Chicago Bulls: What changed in their first game after the deadline? by Ryan Taylor

The Chicago Blackhawks went into the weekend on a roll. After dropping every game but one on their road trip, they came home and used home ice to their advantage. The Nashville Predators came to town to take on the Hawks and they were on a bit of a roll themselves. Well, the Predators certainly cooled the Hawks off and kept their hot streak going. Each game was within reach but the Hawks were never able to get it done.

All of the sudden, the Nashville Predators are a problem for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks weren’t really looking at the Nashville Predators as a threat to take their playoff spot away from them. The Columbus Blue Jackets and Dallas Stars seemed much more likely to be the team that did that but here we are. Nashville has passed the Hawks for that last playoff spot in the Central Division. The Predators have the tiebreaker as they both have 37 points but they are above the line. It was a tough weekend to collect 0 points.

The second game was a lot closer than the first even if it shouldn’t have been. Alex DeBrincat scored two quick goals in the third period to tie the game but Predators’ captain Roman Josi scored to put them ahead again not long after. Both Kevin Lankinen and Malcolm Subban each gave up 3 goals in their starts but neither should be blamed completely for the loss.

The Hawks are clearly not a team that is a lock to make the playoffs. They are right there in that bubble with the Predators, Stars, and Blue Jackets. The Red Wings are seemingly the only team with no chance to get back in it. Now that Nashville is playing well and back in it, each game is that much more important for the Chicago Blackhawks.

One positive in this game has already been mentioned. Alex DeBrincat is having himself an incredible season. He struggled to stay consistent (by his standards) in 2019-20 and he has bounced back nicely. He is currently a top-ten NHL goal scorer which is very nice.

Patrick Kane is awesome but it’s better for Chicago when more than one guy can carry the offense. DeBrincat is proving that he can be that guy again. The depth scoring looks even more fruitful when DeBrincat is contributing at a high level.

Related Story: The Blackhawks should make a trade with the Anaheim Ducks

Things don’t get any easier right away either. They are capping off their current homestand with two games against the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina is one of the best teams in the league so the Hawks will need to come ready to play. They already took care of Florida last week so they have shown that they can skate with the big boys. This is going to be an incredibly important week for the team in red.

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Scott Merkin of MLB.com and James Fegan of The Athletic join the podcast to talk about Eloy, Vaughn, Rodon, Anderson and so much more as Sox fans turn their focus to the start of the 2021 season.

The post GGTB Ep. 88 – Hope Springs Eternal w/ Scott Merkin of MLB.com and James Fegan of The Athletic first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More

Two people were killed and four others injured in a multi-vehicle crash early Monday on the Eisenhower Expressway.

About 2 a.m., three vehicles crashed and caught on fire on the inbount lanes of I-290 near Halsted Street, Chicago fire officials said. Two people were declared dead on the scene.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office hasn’t released details on their death.

Two others were taken in serious-to-critical condition to Stroger Hospital, fire officials said. Another two refused treatment at the scene.

Illinois State police was investigating the incident.

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Four men were critically hurt in a shooting late Sunday in Chatham on the South Side.

Just before midnight, the men were shot in teh 8700 block of South State Street, Chicago Fire Department officials said.

Two men were transported in serious-to-critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, fire officials said.

The others were also taken in serious-to-critical condition to the University of Chicago Medical Center, fire officials said.

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The Mayor’s race in Bradley, IL, is textbook dirty pool

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By Bob Schneider,
Sunday at 11:53 pm

“Lies sound like facts to those who’ve been conditioned to mis-recognize the truth.”
― DaShanne Stokes

People in power lying to the public stretches back to prehistory. For the past fifty-years, platforms based on hopes have given way to campaigns built on the foundation of fraud. In too many cases, we’ve taken our snake-oil salesmen out of the carnivals and put them in political office.

The lies that flow from the lips of Washington politicians have been a graduate school in conning the public as the crude techniques of deception filter from Pennsylvania Avenue to Main Street. Over the past five decades, we’ve seen politicians with sleight of hand tricks formerly reserved for the circus midway finding their way into policy positions.

Con men always play the angles. When facts don’t exist, they create their own. Neither science nor logic can stand up against the rap of a talented grifter. Those who have nothing to say play the angles and that is happening in Bradley, Illinois.

Today is part III in my series on the mayoral race in Bradley, Illinois. You can read part I here and part II here.

“Some have conscience some others have con science. Beware you’re not conned.”
― Vincent Okay Nwachukwu, Weighty’ n’ Worthy African Proverbs –

Local garbage collector Mike Watson is the interim mayor of Bradley, Illinois. He’s a slick operator who plays the angles rather than having substance. Like most grifters, he believes his own stories.

The local mall was once the retail heart of Kankakee County. Major retailers anchored the four corners of the large indoor structure, providing the foot traffic for the smaller retailers dotting the hallways.

The mall is mostly empty, with a few businesses trying to make a go. Mr. Watson has a story he tells about turning one of the spaces abandoned by an anchor tenant’s bankruptcy. Mr. Watson weaves a tale about economic good from turning the space into a convention center.

There is no plan, no independent studies by experts, no typical business structure of what makes a convention center successful. Moreover, Mr. Watson has no training or experience in hospitality which is needed to pull this off.

Feeling the heat that perhaps the con is wearing thin, he is now touting his most prominent contributor, a Physician who owns a local hotel, will put in over a million dollars to fund the dream.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

For a grifter, words are the fuel that powers their scams. Has money changed hands, or are these mere words from a barker’s lips?

The words appear in the local newspaper, so they must be true, right? The local newspaper supports any Republican and will never ask hard questions of one. Mr. Watson is a Republican and has been getting wet kisses from the local paper.

The truth is hard, and propaganda is easy, especially when no pesky reporters are fact-checking.

There is someone in the race who does know what it takes to pull off conventions and tourism, Mr. Watson’s opponent.

Lori Gadbois is running against Mike Watson for Mayor. Ms. Gadbois is everything Mike Watson isn’t: well educated, honest, experienced in government, and experienced in conventions and tourism. Ms. Gadbois brought a successful billiard tournament to town. It was a big deal, as the Village competed with other cities and towns to host this large tournament.

The Con Man’s Sting.

Her competence and education are a threat to Mike Watson. So, how does a grifter tilt the table?

In Bradley, IL, the local political parties are not the Republicans and Democrats. Ms. Gadbois is not in the same party as Mr. Watson, so what did Watson do to confuse voters?

Conveniently, he got a pal of his to run as a Democrat. The man has been a Democrat for only this race. The friend is a colleague of Watson’s and ran with Mike Watson an election or two ago. He is a ringer. He’s like the testimonial the snake-oil salesman uses to talk the gullible into buying an elixir.

This ringer relieves Mr. Watson of a couple of problems. Watson doesn’t have to attack Ms. Gadbois directly. He has his hand-puppet do the dirty work for him. That was apparent in the Mayoral debate.

Mr. Watson sat at the podium, taking a moment or two to adjust his halo, as his lap-dog nipped at Ms. Gadbois as a distraction.

Watson also uses the age-old trick of playing on voters’ ignorance of public finance by proclaiming he has balanced the budget. No city, County, or state ever grew new and good jobs with a balanced budget.

The government works because the village board should budget the deficit, and if done correctly, it will have a surplus. Watson’s predecessor used that strategy and grew the Village from pathetic into the community’s economic heart.

Watson’s attack on the tax base is coming at a price. He sees it, and he has a plan: do away with the local fire department and put the burden of fire protection elsewhere.

That is a workable plan if one is the mayor of a declining community, sliding into a place of ghetto status.

With Watson at the helm, that is what will happen.

What’s Watson’s endgame? Nobody knows, and that is the mark of a grifter. Never let the mark know the real story.

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  Bob has spent more than 40 years in politics, more than 20 years on the national level working in Washington, DC in a variety of roles. His policy areas of expertise are Foreign Policy, Defense, Appropriations, and Trade Policy. In his time in Washington, he worked on some of the most contentious issues to come before the Congress, and Administration. Semi-retired, he now writes and lectures on politics. He also collects and writes about art.

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• The Mayor’s race in Bradley, IL, is textbook dirty pool

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• Lead, chance to upset No. 17 Murray State vanish in 2nd half for EIU Panthers

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Forward Dylan Strome missed the Blackhawks’ game Sunday against the Predators because of the birth of his first child, daughter Weslie.

Outside of a two-minute takeover by best friend Alex DeBrincat, he didn’t miss much.

In a near-replay of the game Saturday, the Hawks were flummoxed by Nashville’s active forecheck and unable to find openings in the offensive zone for most of the night. DeBrincat’s two goals in the third period briefly gave them life, but the result was a 3-2 loss.

The Hawks remained winless in four meetings against the Preds this season, having scored just six goals in those games, and now trail them in the race for the Central Division’s last playoff spot.

“I’m disappointed in the response, beginning in the first period, [of] just understanding how big the game was,” coach Jeremy Colliton said. “It was too easy for [the Predators] to create chances, and on the flip side, they did a good job of keeping us to the outside.”

The Preds produced 26 scoring chances and held the Hawks to 12 — tied for their fewest in a game since March 2017. The Hawks also recorded only one shot on goal in three dismal power plays.

DeBrincat nonetheless beat goalie Pekka Rinne with a one-timer with 12:25 left, then blew past defenseman Dante Fabbro and around Rinne to tie the score with 10:35 to play.

But a sequence of blown coverages in the defensive zone gave Roman Josi an easy look on the tiebreaking goal with 6:33 left.

“Those are games that we’re going to have to win down the stretch to make it the playoffs,” DeBrincat said. “We did a good job coming back, but we’ve got to stick with it and be able to hold that tie to the end.”

Beaudin back with Hawks

Rookie defenseman Nicolas Beaudin drew back into the Hawks’ lineup for consecutive games Saturday and Sunday for the first time since Feb. 17 and 19.

Beaudin, who was a regular earlier this season, said he was able to continue his development seamlessly with Rockford of the American Hockey League, where he had nine points in six games while handling a massive 25-minute-per-game role.

“It was good for me to go there and play some games just to keep my momentum going,” Beaudin said. “For me, [the priority is to] play as many games as I can. If it’s in Chicago, it’s in Chicago. If it’s in Rockford, it’s in Rockford.”

Beaudin’s analytical mind helps him to identify where he needs to improve and focus on those areas.

“I’m working on my gap, trying to angle guys, not going backward,” he said. “[And] I’m trying to work on retrieving pucks, escaping left-right, making some plays down low for breakouts.”

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Prairie State Pigskin

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Lead, chance to upset No. 17 Murray State vanish in 2nd half for EIU Panthers

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By Barry Bottino,
today at 8:55 pm

It took 5 minutes, 31 seconds for Eastern Illinois to take a two-touchdown lead Sunday at Murray State in the third quarter.

Less than 5 minutes later, the lead was gone as No. 17 Murray (5-0) rolled up 28 unanswered points to roar past EIU, 41-27.

Eastern fell to 1-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference spring season as it committed three second-half turnovers and failed on fourth down at the Murray State 13-yard line with the score tied at 27.

The Panthers had a promising start to the second half when, with the game tied at 10, senior cornerback Mark Williams returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown on Murray State’s first offensive play.

After Murray kicker Aaron Baum booted a 58-yard field goal with a 25 mph wind at his back, Eastern got another big play.

On its first play of the following drive, EIU freshman running back Jordan Smith took a handoff and ran left, where he was bottled up. Smith cut back with the help of a block from quarterback Otto Kuhns and ran around right end for an 80-yard score and a 27-13 Eastern lead.

Smith posted a career-high 142 rushing yards on 13 carries.

For the game, the Panthers outgained Murray, 413-346, and had 241 yards on the ground.

But mistakes proved costly throughout the second half.

After Smith was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 play at the Murray 13 late in the third quarter, the Racers completed a 50-yard pass on the next play and tallied a field goal go ahead for good at 30-27.

Here are three things Prairie State Pigskin learned about the EIU loss.

1. Passing game struggles

While Eastern’s run game shined, the pass game consistently sputtered. Kuhns and backup Harry Woodbery, who entered the game in the fourth quarter, combined to complete 36% of their passes (13-for-36). Kuhns was sacked twice and finished the game with one completion and two interceptions in his final six pass attempts. Woodbery was 3-for-10. For the game, Murray State’s defense was credited with 10 pass breakups.

2. Running game gains ground

Without starting running back Jaelin Benefield, who was on the sideline in street clothes, Eastern posted a season-best 241 rushing yards, led by Smith. Kuhns added 64 yards on the ground as Eastern rushed for 6 yards per carry. Among his 13 carries, Smith had four runs of 10 yards or more and no negative plays.

3. Big plays prove costly

In the second half, Murray State had six plays of 12 yards or more against the Panthers’ young defense. In addition, Murray State was 6-for-6 in red zone scoring opportunities. On special teams, Murray had the 58-yard field goal and a 48-yard fourth-quarter punt return.

News and notes

The interception by Williams was the eighth of his career and second this season. … EIU sophomore linebacker Jason Johnson, the OVC’s leader tackler, has 11 stops and one of seven EIU’s tackles for loss. Fellow sophomore linebacker Anthony Shockey had two TFLs. … A week after blocking and recovering a punt for a touchdown, sophomore safety Marcus Bornslater made another big special teams play. Bornslater recovered a muffed third-quarter punt to help Eastern take a two-touchdown lead. … In the second half, Eastern was 0-for-8 on third downs. … Senior wide receiver Robbie Lofton led the Panthers with three receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown.

What’s up next?

EIU hosts Jacksonville State at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 3 at O’Brien Field in Charleston.

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  Blog co-authors Barry Bottino and Dan Verdun bring years of experience covering collegiate athletics. Barry has covered college athletes for more than two decades in his “On Campus” column, which is published weekly by Shaw Media. Dan has written four books about the state’s football programs–“NIU Huskies Football” (released in 2013), “EIU Panthers Football (2014), “ISU Redbirds” (2016) and “SIU Salukis Football” (2017).

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Spiritual and Physical Wellness

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Should You Monitor Your Saturated Fat Intake?

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By Sheri McIntosh,
today at 7:57 pm

In my last blog I wrote about healthcare professionals disagreeing on what consisted of a healthy diet. We can add the consumption of saturated fat to the list of items that do not have a consensus regarding the consumption of it. We were once told to avoid saturated fat because it causes heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Then researchers said it is okay to consume saturated fat in moderation.

What is saturated fat? I do not want to give the molecular breakdown definition of saturated fat. The simple description for saturated fat is that it is found in animal products and oils including coconut and palm. Saturated fat occurs naturally in foods. Foods with the highest concentration of saturated fat include dairy, butter, cheese, creams, lamb, pork, and beef.

Saturated fat is different from trans fats. There is a consensus that trans fats are unhealthy. The belief is that trans fats increase the risk of heart disease. Trans fats raise LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and decreases HDL (good) cholesterol levels. You should avoid consuming trans fats. Read the labels for the food you purchase to see if it includes trans fats.

The American Heart Association recommends that you do not consume more than 5% to 6% of your calories from saturated fat. They give the example of 2,000 calories per day. If you consume 2,000 calories per day only 120 calories should come from saturated fat. That comes to 13 grams per day. Some healthcare professionals believe you can consume more grams per day. I have seen 22 grams based on consuming 2,000 calories per day.

Monitoring your saturated fat intake will take some effort. You can research how many grams of saturated fat is contained in the food you consume. For instance, one chicken egg has 1.6 grams of saturated fat, 1 cup of 1% milk contains 1.5 grams, 3 oz. of lean beef contains 5 grams, and 1 pat of butter contains 2.5 grams. Baked goods and fried foods contain high levels of saturated fat.

Our bodies need fat to function at an optimal level; however, we should avoid consuming more than our bodies need to function. In the past, we were told that fat makes you fat. Now we are learning that is not necessarily true. Consumed in moderation saturated fat can be part of a healthy diet.

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  I have been interested in preventive medicine since my childhood. In the 70s, my aunt would take me with her to meet with a doctor who emphasized preventive medicine. A lot of the things that doctor discussed then has become standard today.

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How good is the best college basketball conference in America?

So good, it wouldn’t know a national championship from a hole in the ground. So good, it hasn’t had a team cut down the nets in — count ’em — 21 years. So good, its 2021 NCAA Tournament experience has been roughly as pleasant as taking a charge from an ornery elk.

So good, it has been in Michigan-or-bust mode since the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Big Ten littered the top 10 of the national polls with its heavy hitters all season. The league got nine teams — a record — into the tournament. Who didn’t think it was better than the ACC, Big 12, SEC and the rest? We pretty much all did. And we were wrong.

Or maybe we were right. Who knows? It doesn’t really matter now, just like Illinois’ beef with Michigan’s regular-season title doesn’t really matter. The Illini were 16-4. The Wolverines were 14-3. A better winning percentage got the latter team a banner. Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman wrote an impossibly long letter. Yada, yada, yada.

Here’s what matters: Eight Big Ten teams wasted practically no time at all getting themselves booted from the Big Dance. No. 1 seed Illinois got caught spiking the punch bowl against Loyola. No. 2 Ohio State gagged against Oral Roberts. No. 2 Iowa took its typical turnstile defense to a whole new level against Oregon. Over and over, the league blew it — as is its March custom, come to think of it.

And now, East region No. 1 seed Michigan — which looked great Sunday in a 76-58 dismantling of fourth-seeded Florida State at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis — is all the Big Ten and its fans have left. That was true entering the Sweet 16, it’ll be true heading into the Wolverines’ Elite Eight matchup against Alabama or UCLA and it may or may not still be true for longer than that. But if the Wolverines don’t go all the way, it’ll be the 20th tournament in a row won by a team from another conference.

Anyone else remember a fresh-faced, chipper lad named Tom Izzo beaming in triumph after Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson and Charlie Bell — aka “the Flintstones” — took it to a Florida team coached by an even more boyish lad named Billy Donovan in the final? OK, so Izzo was 45 at the time, not all that young. But Donovan was 34. What ever happened to him, anyway?

That’s how long it has been for the Big Ten, folks. It’s sad. It’s puzzling. It’s more than a little embarrassing.

But calling it a two-decade cold streak doesn’t do justice to the Big Ten’s March irrelevance, because the most recent title prior to Michigan State’s came all the way back in 1989. Yes, now we’ve receded into Nick Anderson-failing-to-box-out-Sean Higgins territory, which is never fun to relive. Illinois’ pain and Michigan’s glory all those years ago was the next-to-last time the Big Ten ended on top, if you can believe it. I just typed it, and I can’t.

The ACC has won it all eight times since 2000 — three times each for Duke and North Carolina, with individual breakthroughs by Maryland (ironically, now in the Big Ten) and Virginia.

The SEC got two titles from Donovan’s Florida heyday and one from John Calipari at Kentucky. The Big East got two titles from Connecticut and one each from Syracuse and Louisville, not that those three schools are even in the conference anymore. But the Big East also got Villanova’s triumphs in 2016 and 2018.

The Big 12 (Kansas in 2008) and the American Athletic (UConn in 2014) have cut down the nets more recently than the Big Ten, too. And they have Baylor and Houston, respectively, as heavy favorites in this tournament to get to the Final Four.

The Big Ten has — stop me if I’ve already mentioned this — Michigan and Michigan alone. Maybe a fresh-faced lad named Juwan Howard will lead the Wolverines to the top. Howard, 48, has accomplished one big thing after another in the sport since launching from CVS, but he’s in only his second season as a head coach.

“We’re grinding, man,” he said. “And we’re doing it collectively. And it’s beautiful just to see the development that is happening before our eyes.”

“Beautiful” and “Big Ten” don’t often go together in March. No need to tell the Wolverines that, though. They’ve already got all the league’s eggs in their basket.

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St. Rita has developed into one of the most fascinating football teams around.

The Mustangs feature junior running back Kaleb Brown, possibly the most dynamic and exciting player in the Chicago area. Brown has scholarship offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan and a dozen more powerhouse schools. He’s a top-50 national talent in the Class of 2022.

St. Rita has a handful of other college-bound players, including receiver Henry Wilson, a Western Michigan recruit. The Mustangs almost knocked off top-ranked Loyola in Week 1. They led most of the way and lost 7-3. They routed Montini 51-13 on Saturday.

”St. Rita, I don’t know who is going to touch them in their conference play,” Loyola coach John Holecek said after his team beat No. 2 Mount Carmel on Saturday. ”They are a special team. . . . [St. Rita] just had so many athletes and so many disrupters on the front line.”

The Mustangs host Providence on Friday and round out the season against Marian Catholic, Benet and Notre Dame.

Phillips forced to wait

Phillips had its game against Raby canceled late last week. Raby doesn’t have enough players to field a team this season.

Wildcats coach Troy McAllister exhausted all his options but wasn’t able to find a replacement. That means Phillips will play four games this season at most. The Wildcats will play Westinghouse at Solorio on Saturday.

The football season is following a trend we saw during the COVID-19 basketball season: Teams from schools and leagues with a lot of resources get to play games, and teams in less fortunate circumstances end up barely playing at all.

Play the kids

Nazareth is going to be a stat-keeper’s nightmare this season — but for the best reason possible. Check out what Roadrunners coach Tim Racki told Friday Night Drive’s Josh Welge after his team beat St. Laurence on Saturday:

”These kids have been sitting around for an entire year, they’re only allowing parents into games, there’s no playoffs, [so] I’m going to play every one of my kids — and not just in cleanup time,” Racki said. ”These parents, after being shut down, I’m not going to have their kids sitting on the sideline. Whatever the result is on the scoreboard, so be it.”

That’s the best thing I’ve read from anyone involved with high school athletics in a while. It’s pretty clear why so many of the most talented kids in the area want to play for Racki, isn’t it?

Griffins making a case

On Saturday morning, it looked as though the big showdown between No. 1 Loyola and No. 2 Mount Carmel might not mean as much as expected.

Lincoln-Way East has opened the season with running-clock victories against Bolingbrook and Homewood-Flossmoor. That’s about as solid a case as a team can make for the top spot.

Mount Carmel or Loyola had to come out and make a significant claim to the No. 1 ranking, or the Griffins would have taken it over. The Ramblers did that by solidly handling the Caravan.

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