What’s New

The Chicago White Sox handed out some very interesting news on Tuesday night. According to the team, Tony La Russa was not going to manage the game due to health reasons.

They made it clear that he is going to undergo medical testing on Wednesday in Chicago and should be able to provide an update ahead of that night’s game.

In his place, Miguel Cairo took over for the third time in his career as White Sox bench coach. He had previously gone 2-0 as he had two wins at the help in 2021. This was the first time that he got the call in 2022 and it didn’t go as well.

The White Sox were defeated by the Kansas City Royals by a final score of 9-7 in what was an exciting game but a bad game for the home team. They needed the win to stay alive (kind of) and now they are 6.0 games back of the Cleveland Guardians for first place in the division.

This game was just about the final straw for the 2022 White Sox. There are people that gave up a long time ago but this was the game that makes it feel like they are truly done and at the point of no return.

Tuesday night was pretty much the final straw for the 2022 Chicago White Sox.

At 63-66, the White Sox are baseball’s most disappointing team. They were unable to figure things out after a tough start and everyone involved deserves some blame for this.

Not only are they baseball’s most disappointing team, but they are also one of the most disappointing teams in the history of Chicago sports. With the expectations that were placed on them, this result has been a disaster.

In this game on Tuesday, Gavin Sheets became the first White Sox player to hit two home runs in the same game at Guaranteed Rate Field. There have been seven other road players to do so in 2022. That is just one of the many stats that point to how bad the offense has been.

Sheets has been incredible lately. He is a big left-handed power bat that can make a difference. His 5 RBIs kept the White Sox in the game but it wasn’t enough. At this point, it would be nice for the White Sox to see him keep playing well and be ready for 2023.

Lucas Giolito got the start and gave up five runs which has been another problem for this team this season. If he wants to be considered a big part of the team going forward, he needs to get himself right during the offseason.

Another player that deserves some credit for the way that they played in this one is Eloy Jimenez. He didn’t have five RBIs as Sheets did but he had two and two runs scored.

He also had three hits including a towering home run. He is looking healthy again and that could be good for the White Sox going into the 2023 season as well. They should be careful with him. Making a “panic move” involving him could be a terrible idea.

Everything about the rest of 2022 should be focused on next season. This loss was the final straw and now it is time to just hope that the core players play well. Wins and losses really don’t matter anymore as they are just about out of it.

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Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

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Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

The Chicago Bears are going to be a bad football team in 2022. There are people out there holding out hope that this can be a winning team but there is just no chance. Most of the players that Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus inherited from the previous regime are gone.

It is going to be a season where six wins would be lucky. If they win two games, nobody should be surprised. The fact of the matter is that they don’t have enough talent on the roster to compete with some of the best teams in the league.

There is one reason to watch this team, however. They are going to compete as hard as any of their opponents and be as disciplined if not more than the other side. This new regime that is in place seems to have a handle on everything that is going on.

The culture around the Chicago Bears just seems wildly improved over the last few seasons when it was much too relaxed. The team was bad and undisciplined which is a combo that leads to disaster in pro sports. The tide is turning.

There is one major reason to watch the Chicago Bears during the 2022 season.

Once more talent meets that work ethic and commitment to winning, the Bears will take a step in the right direction. Seeing that philosophy in play this season will make the games worth tuning in to. They will lose most of them because the other team is better but not for long.

Justin Fields is entering his first season where he knows that he is QB1 entering camp. There is no Andy Dalton or Matt Nagy drama like there was in 2021 for Fields. They have a long way to go with his development but watching it is going to be a lot of fun this season.

When you watch in 2022, don’t expect a lot of wins. If a lot of wins come, that probably means that Fields is even better than we thought and we think he’s going to be amazing.

You can expect to watch a football team that has a bright future in 2023 and beyond as long as Ryan Poles keeps adding talent. It should be fun at times as long as the expectations are realistic for the team.

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Chicago Latine indie band Los Gold Fires have been quiet the past couple years, but guitarist Siul Reynoso has focused instead on a warmhearted, psych-tinged solo project called Gabacho. Reynoso has released an EP and a few songs under that name, and last week he dropped the third Gabacho single of the year. The luxuriant “Sal de Mar” rides on an unhurried, inviting loop of cumbia percussion, to which Reynoso adds a walking bass line, radiant keys, wobbly guitars, and his understated singing. On Saturday, September 3, the live-band incarnation of Gabacho headlines a release party for “Sal de Mar” at Schubas. Tickets are $15, $13 in advance, and the show starts at 8 PM.

The video for the new Gabacho single, directed by Jonathan Lopez

Every year Chicago’s Blues and Jazz Festivals seem to book a ton of artists who record for long-running local label Delmark Records—and this weekend’s Jazz Fest is no different. (Jazz Fest coverage is elsewhere in this issue.) Fans looking for a sampling of the label’s deep roster in a neighborhood setting are in luck too: on Saturday, September 3, from noon to 9 PM, Delmark and Earwig Records present the second annual Rockwell Street Stroll at Burning Bush Brewery (4014 N. Rockwell). Live music starts inside the brewery, then moves to the parking lot out back, and the lineup includes Bob Stroger & the Headcutters, Dee Alexander, Demetria Taylor, Willie Buck, and Jimmy Burns. For the closing set, the Delmark All-Star Band (Stroger, guitarist Dave Specter, keyboardist Roosevelt Purifoy, and drummer Willie “the Touch” Hayes) will back a long list of guests. The festival also includes vendors, food trucks, and live art, and there’s no cover charge!

Elena Buenrostro and Travis Newgren formed the ragged indie duo Soft and Dumb while students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2019, and they’ve since relocated to Chicago. On Friday, September 2, they headline Sleeping Village to celebrate a new self-titled album.

The new Soft and Dumb album is available on vinyl, cassette, and CD.

Read More

Chicago Latine indie band Los Gold Fires have been quiet the past couple years, but guitarist Siul Reynoso has focused instead on a warmhearted, psych-tinged solo project called Gabacho. Reynoso has released an EP and a few songs under that name, and last week he dropped the third Gabacho single of the year. The luxuriant “Sal de Mar” rides on an unhurried, inviting loop of cumbia percussion, to which Reynoso adds a walking bass line, radiant keys, wobbly guitars, and his understated singing. On Saturday, September 3, the live-band incarnation of Gabacho headlines a release party for “Sal de Mar” at Schubas. Tickets are $15, $13 in advance, and the show starts at 8 PM.

The video for the new Gabacho single, directed by Jonathan Lopez

Every year Chicago’s Blues and Jazz Festivals seem to book a ton of artists who record for long-running local label Delmark Records—and this weekend’s Jazz Fest is no different. (Jazz Fest coverage is elsewhere in this issue.) Fans looking for a sampling of the label’s deep roster in a neighborhood setting are in luck too: on Saturday, September 3, from noon to 9 PM, Delmark and Earwig Records present the second annual Rockwell Street Stroll at Burning Bush Brewery (4014 N. Rockwell). Live music starts inside the brewery, then moves to the parking lot out back, and the lineup includes Bob Stroger & the Headcutters, Dee Alexander, Demetria Taylor, Willie Buck, and Jimmy Burns. For the closing set, the Delmark All-Star Band (Stroger, guitarist Dave Specter, keyboardist Roosevelt Purifoy, and drummer Willie “the Touch” Hayes) will back a long list of guests. The festival also includes vendors, food trucks, and live art, and there’s no cover charge!

Elena Buenrostro and Travis Newgren formed the ragged indie duo Soft and Dumb while students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2019, and they’ve since relocated to Chicago. On Friday, September 2, they headline Sleeping Village to celebrate a new self-titled album.

The new Soft and Dumb album is available on vinyl, cassette, and CD.

Read More