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Chicago Bears News: Team sends contingency to Alabama Pro Day by Jordan Campbell

The Chicago Blackhawks began the night with a bit of celebration. They didn’t play that well on their road trip but Patrick Kane played in his 1000th career game during it. They came home and honored him with a little bit of a ceremony. Because of COVID-19 protocol, the Florida Panthers were not allowed to come out during the ceremony but Joel Quenneville came out to see it. It was really nice to see as the team honored one of its all-time greatest players.

The Chicago Blackhawks knew that Tuesday’s game was a must-win contest.

The Hawks caught a little bit of a break before the game started as Florida’s best player, Aleksander Barkov, left warmups with an injury. They knew they needed to take advantage of one of the best two-way players in the National Hockey League not playing.

Things were going well for them when they were winning 3-0. Goals from Dominik Kubalik, Pius Suter, and Carl Soderberg got them there. Patrick Kane had a lot to do with it in his big game as well as he collected two assists. When you are up by a few goals against the Panthers, however, you can’t feel too comfortable. They are one of the best teams in the NHL at coming back.

They showed why as they scored two to make things very interesting. Joel Quenneville made the bold move of pulling his goalie when his team earned a power play with five minutes left. They scored so it worked out but they were never able to tie it after that.

Kevin Lankinen was the first star of the game and he deserved it. He made big saves late to keep Florida from getting that third goal. The team played well in front of him for the most part during the entire game but he did need to make some big saves. It was a tough stretch for him on the road but he looked sharp against this very good Florida team.

Related Story: The Chicago Blackhawks could make a big trade with Anaheim

It was a much-needed win for the Blackhawks. The road trip woes ruined the big gap they had on the playoff spot. They even fell below it for a second there. The Columbus Blue Jackets were shutout on Monday so the Hawks took back that spot and have a 35-33 points lead over them. Now, this big homestand continues with another game against the Panthers on Thursday night. It is going to be another important game as these home points mean a whole lot

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A 24-year-old man has been charged with a carjacking in December in West Garfield Park on the West Side.

Drew Hill, of Lawndale, was charged with two felony counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm, Chicago police said.

Hill was arrested Monday after police identified him as the person who allegedly carjacked two people, a 35-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man, Dec. 5, 2020, in the first block of North Kilbourn Avenue, police said.

He is due in bond court Wednesday.

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Chicago Bulls: Three trades to consider before the trade deadline by Ryan Taylor

The Chicago Bears were present at the University of Alabama’s Pro Day on Tuesday that featured one of top quarterback prospects of the 2021 NFL Draft in the form Mac Jones.

It is no secret that the quarterback position has been the priority for the Chicago Bears this off-season. The Bears have been linked to laundry list of potentially available quarterbacks this off-season that included Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson, Houston Texans’ quarterback Deshaun Watson; Jameis Winston before he signed with the New Orleans Saints; Ryan Fitzpatrick before he signed with the Washington Football Team; and Carson Wentz before he was traded by the Philadelphia Eagles to the Indianapolis Colts.

The quarterback that the Bears were closest to acquiring may have been Wilson. Reports had the Bears’ offer to the Seahawks for Wilson including three first round draft picks, a second round draft pick and at least two starting defensive players. The Seahawks ultimately decided that they are not ready to trade Wilson and the Bears moved quickly to sign free agent quarterback Andy Dalton.

Dalton met with reporters last week and mentioned that one of the reasons why he preferred the Bears over any other team in free agency is because of having the opportunity to start. Not only did the Bears offer Dalton with the opportunity to start, the former Dallas Cowboys’ and Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback confirmed with reporters that the Bears provided him with the assurance that he would be the starting quarterback for the team. Dalton also acknowledged the possibility that the Bears could select a rookie quarterback during the early portions of the 2021 NFL Draft.

If the Bears are going to target the quarterback position in the first round of the 2021, Jones would be an ideal target as he is expected to be the fifth quarterback taken after Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Josh Fields, and Trey Lance. All five quarterbacks are projected to be selected in the first round.

The Bears continued their homework on the 2021 quarterback prospects as they had contingency present to watch Jones during Alabama’s Pro Day on Tuesday.

#Bears OC Bill Lazor, passing game coordinator/QB coach John DeFilippo & area scout Sam Summerville were at the Alabama pro day today where QB Mac Jones was on display.

— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) March 23, 2021

The fact that both Lazor and DeFilippo were present is a sign that the Bears, at the very least, are doing their due diligence on Jones. Of the five quarterbacks that are projected to be selected in the first round, Jones is the most likely to be available for the Bears at 20. Though, it is possible that the Bears would need to trade into the top 15 to avoid Jones being selected by a team like the New England Patriots.

While Jones does not have the same athletic ability as the other quarterback prospects mentioned, he does have the accuracy and pedigree to be a franchise quarterback in the NFL. During his Pro Day on Tuesday, Jones also proved he has the arm strength.

Mac Jones showing off at Alabama’s Pro Day ?

Where will he land in the Draft? ?
pic.twitter.com/hv85JSKLRu

— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) March 23, 2021

One thing is clear, the Bears have to do whatever it takes to select one of the top five quarterback prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft. Waiting until the 2022 NFL Draft should not be an option for the Bears considering that class is projected far less talented than this current crop.

What the Bears could be attempting to do with their 2021 quarterback room is the same thing that the Kansas City Chiefs did with their quarterback room in 2017. Have a veteran in place as the starter that performs at a consistent level while having the first round rookie quarterback taking a year to adapt to the NFL lifestyle. The Bears, of course, had that plan in 2017 until veteran quarterback Mike Glennon struggled so significantly that he was replaced by Mitchell Trubisky in Week 4 of that season.

Next: Late round quarterback options in 2021 NFL Draft

One final thing to note for a team like the Chicago Bears is that, unlike previous years, the Pro Days this year due hold some significance. There was no scouting combine for prospects this year. Meaning, Pro Days are one of the few opportunities where teams can not only meet with prospects but request certain plays during their workouts

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Smelt netting will be back in Chicago on April 1, as usual.

That’s the good news after smelting was prohibited in 2020 by pandemic precautions.

While the Chicago lakefront tradition will go on this year, the prospects for actually netting any smelt remain very iffy.

“There does not appear to be any major changes in rainbow smelt density since 2019,” emailed Ralph Tingley, research fisheries biologist at the Great Lakes Science Center. “Smelt densities still remain very low in our surveys, and we did not catch any yearling and older smelt in this year’s bottom trawl. While we did catch a few age-0 smelt, our results indicate that this is the second weak year class in a row for Lake Michigan.”

Chuck Madenjian, also a fisheries biologist at GLSC, put the decline in a historical context, “According to our bottom trawl time series, rainbow smelt abundance showed a big drop in abundance during 1993-2001. But, it is difficult to explain this trend. Predation on rainbow smelt was higher in the 1980s, according to the predation models, yet the big drop occurred in the 1990s. We don’t think that predation is the main driver of rainbow smelt population dynamics in Lake Michigan, although it may contribute somewhat to the trends. In contrast, predation explains the trends in alewife abundance in Lake Michigan very well.”

The non-native rainbow smelt reached Lake Michigan via an introduction of smelt eggs into Michigan’s Crystal Lake in 1912.

As to why the decline, Tingley emailed, “Smelt densities have been relatively low in Lake Michigan since 1994, but the reason they have declined is unclear. It doesn’t appear that declines in smelt were driven by predation by salmon and trout. Oddly enough, it seems like there are more young fish produced relative to the number of spawners since the ’80s and ’90s. It doesn’t seem like those yearling fish are surviving well and getting into the adult population.”

Dale Bowman

Rumors have flown for years about smelt coming back up north. Netters clutch that by-gone dream of nets so full they were hard to lift and white five-gallon buckets overflowing. Back to reality.

“Some folks believe that rainbow smelt abundance in the northern part of Lake Michigan has been increasing during the past several years, but our bottom trawl survey results do not indicate this,” Madenjian emailed.

Illinois Department of Natural Resources regulations are unchanged. The season runs through April 30.

Chicago Park District regulations remain the same–nets may go in at 7 p.m., must be out of the parks by 1 a.m., no open fires, no closed tents, no parking on grass or sidewalks, dispose of coals in appropriate trash receptacles–with added COVID precautions such as social distancing this year. The park district’s informational card is available from Henry’s Sports and Bait, Park Bait and park district security.

MONTROSE

Thousands signed Chicago Area Runners Association’s petition at change.org in opposition to parking meters Montrose Harbor, the lakefront’s most popular and diversely used area. Click here for the petition.

KINGLY

Ron Wozny dug up a Tribune article by Tom McNally that had Illinois’ Chinook record in 1972 as 32 pounds, caught by Ron Hagen. Whether that was the record prior to the current one (37 pounds), caught by Marge Landeen on Aug. 7, 1976, is unknown.

LAGOONS?

No bids came for the request from the IDNR for bluegill and catfish stocking, so stockings of the Chicago lagoons look iffy at best.

WILD THINGS

Woodcocks peenting, sandhill cranes krooing, rabbits doing what rabbits do and a cougar rumor floating, what a time to be alive.

ILLINOIS HUNTING

First of the two statewide youth turkey seasons is this weekend.

STRAY CAST

Charles Barkley prattling about college basketball is like an instructor teaching flipping and pitching with a spincast.

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Five people were shot, one of them fatally, Tuesday in Chicago including a man who died after a hit-and-run crash in Lawndale who also had a gunshot wound to his head, according to police.

The man, between 25 and 35 years old, was struck by a driver who continued without stopping, Chicago police said. The crash happened about 3:40 a.m. in the 3700 block of West Douglas Boulevard. The man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he later died. A doctor told police that the man had a gunshot wound to his head, according to police spokeswoman Karie James. Police had not yet found surveillance video of the incident, but said they were conducting a homicide investigation.

In non-fatal shootings, a 21-year-old man was wounded in a drive-by in Chatham on the South Side. About 11:35 p.m., he was walking in the 8000 block of South Drexel Avenue, when a white sedan pulled up carrying two males, and someone inside opened fire, police said. He was struck in the foot and brought to Jackson Park Hospital in good condition, police said.

A man was wounded in a shooting on the South Side. The 43-year-old was sitting in a parked vehicle about 9:50 p.m. in the 3100 block of South Prairie Avenue when several people approached and someone unleashed gunfire, police said. The man was struck in the leg and in the shoulder. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in serious condition.

A woman was shot in Lawndale on the West Side. The shooting happened about 6 p.m. in the 800 block of South Karlov Avenue, according to police. The woman suffered a gunshot wound to the left leg and a graze wound to the forehead. She was listed in good condition and remained at the scene.

In the day’s first reported shooting, an 18-year-old man was shot in Lawndale on the West Side. The man was shot in the upper right arm about 1:50 p.m. in the 1900 block of South Trumbull Avenue, police said. He was transported to Mt. Sinai Hospital in good condition.

Fifteen people were shot, three fatally, citywide Monday.

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

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Moon Alert

There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Leo.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

In one way, this is a positive day for you because the moon is in your fellow fire sign. This is a supportive influence for you, especially emotionally speaking. However, you might encounter difficulty with an older friend or surprises about money and possessions. Be alert!

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

A conversation with a parent or relative, or, perhaps, a boss might be challenging this morning. (Arrrg.) This could be because something unexpected is affecting your home routine. (Small appliances might break down or something unusual might occur.) Keep your cool.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Be careful because this is a mildly accident-prone day for you. You might also find yourself at odds with someone, especially if you get involved in discussions about race, politics or religion. (Don’t even go there.) Basically, relations with friends and groups are positive now. Stick with what works.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Something to do with money or your possessions might give you concern this morning. It could relate to duties and obligations regarding shared property, taxes and debt. A friend might also surprise you with information out of the blue. Steady as she goes.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

You might have a strong reaction to things because the moon is in your sign. Perhaps you will encounter some opposition from a partner or close friends, especially someone older or in a position of authority. Even if you feel rebellious, remember: What’s your long-term objective?

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Play things low-key. Don’t make a big deal about anything. Expect a few surprises, especially to travel plans or something to do with medicine, the law and higher education. Give yourself extra time so that you can navigate something unexpected.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

You might be involved with increased responsibilities with children today. Social plans might also make demands on you. Meanwhile, relations with a friend or a group might meet with a few hiccups if funding for something is suddenly canceled. It’s a tricky day.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Relations with parents, bosses and VIPs and the police will be strained today. You might feel restricted by rules and regulations. You might also be caught off guard by something unexpected related to friends or your partner or spouse. Think before you act.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

This is a mildly accident-prone day so pay attention to everything you say and do. Something in the media might also surprise you. Continue to be patient with those who are closest to you. Look for a possible fun release with social diversions, romantic partners and kids.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Something to do with shared property, inheritances, taxes or debt seems to be up for grabs today. A few zingers might come your way. (Stay alert!) Plans to entertain or redecorate your home might be held up because of financial glitches. It was ever thus.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

No matter what happens today, you have to go along with the wishes of others. This might involve duties and obligations that were unexpected. Fortunately, with the placement of the sun and Venus, you can talk your way in and out of anything. And of course, you can always rally your adoring peanut gallery!

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

Something related to your health, your pet or your job seems to be a bit onerous or restrictive today. You have no choice but to accept the situation. In part, it might come as a surprise because it is unexpected. Something out of the blue! (“Who was that masked man?”)

If Your Birthday Is Today

Actress Jessica Chastain (1977) shares your birthday. You are idealistic and truthful. You have excellent instincts and know how to read people. You are a loving and caring individual. Exciting changes and opportunities await you this year. Count on new adventures! If you can, explore opportunities to travel. Do whatever you can to expand your world through learning. Welcome change! Your personal freedom is your goal this year.

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LOS ANGELES — George Segal, the banjo player turned actor who was nominated for an Oscar for 1966’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and worked into his late 80s on the ABC sitcom “The Goldbergs,” died Tuesday in Santa Rosa, California, his wife said.

“The family is devastated to announce that this morning George Segal passed away due to complications from bypass surgery,” Sonia Segal said in a statement. He was 87.

George Segal was always best known as a comic actor, becoming one of the screen’s biggest stars in the 1970s when lighthearted adult comedies thrived.

But his most famous role was in a harrowing drama, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” based on Edward Albee’s acclaimed play.

He was the last surviving credited member of the tiny cast, all four of whom were nominated for Academy Awards: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton for starring roles, Sandy Dennis and Segal for supporting performances. The women won Oscars, the men did not.

To younger audiences, he was better known for playing magazine publisher Jack Gallo on the long-running NBC series “Just Shoot Me” from 1997 to 2003, and as grandfather Albert “Pops” Solomon on the “The Goldbergs” since 2013.

“Today we lost a legend. It was a true honor being a small part of George Segal’s amazing legacy,” said “Goldbergs” creator Adam Goldberg, who based the show on his 1980s childhood. “By pure fate, I ended up casting the perfect person to play Pops. Just like my grandfather, George was a kid at heart with a magical spark.”

Deadline.com said Segal will appear April 7 on his final episode of “The Goldbergs.”

Avco Embassy Pictures

In his Hollywood prime, he played a stuffy intellectual opposite Barbra Streisand’s freewheeling prostitute in 1970’s “The Owl and the Pussycat,” a cheating husband opposite Glenda Jackson in 1973’s “A Touch of Class,” a hopeless gambler opposite Elliot Gould in director Robert Altman’s 1974 “California Split” and a bank-robbing suburbanite opposite Jane Fonda in 1977’s “Fun with Dick and Jane.”

Segal’s profile rose steadily after his first movie, 1961’s “The Young Doctors” in which he had ninth billing. His first starring performance came in “King Rat” as a nefarious inmate at a Japanese prison camp during World War II.

In “Virginia Woolf,” he played Nick, one half of a young couple invited over for drinks and to witness the bitterness and frustration of a middle-aged couple.

Director Mike Nichols needed someone who would get the approval of star Elizabeth Taylor, and turned to Segal when Robert Redford turned him down.

According to Nichols biographer Mark Harris, the director said Segal was “close enough to the young god he needed to be for Elizabeth, and witty enough and funny enough to deal with all that humiliation.”

Warner Bros.

He rode the film to a long run of stardom. Then in the late 1970s, “Jaws” and other action films changed the nature of Hollywood movies, and the light comedies that Segal excelled in became passe.

“Then I got a little older,” he said in a 1998 interview. “I started playing urban father roles. And that guy sort of turned into Chevy Chase, and after that there was really no place to go.”

Except for the 1989 hit “Look Who’s Talking,” Segal’s films in the 1980s and 1990s were lackluster. He turned to television and starred in two failed series: “Take Five” and “Murphy’s Law.”

Then he found success in 1997 with the David Spade sitcom “Just Shoot Me” in which he played Gallo, who despite his gruff manner hires his daughter (Laura San Giacomo) and keeps Spade’s worthless office-boy character on his payroll simply out of a sense of affection for both.

NBC

Series co-star Brian Posehn was one of many paying Segal tribute Tuesday night.

“I grew up watching him, total old school charm, effortless comedic timing,” Posehn said. “Doing scenes with him was one of the highlights of my life, but getting to know him a little and making the legend laugh was even cooler.”

Throughout his long acting career, Segal played the banjo for fun, becoming quite accomplished on the instrument he had first picked up as a boy. He performed with his own Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band.

Born in 1934 in Great Neck, New York, the third son of a malt and hops dealer, Segal began entertaining at the age of 8, performing magic tricks for neighborhood children.

He attended a Quaker boarding school in Pennsylvania and as an undergraduate at Columbia University organized “Bruno Linch and His Imperial Band,” for which he also played banjo.

After graduating Segal worked non-salary at the New York theater Circle in the Square, doing everything from ticket taking to understudy acting. He studied drama with Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen, and made his first professional acting appearance off-Broadway in Moliere’s “Don Juan.” It lasted one night.

After a stint on Broadway in Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh,” he was drafted into the Army. Discharged in 1957, he returned to the stage and would begin getting small film roles.

In 1956 Segal married television story editor Marion Sobel and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Polly, before divorcing in 1981.

He married his second wife, Linda Rogoff, in London in 1982 and was devastated when she died of a stomach disease 14 years later.

“It was a time when I said, `It’s not adding up; I don’t get it anymore,’ ” he recalled to an interviewer in 1999. “With Linda dying, I lost interest in everything. I worked just to make a living. Acting, like life, became a joyless job.”

Eventually he reconnected with Sonia Schultz Greenbaum, who had been his girlfriend in high school some 45 years earlier. They talked on the telephone, sometimes as long as six hours, and were married just a few months after reuniting.

“She helped me through the worst days of my life just listening to me unload,” Seagal said in 1999. “It was magic.”

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Grammy Award-winning singer B.J. Thomas revealed he is battling stage four lung cancer.

In a statement released Tuesday night, Thomas’ representatives said the pop-country-gospel artist is “receiving treatment in a local health care facility in Texas, and is hopeful for a complete recovery.”

“I just wanted to take this unique opportunity to share my gratitude to Gloria, my wonderful wife and my rock for over 53 years, my family, friends, and fans,” Thomas said in the statement. “I’m so blessed to have had the opportunity to record and perform beautiful songs in pop, country and gospel music, and to share those wonderful songs and memories around the world with millions of you. I ask all of you for your prayers during this time and that my music can live on with you.”

The singer is perhaps most known for the Oscar-winning hit “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” from the Robert Redford-Paul Newman 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” The single, penned by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, topped the Billboard charts for four weeks in 1970.

His greatest hits also include “Hooked on a Feeling,” “I Just Can’t Help Believing,” “Everybody’s Out of Town” and “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” among others.

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Mental health specialists at Cermak Health Services of Cook County, a county-operated hospital located at Cook County Jail, are threatening to strike next week and leave about 2,200 patients without care as a result of the hospital’s plans to implement random patient assignment rotations beginning April 1.

If SEIU Local 73 — the union representing the employees — can’t negotiate a solution in the next few days, about 64 mental health specialists say they’ll strike on or after March 31.

The union has sent the legally required five-day notice — which states workers’ intent to strike — to the Illinois Labor Relations Board and hospital management.

The mental health specialists weren’t taken into account when the hospital’s management made the decision to switch to the “musical chairs” rotation, according to SEIU Local 73 spokesman Eric Bailey.

The hospital’s management has said its decision is based on numerous academic studies that show rotations improve patient safety and employee complacency, but Bailey said it’s failed to provide this evidence.

“The patients they are serving … are very sensitive to these type of changes because they really have come from backgrounds where there is a lack of trust,” Bailey said. “These type of destructions in continuity of care can have a direct impact on the care that the mental health specialists are trying to provide for their patients.”

Representatives from Cook County Health didn’t respond to requests for comment from the Chicago Sun-Times. Cermak Health Services and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s office couldn’t be reached.

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Four choreographers use images by Chicago artist Sergio Gomez to create a series of dance films in Still Inspired (?).

A figure in black caresses a length of paper mounted on the wall with both hands. Two hands take sticks of charcoal to apply smoky curls, then lines that outline and defines first the frame of the page, then a life-size human figure.…Read More