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Michael Jordan’s net worth down $500 million in the last year: reporton March 24, 2021 at 9:22 pm

The past year saw Michael Jordan’s brand get another boost with the release of “The Last Dance,” but it appears the Bulls legend didn’t do so well financially. While his net worth remains an eye-popping $1.6 billion, according to Forbes, that’s a $500 million drop since the publication last reported his net worth in April 2020.

It’s possible that such a large decline is related to the biggest Wall Street story of the year: the GameStop stock saga.

Two years ago, Jordan — the majority owner of the Hornets since 2010 — sold a minority share of the Hornets to two investors. One of them was Gabe Plotkin, founder and chief investment officer of Melvin Capital, a hedge fund that required billions in additional cash after incurring major losses due to a short squeeze of GameStop stock by groups of retail investors.

Details of Jordan’s current business relationship with Plotkin and the other investor, Daniel Sundheim, aren’t publicly known, but his Airness said while announcing their deal in 2019 that their investment was “invaluable” as the Hornets “strive to compete with the best in the NBA.”

Jordan, 58, initially built his wealth as an NBA superstar and one of the most successful brand endorsers ever. His purchase of a majority stake in the Hornets proved to be a shrewd investment as the value of NBA franchises surged over the last decade.

As of March 2015, Jordan was worth $1 billion, which rose to $1.8 billion by March 2019, per Forbes. He continued trending up to his high of $2.1 billion in April 2020 before taking losses the past year.

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Michael Jordan’s net worth down $500 million in the last year: reporton March 24, 2021 at 9:22 pm Read More »

US Senate confirms transgender doctor for key poston March 24, 2021 at 9:45 pm

Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be the nation’s assistant secretary of health. She is the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation.

The final vote was 52-48.

Levine had been serving as Pennsylvania’s top health official since 2017, and emerged as the public face of the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. She is expected to oversee Health and Human Services offices and programs across the U.S.

President Joe Biden cited Levine’s experience when he nominated her in January.

Levine “will bring the steady leadership and essential expertise we need to get people through this pandemic — no matter their zip code, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability,” Biden said.

Transgender-rights activists have hailed Levine’s appointment as a historic breakthrough. Few trans people have ever held high-level offices at the federal or state level.

However, the confirmation vote came at a challenging moment for the transgender-rights movement as legislatures across the U.S. — primarily those under Republican control — are considering an unprecedented wave of bills targeting trans young people.

One type of bill, introduced in at least 25 states, seeks to ban trans girls and young women from participating in female scholastic sports.

One such measure already has been signed into law by Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, and similar measures have been sent to the governors in Tennessee, Arkansas and South Dakota.

Another variety of bill, introduced in at least 17 states, seeks to outlaw or restrict certain types of medical care for transgender youths. None of these measures has yet won final approval.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., confronted Levine about medical treatments for transgender young people — include hormone treatment and puberty blockers — during her confirmation hearing Feb. 25.

“Do you believe that minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing one’s sex?” Paul asked.

Levine replied that transgender medicine “is a very complex and nuanced field with robust research and standards of care” and said she would welcome discussing the issues with him.

In the past, Levine has asserted that hormone therapy and puberty-blocking drugs can be valuable medical tools in sparing some transgender youth from mental distress and possible suicide risk.

A pediatrician and former Pennsylvania physician general, Levine was appointed as Pennsylvania’s health secretary by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in 2017. She won confirmation by the Republican-majority Pennsylvania Senate.

However, Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, voted against Levine’s confirmation Wednesday.

“In Pennsylvania, the pandemic struck seniors in nursing homes disproportionately hard compared to other states,” Toomey said. “This was due in part to poor decisions and oversight by Dr. Levine and the Wolf administration.”

He also said an extended lockdown advocated by Levine “was excessive, arbitrary in nature, and has led to a slower recovery.”

A graduate of Harvard and of Tulane Medical School, Levine is president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. She’s written in the past on the opioid crisis, medical marijuana, adolescent medicine, eating disorders and LGBTQ medicine.

Praise for her accomplishments and her handling of the pandemic have coincided with a steady stream of vitriol directed at at her on social media.

As reported Tuesday by the Associated Press, Levine was among the targets of a private Facebook group called the Pittsburgh Area Police Breakroom whose participants included many current and retired police officers.

Dozens of group members fueled days of transphobic posts about Levine for her role in statewide social-distancing mandates to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“Someone needs to shoot this thing!!” one retired officer wrote.

In January, a Pennsylvania legislator shared on Facebook an image mocking Levine’s appearance, then offered a general apology.

State Rep. Jeff Pyle, a Republican, said on Facebook that he “had no idea” the post mocking Levine “would be … received as poorly as it was” but that “tens of thousands of heated emails assured me it was.”

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US Senate confirms transgender doctor for key poston March 24, 2021 at 9:45 pm Read More »

Women’s soccer stars join Biden to promote closing pay gapon March 24, 2021 at 9:23 pm

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is making the case Wednesday that the pay disparity between men and women has hurt the economy, bringing members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team to the White House to help set new goals for equality.

Wednesday marked “Equal Pay Day” — which is how far into the year women must work on average to make up the pay disparity between what men and women earned the prior year. The Census Bureau estimates that a woman working full-time would earn about 82 cents for each dollar paid to a man.

Biden and his wife, Jill, will host a roundtable with Margaret Purce and Megan Rapinoe of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, which most recently won the World’s Cup in 2019 and has challenged the U.S. Soccer Federation over wage discrimination.

“It’s really amazing,” Rapinoe said ahead of the meeting. “Both of us feel honored to even be invited and continue the fight that we’ve had for a long time.”

The pay gap impacts the entire economy in ways that exacerbate other issues such as racial inequality. The National Women’s Law Center found that Black women earn just 63 cents for a dollar paid to a non-Hispanic white man, while Hispanic women make only 55 cents. That difference translates into a loss of roughly $1 million in income over a lifetime.

“These aren’t simply women’s issues,” Cecilia Rouse, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said at Wednesday’s press briefing. “They affect all families, the ability of our economy to recover, and our nation’s competitiveness.”

The Biden administration is pushing several policies to help narrow the gap. It backs the Paycheck Fairness Protection Act, which would enhance a 1963 law by improving employer’s transparency on wages, require employers to show that any discrepancies are because of job qualifications and prevent employers from retaliating against workers who express concerns about pay disparities.

The administration also supports paid family leave and greater access to child care. A February research paper from the San Francisco Federal Reserve found that the pandemic caused mothers to disproportionately leave the job market, as many lacked in-class school and child care options. The paper noted that a flexible work schedule would likely make life easier for mothers with jobs.

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Women’s soccer stars join Biden to promote closing pay gapon March 24, 2021 at 9:23 pm Read More »

I know one thing I don’t want back: Handshakeson March 24, 2021 at 9:00 pm

Margaret Serious

I know one thing I don’t want back: Handshakes

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I know one thing I don’t want back: Handshakeson March 24, 2021 at 9:00 pm Read More »

How do we love Loyola basketball? Let us count the ways.on March 24, 2021 at 8:03 pm

I’ve been trying to figure out what’s so pleasing about watching Loyola play basketball. It’s not the underdog, Cinderella thing. We’re done with that. Anyone who doesn’t think the Ramblers have a chance of beating whomever they face in the NCAA Tournament hasn’t been paying attention. Hasn’t been paying attention since 2018, when the team went to the Final Four.

So what is it? It’s not that the Ramblers play the “right way,” whatever that is. It’s that they play a good way. A fun way. A together way. A for-each-other way. It’s why No. 8-seeded Loyola has a good chance of beating 12th-seeded Oregon State on Saturday and advancing to the Elite Eight. And a good chance of more going forward.

Every Rambler handles the ball well. Every Rambler passes well. As a team, Loyola almost always takes good shots. There’s a selflessness there that all basketball coaches want, badly, but no matter how much breath they devote to the topic, it has to come from the players. You have to want to play for the other guys, not yourself. That’s where recruiting comes in. Get enough players with enough talent who understand the team concept, and a basketball season becomes a season of sharing. Older players show freshmen the way, and the kids follow. Suddenly, it’s not just about winning. It’s about how you win.

Loyola knows that it has to play the way it does in order to win. If other teams had that sense of self, they might still be alive in the tournament. Is that a function of the Ramblers’ not having any real stars, no certain NBA draft picks? Possibly. I watched LSU try to beat Michigan with two gifted players, Cameron Thomas and Javonte Smart, taking turns throwing up shots. It didn’t work, and the Wolverines advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. You could tell that that LSU’s players had no idea this approach wasn’t conducive to winning against a strong team.

Loyola’s second-round game against No. 1 seed Illinois on Sunday was beautiful, as long as you weren’t an Illini fan. Illinois had more talent, but the Ramblers had more smarts. It was hard to shake the idea that the Ramblers would be the smarter team on any given day and that, if there were a 10-game Illinois-Loyola series, Loyola would win at least six. That’s how together the Ramblers were, and that’s how confident they looked.

Is that coaching? Maybe, but it’s hard to believe that the Illini’s Brad Underwood doesn’t know what it takes to win. At some point, it’s on players for not absorbing what their coaches are teaching.

For Loyola, it’s knowing who and what you are. But let’s not beat the basketball IQ angle into the ground. It’s about having talent, too.

Yeah, I get it: 6-foot-9, 255-pound Cameron Krutwig defies basketball logic. Basketball logic dictates that good players jump high and run fast. Krutwig does neither. He runs like Fred Flintstone driving his footmobile. But he understands position. He understands how to block out and how to get his shot. His footwork near the basket is exquisite. Footwork is athleticism, too, folks. Or at least it’s the intersection of athleticism and lots and lots of work.

CBS’ Bill Raftery has taken a deep liking to Krutwig, which is good. You wondered if Raf would ever quit Tyler Hansbrough.

Senior Lucas Williamson is a great defender who can score. Point guard Braden Norris takes care of the ball as if it were chained to his wrist. Raftery likes to tell us that Norris, a transfer from Oakland (Mich.), is a “coach’s son,” which means he’s a “gym rat,” which means “he’s the first one to arrive for practice and the last to leave,” which means he should never miss a free throw, but I’ve seen him miss a few, so now I’m questioning everything in my life. Sophomore Marquise Kennedy is smooth.

Talent? Yes. But stars? No. Krutwig leads the team in scoring with 15 a game, followed by Williamson (8.8) and Norris (8.4). Not exactly Harden, Durant and Irving.

Porter Moser has done an excellent job of finding players who fit his vision of what a team should be and then coaching them to the point where they know what he wants at all times. It’s why the Ramblers led the nation in points allowed this season. Gentle reminder: Athleticism plays a big part in defense, too. All of this is why Moser likely will have a chance to go somewhere bigger with better pay if that’s what he wants. Is it? That’s a decision for whenever the latest crazy ride ends.

And then there’s 101-year-old Sister Jean. There is no such thing as too much Sister Jean because it’s not her fault the networks show her 20 times a game and because … who can be against goodness? If the Ramblers win Saturday, I fully expect to see feature stories about the optician who fits her with eyewear and the science behind the rubber on her wheelchair’s wheels. That’s how big she’s become.

The Ramblers are a good story. More than that, though, they’re a good team. I believe opponents have taken notice.

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How do we love Loyola basketball? Let us count the ways.on March 24, 2021 at 8:03 pm Read More »

Tina Turner HBO doc is her ‘farewell’ to fans, husband sayson March 24, 2021 at 8:02 pm

There’s a reason they call her the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

With her signature sequins, voluminous hair and throaty growl, Tina Turner became an unlikely rock icon at age 44 when she released “Private Dancer,” her 1984 solo breakthrough. Featuring hits “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” the exhilarating album was a stark departure from her work in the ’60s and ’70s as one half of Ike and Tina Turner, her R&B duo with ex-husband/music partner Ike Turner.

“Tina,” premiering at 7 p.m. Saturday on HBO and HBO Max, charts her rise to fame, as well as her triumphant liberation from the abusive Ike, whom she divorced in 1978 after 16 years of marriage. The documentary also poignantly reminds viewers why Tina, nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, deserves to be an inducted as a solo artist, having already been welcomed into the Hall in 1991 as a member of Ike and Tina Turner.

This image released by HBO shows Tina Turner in a scene from the documentary “Tina.” “I was living a life of death,” Turner says in the film, when describing her marriage to Ike Turner.
AP

“So much of her journey is a pursuit of her own identity and her own voice. There’s an overarching theme of ownership in the entire film,” co-director T.J. Martin says. “It’s embarrassing that she’s not inducted as a solo artist. And after you know her story, it’s even more weird. Also, just in music terms, she’s infinitely more successful as a solo artist than she and Ike ever were. So it’s mind-boggling to not at least give her the recognition of what she achieved on her own.”

‘She was literally just surviving’ during marriage to Ike Turner

Through new and old interviews with Tina, now 81, the documentary shows Ike’s brutal control over her personal and professional life, right down to her very name. (She was born Anna Mae Bullock, but he gave her the stage name Tina without her knowledge.) She describes how he’d beat her before having sex — sometimes with a coat hanger or shoe stretcher — and then force her to go out on stage and perform.

“I was living a life of death,” Tina says in the film. She attempted suicide in 1968 and eventually left Ike in 1976, after fighting back when he struck her.

She told People magazine about the abuse in 1981, in hopes of moving past it. But even as she shot to superstardom, Tina was relentlessly bombarded with questions about Ike from the media. (One journalist went so far as to ask, “When you were married to Ike, what was the absolute worst moment?”) She tried to give the final word on the subject in her 1986 memoir: “I, Tina: My Life Story,” but that only stoked interest.

Speaking to co-writer Kurt Loder for her autobiography, the singer heartbreakingly admitted, “It wasn’t a good life. The good did not balance the bad.”

There’s value “in people coming forward with their truth, to not only shine a light on certain aspects of our society, but also to help other survivors,” co-director Dan Lindsay says. “But the other side of that, and the kind of paradox, is that by asking people who suffered this trauma to talk about it, you are inevitably retraumatizing them in some shape or form.”

Wanting to be sensitive to her trauma, the directors relied heavily on archival footage and audio of Tina discussing Ike, who died in 2007.

Sitting down with her for the documentary, “we didn’t want to drag her back into the muck of her past,” Martin says. Although she’s a trailblazer in speaking out about domestic violence, “Tina’s not an activist – that’s just not her personality type. She was literally just surviving, and as a result, made all these heroic actions for the benefit of her own health that we all admired. And that obviously became the story of Tina Turner.”

This film is her farewell to fans

The documentary — coupled with bio-musical “Tina,” which opened on Broadway in 2019 before the COVID-19 shutdown — is essentially her “goodbye” to her American fans, Tina’s husband Erwin Bach says in the film.

The eight-time Grammy winner released her final studio album, “Twenty Four Seven,” in 1999 and wrapped her 50th anniversary farewell tour in 2009. She now lives in Switzerland with Bach, whom she married in 2013 after a 27-year courtship.

Lindsay believes that “Tina is sitting in a really positive place right now. I think that’s partly what drives her desire to just not engage with the public as much anymore. She’s happy, she’s content — she’s not somebody who needs to be a star and have attention.”

Read more at usatoday.com

If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) any time of day or night or chat online.

If you or someone you know has been a target of domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 any time day or night, or chat online.

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Tina Turner HBO doc is her ‘farewell’ to fans, husband sayson March 24, 2021 at 8:02 pm Read More »

Man dies in Gresham drive-by shooting: policeon March 24, 2021 at 8:41 pm

A 31-year-old man was killed in a drive-by shooting Wednesday in Gresham on the South Side.

About 1:25 p.m., he was standing in an alley in the 8400 block of South Morgan Street when a light-colored vehicle pulled up and someone from inside fired shots, Chicago police said.

The man suffered several gunshot wounds to his body and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

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

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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Man dies in Gresham drive-by shooting: policeon March 24, 2021 at 8:41 pm Read More »

NASCAR to feature Chicago street course in 2021 virtual racing serieson March 24, 2021 at 8:15 pm

In NASCAR Cup Series’ 73 years it has never had its drivers compete on a street course but, like many things in our post-pandemic world, that is about to change.

Or at least it will virtually.

NASCAR announced Wednesday its Cup Series drivers will race through the streets of Chicago for its 2021 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series — a virtual racing exhibition featuring the sport’s most high-profiled drivers.

These drivers will speed through city streets passing by iconic architecture and driving on Lake Shore Drive past Buckingham Fountain and Grant Park.

The race course is possible through a partnership with the city and iRacing, which scanned real streets and avenues to develop the virtual course.

iRacing is the leading virtual racing platform that offers open practice, head-to-head racing, team racing and other competitions. The racing portal designs “officially sanctioned” racing circuits from around the world and replica race cars.

The partnership between NASCAR and iRacing was formed last year after the coronavirus pandemic shut down racing circuits across the country. The two organizations created the Pro Invitational Series.

Last year’s series, broadcasted on FOX and FS1, were ranked as the highest-rated esports TV programs that garnered 6.8 million unique viewers.

NASCAR said that while it won’t race at Chicagoland Speedway in 2021, “running through the heart of Chicago demonstrates the sport’s commitment to engaging fans across the region.”

Once iRacing has completed building Chicago’s new virtual race course it will make it available to customers to test their driving skills.

The Pro Invitational Series will kick off its 2021 season at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Virtual Bristol Dirt on FS1 and the FOX Sports app. The season comprises 10 races.

The series will feature 36 NASCAR Cup Series drivers including Dale Earnhardt Jr. with FOX having the discretion to add up to four additional drivers. The drivers participating in the virtual series have not yet been announced.

FS1 will air the first five races at Bristol, Talladega Superspeedway, Darlington Raceway, Circuit of the Americas and the new Chicago Street Course.

NBC Sports will broadcast the second half of the season with locations to be announced at a later time.

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NASCAR to feature Chicago street course in 2021 virtual racing serieson March 24, 2021 at 8:15 pm Read More »

Software lets compulsive gamblers block themselves from betting siteson March 24, 2021 at 7:07 pm

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Some sports betting companies are offering tools that allow compulsive gamblers to block themselves from most online sites.

Unibet last week announced it was making software from U.K.-based Gamban available to customers in the U.S. The tools allow customers to in effect ban themselves from gambling sites across multiple devices.

On Wednesday, FanDuel did so, as well. The software blocks thousands of licensed and unlicensed gambling sites and is constantly updated to add new ones as they appear.

“Educating customers about the importance of gambling responsibly and within limits is a business imperative and ethically the right thing to do,” said Carolyn Renzin, chief risk and compliance officer with FanDuel Group. “Offering Gamban’s software to those customers signaling they need help adds another layer of protection for our customers, our program, and to the industry.”

“This is a massive moment for the industry and one we’ve been pushing to achieve since the launch of Gamban,” added Jack Symons, Gamban’s co-founder. “As the largest real-money gaming provider in the United States, FanDuel Group is making a statement of intent and throwing down the gauntlet to operators across the industry to offer self-exclusion support for their vulnerable customers.”

Most licensed sports betting and online casino companies already offer ways for compulsive gamblers to either pause or halt their behavior, including “cool-down” periods in which customers can have their accounts suspended for a length of time.

And states including New Jersey offer state-administered self-exclusion lists where gamblers can prohibit themselves from gambling for differing periods, or permanently. While they are on the list, casinos and sports books cannot accept bets from them or send them marketing materials enticing them to gamble.

Unibet’s parent company, Kindred Group said last week that its provision of blocking software to its customers is “an important step for the industry.”

Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, praised the companies’ moves.

“We strongly support the ability of gamblers to self-exclude through both the operator and on their own personal devices,” he said. “Self-exclusion is one part of what should be a comprehensive network of problem gambling prevention, education, treatment, enforcement, research and recovery services in every state.”

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Software lets compulsive gamblers block themselves from betting siteson March 24, 2021 at 7:07 pm Read More »

White Sox closer Liam Hendriks dealing with kidney stoneson March 24, 2021 at 7:14 pm

GLENDALE, Ariz. — White Sox closer Liam Hendriks hasn’t pitched in a week while dealing with a kidney stone issue, but manager Tony La Russa said the hope is to get Hendriks in a Cactus League game in the upcoming final weekend of the spring and be ready by Opening Day on April 1.

“He’s having some pains, looks like a kidney stone, maybe a couple,” La Russa said. “They think it’s close to passing.”

Hendriks threw a bullpen Wednesday. His last appearance in a game was last Wednesday.

“I know from people who’ve had it it’s a very uncomfortable, painful thing to go through,” La Russa said. “It’s a good test of his toughness, but he’s passing it.”

La Russa said there is a good chance Hendriks pitches this weekend.

“If he can make a couple or three appearances … he’s in good shape and he’s experienced,” La Russa said. “If that’s the case, without a setback he’ll be ready.”

Hendriks, the 2020 Reliever of the Year, was signed to a $54 million, four-year contract in the offseason, giving the Sox what shapes up as one of the best bullpens in baseball.

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White Sox closer Liam Hendriks dealing with kidney stoneson March 24, 2021 at 7:14 pm Read More »