Paramedics using a stretcher to take out of the pitch Denmark’s Christian Eriksen after he collapsed during the Euro 2020 soccer championship group B match between Denmark and Finland at Parken stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, June 12, 2021. | Friedemann Vogel/Pool via AP
Eriksen had just played a short pass when he fell face-forward onto the ground. His teammates immediately gestured for help and medics rushed onto the field.
COPENHAGEN — Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen was taken to a hospital Saturday after collapsing on the field during a match at the European Championship.
The governing body of European soccer said Eriksen has been stabilized and the Danish soccer federation said he was awake.
“Christian Eriksen is awake and is undergoing further examinations at Rigshospitalet,” the Danish federation wrote on Twitter.
The Euro 2020 match between Denmark and Finland was suspended after Eriksen was given urgent medical attention on the field near the end of the first half.
Wolfgang Rattay/Pool via APDenmark’s players react as their teammate Christian Eriksen lays injured on the ground during the Euro 2020 soccer championship group B match between Denmark and Finland at Parken stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, June 12, 2021.
He was treated for about 10 minutes after collapsing. He was then carried off on a stretcher. UEFA then announced the game had been suspended “due to a medical emergency.”
UEFA said the teams were having an emergency meeting and more information would be provided at 7:45 p.m. local time. A stadium announcer asked fans to stay in their seats and stay calm.
Eriksen had just played a short pass when he fell face-forward onto the ground. His teammates immediately gestured for help and medics rushed onto the field. Eriksen was given chest compressions as his Denmark teammates stood around him in a shielding wall for privacy.
The Finland players huddled by their bench and eventually walked off the field while Eriksen was still getting treatment, as did the referees.
Eriksen was eventually carried off to a loud ovation, with his teammates walking next to the stretcher.
The game had been halted in the 43rd minute with the score 0-0.
Eriksen is one of Denmark’s biggest stars and the incident brought an instant sense of shock to the Parken Stadium, where about 15,000 fans fell into hushed silence. Some supporters could be seen crying and hugging in the stands.
Finland fans started chanting the name of the Inter Milan midfielder.
Stuart Franklin/Pool via APDenmark’s Christian Eriksen is taken away on a stretcher after collapsing on the pitch during the Euro 2020 soccer championship group B match between Denmark and Finland at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Saturday, June 12, 2021.
Denmark’s players react as their teammate Christian Eriksen lays injured on the ground during the Euro 2020 soccer championship group B match between Denmark and Finland at Parken stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, June 12, 2021. | Wolfgang Rattay/Pool via AP
Eriksen had just played a short pass when he fell face-forward onto the ground. His teammates immediately gestured for help and medics rushed onto the field.
COPENHAGEN — The European Championship game between Denmark and Finland was suspended Saturday after Christian Eriksen needed urgent medical attention on the field near the end of the first half.
Eriksen was given treatment for about 10 minutes after collapsing on the field before being carried off on a stretcher. UEFA then announced the game had been suspended “due to a medical emergency.”
A stadium announcer asked fans to stay in their seats until further information could be provided.
Eriksen had just played a short pass when he fell face-forward onto the ground. His teammates immediately gestured for help and medics rushed onto the field. Eriksen was given chest compressions as his teammates stood around him in a shielding wall for privacy.
The Finland players huddled by their bench and eventually walked off the field while Eriksen was still getting treatment, as did the referees.
Eriksen was eventually carried off to a loud ovation, with his teammates walking next to the stretcher. He was then taken to a hospital.
The Union of European Football Associations confirmed that Eriksen has been stabilized.
The Denmark and Finland teams have met with officials and a decision on the game will be made shortly, UEFA said.
Following the medical emergency involving Denmark’s player Christian Eriksen, a crisis meeting has taken place with both teams and match officials and further information will be communicated at 19:45 CET.
The player has been transferred to the hospital and has been stabilised.
Stuart Franklin/Pool via APDenmark’s Christian Eriksen is taken away on a stretcher after collapsing on the pitch during the Euro 2020 soccer championship group B match between Denmark and Finland at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Saturday, June 12, 2021.
When I gave birth to my now seven-year-old daughter, I never dreamed she would be a business owner. She launched while in Kindergarten during the height of the pandemic. My friend shared a posting about a unique ten-day business boot camp run by Raising a Mogul. This opportunity changed our lives.
By day five, she came up with an idea for a philanthropic endeavor to give dolls to girls in need. It was also because of the world as we knew it was falling apart. This community, the Raising a Mogul Community, helped us endure, thrive, and build, during a challenging time. Even though the horrific racial turmoil that erupted in June of last year, we had each other.
I am thrilled to announce that their yearly Raising a Mogul Conference will be taking place next week. It is the ideal conference for families that are looking to start a brand and a family business. Each month one of the families who’ve completed this program appears on local and national television. Their participation enhances their ability to build successful companies.
There is no other kid’s entrepreneur conference like this in the world. You will come away with tools and strategies to help you build and scale your family business.
Eraina Davis is a writer and entrepreneur. She has written for “Healthy Living” magazine as well as several academic publications. She opened one of the first pop-up shops in downtown New Haven, Connecticut called The Good Life, where she gave advice to entrepreneurs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, an M.Ed in Education and an MAR in Religion from Yale.
Do you have a favorite band or artist that you thought would be bigger musical stars than what actually happened? For me, that band is Poco.
When the Buffalo Springfield broke up in 1968, the branches of their musical tree split in two different directions. Stephen Stills and Neil Young became Crosby, Still, Nash and occasionally Young while Richie Furay and Jin Messina formed Poco.
C,S,N and Y became legends. Poco not nearly as much.
For their first two albums, Poco stuck to their formula as a country rock band…and they were among the most innovative and best in this genre. But being great in the studio and backing it up with amazing onstage performances didn’t translate to big record sales and filling huge stadiums as headliners.
By 1971, and their third studio album, “From the Inside”, major changes had occurred in the band’s membership. Bassist Randy Meisner and his high tenor voice had already left the band. He would soon be an original member of the Eagles. He was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit. Jim Messina then left the band after album number two to focus on becoming a record producer…something that would change soon. Paul Cotton, from Illinois Speed Press, replaced him. The new lineup would give Poco more of a rock sound than the pure country-rock band they had been. The change wasn’t necessarily for the better.
The reviews for the album were mixed, including more poor than good ones. I was surprised by this because “From the Inside” was always my favorite Poco album. I felt that the newcomers and their songs gave the band a little bit of an edge that they didn’t have on their early albums. Of course, that was my response back in 1971, some fifty years ago. Not so surprisingly, that opinion has changed.
The songs I loved back in the day I still love. Cotton’s “Bad Weather”, Schmit’s title track of “From the Inside” and “What If I Should Say I Love You” and “Just For You and Me” by Furay remain among my favorites by the band. However, when I recently listened to the album, the other six tunes bored me. I’m not sure why I didn’t realize that back then. Maybe it was my love for the band and wanting them to succeed so much that it blinded me to what really was mediocre music.
Poco tried again a year later with “A Good Feelin’ To Know.” The album had a harder rocking sound with more accessible tunes, especially the title track. When it failed to chart in the top fifty, Furay became disillusioned and left the band after one more album. Things are never good when a founder of a band leaves. A few years later, Schmit left for a better-paying gig with the Eagles. While the band continued to exist, it was never the same and certainly not nearly as good as the original.
It was sad, at least to me, that a band that began with such a unique sound lost their way. It all started with the release of “From the Inside”, fifty years ago.
My so called friends think it’s time to edit this section. After four years, they may be right, but don’t tell them that. I’ll deny it until they die!
I can’t believe I’ve been writing this blog for four years.
It started as a health/wellness thing and over the years has morphed to include so many things that I don’t know how to describe it anymore.
I really thought this was going to be the final year of the blog but then Donald Trump came along. It looks like we’re good for four more years..God help us all!
Oh yeah…the biographical stuff. I’m not 60 anymore. The rest you can read about in the blog.
Two extraordinary talents with two different personalities ended up in the same place with one goal — to be the anchors of what the Cubs hoped would be the first World Series championship team in over a century.
If you’ve looked into the Cubs’ dugout during a game over the last seven years, there’s one thing you’ll almost always see.
Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo together.
Whether it’s chatting in the clubhouse, where their lockers are next to each other, or in the on-deck circle, as they’ve hit back-to-back almost their entire careers, the two Cubs superstars have a knack for being in the same place at the same time.
The natural chemistry between the two franchise cornerstones has been a hand-in-glove fit. Even the final out of the Cubs’ first World Series title in 108 years felt poetic, with the game’s last play going from Bryant to Rizzo.
Two extraordinary talents with two different personalities ended up in the same place with one goal — to be the anchors of what the Cubs hoped would be the first World Series championship team in over a century.
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Not to mention two different paths to even get to the North Side. Rizzo had the nonlinear path after being traded by the Red Sox and Padres before finding a home in Chicago.
Bryant, on the other hand, had the prototypical path of a blue-chip prospect, going from No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft to being on the fast track to the big leagues.
But their connection that over the years has resembled a scene from the movie “Step Brothers” didn’t just manifest out of thin air. As a matter of fact, it took time to develop on their way to becoming what fans around baseball now know as “Bryzzo.”
July 12, 2013
On a bright and sunny afternoon at Wrigley Field nearly eight years ago, Bryant and Rizzo would cross paths for the first time. Bryant was in town to sign his first contract (after being the Cubs’ first-round pick in 2013) and take part in his first workout.
The third baseman recalls the nerves leading up to his first batting practice and how he wanted to put on a show for those who were watching.
But as he emerged from the dugout and got loose before the workout began, the team’s young first baseman stopped him in his tracks.
“He’s got his long, curly hair back then, and as I put my stuff down for BP, he yells, ‘Look who’s buying the spread today, guys.’ Obviously, because I had gotten a big signing bonus. My first impression of him was like, why is he such a jerk to me?” Bryant said. “I didn’t know that was a joke at the time. I was just like, ‘This dude is kind of a jerk.’ ”
Rizzo always has been one to use humor to add levity to any situation. Creating a relaxing environment for those around him was something he learned when he was in Bryant’s position from players such as Ryan Dempster, Alfonso Soriano and Starlin Castro.
But with the eyes of Chicago and the baseball world on the then-21-year-old Bryant, cracking a few jokes at his expense was Rizzo’s way of making the team’s top prospect feel at home, even if he didn’t know it yet.
“I’ve been in that position in San Diego where you’re supposed to come in and be the saving grace,” Rizzo remembered. “Everyone on the team was pretty much a first-rounder. KB, Schwarbs [Kyle Schwarber], Javy [Baez], Albert [Almora].
“That’s a lot of weight to carry. I wasn’t a first-rounder. I don’t know what that’s like. So my job was always to make sure when they came in, to make them as comfortable as they can be and help them just relax, be themselves and not change.”
Feb. 18, 2014
The next spring is when the two superstars say their bond really began, going from just being two players in the same organization to being two players who understood each other.
But beyond baseball, Bryant and Rizzo were beginning to create the framework of a true friendship, one that would carry them well beyond the playing field.
“I really got to know him,” Bryant said. “And it’s really fun to joke around with him about that first experience now, because now I know exactly who he is and how good of a person he is and how good of a friend he is. But I’ll tell him, ‘My first impression of you was not very good.’ ”
“You just knew he was a special talent,” Rizzo said. “It was so cool to come into spring training [in 2014] and work with him. The way he works and the way he is about the game. It was just really cool to see him from step one to becoming the rookie of the year, becoming the MVP. It was really cool to be part of that.”
In the dugout, in the batting cage and all around the team’s complex in Mesa, Arizona, the two were inseparable with a natural big brother-little brother energy.
AP Photos
Obviously, both players were supposed to be a big part of the team’s future, but no one knew they would connect as fast as they did — not even the guys who put the team together.
“We didn’t know. Not really,” Cubs president Jed Hoyer said. “One of the beauties of Rizzo is that he kind of gets along with everybody. He’s so affable and just cares about winning. And with KB, his personality blends really well with Rizz. I don’t think I could have necessarily predicted they’d have this great relationship and friendship. But when you think about it, it makes perfect sense given both of their personalities.”
April 17, 2015
It didn’t take long for their chemistry to materialize on the field. After Bryant’s debut in 2015, he and Rizzo quickly became one of baseball’s most feared duos.
Over the years, when they have had success, most often, the Cubs have had success. If you ask around the organization about what drives both of them, you’ll hear about the drive to be the best and the desire to win. Having the franchise’s two cornerstones be aligned outside of baseball, but also in their goals on the field, it’s easy to see why success always has followed them.
AP Photos
Since they began playing together in 2015, the Cubs are 19-6 when Bryant and Rizzo homer in the same game, including 2-0 in the postseason.
Bryant was crowned the 2016 NL MVP after a monster season, following it with a top-seven finish in voting in 2017, and he likely will have a top-10 finish this season. Rizzo has been considered one of the most consistent first basemen in the last decade, with top-five finishes in MVP voting in 2015 and 2016.
“They understand the pressure that they both have to perform for the team to be good,” manager David Ross said. “I think they understand that there’s a lot of pressure in being the face of the franchise and can talk about it and know that no matter what, they gotta bring it every single day.”
One thing Ross can relate to with his former teammates and now players, is what it’s like to be tied at the hip with someone.
Ross and former Cubs ace Jon Lester had a similar relationship, with Ross being the left-hander’s personal catcher for many years.
“Jon and I really got close through our interactions on the field,” Ross said. “I was this grumpy old guy, and a lot of the success I was able to have was because he took my grumpy feedback and understood my competitive nature. It was very little brother-big brother because I really wanted him to have success.
“I think what’s different for KB and Rizz is that there’s a relatability that they have that nobody can really relate to but them. That’s what makes their relationship so special.”
The present
It’s almost impossible to think of one without the other. No matter where they play, because of what they’ve accomplished together and the bond that they’ve formed for almost a decade, they’ll forever be remembered together.
They’ve even joked through the years that they’re a package deal and where one goes, the other will follow. That’s something Cubs fans hope gets the team’s attention toward keeping them around long-term.
“I could talk crap about him all day, ” Bryant joked. “Nah, he’s kind of like a magnet. You know what I mean? People just gravitate to him. Always. We’ll be hanging out, and people will just come over. That guy attracts good energy to him, and I love that about him.
“He’s just that dude that glues everybody together and gets people kind of out of their shell. Looking back, that’s what he was trying to do to me when I first got signed. Just wanted to get me out of my shell.”
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Even in the role of big brother, Rizzo doesn’t take for granted how much having Bryant by his side has helped bring out the best in him.
“He’s really easy to get along with,” Rizzo said. “It’s just easy to talk to him, especially about the game, but even outside. With extremely high expectations year in and year out, the ups and the downs, the good and the bad, it’s easy for us to talk about it. After all these years, I know he understands me and it’s easy to just be able to kind of weather the storm with somebody when it’s bad and enjoy it when it’s good.”
No one knows what the future holds for Bryant or Rizzo. And while the thought of them not playing together seems strange, it’s no secret that both players are in the final year of their contracts.
The special connection the Cubs’ duo has formed doesn’t come around too often, and neither does the success they’ve had together. Just like Cubs legends Ernie Banks and Billy Williams before them, Bryant and Rizzo’s greatness together has had a big impact on an entire generation of fans.
As the Cubs try to make one more push for October, what they’ll represent in Chicago and in baseball will be remembered long after their time with the Cubs is done.
“I just think it’s great,” Bryant said. “It’s great for us, obviously, because we’ve established a really good friendship and one that goes well beyond our playing years. But it’s really cool to see the club’s history with some of the greats and how they’ve played together here.
“Anthony and I established this nickname of ‘Bryzzo’ and have just been able to go out there and grind together on the field and then be good friends off the field. So I just think it means a lot to the history of the organization to have us here for so long and be able to produce at some of the levels that we have.”
Fireworks explode as Chicago police work the scene where a 20-year-old woman was shot in 4700 block of South California Ave, in Brighton Park neighborhood, Friday, June 11, 2021. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Just after 2 a.m, two males approached a group standing on the sidewalk in the 7500 block of South Prairie Avenue and opened fire, fatally striking a 29-year-old woman, and wounding nine others.
At least 16 people were shot, two fatally, in shootings across Chicago since Friday night, including one person killed and nine wounded in a single attack in Chatham.
Just after 2 a.m, two males approached a group standing on the sidewalk in the 7500 block of South Prairie Avenue and opened fire, Chicago police said.
A 29-year-old woman was struck in the leg and abdomen and transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office has not yet identified her.
Nine more victims, ranging in age from 23 to 49 years old were transported to area hospitals all in fair or good condition, according to police.
She was in a vehicle with her boyfriend about 8:50 p.m. when a gunman approached them while yelling gang slogans in the 4700 block of South Rockwell Street, police said.
The woman was sitting in the passenger seat when she was struck in the neck and hand, police said.
After the shooting, her boyfriend drove off and pulled over at a Shell gas station, 4658 S California Ave., where Chicago Fire Department paramedics arrived. The woman was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital and later pronounced dead, police said. She has not yet been identified.
In the weekend’s first reported shooting, two men were wounded in an attack in South Shore.
They were on the sidewalk about 6:50 p.m. Friday when someone fired shots in the 7500 block of South Kingston Avenue, police said.
The 33-year-old was struck in the arm and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, police said. The other, 29, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was taken to the same hospital in good condition.
At least three are people have been hurt in shootings since 5 p.m. Friday.
Last weekend nearly 60 people were shot in Chicago.
There remains some financial concerns regarding the future of Zach LaVine, but the offseason shoulder surgery for point guard Coby White is now front and center on a position the Bulls need to address.
Arturas Karnisovas is no stranger to the bob-and-weave.
The Bulls’ executive vice president of basketball operations is actually well-trained in that art, especially when it comes to publicly discussing the expected upcoming contract negotiations with Zach LaVine.
“Obviously, we’re looking forward to talking to Zach in the future,’’ Karnisovas said last month, when wrapping up the 2020-21 season with the media. “I think looking at his numbers and how well he played this year, he improved in points, field-goal percentage, three-point percentage, free-throw percentage, assists, rebounds . . . He was a much better player this year.
“Again, we sat down with Zach and talked about this summer because we’re going to ask players to do more. Because obviously the results are telling us it’s not good enough. And he’s looking forward to the challenge. So we had those conversations.’’
And he left it at that.
LaVine wasn’t as vague when discussing his next payday.
“I definitely want what I deserve, and whatever that is I’ll have it coming to me,’’ LaVine insisted.
Between LaVine’s expectations and now the news this week that Coby White had left shoulder surgery that could put him on the shelf for the start of training camp, there’s real reasons why the guard position remains very fragile.
If LaVine wants to do his organization a solid and still be considered a max player, he can re-up this summer, making $29 million by 2025-26, the final season of the deal. If the two can’t get on that page, the Bulls would have to use the Bird rights to max him, but that puts him close to $39 million per year through the 2025-26 season.
First things first, however, as the organization still has to address the problem at starting point guard. The Bulls were putting a lot on White’s plate for this upcoming summer, looking for him to make a huge jump going into Year 3. Now, there’s questions if he can even be healthy for the start of Year 3.
That’s why the Bulls could clear some cap room by moving off of Tomas Satoransky and turning away from the team option on Ryan Arcidiacono to upgrade the position.
That could lead to an offer for restricted free agent Lonzo Ball or at least kicking the tires on veteran free agent Mike Conley, but both are fiscal long shots. Veteran combo guard Garrett Temple wants to come back and could do so on the cheap.
But the most important date on Karnisovas’ calendar is June 22, the night of the draft lottery, when the Bulls find out if they can turn a 20.3% Hail Mary into lottery gold.
Part of the cost in adding Nikola Vucevic at the deadline was a protected 2021 first-round pick to Orlando. If the Bulls land in the top four of the lottery, the pick stays with them. That means a shot at adding a point guard such as Cade Cunningham or a Jalen Suggs.
Both would be organizational game changers moving forward.
POSITION BREAKDOWN: GUARDS
WHAT THE BULLS HAVE
Coby White, Zach LaVine, Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple, Ryan Arcidiacono, Javonte Green, Denzel Valentine, Devon Dotson.
WHO COULD BE ON THE MOVE
Satoransky is guaranteed only $5 million of his $10 million salary in2021-22, while Temple, Green, Valentine and Dotson all are potential free agents. If the Bulls want to bring Arcidiacono back, it will cost $3 million.
THE DRAFT
If Lady Luck can smile on the Bulls and allow them to retain a top-four pick, Cade Cunningham or Jalen Suggs could provide instant impact at point guard, allowing White to play a sixth-man role moving forward.
FREE AGENCY
Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry and even Mike Conley likely will be too pricey, but that doesn’t mean a phone call won’t be made. Even the bidding war for Lonzo Ball could be too rich for the Bulls unless space is made with Satoransky and Thad Young pushed out.
WILD CARD
Spencer Dinwiddie has the $12.3 million player option for 2021-22, but could he turn it down and look for a starting situation and more security? The Bulls offer both.
Chad “Rex” Beyers’ career has landed him in Hawaii, England, Gibraltar and Costa Rica. | Rob Miech
Westgate SuperBook risk manager was able to turn his hobby into his job
LAS VEGAS — The magnificent odyssey of Westgate SuperBook risk manager Chad “Rex” Beyers continued through a recent 72-hour window in typical unscripted, roller-coaster fashion, just how he likes it.
He savored seeing Billy Troutman — his best friend from grade school in Indiana, where they could spot the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs on the other side of the Ohio River — in the national spotlight.
Troutman is tight with thoroughbred trainer Brad Cox, whose Essential Quality won the Belmont Stakes last Saturday. NBC cameras captured Troutman bear-hugging Cox.
Without encouragement from Beyers, Troutman might not have witnessed, in person, Cox’s first triumph in a Triple Crown race.
The hectic sports weekend kept Beyers and four or five other Westgate risk experts busy, gauging and pricing lines, adjusting numbers.
Beyers spotted an anomaly in a Mets-Padres game that would prove profitable. Golf would ignite controversy. Late Sunday, he watched “an incredible heater” in the Excalibur dice pits.
On Monday morning, he believed he found value with the Royals, at +143 (risk $100 to win $143), against the Angels in Anaheim.
“When you can have a job that isn’t actually a job, but a hobby that you get paid for,” Beyers said, “that’s what we all should strive for.”
NO-NO BLUES
Beyers, 44, extrapolated baseball figures early last Saturday morning and was half-stunned to find Mets ace Jacob deGrom at +120. The Mets were in San Diego. He made the wager.
DeGrom owned a gaudy 0.71 ERA. The Padres started Joe Musgrove, architect of the franchise’s first no-hitter April 9 in Texas.
Savvy baseball bettors have long faded hurlers in their next start after tossing a no-no because of the additional pitches required for such a complete-game masterpiece and the emotional toll of making history.
But Beyers noted an extension of those doldrums for the six pitchers who have thrown no-hitters this season. Musgrove won only two of nine starts after his gem. That sextet went a combined 7-11 in its next 29 post-no-no starts.
“Guys who have thrown no-hitters,” he said, “have turned into shells of themselves.”
Beyers influenced the SuperBook, opening the Mets at -130 (bet $130 to win $100). “A good sweat for my pocket,” he said of his personal investment. The Mets won 4-0.
He is bullish on the Mets, Rays, Astros and Blue Jays starter Ross Stripling, bearish on the Cubs and White Sox. He doesn’t expect the historical rate at which inherited runners are scoring against Twins relievers to continue.
On May 31, Beyers publicized a position, but his Twitter followers had to be quick. Four minutes before the first pitch, he questioned the Yankees being favored over Tampa Bay. The Rays won 3-1.
“I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to bet this.’ Had no reason not to share it. I try to help. But there’s enough bad stuff that goes along . . . like today.”
BAD PRECEDENT
Before the near-football-field-length SuperBook screens last Saturday night, Beyers laments his shop’s exposure on the Nets, who blast the Bucks — and will do so again in Game 2.
The Twitter “bad stuff” to which he refers is golf. A few hours earlier, Jon Rahm withdrew from the Memorial, which he was leading by six strokes after three rounds, because of a positive coronavirus test.
Nonetheless, DraftKings, William Hill and others paid patrons who had bet on Rahm, despite his withdrawal, to win the tourney — a curious but not uncommon marketing ploy.
“A bad precedent,” Beyers said. “You can’t pay Rahm and pay whoever else wins, too.”
Ironic, many industry veterans say, because William Hill, in particular, is notorious for axing winners. I personally require more than two hands — and I retain all 10 digits — to count acquaintances that Hill has barred after mere $300 wins.
His opinions received some social-media blowback — what doesn’t? Like the SuperBook, Circa Sports didn’t reward Rahm backers. Circa director Matt Metcalf wrote that consistency, not subjectivity, is vital to a shop’s reputation.
“It’s clearly a loser,” Beyers said. “It’s right in [our] house rules. We’re more concerned about you betting here because you’re going to get a fair price, that you get a fair limit.”
THE SWEAT
Beyers was 13 when he first attended Churchill Downs, made his first bet on those ponies two years later. He was a senior at Clarksville High, playing for father-coach Rick Beyers, when sweat first fell from him in torrents in 1995.
He had so idolized hoopster Rex Chapman that “Rex” became his nickname, how most know him today. He had two free throws from a technical foul in a sectional playoff game at Jeffersonville High.
Ninety percent of a crowd of 5,000 cheered for the home team. Boos rained down upon him. Some even howled, “Dad-eee’s boy! Dad-eee’s boy!” as he stood at the line, nobody else in the lane.
“Made one, missed one,” Beyers said. “I was rattled, not going to lie. I was 18.”
Monday, an off day, he researched Euro 2020, the grand soccer tournament that started Friday. He planned to “sweat the Royals” that night. The Angels would win 8-3.
“I sweat everything, but I like it,” said the man whose career has landed him in Hawaii, England, Gibraltar and Costa Rica. “That’s why I love the business. The odyssey has taken me where it has, and I have no complaints.”
There are still plenty of hurdles for the Fire to overcome before they build a state-of-the-art performance center within city limits, but their coach and midfielder Fabian Herbers are excited by the idea of the project.
There are still plenty of hurdles for the Fire to overcome before they build a state-of-the-art performance center within city limits.
But just the idea of the project has coach Raphael Wicky excited.
“This is something amazing that will be built here for the Chicago Fire,” Wicky said. “This is huge for a club. This is huge for the future of the club, for the players, for the academy, for the club to attract players.”
The team currently practices at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, the Fire’s home arena from 2006-19. Before the 2020 season, the Fire spearheaded numerous behind-the-scenes improvements at the facility that included modernizing the first-team locker room, adding space to the coaches’ room and tripling the available workout space.
The proposed $90 million plan for Hanson Park located in the Northwest Side’s Belmont Cragin neighborhood, however, would be in line with newer facilities built around the league if it comes to pass. Its completion would represent another departure from the Andrew Hauptman era under current owner Joe Mansueto, who has openly discussed building a performance center for the Fire.
Counting a renovated Hanson Stadium and a proposed seasonal inflatable dome, the proposal that emerged last week would bring seven fields,including three hybrid grass pitches for the first team to use. The Fire’s plan also incorporates a 90,000 square foot soccer performance center and three synthetic turf fields.
When it came to sketching the facility, Wicky said he was asked a few things about the project and gave his opinion, but that sporting Georg Heitz is probably more involved. Still, Wicky didn’t undersell what a completed center would mean to the Fire, saying it would have a “big,big impact on this club.”
“I’m 100% sure of that because a training facility is your home away from home,” Wicky said. “That’s where you spend, as a coach and as a coaching staff, so much time. Even as a player, if you have all these possibilities to use in a training facility, you will spend much more time there, and you actually enjoy going to work even more because you have just a perfect facility.”
Fire midfielder Fabian Herbers, who said he hadn’t seen the plans for the project, noted that the most important part of a training facility is having a good field. If you train on just one, it can get bumpy because of overuse. Multiple pitches, like the proposed project would have, can avoid that problem.
Herbers also wasn’t going to gripe about the current setup in Bridgeview. He said the Fire have a good gym and treatment room and “everything” at SeatGeek.
“But I mean, there’s always certain things that can be a little bit better,” Herbers said. “I’m the last one to complain because I’ve trained in smaller locker rooms in Germany and wherever, but it’s good. It’s good that the club has that vision that we get those training facilities and I’m excited for it.”
Notre Dame’s Niko Kavadas celebrates a home run against Central Michigan during an NCAA Tournament game June 4 in South Bend, Ind. He hit five homers in the three-game regional round. | Michael Caterina/AP
Kavadas learned from his mistakes at the ACC Tournament and has the Irish flying high with a College World Series berth on the line against Mississippi State.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — You might consider Niko Kavadas the thinking man’s basher.
It’s not just that he plays first base for Notre Dame, a surprise entrant in this weekend’s -Super Regional in Starkville, Mississippi. Or that his 21 home runs this season, including five in last weekend’s regional, rank first in program history, even as he tosses words such as “propensity” into casual conversation.
No, it’s more than that with Kavadas, who in many ways has become the on-field heartbeat of the 10th-seeded Irish. His work ethic, in the weight room and the video room, has set the tone for the ACC regular-season champions.
“He studies what he’s doing,” Irish coach Link Jarrett said. “He’s very intense. He studies his own game and swing, and he works hard.”
Coming off a disastrous ACC Tournament in which he finished with eight consecutive strikeouts, Kavadas, 22, returned to campus determined to fix the problem. The lefty-swinging senior huddled with Jarrett and his assistants and analyzed 120 swings on video to see what, if anything, had changed.
The consensus: Pitch recognition was the culprit, not anything mechanical.
“Sometimes when you start pressing, you start swinging at some pitches that are out of the zone,” Jarrett said. “He just figured it out and got comfortable again.”
The graduate of Penn High School in neighboring Mishawaka, Indiana, entertained a throng of buddies and former teammates last weekend at Frank Eck Stadium.
It started with a two-homer game in the 10-0 opening victory against Central Michigan, continued with a first-inning grand slam in a 26-3 destruction of Connecticut and reached a crescendo with two more homers in the 14-2 regional capper against the Chippewas.
“I haven’t seen it in all my years of broadcasting,” former major-leaguer Todd Walker said on the ESPN broadcast. “Somebody that can just seem to go out of the yard at will.”
For Kavadas, it started with a long week of preparation. He also learned from his fruitless chasing in the Virginia loss down in Charlotte, North Carolina.
When Central Michigan’s starter came at the Irish with a similar approach, Kavadas was ready.
“He was spinning that fastball at the top of the zone,” Kavadas said. “It’s got 2,300-2,400 [rpm] spin rate on it, so it’s got a little bit of vertical rise. We just set our sights a little bit lower and targeted the top half of the baseball.”
That led to some ungodly exit velocities over the weekend and justified Jarrett’s gut instinct to drop his top power hitter down to the No. 6 spot in the batting order. Kavadas accepted the decision with typical big-picture understanding, then promptly launched himself (and his teammates) right back into a hot streak.
“The reaction was two balls over the batter’s eye,” Jarrett said, “and that’s the reaction we wanted.”
Notre Dame didn’t stop until it had put up 50 runs, including 15 homers, in three resounding wins. That sparked an elaborate homer celebration in the dugout in which the Irish mimed the lighting of a torch.
“It started when we had a lot of frustration with not being a top-eight national seed,” Kavadas said. “That’s something that lit a fire under us. Ergo, the torch.”
A former third baseman who has worked hard on his defense since moving across the diamond, Kavadas projects as a third- to fifth-round pick in the July amateur draft. That’s a few ticks higher than he might ordinarily go, according to longtime draft analyst Jim Callis of MLB.com.
“He’s a one-tool DH, but it’s real power,” Callis said in a text message. “He has hit good pitching this year and comes with a discount because of his age.”
Kavadas’ makeup and leadership add to the package, as well. After cradling the final out of Sunday’s 14-2 victory, he presented the game ball to Jarrett in a gesture that visibly moved his coach.
As for this weekend’s trip to play seventh-seeded Mississippi State, the underdog Irish are determined to grab just the third College World Series berth in program history.
“We’re still frustrated,” Kavadas said. “We feel like this next weekend should be at home, too. That’s something we’re going to play with that’s going to light a fire underneath us. We’re going to go into Mississippi State and find a way to go 2-0.”
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