookmaker Dave Sharapan marveled over a glorious reunion with his late father, Elliott, amidst the greenest of grasses and the bluest of skies.

It was pleasantly warm, light brilliant. They sat on a bench.

You look great, the eldest of Elliott’s five children repeated maybe 100 times. Known as “Big E” all over Green Tree, in suburban Pittsburgh, he was fit and trim, beard typically well-manicured.

“Big E” in mid-1970s glory, nothing like those final unfair days of early 2013.

Meanwhile, three hours after Sharapan had first struggled to talk or manipulate his phone that Friday, neurosurgeon Dr. Garet Zaugg delicately went about trying to save Sharapan’s life at Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center.

Zaugg had begun the embolectomy by inserting a micro-catheter through a tiny incision in Sharapan’s groin, easing it along the femoral artery and, ultimately, through the carotid to snag, with a stent, the perilous blood clot in his brain.

In his deep subconscious, Dave was conveying to “Big E” his disappointment about getting laid off, his concerns about this pandemic, his three daughters …

“Big E” calmed Dave, saying, You ready to go?

“Well, no. Jess and the kids need me. Come with me. They miss you, too.”

“I can’t. But I gotta tell you, stop grizzling!”

“Big E” was Jewish. In Yiddish, “grizzling” means bitching, complaining, moaning or whining, or any such combination.

“What?”

“Stop. [Bleeping]. Worrying. Everything will be OK. Tell everybody to stop worrying and go for it. Love ya. See ya later.”

“Big E” vanished. Sharapan shook his head violently. He awoke. He lay on a gurney, tentacles of wires and tubes everywhere. The dark room felt like a meat freezer. He shivered, touching his cold forehead with his cold right hand.

“I thought, ‘Wow, I’m dead.’ “

NOBODY KNOWS …

Today, the 51-year-old Sharapan is very much alive, omnipresent in the sports-betting industry. He feeds more than 16,000 Twitter followers (@SportsbkConsig) with pithy and prescient gambling insights.

He’s part of a hit podcast, “Cash Considerations,” and MLB Network is among several outlets that tap him, on its “Bettors Eye” show, for his expertise and easy nature.

His larger-than-life persona pops when Circa displays those segments on its mammoth Stadium Swim display. That grin and one of his hundreds of baseball caps recently filled that 41-by-135-foot, 14 million-pixel LED screen. More than 5,400 square feet of her husband’s mug.

Dave Sharapan appears on Circa’s Stadium Swim display, a 41-by-135-foot, 14 million-pixel LED screen.Provided

“I teased him the same way I’m sure his dad would have, but it was a very proud moment,” Jessica said. “He’s finally doing what he loves, talking about sports, and he loves being on the camera.

“And literally, since the stroke, he hasn’t shut up!”

“Big E” would steer Dave onto his eventual career path. He had left Penn State with a broadcasting degree and ESPN dreams, but the spreads and odds beckoned as he worked in his dad’s discount store.

He’d make bets and sometimes run the -local bookie’s shop. In 1997, he was offered a gig in Curacao, the Dutch island off the coast of Venezuela that’s part of a Caribbean bookmaking haven. Sharapan was 26 and full of doubt. Friends and relatives dissented, except “Big E.” As usual, he simplified an ordeal. Go. If you don’t like it, come home. If you do, we’ll visit.

For 18 months, Sharapan served customers, concocted odds and learned the lingo — “Wisky” for Wisconsin, “Bobby Mo” for Robert Morris — that would form his vocational foundation.

In Vegas, he’d work at the Golden Nugget, M Resort, Cosmopolitan, Venetian and William Hill. He developed a mantra.

“Nobody knows [bleep],” Sharapan said. “You have to listen to what people are saying and root through the bull …”

He dabbles in futures action and certain in-game situations.

“It must be done, ideally, for entertainment. For 96% of the people, that’s what it is and should be. But, yes, there are definitely aspects that have the potential to lead to very bad things.”

DON’T WORRY

A nurse rushed to Sharapan as he awoke yelling, arms flapping, that fateful Friday. She said, “We weren’t sure you were going to make it.”

Dr. Zaugg couldn’t believe he was talking. “What I saw usually takes people out,” he told Dave. “You are a walking, talking miracle. Where the blood clot was … it was bad.”

Four days later, on Sept. 15, Sharapan walked out of the hospital and into the grateful tentacles of Jessica and daughters Kylie, Kelsey and Kendyl. Jessica said he’s happier, living much more in the moment than worrying about what might happen in 15 years.

He hesitates relating the profound events of one year ago to anything divine. With a Catholic matriarch, Sharapan grew up celebrating Chrismukkah. At 24, he quit attending Jewish services with “Big E” when he sensed the rabbi yelling at, not talking to, the congregation.

On Curacao, he revered the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue, the sand-floored, bright-yellow building that was consecrated in 1732 and is the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas.

The oddsman believes he simply defied very long odds.

“When I need a reminder, it’s always there. Little stuff that used to really upset me, none of it matters. If I can help one person, anyone, to kind of not worry, that’s what I’m supposed to be doing right now”

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