The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics on the road by a score of 102-96 to secure the Bulls’ second straight win and stay tied for the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference.
At least one Chicago sports team won in Boston on Monday night (the White Sox lost to the Red Sox in Boston). The Bulls displayed one of their best defensive efforts against the Kemba Walker-less Celtics on Monday night.
The Chicago Blackhawks needed to beat the Nashville Predators really badly. It was as important of a game as they have played in a long time. They went in trailing Nashville by two standings points so beating them would have put them in a tie. The Dallas Stars also defeated the Detroit Red Wings in a shootout which has them right back in the mix which isn’t good. They are the defending Western Conference Champions so you know they are hungry.
The Blackhawks were defeated by Nashville by a final score of 5-2. They went down 3-1 in the second period and looked like they were done. Instead, however, they showed some life and made it 3-2 before the period was over. Going into the third period, you had to feel good about their chances of getting the game tied.
Chicago Blackhawks: This loss destroys their playoff hopeson April 20, 2021 at 12:00 pm Read More »
The above photo of Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace may strike fans as though he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Two people were shot Monday in Chicago, including a man who was wounded in a shooting in Austin on the West Side.
About 12:12 p.m., the 42-year-old was found on the sidewalk in the 700 block of North Leamington Avenue with a gunshot wound to his abdomen, Chicago police said. The man was taken to Stroger Hospital. His condition was not immediately known.
In the day’s first reported shooting a 29-year-old man was shot in Longwood Manor on the South Side. The man was walking on the sidewalk about 12:05 a.m. in the 1300 block of West 97th Place, when someone fired shots, police. He was struck in the leg and arm and transported to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in fair condition.
Twenty-seven people were shot, five fatally, citywide last weekend.
2 shot Monday in Chicagoon April 20, 2021 at 7:39 am Read More »
There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Leo.
Social plans might be canceled, or, alternatively, you might receive a surprise invitation to go somewhere? (Could go either way.) Meanwhile, parents should take note because this is an accident-prone day for your kids, which means you must be vigilant. Sports accidents are also likely.
Your home routine might change because something unexpected suddenly occurs. It could be minor. (“Oh no, we’re out of coffee!”) It could be major. (“Oh no, we’re out of coffee!”) Small appliances might break down. Someone unexpected might knock on the door. Get dressed.
Today will be unpredictable at many levels. For starters, please note that it is an accident-prone day, which means it will be smart for you to pay attention to everything you say and do. Be circumspect. However, enjoy meeting new people, hearing new ideas or taking a spontaneous short trip. It’s a crapshoot!
Pay attention to everything you own because something unexpected could affect your assets or your wealth. For example, you might find money, or you might lose money. Something might happen to a shared possession, which means you should protect what you own from loss or damage. Stay sharp.
Don’t be hasty. It’s easy to jump to conclusions or make wrong assumptions, which you might regret. You might end up with egg on your face if you rebel against something that is really no big deal. (Don’t get your belly in a rash.) Make an effort to be patient with everything going on around you.
Today you feel restless and you might not know why. The problem is your peace of mind is disturbed, which will affect your conversations with others. Give yourself a little treat so that you feel pampered and loved. Even an ice cream cone might work. (It’s so often the little things.)
A friend might say or do something that surprises you today. Hopefully, someone will give you a good idea? However, someone might say something that causes you to rethink some future goals. Well, perhaps this information is valuable. Maybe not.
Because you feel rebellious today, you will defend your independence and not be coerced in any way, which is why your relations with authority figures might be challenging. Never underestimate the power of courtesy. Give yourself extra time for wiggle room today.
You might suddenly have to travel today when you did not expect to do so. Alternatively, scheduled travel plans might be canceled, delayed or changed. Surprises in the news or something related to higher education, medicine and the law might also catch you off guard.
Make friends with your bank account and stay in touch with assets and anything to do with shared property because something unexpected could affect these areas. When it comes to money and what you own, it’s wise to stay on top of things. Ya think?
Patience is the antidote to anger. Therefore, be patient dealing with close friends, spouses and partners because something might irk you. Possibly, they will throw you a curveball or do something that you least expect? Stay off your heels.
Unexpected news that is health-related might come your way today. Or perhaps something surprising that deals with your pet? Double check details related to your job or any task that you’re doing, because you could be blindsided.
Model Miranda Kerr (1983) shares your birthday. You are intuitive, practical and patient. You are level-headed and calm under pressure. You are attracted to the arts, music and mysterious intrigue. You are organized and an excellent planner. This year you will begin to see the fruits of what you began last year. It will be a more relaxed year and your focus will be on close friends and partners.
Horoscope for Tuesday, April 20, 2021Georgia Nicolson April 20, 2021 at 5:01 am Read More »
Contreras still is growing as a catcher, but he’s no longer the kind who needs a bat to make a difference.
Cubs manager David Ross believes Willson Contreras’ evolution from bat-first catcher to all-around player is nearly complete.
Catcher is arguably the most demanding position in baseball, and many backstops never find the right balance between what they do at the plate versus what they do behind it. When he came up for the Cubs in 2016, Contreras showed he could deliver with his bat right away. He has a career OPS of .819 and consistently has hit for power since his rookie season.
But the question was always whether he could grow into the complete package and hone his game-calling and pitch-framing skills, too. In 2018, he was well below league average in pitch framing, but by last year, he had climbed to slightly above, and he had a career-best fielding percentage last season.
For his part, Contreras isn’t focused on making improvements just for his own sake.
“I just don’t think about it, to be honest,” he said. “I’m just trying to be a guy that helps a team to win as many ballgames that I can.”
At times, that has meant carrying the offense with his bat, and at other times, that has meant playing good defense and handling his pitching staff. Lately, Contreras has offered both.
“It’s a really hard skill set to find,” Ross said. “We put so much importance on game-calling, pitch-framing, the defensive side and what you do for your pitchers — that in itself could be enough for a lot of teams — and yet he comes out, and he’s a two-time All-Star, can really hit, he’s got power, is a really tough at-bat for us. He really brings us energy on a nightly basis.”
For most catchers, it’s tough to do things like shake off a bad night at the plate when they’re still needed to guide a pitcher through a rocky inning; they carry a sense of responsibility for a pitcher’s performance in a way the rest of the roster doesn’t. Where an outfielder might be able to check out mentally for a moment, a catcher never can.
At 28, Contreras is still young, but he has amassed a lot of baseball experience, which has facilitated his growth. Ross said he sees similarities between Contreras’ trajectory as a catcher and his own.
“You learn more the older you get of how to study,” Ross said. “The more you know the league or hitters, it can kind of speed up the process. Then you find out what works for you, whether it’s rewriting the scouting report, watching video, going through it with your starting pitcher. You learn to be a little more efficient in how you work. A lot of that changes with your batting practice or your defensive drills, but also with the studying that catchers have to do — that evolves as well, and how you streamline those things.”
While the rest of the Cubs’ offense struggled the first two weeks, Contreras was the lone bright spot, leading the team in batting average and on-base percentage and tying Kris Bryant for home runs. He was the spark plug in a win over the Braves on Saturday with homers in the first and third innings.
There’s still room for improvement, but Contreras has long since won over the clubhouse.
“He’s as passionate and hardworking as anybody we have,” Ross said. “He’s got the nickname ‘Killer’ around here because he’s got that killer instinct. He wants to win and does everything he can to help his team win.”
The Blackhawks felt they played well for the majority of the game Monday against the Predators.
But two disastrous stretches — one entirely self-inflicted, the other aided by unlucky breaks — nonetheless doomed the Hawks to a 5-2 loss.
“It sucks,” Alex DeBrincat said. “We have a few breakdowns, about two minutes of poor hockey, and they score four goals. We’ve got to be better.”
“For a lot of the game, we were very good,” coach Jeremy Colliton said. “Ultimately, the mistakes we made are tough to recover from. It’s just tough to come back when you put yourself in a hole.”
The Stars beat the Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout, leaving the Hawks now sixth in the Central Division in terms of both points percentage and actual points. Their backs are against the wall in the playoff race, and six losses in as many games against Nashville this season are easily the biggest reason why.
Offensively, the Hawks did generate more Monday than they typically have against the Predators’ stout system.
With an emphasis on dump-and-chase zone entries and behind-the-net plays, the Hawks actually produced 57 shot attempts to Nashville’s 46. Colliton said the Hawks “did a better job of sustaining zone time.”
Defensively, however, the Hawks crumbled at the worst times.
The Preds took a 3-1 lead with two goals 51 seconds apart in the second period, taking advantage of a blown assignment from Nikita Zadorov in front of his own net followed by a needless Duncan Keith turnover that turned into a semi-breakaway.
Two goals 18 seconds apart in the third period’s opening minute later turned the game into a rout.
Turnovers by Pius Suter and Calvin de Haan contributed to the goals, but so did two unfortunate moments. Murphy had his helmet knocked off by Tanner Jeannot and had to leave the play or incur a penalty, letting Jeannot score easily; Murphy later called the rule “crazy.” Keith slipped while turning during the following play, letting Luke Kunin score easily.
“[In the] third period, [we were] probably not ready to go,” DeBrincat said. “We needed to have a good first shift and second shift, as well. We just can’t let that happen.”
Colliton pulled Kevin Lankinen after he allowed five goals on 22 shots, marking the first time he has made a goalie switch all season.
The Hawks’ three-game series against the Preds continues Wednesday and Friday in Chicago. Colliton said the team figured entering the day they’d “probably need two of these three.” Now, the math is even easier — and the climb is even steeper.
“The margin of error is small,” Connor Murphy said. “If you’re going to play for a playoff spot, you have to be sharp for longer periods of the game. We weren’t sharp for long enough tonight.”
Trade deadline acquisition Adam Gaudette, who’d been practicing since last Wednesday, made his Hawks debut Monday.
The 24-year-old forward took the place of Brandon Hagel, who had yet another false positive COVID-19 test — his second in the past few weeks — and couldn’t get multiple negative results back before warmups, Colliton said.
Gaudette played only 7:39 but earned an assist on David Kampf’s second-period goal — Kampf’s first in 46 games this year.
“We felt [Gaudette] was close to ready, but with [Hagel] not being available, he got the chance,” Colliton said. “He got better as the game went on. Definitely the last two periods, he had some good shifts.”
MINNEAPOLIS — Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, a liberal icon who lost the most lopsided presidential election after bluntly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won, died Monday. He was 93.
The death of the former senator, ambassador and Minnesota attorney general was announced in a statement from his family. No cause was cited.
Mondale followed the trail blazed by his political mentor, Hubert H. Humphrey, from Minnesota politics to the U.S. Senate and the vice presidency, serving under Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981.
His own try for the White House, in 1984, came at the zenith of Ronald Reagan’s popularity. Mondale’s selection of Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York as his running mate made him the first major-party presidential nominee to put a woman on the ticket, but his declaration that he would raise taxes helped define the race.
On Election Day, he carried only his home state and the District of Columbia. The electoral vote was 525-13 for Reagan — the biggest landslide in the Electoral College since Franklin Roosevelt defeated Alf Landon in 1936. (Sen. George McGovern got 17 electoral votes in his 1972 defeat, winning Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.)
“I did my best,” Mondale said the day after the election, and blamed no one but himself.
“I think you know I’ve never really warmed up to television,” he said. “In fairness to television, it never really warmed up to me.”
Years later, Mondale said his campaign message had proven to be the right one.
“History has vindicated me that we would have to raise taxes,” he said. “It was very unpopular, but it was undeniably correct.”
In 2002, state and national Democrats looked to Mondale when Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., was killed in a plane crash less than two weeks before Election Day. Mondale agreed to stand in for Wellstone, and early polls showed him with a lead over the Republican candidate, Norm Coleman.
But the 53-year-old Coleman, emphasizing his youth and vigor, out-hustled the then-74-year-old Mondale in an intense six-day campaign. Mondale was also hurt by a partisan memorial service for Wellstone, in which thousands of Democrats booed Republican politicians in attendance. One speaker pleaded: “We are begging you to help us win this election for Paul Wellstone.”
Polls showed the service put off independents and cost Mondale votes. Coleman won by 3 percentage points.
“The eulogizers were the ones hurt the most,” Mondale said after the election. “It doesn’t justify it, but we all make mistakes. Can’t we now find it in our hearts to forgive them and go on?”
It was a particularly bitter defeat for Mondale, who even after his loss to Reagan had taken solace in his perfect record in Minnesota.
“One of the things I’m most proud of,” he said in 1987, “is that not once in my public career did I ever lose an election in Minnesota.”
Years after the 2002 defeat, Mondale returned to the Senate to stand beside Democrat Al Franken in 2009 when he was sworn in to replace Coleman after a drawn-out recount and court battle.
Mondale started his career in Washington in 1964, when he was appointed to the Senate to replace Humphrey, who had resigned to become vice president. Mondale was elected to a full six-year term with about 54% of the vote in 1966, although Democrats lost the governorship and suffered other election setbacks. In 1972, Mondale won another Senate term with nearly 57% of the vote.
His Senate career was marked by advocacy of social issues such as education, housing, migrant workers and child nutrition. Like Humphrey, he was an outspoken supporter of civil rights.
Mondale tested the waters for a presidential bid in 1974 but ultimately decided against it. “Basically I found I did not have the overwhelming desire to be president, which is essential for the kind of campaign that is required,” he said in November 1974.
In 1976, Carter chose Mondale as No. 2 on his ticket and went on to unseat Gerald Ford.
As vice president, Mondale had a close relationship with Carter. He was the first vice president to occupy an office in the White House, rather than in a building across the street. Mondale traveled extensively on Carter’s behalf, and advised him on domestic and foreign affairs.
While he lacked Humphrey’s charisma, Mondale had a droll sense of humor.
When he dropped out of the 1976 presidential sweepstakes, he said, “I don’t want to spend the next two years in Holiday Inns.”
Reminded of that shortly before he was picked as Carter’s running mate, Mondale said, “I’ve checked and found that they’re all redecorated, and they’re marvelous places to stay.”
Mondale never backed away from his liberal principles.
“I think that the country more than ever needs progressive values,” Mondale said in 1989.
That year, Democrats tried to persuade him to challenge Minnesota GOP Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, but he decided against making the race, saying it was time to make way for a new generation.
“One of the requirements of a healthy party is that it renews itself,” he said at the time. “You can’t keep running Walter Mondale for everything.”
That paved the way for Wellstone to win the Democratic nomination, and go on to upset Boschwitz. Wellstone had been preparing to take on Mondale in a primary but would have been a heavy underdog.
The son of a Methodist minister and a music teacher, Walter Frederick Mondale was born Jan. 5, 1928, in tiny Ceylon, Minnesota, and grew up in several small southern Minnesota towns.
He was only 20 when he served as a congressional district manager for Humphrey’s successful Senate campaign in 1948. His education, interrupted by a two-year stint in the Army, culminated with a law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1956.
Mondale began a law practice in Minneapolis and ran the successful 1958 gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Orville Freeman, who appointed Mondale state attorney general in 1960. Mondale was elected attorney general in the fall of 1960 and was reelected in 1962.
As attorney general, Mondale moved quickly into civil rights, antitrust and consumer protection cases. He was the first Minnesota attorney general to make consumer protection a campaign issue.
After his White House years, Mondale served from 1993-96 as President Bill Clinton’s ambassador to Japan, fighting for U.S. access to markets ranging from cars to cellular phones.
He helped avert a trade war in June 1995 over autos and auto parts, persuading Japanese officials to give American automakers more access to Japanese dealers and pushing Japanese carmakers to buy U.S. parts.
Mondale kept his ties to the Clintons. In 2008, he endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, switching his allegiance only after Barack Obama sealed the nomination.
When Democrats came to him after Wellstone’s death, Mondale was working at the Minneapolis law firm of Dorsey & Whitney and serving on corporate and nonprofit boards. He returned to the firm after the brief campaign.
Mondale and his wife, Joan Adams Mondale, were married in 1955. During his vice presidency, she pushed for more government support of the arts and gained the nickname “Joan of Art.” She had minored in art in college and worked at museums in Boston and Minneapolis.
The couple had two sons, Ted and William, and a daughter, Eleanor. Eleanor Mondale became a broadcast journalist and TV host, with credits including “CBS This Morning” and programs with E! Entertainment Television. Ted Mondale served six years in the Minnesota Senate and made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1998. William Mondale served for a time as an assistant attorney general.
Joan Mondale died in 2014 at age 83 after an extended illness.
Walter Mondale, Jimmy Carter’s vice president, dead at 93on April 20, 2021 at 1:08 am Read More »
