Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen had some choice words to say regarding Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and he must be out of his mind.
The last few months have been tough for everyone, especially sports fans. With the sports world shut down for the most part, we haven’t had the usual events keeping us entertained. However, ESPN gave us the remedy: The Last Dance, a 10-part series documenting the final championship run for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
It wasn’t just Bulls fans. It wasn’t even sports fans in general. It was the world watching. This series was exactly what we needed right now, and gave us more than enough entertainment for five weeks.
Other than Jordan, Scottie Pippen was a focal point for much of the show. When the show was over, most folks would agree with his stance on how the organization treated him over the years. It wasn’t good.
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Pippen was maybe one of the most under-appreciated players of all-time, with general manager Jerry Krause never paying him what he deserved. Pippen continued to give it all (most of the time) for his teammates.
Just about a week after the series ended, ESPN came out with a video and quote back from January, where Pippen talked about the late Kobe Bryant. The highlighted quote hears Pippen say one startling piece of information in particular:
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“…when I go back and look at his videos, and I say to myself, ‘Damn, he was better than Michael Jordan…'”
It is a noteworthy statement indeed, because this quote happened before The Last Dance aired. Now, maybe Pippen got a chance to see it before its air date. In fact, there’s a good chance he did.
Word has it that Pippen has been upset with how he was portrayed in the series, but this type of quote is going too far. If he was and is still mad at the Bulls organization for how they treated him for so many years, there’s no reason to come out and say something this ludicrous.
First of all, I give all the respect in the world to Kobe. He is, in my mind, one of the top five players to ever play this game. But, to say Kobe was better than Jordan? That’s hysterical. There will never be another player greater than Jordan — and that’s never been a debate, as much as people want to create one.
Pippen is either still upset — which might never change — or he is simply delusional. I’m not so sure it isn’t a little of both, at this stage. But, the point is, Pippen is dead wrong. Period.
The ChicagoBears are a team that needs help. Their defense is great but if J.J. Watt wants to come to play here, it would be welcomed.
There is a quote going around about J.J. Watt that should catch the attention of all Chicago Bears fans right now. Apparently, he and his wife think that the city of Chicago is great and it’s food is awesome — and, he could see himself living there. He apparently also hinted at the idea of playing here alongside Khalil Mack on what would be one of the best defensive lines in the NFL.
With Mack, Akiem Hicks, and Robert Quinn, it is already one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL and one that should have the other NFC quarterbacks a bit concerned. Even with his injury history and the fact that he is a bit older, he would still be an extra threat on this line. He would make it a defensive line that can get to the quarterback better than any team in the NFL more than it already is.
Watt currently plays for the Houston Texans where he has been a five-time Pro Bowler and a multi-time defensive player of the year. There was a point where he was known as the best defensive player in the league and arguably the single best NFL player in the league. In his 112 game NFL career, he has 96 sacks, 373 tackles, and 23 forced fumbles.
The Texans are pretty bad at running their organization. Bill O’Brien has made some goofy trades that make the Texans not look very good. Just a short time ago, he essentially traded away D’Andre Hopkins for a second-round pick. A second is nice but Hopkins is one of the best receivers in the NFL so it isn’t the greatest trade of all time. Due to the fact that the culture is getting pretty lowly there, Watt might be able to be had for a cheap price. One of these three packages might get it done:
Mouse and Dusty are a pair of gentle, sweet, and loving six-year-old, black spotted white cat brothers with golden eyes looking for a loving guardian.
These adorable boys lost their home when a new baby in the home became allergic. They were in the same family since kittenhood. They love balls, wands with dangling feathers and playing with little mice. They are accustomed to living with people of all ages including a four-year-old child.
These boys have always lived indoors and enjoyed using a cardboard scratching post. They have excellent litter box habits and even shared one litter box that was cleaned at least once daily.
They love to rub against your legs and they purr and purr. They like to find fun hiding spots to nap in, but also like sunny spots on the window sills. Mouse, the one with the pink nose, is the more outgoing of the two-some … and Dusty, the one with the black nose, follows his lead.
Dusty and Mouse are extremely healthy, neutered, and vaccinated for rabies and distemper.
Their adoption fee as a pair of $250 benefits the rescued pets of Friends of Petraits Rescue including their carriers, litter box and favorite foods.
If you’re interested in meeting and possibly adopting these boys, please contact [email protected] for an adoption application.
They are currently being fostered in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.
It’s hard to believe but the coronavirus pandemic is only two months old. It seems longer….a lot longer. Remember how scared you were in those early days? Remember how careful you were about everything? Are you still scared? Are you still as careful?
You walk into a grocery store, eyeing everyone as if they had the plague. Who knows….maybe they do? You move quickly through the aisles, grabbing what you need to feed yourself and your family. You check out without talking to anyone. You get out of the store as fast as you can.
You get home, unload the packages and wash them off. Are you still doing that? You can’t trust the grocery store workers, can you? Are you taking it as a matter of faith that they don’t have the coronavirus? Of course not. Even when you do curbside pick-up for your groceries, you’re extra careful. Why wouldn’t you be? A stranger is now handling every single item of your order. You’re now putting an extra set of hands between you and your food. An extra degree of closeness between you and the virus. Plus, what if the store screws up your order and you have to go inside to straighten things out? When that happened to one of my orders, I had to spend fifteen minutes inside, talking to three different departments, before they finally got it right. When I got home, I immediately stripped off my clothes and threw them in the washing machine, with extra detergent. I then took an long, hot shower as if I could wash away the virus.
I admit I was scared. SCARED A.F!!
What about when you order a meal from a restaurant? Think about how many hands are handling your food. How trusting are you or do you just take a leap of faith that everything will be okay? Sorry if I scared you.
Let’s take a simple meal at a fast food restaurant as an example. Someone will be working at the grill making your burger. Another person will be handling the deep fryer for your french fry potatoes. A third person is manning the soda machine for your drink. There may even be a fourth person who puts the meal into the bag and hands it to you. Then there’s the cashier who takes your payment. Yeah, I may be overestimating the amount of folks, but it is possible. For sure, there will be two folks handling your food….and with ready made food, you aren’t washing it before it goes into your body. Yeah, I know restaurants are taking strict precautions now…way more than normal. The workers are wearing masks and gloves. All work stations are disinfected often. Still….you never know. How could you?
Pretty scary when you think about it..and I’m sure most of us try not to think about it. Yet most of us are now doing it at least once or twice a week. That’s a pretty big leap of faith. That’s a lot of trust in other humans during a pandemic.
Every so often paranoid thoughts like this pop into my mind. Last week, I was watching a television show where they mentioned hot fudge sundaes. Mmmmm….sounds pretty good, doesn’t it. That’s what I thought, too. I wanted a hot fudge sundae, but the question was where? There’s a Baskin-Robbins down the street. It’s attached to a Dunkin’ Donuts where I get coffee a couple of times each week. If I can trust them to make coffee, why not a sundae?
I then started thinking about all the different parts needed to make the dessert. Three scoops of ice cream, a couple of different toppings, whipped cream, maraschino cherries…..got to have that cherry! One person can’t possible handle that…especially in a pandemic? The thinking became overthinking. I lost my faith in humanity. I lost my trust in the food industry. No hot fudge sundae for me.
It’s ten days later and I’m still thinking about that sundae. I still haven’t got one. I’m just not ready. I had to draw the line somewhere and apparently ice cream is where my line is. I never would have guessed that. I suppose I can head to the grocery store, get all the items needed and make my own hot fudge sundae. Ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream and cherries….hmmmm…I wonder how many hands touched those?
My so called friends think it’s time to edit this section. After four years, they may be right, but don’t tell them that. I’ll deny it until they die!
I can’t believe I’ve been writing this blog for four years.
It started as a health/wellness thing and over the years has morphed to include so many things that I don’t know how to describe it anymore.
I really thought this was going to be the final year of the blog but then Donald Trump came along. It looks like we’re good for four more years..God help us all!
Oh yeah…the biographical stuff. I’m not 60 anymore. The rest you can read about in the blog.
A mix of good and bad news with the March Case Shiller Chicago home price index
I may as well start with the good news. This morning S&P Dow Jones Indices released the March CoreLogic Case-Shiller Chicago area index of home prices and it shows single family home and condo/ townhome prices rising over the last year by the largest percentages in 8 months. If you look closely at the graph below you can see that.
So what’s the bad news? Well, the Chicago area’s annual home price appreciation has sucked so badly lately that it wasn’t hard to beat the last 7 months. All it took was for single family homes to rise by 1.5% and condo prices to rise by 0.6%. Meanwhile, all the other 18 metro areas covered by S&P Dow Jones (they actually cover 19 but Detroit was unavailable) did better than Chicago and the nation as a whole appreciated by 4.4%. The second worst metro area was New York with 2.1% growth.
Chicago area single family home prices have shown annual gains for 89 consecutive months but condo prices fell once again
Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, pointed out that this data does not yet reflect the impact of the Coronavirus shut down on economic activity:
Importantly, today’s report covers real estate transactions closed during the month of March. Housing prices have not yet registered any adverse effects from the governmental suppression of economic activity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As much of the U.S. economy remained shuttered in April, next month’s data may show a more noticeable impact.
Personally, I don’t even think that April indices will reflect the impact because homes that closed in April were mostly under contract in March and, if I recall, Case Shiller shows a 3 month average of home prices. I think we might see an impact in the May numbers.
Now to make matters worse the Federal Housing Finance Agency released their house price indices this morning also. They track 100 metro areas across the country. Anyone want to guess how Chicago ranked? No, not at the bottom but damn close to the bottom at #93. Sad.
Case Shiller Chicago Area Home Price Index By Month
For historical perspective on where home prices have been check out my graph below that shows the actual index levels along with a red trend line for single family homes that was based on the pre-bubble years. Single family home prices rose 1.5% from the previous month and condo prices rose by 1.8%, both of which are consistent with the typical seasonal increase.
You can see how prices are flattening out, how they haven’t recaptured the bubble highs, and how they are falling further and further behind the trendline. Single family home prices are 14.3% below the peak and condo prices are 7.1% below the peak. In fact, single family home prices are still lower than they were during the entire period from August 2004 – October 2008 and condos are still lower than their levels from June 2005 – November 2008. As for that trendline, single family home prices are now 28.7% below it.
Of course there’s been a lot of recovery from the depths of the housing crisis. Single family home prices have bounced back by 40.7% while condo prices are now 53.8% higher.
The Chicago real estate market still has a long way to go before catching up to bubble peak prices.
#CaseShiller #ChicagoHomePrices #HomePrices
Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.
After 20 years in the corporate world and running an Internet company, Gary started Lucid Realty with his partner, Sari. The company provides full service, while discounting commissions for sellers and giving buyers rebates.
This weekend I dreamed I was talking to my dead sister.
It was raining, and I had just learned I probably had COVID-19, and she and I were watching fireworks in a massive crowd, in the front row of a natural amphitheater of grassy steppes over a roiling river. The river was flooding, cutting off a highway, and one by one, cars revved their engines, zoomed forward, and plunged into the flood. They bobbed on the water, and teams of people reached out with ropes to pull the floating cars across the road, and onto a waiting platform.
A yard ahead of us, chunks of soil and grass crumbled, dropping in muddy chunks into the torrent below.
“I shouldn’t be here,” I told her. “Mike has COVID, and…”
“But you haven’t had a positive test yet, right?” she asked. And I knew I shouldn’t be there, with so many people, sitting in the rain and watching the fireworks. But in the logic of dreams, I also knew we were perfectly safe on a crumbling slope of dirt, above a deluge of cars and filth and debris, and I shouldn’t leave her. I had a limited chance to speak with her. It was more important to stay.
Only I lived in the house at the top of the hill, and it would only take me a few minutes to run home for a mask and come back, and she would be easy to find. We were in the front row, over the churning water. I told her I would find her. She took a drag on her cigarette and nodded. She told me she wasn’t going anywhere and began to talk as though I hadn’t just announced I was stepping away.
She said something so her, so passively wise, something that could apply to many situations, a little droll but so profound and I thought to myself, “Don’t go, remember what she’s saying…”
But I was coughing, and weak and knew I should get my mask, and whatever she told me vanished as I scrambled up the muddy slope. The gathered crowd ooh-ed and aah-ed as explosions sounded in the sky, and the cars beneath continued plummeting into the water.
I threw open the door and ran into an old Victorian mansion full of tiny labyrinthine rooms lit by the yellow glow of sconces on the walls. Mike was there, in a bookshelf-lined parlor, in a hospital bed outside the kitchen door, having tested positive for COVID-19 but fine to appearances. Both hands gestured effortlessly.
“You can’t go back,” he told me. “You know you’re sick. You’re sicker than me. And even if you haven’t had a test, you can’t go back there.”
“But Shana’s waiting,” I said.
He was rational and right, and his voice was joined by the chorus of my in-laws and daughters, telling me to stay and play games and have a cup of hot tea, and the rain pounded harder at the windows.
There were fireworks in the distance and Shana was waiting for me, but she was used to me disappointing her, and I told myself she would be fine, but I didn’t believe it. I wanted to go back to her. I couldn’t remember what she had said to me as I left.
I woke up, the sun barely breaking the horizon, and in my first second of consciousness knew I had missed maybe my last chance to speak with my sister again, even if it was a dream, and went back to sleep in the hope I could find her and she could say something else, and I could hear her voice and see her smile.
When I woke up again I had had no more dreams. My head was as stuffy as though I’d spent those hours crying, and as I blew my nose, my heart broke. I couldn’t smell her, a mix of Brittany Spears perfume and clove cigarettes, but I could swear I smelled the petrichor, the mud, the gunpowder and ozone in the air, the mahogany of the house on the hill.
And if I had asked myself in the dream why it was so important to stay with her, it was that I knew she was gone. Deep down, when I couldn’t smell her, I knew she was a ghost.
And I am haunted by the things we never got to say.
*In case it wasn’t clear, nobody here has coronavirus.
Lea Grover scribbles about sex-positive parenting, marriage after cancer, and vegetarian cooking. When she isn’t revising her upcoming memoir, she can be found singing opera, smeared to the elbow in pastels, or complaining/bragging about her children on twitter (@bcmgsupermommy) and facebook.
3309 N. Seeley Ave., Chicago: $1,699,000 | Listed May 7, 2020
This newly constructed limestone home in Roscoe Village has five bedrooms and six bathrooms and spans 4,200 square feet. The first floor boasts 10-foot-high ceilings with floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room. Appliances from Wolf and Sub-Zero, an island, waterfall quartz counters, a custom-built hood, custom tiles, a walk-in pantry and a butler’s pantry with a refrigerator and sink complete the kitchen. The master bedroom includes two large walk-in closets and a Carrara marble bathroom with separate vanities, a steam shower, heated flooring and a soaking tub. The lower level is made up of a recreation room, a wet bar, a second laundry room and radiant-heated flooring. Outside, find a fully enclosed yard, blue paver patio, a built-in wood-burning fireplace, a roof deck and a detached two-car garage.
Agent: Jason O’Beirne of Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty, 312-751-0300
I’m Jerry Partacz, happily married to my wife Julie for over 40 years. I have four children and eleven grandchildren. I’m enjoying retirement after 38 years of teaching. I now have an opportunity to share my thoughts on many things. I’m an incurable optimist. I also love to solve crossword puzzles and to write light verse. I love to read, to garden, to play the piano, to collect stamps and coins, and to watch “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.
There is a saying that goes “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Considering the current state of the world economy, what does a financial plan look like?
In this economic climate there are 3 types of people, which do you identify with most?
The financially prepared sitting on capital with great credit waiting to capitalize on an investment opportunity
The financially perplexed have no clue of what is going on and are simply awaiting government handouts
The financially piqued those realizing that getting their finances in order and are looking for money-making opportunities outside of their current jobs
Recessions and pandemics have been known to produce millionaires and billionaires, Jeff Bezos is perfectly positioned to possibly become the first known trillionaire as demand has increased for online shopping. In the Chinese language crisis means opportunity and danger, the world is experiencing both meanings of the world simultaneously.
What Does a Financial Plan Look Like? Here is an example of a Financial Pyramid:
The financially perplexed and piqued share similar struggles as neither of them have the proper financial foundation focused on protection. Most skip protection and savings and go right to growth and risk in the form of stocks and real estate investment. Could you imagine building a house from the roof down? Of course not, having a solid foundation is a key to any and everything one does especially as it pertains to their finances.
Take time to ponder is your financial foundation solid? The best way to answer this is by examining the current state of your economic affairs in the midst of this pandemic. If you can confidently answer yes, awesome. If you can confidently answer no, it is time to take the first steps to build your financial pyramid properly.
A big shout-out from Toyota Motor Company on May 18 that they will be introducing two all-new hybrid models. According to the leader in all things automotive, 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the Toyota Prius Hybrid vehicle. To commemorate the anniversary, Toyota will produce two all-new Hybrid models, offering two 2020 Prius Editions, in two colors with unique blackout trim and features. Also new will be the Toyota Safety Sense 2.0, and manufacturer preliminary-estimated 52 combined miles-per-gallon.
In two decades, Toyota sold more than 6 million Prius vehicles worldwide and more than 3.6 million total hybrid models in the U.S. And it just keeps getting better. Difficult at first, for some, to get accustomed to, the Prius has engendered many true believers, some who won’t drive any other vehicle. This writer took a Prius on the road a few years back, from Chicago to Vermont. The handling, quiet and mpg were all very satisfactory. And the biggest plus was how much we packed into that Prius. It’s unusual (for the time) shape allowed for packing stuff from floor to ceiling.
Readers might remember when the Prius arrived, the year 2000 and Y2K…another unsettling time in history. The 2001 Toyota Prius was at that time, the world’s first production hybrid car. No question it did a lot to change how the automotive industry did business and what they could now offer.
Marking a special anniversary, Toyota’s Prius 2020 model will include 2,020 special models based on the well-equipped XLE FWD grade. Buyers can choose a Supersonic Red or new Wind Chill Pearl color, with black exterior trim and unique features like a color-keyed rear spoiler.
Something else to look for in the anniversary Prius are the black inserts for the 17-inch alloy wheels, blackout headlight components and trim B-pillars and mirror housings. Unique to this edition are a 2020 insignia key glove/fob and floor mats, a black shift knob and interior A-pillar trim and smoked HVAC vents.
Also looking ahead to 2021, the Prius, which already has Toyota Safety Sense (TSS-P) standard, will get the TSS 2.0, the latest version of the advanced safety system which includes Pre-Collision System w/low-light pedestrian detection (offering automatic braking capability); full speed range dynamic radar cruise control, bicycle detection, lane departure alert, automatic high beams, and road sign assist. Blind Spot Monitor with rear cross traffic alert and intelligent clearance sonar with intelligent parking assist will also be standard. Also for 2021, all but the Prius Limited add Android Auto compatibility. (Apple CarPlay compatibility was already standard on 2020 Prius models.)
Joining the Toyota lineup will be 9 other hybrid models and one of 11 electrified vehicles with Mirai a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (2021). Corolla will be offered in a hybrid for the first time, joined by Camry Hybrid, RAV4 Hybrid, Avalon Hybrid, Highlander Hybrid, RAV4 Prime and Prius Prime.
Both sporty and elegant, the 2020 Prius will stand out, telling the world it’s still here and here to stay. The name Prius is Latin for “first” or “original,” also meaning “to go before.” Both sporty and elegant, the new Prius offers 54 city MPG/50 highway MPG/ 52 combined. Get your front row seat at the link before. There’s so much to tell about the upcoming Prius. Give it look online at: https://livestream.com/accounts/1607005/events/9122935
Building esteem for women (and men) through passion for the sports car. Brought to you by a certifiable car nut by night and weekends, who happens to be a veteran psychotherapist by day.
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