I was 9 the first time I completely choked during a competition. The gag was epic and unforgettable, and I’ll let you know if I ever live it down.

It was the fourth-grade classroom spelling bee, and I was certain I’d be one of the last students standing. I’d declared as much, too, to friends and foes alike.

My first-round word was “chief.” Just a warm-up word. A total softball. A waste of time, really. But all eyes were on me, and I suddenly remembered that ”I” comes before ”E” except after “C,” and I’d be damned if “chief” didn’t start with a “C.”

Uh-oh.

“C-H . . . E-I-F?”

I held it together until I got home. Then I cried. Wait. Creid?

I think about that every time I see children in competitions when the whole world is watching. The Olympics, with its baby gymnasts, divers and so on, is one of those occasions. The Little League World Series — unfolding for the next week-plus on ESPN and ABC — is another.

How do these 11- and 12-year-old ballplayers do it? How do they find the strike zone from the mound, turn two in the infield, stay composed at the plate in an 0-2 count?

Which brings me to my email inbox.

“The Little League World Series is can’t-miss TV,” came a missive heading into the first-round games Thursday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, “and now people can bet on the action.”

No. It can’t be.

“SportsBetting.ag has set odds for Game 1 of each series, as well as which team will advance from the Hank Aaron and Tom Seaver brackets to play in the LLWS Championship on Sunday, Aug. 29. Additionally, there are overall odds to take home the title. Hawaii is the favorite, followed closely by Pennsylvania and Tennessee.”

Of course it can be. There are odds on everything nowadays. When Japan’s Momiji Nishiya, 13, beat Brazil’s Rayssa Leal, also 13, for skateboarding gold in Tokyo, bettors won and bettors lost. When New Orleans eighth-grader Zaila Avant-garde won the Scripps Howard national spelling bee on ESPN in July, bettors who couldn’t spell the winning word — “murraya” — if their lives depended on it got ready to make it rain. Perhaps others cursed the girl.

“Murraya,” by the way, is defined as “a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees having pinnate leaves and flowers with imbricated petals.” But you probably knew that already.

There were four LLWS games Thursday, and two of them ended in victory for the biggest long shots in the field. Nebraska — at +1400 in the Aaron bracket — beat New Jersey 5-2. Ohio — at +1400 in the Seaver bracket — beat Tennessee 1-0. Why do I suspect Aaron and Seaver, both gone in the past year, are turning over in their graves?

I think of Nebraska’s 4-10, 85-pound outfielder Braeden Dyer and Ohio’s 4-11, 80-pound infielder Cooper Clay and want to throw my old arm around their puny shoulders in encouragement. Maybe buy them ice-cream cones. The idea of having money riding on those shoulders is twisted and unfathomable.

Am I a prude? No. I’ve done a lot of betting in my day — most of it illegal, the way it was meant to be. Through bookies at bars, the frightening sort. And with parlay cards, strip cards and heavy cash pools, all unsanctioned. But I was young and stupid. And then I was not that young but still stupid. I still love a poker game.

Betting is everywhere. PointsBet ads are ubiquitous on NBC Sports Chicago, the home of the Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox. DraftKings is so in bed with the Cubs that a giant sports book is planned to go up adjacent to Wrigley Field.

Sports journalists — some of the air-quotes variety — talk out loud in ways they never used to about betting on games, teams and leagues they cover. It at least used to be hush-hush. There was the risk of perceived conflicts of interest, after all. Show me a writer who bets on the team he covers, and I’ll show you a writer whose opinions and work are informed at least somewhat by the results of those bets.

Now? Journalists tweet about their bets. I can’t stand it. But it’s a different time.

PointsBet, to name one outfit, didn’t get into the LLWS action. In a text exchange with SportsBetting.ag spokesman Josh Barton, I got the other side of that coin.

“We offer these odds for a reason,” he wrote. “The games are on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. When fans watch sports on TV, they are often inclined to wager on them in order to make the games even more entertaining.

“At the end of the day, people gamble on sporting events ‘kids’ participate in regularly. College sports have teenagers competing in them every day. You could bet on a 12-year-old playing Ping-Pong or a 13-year-old skateboarding at the Olympics this year. There are professional soccer players around the globe who are barely legal to drive.”

All right, then. Grab a bat, Cooper Clay. You’re up. And try not to let anybody down, Chief.

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Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed a controversial piece of legislation that makes changes to the state’s sex education curriculum that a sponsor of the legislation said would ensure no student feels “stigmatized or excluded” in the classroom.

“Modernizing our sex education standards will help keep our children safe and ensure important lessons like consent and internet safety are taught in classrooms,” Pritzker said in a statement. “By working together, we’ll continue to strengthen our education system and deliver the bright future our kids deserve.”

The new law ignited fireworks in the Senate when it was up for debate in May. One North Side senator demanded the remarks of a Republican colleague from southern Illinois be stricken from the record.

And the fireworks exploded all over again on Friday — with two GOP rivals blasting both the new law and the Democratic governor as “extreme.”

Pritzker signed two pieces of legislation Friday that address sex education standards for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

One bill adds personal health and safety education standards to curriculums for students in grades K-5 and makes health education more inclusive for those in grades 6 through 12. Schools can choose whether or not they adopt the standards unless they already teach comprehensive sexual health education.

Parents can choose to opt their child out.

Course material and instruction will help students “learn about concepts like consent and will develop self-advocacy skills for effective communication with parents or guardians, health and social service professionals, other trusted adults, and peers about health and relationships,” according to a news release.

State Sen. Ram Villivalam, the Northwest Side Democrat who sponsored the bill, said in a statement “no student should feel stigmatized or excluded in the classroom.

State Sen. Ram Villivalam speaks at a bill-signing ceremony at the Thompson Center earlier this month. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file

“This legislation puts forth guidelines for an inclusive, culturally competent curriculum to keep students safe and healthy,” Villivalam said.

The legislation seeks to standardize the curriculum in Illinois schools.

During Senate debate in May, Villivalam told lawmakers that students would learn to define consent, gender identity, and different types of families, including cohabitating and same-sex couples, topics that will help students “understand a healthy relationship.”

But state Sen. Darren Bailey, a Republican from downstate Xenia who is running for governor, accused the bill’s Democratic sponsors of “pushing perversion in our schools.”

“Teachers who work hard to teach our kids about proper education have absolutely no reason in teaching this … absolute nonsense,” Bailey said at the time.

State Sen. Mike Simmons, who is gay, called Bailey’s remark “deeply offensive” and asked that it be stricken from the record at the time.

State Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, left, in May; State Sen. Mike Simmons, D-Chicago, right, in February.Facebook; Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times file

In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times after the bill advanced out of the state’s upper legislative chamber, Simmons characterized Bailey’s remarks as an attack on the LGBTQ community.

“I took it as a dog whistle intended to dehumanize a whole spectrum of diverse families … that includes LGBTQ people,” Simmons said. “I felt like it also was intended to shame young people – shaming their bodies.”

At the time, Bailey denied his remark about “perversion” referred to teaching students about same-sex relationships.

“The bill is obscene and fails to align with most community standards,” Bailey said in a statement. “It was created by activist organizations that don’t care about active parental consent or strong families.”

Also blasting Pritzker’s decision to sign the bill, GOP gubernatorial candidate Paul Schimpf said in a statement that Pritzker’s “misguided” decision “proves once again that he is too extreme to lead our state.”

Paul Schimpf, a former Republican state senator, announcing his bid for governor in February.Blue Room Stream

“Gov. Pritzker has shown an unwillingness to listen to the commonsense views of parents who want schools to focus on teaching academics, rather than social engineering,” the former state senator for downstate Waterloo said. “Now, more than ever, we need an Illinois Governor who understands that parents, not the government, should make decisions about their children’s education, healthcare, and maturation into adulthood.”

The other bill Pritzker signed requires classes that teach sex education to include an age-appropriate discussion regarding sexting. That unit will cover possible consequences for sharing or forwarding sexually explicit or suggestive messages, the importance of internet safety and the how strategies to resist peer pressure.

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Amid rising COVID-19 cases, the ongoing debate over whether or not to have outdoor music festivals during a pandemic, along with high-profile deaths within Chicago’s music and culture scenes, the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash Festival kicked off Friday in Douglass Park.

The festival is headlined by A$AP Rocky, Lil Baby, City Girls, Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, Benny the Butcher, Gunna, Young M.A., Earl Sweatshirt, Swae Lee of Rae Sremmurd and Waka Flocka Flame, among others.

The 20 local acts on the festival bill include Joey Purp, Queen Key, Cdot Honcho, Supa Bwe, Lil Eazzyy, Baha Bank$ and Femdot, along with a Juice WRLD tribute scheduled for Sunday night.

The festival, which was launched in 2013, was created by music video director Cole Bennett, who wanted to provide a platform to local rappers who are historically ignored by industry gatekeepers.

“I feel like that’s my biggest skill set is finding those local acts and even giving them a platform,” said festival co-founder Berto Solorio. “We take a lot of pride in a lot of our bookings that we booked early on. Some of the artists that we booked and start working with are just starting off their careers, but it’s so great to see them progress from their humble beginnings.”

Despite initial concerns regarding COVID-19 and mass-gathering events such as the recent Lollapalooza, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady announced last week that Lolla showed no signs of having been a “superspreader event.”

Summer Smash festival organizers are mandating festival-goers bring proof — screenshot, photo or email — of a recent negative COVID-19 test or COVID vaccination card. On Friday, security was checking IDs and proof of vax cards at the entrance. Festival officials also have notified attendees of local pharmacies (e.g. CVS, Walgreens, Walmart) in the vicinity of Douglass Park where rapid over-the-counter COVID tests are available.

“Every event I go to, I look at the processes,” said Solorio, who says he attended Lollapalooza. “I look at the things that they do to try to see their efficiencies and their inefficiencies and try to apply it to our event as best as possible.”

Chicago-native Baha Bank$ poses for a portrait backstage after performing on day one of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park, Friday afternoon, Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

South Side rapper Baha Bank$, who performed on Friday, is reveling in her opportunity to shine. “For me this is really big, because not only am I a local artist, I’m a fairly new artist,” said Bank$. “I really feel the support for my city because it’s hard for women — especially as female artists. So for me to even get booked on this, it’s a big thing for me.”

Officials announced on social media this week West Side rapper Saba, the leader of local hip-hop collective Pivot Gang, who was scheduled to perform on Saturday’s slate, will not take the stage. Earlier this week, Saba’s fellow Pivot Gang member, and DJ, Squeak, and his uncle, were shot to death in Austin.

Summer Smash runs through Sunday.

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Chicago-native Supa Bwe jumps into the crowd as he performs on Day 1 of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park on Friday afternoon.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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It’s billed as the “premiere hip-hop music festival in the Midwest.” And with good reason. Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival has returned, this time in a three-day iteration in Douglass Park, featuring an eclectic lineup of musicmakers and emcees.

Here’s a look at some of the sights and sounds of the 2021 festival.

Chicago native Baha Bank$ poses for a portrait backstage after performing on Day 1 of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Festival goers await entry on Day 1 of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park on Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Chicago-native Supa Bwe performs on day one of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park, Friday afternoon, Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Chicago-native Supa Bwe jumps into the crowd as he performs on day one of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park, Friday afternoon, Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Festival-goers dance as Chicago-native Supa Bwe performs on day one of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park, Friday afternoon, Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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Tears. The piano played hauntingly, the soloist’s voice floating above the tears and sorrow inside this airy sanctuary on a somber Wednesday morning. Tears for Marquise. Tears for all Chicago children shot or slain. Agony and rivers of bitter tears.

Endless tears over the gunfire that crackles across this bleeding city, claiming the innocent and young with no relenting. That steals our children almost from the cradle.

That now rings with numbing normalcy and largely is reduced to the weekend newspaper round-up. That robs us all of hope and humanity, leaving a trail of carnage wrought by evil.

Not by guns. But by miscreants who wantonly pull the trigger in what seems to be the worst of times, where none are safe. A world where rage and moral decay and bullets leave a trail of blood. And tears.

Tears fell inside the Faith Community of St. Sabina, where a life-size cutout of Marquise L. Richardson reflected in bright white light near his casket, smiling and clad in a button-down white shirt and deep blue bowtie. And the piano played…

Ashley Adams, mother of Marquise Richardson, 14, is comforted on the stairs of The Faith Community of St. Sabina where her son’s funeral service was held, as Father Michael L. Pfleger stands nearby.John W. Fountain

The hands of Christ and the gold-lighted JESUS sign formed the backdrop for this agonizing and also celebratory occasion. Mourners sat inside, the back of one young man’s white T-shirt emblazoned with the words in blue script: “Long Live Marquise.”

Except Marquise is dead.

Reportedly shot twice in the head on July 29, while sitting in a parked car in front of his home, in the 1600 block of West Waseca Place, when someone in another car reportedly opened fire, wounding Marquise and an unidentified 29-year-old man. Marquise died two days later.

He was a smiley kid. He had nothing to do with nothing. Affectionately called “Quise,” he was Ashley Adams’ firstborn. A caring big brother. A loyal friend. A schoolboy.

In June, he graduated 8th grade at St. Sabina Academy. Five days later, he turned 14. About a month later, he was gone. No major headlines. No pause in this city’s summer body count. No stagger in the pulse of life in this murderous city.

Pallbearers carry the casket of Marquise Richardson to an idling hearse.John W. Fountain

No media. No cameras. No public chronicling of mourning here at Marquise’s service. Only family. Teachers. Friends. Among them Marquise’s classmates and his little brothers.

As I walked into the sanctuary, ingesting the crowd of young people, Marquise’s casket, and the life-sized smiling cutout, tears filled my eyes, then overflowed. Overwhelmed that after more than 30 years of covering this story, we are still burying our children.

I sat there, angry with God. Until the preacher and others who spoke said again and again that this is not God’s fault… I know it is not. But it makes no damn sense.

As the air blew cold, the preacher shared words of comfort, even as family consoled one another with pats on the back, another Kleenex, an embrace. Father Michael L. Pfleger spoke fondly of Marquise’s love for old-school music, particularly rap, and for old-school cars.

He shared memories of Marquise as a “teacher,” as a kind soul who loved to tell jokes, even if they weren’t always funny. Of his love for football. About the “deep impact he made” in his few years. Then, in fiery tones, he called for an end to Chicago’s violence.

There were prayers. And tears. Laughter. And tears.

Grief, anger, disillusionment, and tears.

“Welcome home, Marquise,” Pfleger intoned in the end. “Welcome home. We’ll see you in the morning.”

The song, “Melodies From Heaven” played as Marquise’s blue casket was ushered down the middle aisle to the front door, into the bright light, where pallbearers carried him down the church’s stairs to an idling hearse soon bound for the cemetery.

Tears.

Send letters to [email protected].

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It’s billed as the “premiere hip-hop music festival in the Midwest.” And with good reason. Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival has returned, this time in a three-day iteration in Douglass Park, featuring an eclectic lineup of musicmakers and emcees.

Here’s a look at some of the sights and sounds of the 2021 festival.

Festival goers await entry on Day 1 of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park on Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Chicago-native Supa Bwe performs on day one of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park, Friday afternoon, Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Chicago-native Supa Bwe jumps into the crowd as he performs on day one of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park, Friday afternoon, Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Festival-goers dance as Chicago-native Supa Bwe performs on day one of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park, Friday afternoon, Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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Kendrick Lamar has been quiet long enough.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper posted a lengthy statement on a new website, oklama.com, that indicates his next album will be his last for Top Dawg Entertainment, the label he’s been with since his 2011 debut, “Section.80.”

“As I produce my final TDE album, I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years. The Struggles. The Success. And most importantly, the Brotherhood. May the Most High continue to use Top Dawg as a vessel for candid creators. As I continue to pursue my life’s calling,” Lamar wrote.

Fans have anticipated a new record from Lamar for months, even speculating last year that he was about to leave the label. Lamar, 34, dismissed the claims and posted a video on the Instagram account of Top Dawg CEO, Anthony Tiffith, to proclaim his loyalty.

But Friday afternoon, Tiffith’s Instagram acknowledged Lamar’s impending departure.

“With this being Dot’s last album on TDE, this is more of a VICTORY LAP, a celebration,” he wrote, referring to Lamar by his old stage name, K. Dot. “I know he will be successful in whatever it is he decides to do and will have our FULL support.”

In 2018, Lamar wrote and produced 14 songs for the soundtrack to “Black Panther,” receiving kudos and scooping up another Grammy for “King’s Dead” (best rap performance).

But Lamar’s artistry hasn’t been on full display since his 2017 multi-platinum smash, “Damn,” which earned a best rap album Grammy (he competed for album of the year, but lost in a crowded field to Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic”).

Lamar’s website posting also references an apparent life of quietude and contemplation as he mentions going “months without a phone” and time spent writing, listening and “collecting old Beach cruisers.” He reports that “love, loss and grief have disturbed my comfort zone, but the glimmers of God speak through my music and family.”

Lamar’s contemplations include a hopeful bent as well: “There’s beauty in completion,” he writes. “And always faith in the unknown.”

He signed his words from, Oklama.

Lamar is scheduled to headline the first day of the Day N Vegas weekend festival on Nov. 12, but his performance is billed as a retrospective (“From ‘Section .80” to “Damn,” the poster reads). It is the only live date on his calendar this year.

Read more at usatoday.com.

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Nothing to see here, folks.

Not Friday at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs got back to their losing ways in a 6-2 game against the lowly Royals.

Not with playing-out-the-string Zach Davies — the subpar veteran starter who in no way, shape or form is part of the Cubs’ wide-open future — on the hill.

Not even with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flying for hours of practice in the skies above the ballpark ahead of Saturday’s and Sunday’s lakefront air shows.

OK, fine, the Blue Angels were kind of cool to watch. They certainly were more entertaining than one of two games on Friday’s major league schedule involving opponents with losing records. (We see you, Diamondbacks and Rockies.)

The air shows, by the way, are part of mayor Lori Lightfoot’s “Open Chicago” initiative to safely and fully reopen the city. Fully refilling the stands at Wrigley is another matter altogether. By the looks of Friday’s crowd, the joint won’t be rocking again for quite some time.

But if there’s one thing about this Cubs team that’s worth watching the rest of this lost season, it’s the trio of 26-year-old rookie starting pitchers who potentially could fit nicely into whatever president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is calling this rebuild.

Right-hander Adbert Alzolay has been in the rotation all season, taking his lumps — he’s 4-13 with a 5.16 ERA — but flashing enough ability to remain interesting. Alzolay is on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring but making progress toward a return. He threw a bullpen session Friday that went well, according to manager David Ross, and added some light running and agility work on the field.

Lefty Justin Steele, a fifth-round pick by the Cubs in 2014, is two starts into his own audition after making 11 appearances out of the bullpen and then getting stretched out over several weeks at Triple-A Iowa.

And now comes righty Keegan Thompson’s turn to show what he’s got. Thompson, a third-round pick by the Cubs out of Auburn in 2017, made 27 relief appearances this season before being sent down to Iowa to get stretched out for starter’s duty. After four scoreless starts — none of which lasted longer than 4 1/3 innings — against Triple-A foes, he’ll face the Royals on Saturday.

“When you have these guys go down there and dominate — which they should — and [with] the success [Thompson] has had here, and just getting his pitch count up, it’s a good indication that as soon as they’re ready to be able to start, to give some length, they’re ready,” Ross said.

Alzolay, Steele and Thompson are all homegrown pitchers, a wonder in itself given Hoyer and former boss Theo Epstein’s unfortunate track record with the Cubs of drafting and developing starters. Any of the three could work out. Any of the three might not. But at least they’re in the hunt for important roles with the team in 2022, when Kyle Hendricks will be at or near the front of the rotation, Alec Mills might be at or near the end of it and, well, who the heck knows other than that?

It’s a three-headed audition. It might even beat watching planes buzz past on their way someplace else.

“That is definitely a positive and something we look forward to seeing, how much success they can have in the starting rotation,” Ross said. “Because they’ve already done a nice job out of the bullpen.”

Davies (6-10) gave up four home runs, two of them to All-Star catcher Salvador Perez, as a two-game Cubs winning streak met a quiet end. Davies has only one win since late June, not what the Cubs had in mind when they acquired him from the Padres in the Yu Darvish trade.

There’s some pretty clear writing on the wall.

“It’s a transition period for the Cubs,” he said. “I’ve been a part of that before. I’m going through it now with these guys. … And this is a good time for guys to come up and prove themselves and give themselves a big-league job for next year.”

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