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The Dingers Crew breaks down the big series win against the Cardinals and the dominance of the Cubs bullpen so far this season.

The post Dingers: A Chicago Cubs Podcast – Episode 42 – Dead Birds and Bullpen Dominance first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More

Just over two weeks after his first high school football game Tysean Griffin had his first Division I scholarship offer — and it was an emotional moment.

Tysean Griffin played his first high school football game on March 27,

Just over two weeks later the Morgan Park freshman had his first Division I scholarship offer — and it was an emotional moment.

“It was kind of a surprise,” Griffin said. “I was in my gym class working out and got a text from my coach out of nowhere, I got my first scholarship (offer) from Temple. I almost cried.”

That was just the start. Since then, he’s added offers from Central Michigan, Syracuse, Iowa State and Illinois.

Morgan Park coach Chris James expects many more.

“We told a few (college) coaches about him, ‘This is a guy who could be special, who guys should get in on early,’” James said.

James said Griffin’s rare blend of speed and physicality make him a prospect who will get recruited on both sides of the ball.

The 5-11, 165-pounder has yet to turn 15 but started at defensive back and slot receiver in the abbreviated pandemic season.

“It was kind of tough because I didn’t think I’d have my freshman season,” Griffin said. “After months of waiting, I was just so ready to play football.”

James wanted to be careful with his budding star.

“Him being young, we tried to limit the amount of plays he played,” he said. “Next (season), we don’t know what he’ll play. He’s pretty good at both (offense and defense).”

Griffin started playing football when he was 6. “I had seen my big brother (Tyrone Griffin) play in high school (for Hillcrest). He made me want to play football and I liked it.”

Now colleges like what they see in him, and so does James.

“He’s better than we thought he was,” James said.

And the Morgan Park coaches thought he’d be pretty good.

Brother Rice coach Brian Badke steps down

After 24 years, Brother Rice’s Brian Badke is ready for a break from coaching.

Badke 46, will lead the Crusaders this fall before stepping away to spend more time with his family.

“To do it the right way, it’s a 24-hour, seven-day-a week job,” Badke said.

The Crusaders are 63-38 over nine seasons under Badke with six IHSA playoff berths, a Class 8A runner-up finish in 2018 and two more trips to the quarterfinals.

His son Mick, the oldest of Badke’s four children, played for Rice and graduated on Thursday. He plans to continue his football career at Division III John Carroll.

Being able to schedule his life around his kids’ games is something Badke is looking forward to.

“I like to be a fan,” he said.

But, he added, “I like coaching” and left open the door to returning to the sidelines sometime down the road.

CCL/ESCC realignment

The Catholic League/East Suburban Catholic Conference has released its realigned divisions for the 2021 fall and 2022 seasons, and there is plenty of movement.

The powerhouse Blue lineup of Brother Rice, Loyola, Marist and Mount Carmel is unchanged, but eight schools are changing divisions. There’s also an open spot in the Red with St. Joseph closing at the end of this school year.

The new lineups with former divisions in parentheses for teams changing alignments:

Green — Benet (Orange), Nazareth (Orange), Notre Dame, St. Rita.

Orange — Joliet Catholic (White), Montini (Green), Providence (Green), St. Laurence.

White — De La Salle (Orange), Fenwick, Mamion, St. Ignatius.

Purple — Carmel, Marian Catholic (Red), St. Patrick, St. Viator.

Red — DePaul Prep, Leo, Marian Central (Purple).

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“Nero: The Man Behind the Myth” explores the true story of Rome’s fifth emperor informed by new research and archaeological evidence from the time.

LONDON — The British Museum’s new exhibition on the Roman Emperor Nero opens with a piece of fake news from the ancient world.

Visitors are greeted with an image of Peter Ustinov as Nero in the movie “Quo Vadis” strumming a lyre — a famous image of the cruel tyrant who notoriously fiddled while Rome burned.

But, the exhibition says, that tale is a myth. As such, it’s a fitting introduction to an emperor whose story was largely written by enemies after his death, creating what curator Francesca Bologna calls “the Nero we love to hate.”

“Our goal here is to show that this, however popular, image is actually based on very, very biased accounts and therefore we should challenge it,” she said during a preview of the exhibition Monday.

“The Nero story is about how we should approach information, how we should always approach our sources critically. This is relevant for Nero, it’s relevant for historians, archaeologists, it is relevant for everyday people living their everyday lives.”

AP

“Nero: The Man Behind the Myth” opens to the public on Thursday, six months later than originally planned as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The show, which runs until Oct. 24, arrives the week after U.K. lockdown restrictions were lifted and London’s museums were allowed to reopen at limited capacity.

The exhibition draws on the British Museum’s vast trove of Roman artifacts, as well as items from collections in Italy, France, Germany and other countries, loaned despite pandemic-related restrictions.

“Everyone throughout Europe and the U.K. came to our rescue,” Bologna said. “They were really understanding. They helped us throughout the process. Even colleagues that were in lockdown themselves and working from home, they were incredible.”

Through more than 200 artifacts including statues, helmets, weapons, jewelry and ancient graffiti, it depicts a young ruler with rock-solid imperial lineage; Nero was the great-great-grandson of Rome’s first emperor, Augustus. In A.D. 54, at the age of 16, he became emperor of a Rome that was unrivalled in power but beset by problems, including war with the Iran-based Parthian empire in the east and an uprising led by Celtic queen Boudica in newly conquered Britain to the west.

One vivid section deals with the harsh reality of life in Roman Britain: there are lead ingots mined in Wales, along with thick chains that bound slaves who did the hard work. There’s also a bronze head of Nero, found in an English river after his statue was toppled during the uprising, and a family’s hoard of coins and jewelry, hidden for safekeeping during the violence and discovered in 2014 under the floor of a store in the east England town of Colchester.

Evidence suggests Nero was popular during his reign. He oversaw grand public projects, strengthening links between the city and its harbor to secure the food supply, building a public market and a spectacular set of public baths. He sponsored lavish public entertainments with gladiators, lion-wrestling and chariot races. He even competed in the races at Rome’s Circus Maximus, and was the first emperor to perform onstage.

The youthful emperor was also a style leader, popularizing a boyband-style haircut that the exhibition calls “dashing yet refined.”

He didn’t start the fire that leveled parts of Rome in A.D. 64, and neither did he fiddle as it burned. He wasn’t even there at the time.

Afterwards, Nero rebuilt the city, brought in tougher building codes — and also built himself a lavish palace, the Domus Aurea, or Golden House. Little of it remains, but the exhibition gives a taste of its opulence.

Beset by conspirators, Nero killed himself at the age of 30. His death sparked a period of civil war and then a new ruling dynasty. Like politicians down the ages, the new rulers blamed Rome’s problems on their predecessor.

Almost 2,000 years later, Nero remains a metaphor for bad government. As classicist Mary Beard wrote recently in the Daily Telegraph, “there is hardly a political cartoonist who doesn’t occasionally dress up a modern leader with a toga, laurel wreath and lyre, against the background of smoking ruins, to make the point that he is not taking some contemporary crisis seriously.”

Nero’s rule was undeniably brutal: He had his mother killed, along with one and possibly two of his wives. But was he more violent than other Roman rulers?

“Not really,” Bologna said. “Each and every emperor had people condemned and put to death. Even Augustus, who is the epitome of the good emperor, came to power in a really bloody way.”

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Homebuyers are rethinking their priorities. Proximity to a downtown office? Not so important. Proximity to fresh air and nature? Top of the list. With that in mind, we identified 20 neighborhoods and suburbs that offer exceptional access to green spaces and recreation.Read More

The latest price data for 73 neighborhoods and 225 suburbsRead More

Chicagoan Mike Walker has led Nature’s Neighbor for more than a decade, working with a revolving-door cast of musicians who’ve helped him realize his liquid indie-pop sound. But as much as the project is his brainchild, its new album, Otherside (Tai Duo Music), wouldn’t exist without longtime collaborator Terrill Mast.…Read More

While the White Sox were having a good time on the field in a 5-1 win over the Cardinals, some of their fans got into a brawl in the bleachers that was caught on video by onlookers.

It’s unclear what started the fight or what the aftermath of it was, but the video shows several fans going at each other while some in the crowd try to break things up.

Here’s another angle of the bleacher brawling from further away:

The White Sox have been increasing capacity at Guaranteed Rate Field in recent weeks as the city has eased off its restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. The crowd at the game Monday night was 14,629, the team’s largest of the season yet, to see the Sox snap a three-game losing streak.

Fights in the bleachers at big league games are nothing new. With fans returning to the ballpark in droves after being unable to attend sporting events last year, expect some wild nights this summer.

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Chicago Bears: 5 valuable offensive free agents still available by Ryan Heckman

Chicago Bears tight end coach Clancy Barone alluded to Jimmy Graham’s return for the last year of his two-year 16 million dollar contract next season.

“We knew from day one,” said Barone. There was never a doubt that Graham would return next season, according to Barone.

Graham was rumored to be on the chopping block before his contract ended in an attempt to save money from the Bears’ offseason cap issues. However, according to Barone, Graham is here to stay in Chicago next season.

#Bears TE coach Clancy Barone said there was never a doubt that Jimmy Graham would be back this season. “We knew from Day 1.”

— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) May 12, 2021

The Bears undoubtedly have cap issues this offseason. According to overthecap.com, the Bears have the second least amount of cap space in the NFL, with just over $200 thousand left in space. The cap issues are a large issue this offseason.

They are so bad that general manager Ryan Pace was forced to release former all-pro cornerback, Kyle Fuller, to save around $20 million in cap space. The Bears were also rumored to have attempted to trade away star defensive tackle Akiem Hicks to clear cap space. However, in terms of Graham’s status through the Bears’ cap frenzy, he is safe.

“He’s invaluable” – @chicagobears TE coach Clancy Barone describing Jimmy Graham – “He led us in scoring!” @markgrotesports @Zack_Pearson @P_Shels @BearsNationCHI pic.twitter.com/GMhyJCr2cK

— SRN Broadcasting (@radiomogul) May 12, 2021

Graham was an invaluable asset for the Bears last season. At first, Graham seemed like an overpaid tight end because of his career decline since leaving the New Orleans Saints. However, his performance last season was important to the offense. He caught 50 of his 76 targets for 456 yards and eight touchdowns, which led the team for receivers.

Graham also recorded a 65.8 catch percentage with the Bears, which is the best of his career since 2016 when Graham was with the Seattle Seahawks. That statistic is important because we know how inaccurate Bears’ quarterbacks have been. The Bears’ quarterbacks last season were on target 75.7 percent of the time. That ranked 20th in the NFL.

Bears quarterbacks also recorded 104 bad throws last season, according to pro-reference statistics. That ranked 24th in the NFL. The Bears also held a 17.4 bad throw percentage, which was bottom tier in the league.

The Bears require a stable tight end to fit into Matt Nagy’s scheme. Just look at how important Travis Kelce is to Andy Reid’s offense, which is the offense Nagy bases his off of.

Cole Kmet has yet to fill the role that Nagy and Pace hope for at the tight end. The 2020 second-rounder only recorded 243 yards and two touchdowns last season from 28 receptions. However, Kmet was invited to “Tight End U,” a tight end summit for the best in the country.

Next: Chicago Bears: Is Jimmy Graham on his way out the door?

Until Kmet’s rise of stardom, Graham will be the go-to guy at the tight end position for the Bears next season. The Bears did use him a lot, especially in goal-line situations, using a Nagy-patented diamond formation to isolate him on the weak side of the field.

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