What’s New

Art from Sofía Fernández Díaz, a recent master’s degree recipient at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Since 2010, the Hyde Park Art Center (5020 S. Cornell) has hosted “Ground Floor,” a biennial exhibition featuring work by “Chicago’s most promising emerging talent.” The show is assembled by an esteemed panel of judges including curators, educators, and artists, and it features work from artists who’ve graduated from one of Chicago’s five MFA programs in the past two years. If nothing else, “Ground Floor” is an excellent barometer of how artists are being trained in the city—and how they have been impacted by Chicago’s culture. The work allows us to see trends in materials and ideas, and wonder when and where might we see these trends pop up again. Hyde Park Art Center is free to visit and open today until 7 PM, but if you can’t make it on short notice, don’t worry. The exhibit is on view through March 5, 2023. Check out the center’s website to plan a time that works for you. (MC)

The Rat Pack is a civic and social organization based on the south side that has been gathering its members to financially support causes that benefit their communities (like Operation Push, the Urban League, and others) since its inception in 1984. Tonight, you can get in on the fun by stopping by the Pack’s annual Food Drive and donating non-perishable goods (“a case of canned goods” is suggested) and/or bringing a check payable to the Chicago Family Partnership. Members will be accepting your donations from 5-10 PM at the Room 43 events space (1039-1043 E. 43rd St.). (SCJ)

From the cozy taproom at Midwest Coast Brewing Co. (2137 W. Walnut) or from the comfort of your own home, check out Cinema/Chicago’s Hoppy Holidays Movie Trivia fundraiser. The hybrid event starts at 6:30 PM and will feature holiday film trivia with prizes up for grabs from local cinephile orgs. Join virtually for $10 as an individual or $20 as a group, or stop by in person for $25 and receive a complimentary raffle ticket and beer. (TA)

The ongoing series Pour One Out features unique stories from both beginning and established storytellers, and books their lineups with a commitment to “equitable inclusion and representation.” Tonight’s in-person gathering (starting at 7 PM at Volumes Bookcafe, 1373 N. Milwaukee) explores the theme of “pivotal moments” and features host Shelley A. Davis moderating a lineup including Ulupi Bodiwala, Andrea Change, Amber Drea, Caren Evans, Stephanie Guaman, Elizabeth Marino, and Pidgeon Pagonis. Masks are requested for attendees. It’s the last Pour One Out for the year. (SCJ)

Read More

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

Read More

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

Read More

The Chicago Cubs came into this off-season making it seem like they were going to spend a lot of money. They seemed to be in on every big free agent which was making people think that they were going to be a very good team in 2023.

It started off well by giving Cody Bellinger and Jameson Taillon a contract to come to play for them. Bellinger is a former MVP that hasn’t been good in a few years and Taillon is a middle-of-the-rotation type of starter.

Those types of moves would be great if they did more with it. Since then when things were looking good, they have only lost Willson Contreras to their biggest rival and seen a lot of their targets go elsewhere.

When the 2022 season ended, a lot of speculation was made about the possibility of Jose Abreu leaving the Chicago White Sox to go to the Chicago Cubs. Well, he burned both of them and went to the Houston Astros. The Cubs missed hard on that one.

This is looking like a bad off-season for the Chicago Cubs at this point.

The shortstop market was where the Cubs were expected to be the most aggressive. Trea Turner somewhat kicked off free agency when he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

In addition, Xander Bogaerts went to the San Diego Padres over the weekend which sent shockwaves around the league.

It doesn’t end there. The biggest shortstop connected to the Cubs was Carlos Correa. Well, that isn’t going to happen as he is going to the San Francisco Giants on a massive contract.

That is all tough news for the Chicago Cubs. Not only didn’t they land any of those three, but they also all went to National League teams that will be competing for playoff berths.

Jed Hoyer couldn’t even land Kodai Senga as he is headed from Japan to the New York Mets. You would have thought that the Cubs land one of these guys before the free-agent frenzy started.

There are a few elite players left on the market like shortstop Dansby Swanson and left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodon. Both of them are going to make a ball club very happy soon and the Cubs would love to land one of them.

If they don’t, this will go down (based on the hype) as one of the most disappointing off-seasons in Chicago Cubs history. To not land a single big-time player would be really bad after the reports of them being all in on spending.

Having Bellinger and Taillon is nice but they won’t mean anything as depth players if the team around them doesn’t improve. As of right now, they are not good enough to win.

Read More

The never-ending debate in sports always revolves around who the greatest player of all time happens to be. In the NBA, most would agree that title belongs to Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan.

Since LeBron James’ early days in the league, plenty of fans have flip-flopped from Jordan to “The King.” Yet, if you really know ball, you know there is no argument here.

Jordan is the clear “GOAT,” and the NBA went out and proved that this week.

The NBA decided to rename a handful of awards, starting with the NBA MVP. From here on out, the MVP will be presented with The Michael Jordan Trophy.

What more proof do you need that the argument is officially closed, here?

The NBA closed the door on the age-old argument. Bulls legend Michael Jordan is clearly the greatest of all time.

This argument has so many layers to it. We could talk all day long about statistics, but the LeBron fans would use the heightened numbers to try and sway your belief. The fact is, LeBron will likely own the majority of all-time records when it comes to career totals. He’s played more games than Jordan. It’s a weak set of evidence.

When you look deeper, there is one major reason why Jordan is the greatest, and it has to do with his competitive nature. The man refused to lose. He was the guy you knew was going to have the ball in his hands for that last shot. He was the guy you knew was going to pour out his blood, sweat and tears on that court every night, doing everything he could to win the game.

Today’s NBA, and actually over the past decade or so, has become a whole lot softer. It’s become commercialized, socialized and players are more about themselves and their brand rather than simply winning basketball games.

Jordan was a different breed. In fact, there are a couple of players you might argue ahead of LeBron in the “GOAT” debate, if we’re being real. For starters, Kobe Bryant was the closest thing we’ve seen to Jordan — not LeBron.

Again, this argument could go on forever. But, the NBA decided to rename this award The Michael Jordan Trophy. They didn’t choose The LeBron James Trophy or even The Wilt Chamberlain Trophy — no, not even The Kobe Bryant Trophy.

The NBA MVP will be the recipient of The Michael Jordan Trophy, named after the clear-cut greatest basketball player there ever was.

Case closed.

Read More

The Chicago Blackhawks knew they weren’t going to be a good team this year and it is showing. They are playing for the draft lottery at this point. However, with Alex Ovechkin in town, Tuesday’s game was worth watching. He had a pretty significant piece of history on his mind in this one.

He came into the game with 797 goals. Being three away from 800 was really cool but he would have needed a hat trick in order to get there on United Center ice. Luckily, scoring goals has been easy work for Ovechkin in his career and he did just that on Tuesday night.

Ovechkin scored his first of the game and the 798th of his career just 0:24 seconds into the game so it was on from there. You knew he was feeling good about himself at that point. Under 8 minutes later, he scored again to get to 799 and a 2-0 Capitals lead.

From there, the rest of the players started to show up a little bit and the Caps eventually had a 4-2 lead after two periods. Then, the magic happened.

Alex Ovechkin made history on Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.

At 6:34 of the third period, Ovechkin completed the hat trick with his 20th goal of the season and 800th of his NHL career. He is just the third player (Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe) to score 800 in this league. It is an amazing accomplishment.

Now, Ovechkin has to score just one more to tie (two to surpass) Gordie Howe for second most in the history of the NHL. After that, he will just trail The Great One who has 894. Ovechkin will pass that mark in the coming years for sure.

Being a 20-goal scorer in the NHL is hard anyway but it is especially hard for most 37-year-olds. Ovechkin did it before Christmas and is showing no signs of slowing down.

The rest of the game ended up being a big-time blowout as the Capitals beat the Blackhawks 7-3 for their fifth straight win. Don’t look now but they are just one point out of a playoff spot following this amazing night for Ovechkin.

After the goal was scored, the entire Capitals bench poured over the boards to congratulate their captain on this all-time great milestone. Even the Blackhawks players, fans, scoreboard, and public address announcer showed their love for The Great 8.

The Blackhawks have two Hall of Famers on their team right now just like Ovechkin and they both (Toews/Kane) made sure to congratulate this man on his big moment. It was truly special for hockey fans to watch. It will be so fun to see where this all goes from here.

Read More

Picture this: Zion Williamson vs. Ja Morant in this year’s Western Conference finals. The New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies look capable of bringing that showdown to NBA audiences this year with their recent surge to the top of the West standings.

Then again, just a few weeks ago, some were quivering at the idea of the Utah Jazz going on a deep run through this year’s leaky Western Conference. The way things are going in the West, any team hovering in the middle of the pack could switch places with New Orleans or Memphis by mid-January.

But for now, the Pelicans’ recent dominance has to be commended. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies look like they can beat anyone with Morant on the floor, and even boast championship depth when their star point guard is out. These two teams could be trouble for any contending team in the Western Conference from here on out, and they might not even have to win consistently to stay on top of the standings, either.

In the East, the Brooklyn Nets look like they’re starting to come into midseason form under coach Jacque Vaughn.

Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Kendra Andrews, Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Nick Friedell, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.

Previous rankings: Week 1 Week 6

Read More