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As the omicron variant rips through NBA players and coaches, it has reached a season-high among game officials: 36% of the league’s referees are in COVID-19 protocols, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

With 25 of the league’s 70 active referees currently in quarantine, the league has been promoting G League referees to fill out the nightly roster of games, sources said.

There have been rare instances lately when only two referees — instead of the standard three — were available for games, but the NBA has continued to work to limit those occasions, sources said.

The G League has paused the season until Wednesday to allow for players and referees to be available to the NBA.

NBA referees are 100% vaccinated and are required to be fully boosted prior to Wednesday, sources said. Only a percentage of refs currently on road trips haven’t been boosted, but must do by Wednesday.

Officials don’t have the protections that teams do with charter flights and five-star hotels, but the NBA has been working with the National Basketball Referees Association on improvements related to travel — including hotels — that might serve to lessen exposure to the virus, sources said.

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The Rockford Ice Hogs’ weekend games against the Wolves have been postponed due to the league’s COVID-19 protocols, the AHL announced on Thursday. The teams had a home-and-home series set for Friday in Rockford and Saturday in Rosemont.

The Wolves’ game Sunday against Grand Rapids was also postponed.

The teams plan to reschedule these games, but dates have not been set. Fans can exchange tickets for another game.

The Wolves, who are on a team-record 12-game winning streak, are next scheduled to play on Jan. 7 at Rockford. The next home game is scheduled for Jan. 8 against Iowa.

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The Chicago Blackhawks and Jonathan Toews have had an impressive run since the day that he was drafted. There was significant championship success early on where they won three Stanley Cups in six years. Following that came some down years as a team but Toews has always been amazing.

Unfortunately, the calendar year of 2021 was really hard for Toews. He dealt with a health scare that forced him to miss the entire 56-game 2020-21 season that they played beginning in January. The Blackhawks clearly missed him and his presence as they came up just short of making it to the postseason.

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As published in the Chicago Daily News, sister publication of the Chicago Sun-Times:

Few events in Chicago’s history compelled the afternoon-publishing Chicago Daily News to push out a late edition of the paper. Mayor Carter Harrison’s assassination in 1893 led to an extra print, and 10 years later, another event caused the paper to push out a front page devoted solely to one tragedy.

On Dec. 30, 1903, muslin curtains hanging near the stage of the Iroquois Theater caught fire during a matinee attended by mainly women and children. The blaze quickly spread and, due to the building’s many fire code violations and misguided construction choices, trapped hundreds of patrons, killing over 600 of them. The disaster became the deadliest theater fire in U.S. history.

“The fire began to snuff out human lives about 3:35 o’clock,” the paper reported in its late edition, “while a matinee performance of ‘Mr. Blue Beard, Jr.’ was being played. In the midst of the soothing strains of the ‘Moonlight’ song, an arc light spark shot into the flies, the asbestos fire curtain failed to work, and the light fell, and in the explosion that followed, a panic ensued.”

As the stage burned and the production halted, audience members on all three levels of the theater — which sat where the James M. Nederlander Theatre stands today — bolted for the doors. On the ground floor, curtains obscured the door locations, making it difficult for patrons to escape. On the one staircase leading to the second and third levels, a locked accordion gate blocked the path. Though intended to keep patrons from sneaking down into more expensive seats at intermission, the gate trapped those on the upper floors.

“From that time on until the flames had subdued everything, the death crush continued,” the paper said. “A mass of humanity was jammed into the balcony stairway, surrounded by smoke and flame. The mass soon settled back into a death pose and there they were found by firemen.”

Outside the theater, Daily News reporters spoke with some of the first people on the scene. Bishop Muldoon happened to be passing by when panicked theater goers rushed out, the paper reported. He then ran into the building and “climbed into the gallery and there directed the work of rescue.” He remained even as the smoke and flames crept closer to him, giving courage to those who saw him and offering sacraments to Roman Catholics in the theater. Once he felt assured that all injured patrons had been evacuated, the bishop allowed authorities to escort him out of the burning theater.

Over on Dearborn Street, a priest from Holy Name Cathedral and his companion heard shrieks coming from an alley behind the theater, the paper said. A group of chorus girls stuck in a coal hole shouted for help. The two men freed them, and the girls were able to go home unharmed.

As fire crews worked to extinguish the flames and pull out bodies, physicians, nurses and interns helped separate the dead from the living, the paper said. “Mirrors were obtained, and these were held close to the mouth and nostrils of the person being examined for signs of life. In several instances, the mirror showed moisture and the ministering attendants at once began the work of resuscitation. In other instances, the physicians resorted to the use of oxygen, and several lives were saved by this method.”

One of the most harrowing stories reported on the fire that day came from 11-year-old Winnie Gallagher. She had been sitting in the third row from the stage with her mother when the fire broke out, the paper said. Her mother fled, leaving Gallagher behind. After stepping over several seats to get to the door, “she was nearly crushed in the crowd and all her outer garments were stripped from her. At the central police station, the child was restored to her mother.”

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It could have gone much differently for the Bulls the last three games.

When the leader goes down it often does.

So when it was announced last week that coach Billy Donovan was yet another member of the organization going into the NBA’s coronavirus health and safety protocol and assistant Chris Fleming would take his seat for the time being, there was a certain amount of anxiety.

“It’s not easy to step in for the head coach,” veteran center Nikola Vucevic said recently.

Would Fleming try and be “Billy 2.0?” Would he use the opportunity to focus on promoting himself like previous Bulls assistants have done in the past? Would his overall demeanor change?

Three games later — all Bulls wins — Fleming has answered each of those burning questions with a resounding no.

He’s just been himself, and for a franchise that has embraced that next-man-up mentality all season long, that’s good enough.

“I’ve got to know ‘Flems’ over the last couple years, and a great coach, stepped right in, almost like the players are doing,” guard Zach LaVine said of his acting head coach. “It’s like that next-man-up mentality. He’s done a great job, commanded the locker room, and we went out there and performed for him.”

Not just performed, but shined.

The offense has averaged 125 points in those three lopsided wins, while the defense was holding the opposition to 113, for a 12-point scoring differential. Then there was the precision in which the offense took Atlanta apart on Wednesday, finishing with 38 assists, the most a Bulls team has had in a game since Dec. 2, 2014, in a double-overtime game against Dallas.

“We’re obviously so used to Billy so you’re gonna see a difference, but he did a tremendous job, made the right calls, and didn’t try and replace Billy, was just him[self],” LaVine added.

Not that any of this has come as a surprise. When executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas was hired, he eventually hosed out the entire coaching staff – Jim Boylen and all – except Fleming.

The seven-year assistant had built a good reputation with Karnisovas’ Denver Nuggets in the 2015-16 season, and added to that resume for the Nets from 2016-19. Plus, he did have head coaching experience, awarded German League Coach of the Year back in 2011 when he steered Brose Bamberg to four league championships.

There’s not only coaching smarts mixed in with that thick New Jersey accent, but there’s also some tough love from Fleming.

“He doesn’t really tell you what you want to hear,” guard Coby White said of Fleming. “He’s more of a tell-you-what-you-need-to-hear type of guy. He’s a straight up dude. If you do something good, he’s going to say you did good. If you’re holding yourself back, he’s going to say you’re holding yourself back. If you can do something better, he’s going to say do something better.

“This is my third year. He’s been my coach ever since I’ve been here. Me and him have that type of relationship where we can just be real with each other and have a real conversation as men and then just go on about our day.”

Make no mistake, Donovan still has his hands all over the daily operations of the coaches and players over Zoom calls, but he also trusts Fleming and the rest of the staff to continue that single mindset when the ball is tipped up – win games.

A mindset that will likely continue through the weekend, with Donovan expected out until early next week.

“Billy is probably the most competitive guy I’ve been around,” Fleming said. “He wants to be here. He really helped our staff. He said, ‘I’m here if you need me. You guys just go ahead and coach and help these guys win.’ I think his support was really important.”

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Please send scores and corrections to [email protected].

Thursday, December 30, 2021

NON CONFERENCE

Ashton-Franklin Center at Stillman Valley, 7:00

BLOOMINGTON / NORMAL

Small Schools

Rockford Lutheran vs. St. Joseph-Ogden, 10:30

Sacred Heart-Griffin vs. El Paso-Gridley, 5:15

Large Schools

Wheaton-Warr. South vs. Metamora, 1:30

Normal vs. East St. Louis, 8:45

CENTRALIA

Belleville West vs. Lausanne (TN), 11:00

Cahokia vs. Kipp (MO, 1:00

Champaign Central vs. Glenwood, 10:00

Carmel vs. Centralia (JV), 10:00

Confluence (MO) vs. Romeoville, 8:30a

Muhlenberg (KY) vs. Belleville West, 8:30a

Mt. Vernon vs. Vashon (MO), 12:30

Evanston vs. Centralia, 2:00

13th Place, 6:00

Consolation Championship, 6:00

5th Place, 4:30

3rd Place, 7:30

Championship, 9:00

DE KALB

Ogden vs. DeKalb (JV), 9:00

West Chicago vs. Dundee-Crown, 10:30

LaSalle-Peru vs. East Moline, 12:00

Belvidere North vs. Geneseo, 1:30

Neuqua Valley vs. Plainfield East, 3:00

Yorkville vs. Naperville Central, 4:30

DeKalb vs. Guilford, 6:00

Geneva vs. Huntley, 7:30

EASTLAND

Forreston vs. West Carroll, 10:00

Byron vs. Sherrard, 11:30

Pecatonica vs. Eastland, 1:00

Galena vs. South Beloit, 2:30

EFFINGHAM / TEUTOPOLIS

at Effingham

Lutheran North (MO) vs. Horizon-Southwest, 10:00

Pleasant Plains vs. Belvidere, 10:00

Charleston vs. Mattoon, 11:30

Centennial vs. Dixon, 4:30

St. Anthony vs. Knoxville, 1:00

Teutopolis vs. Effingham, 3:00

Newton vs. Oak Lawn, 6:00

Lincoln-Way East vs. Books, 7:30

ERIE-PROPHETSTOWN

Orion vs. Amboy, 3:00

Stockton vs. Morrison, 3:00

Stark County vs. Mercer County, 4:30

Lena-Winslow vs. Erie-Prophetstown, 4:30

Beecher vs. Newman, 7:30

Riverdale vs. Fulton, 7:30

GREENVIEW

Grace Christian vs. Greenview, 12:30

IC CATHOLIC / WESTMONT

at IC Catholic

Elmwood Park vs. Westminster Christian, 10:30

Reavis vs. Aurora Central, 12:00

St. Edward vs. Glenbard South, 1:30

Eisenhower vs. Christ the King, 3:00

Perspectives-MSA vs. Westmont, 4:30

IC Catholic vs. Taft, 6:00

Evergreen Park vs. Hoffman Estates, 7:30

KANKAKEE

Small Schools

St. Anne vs. Grant Park, 10:30

Cissna Park vs. Clifton Central, 12:00

Manteno vs. Adams-Friendship (WI), 3:00

Momence vs. Herscher, 6:00

Large Schools

Legal Prep vs. Bremen, 1:30

Schurz vs. Shepard, 4:30

Lindblom vs. Kankakee, 7:00

MAINE EAST

Kennedy vs. Ridgewood, 10:30

Bulls vs. Maine East, 12:00

Argo vs. Vernon Hills, 4:30

Addison Trail vs. Antioch, 1:30

Maine East vs. Metea Valley, 3:00

Elk Grove vs. Westinghouse, 6:00

Lane vs. Niles West, 7:30

MARSEILLES

Indian Creek vs. Gardner-So. Wilmington, 9:00a

Woodland vs. Wilmington, 10:30

Hall vs. Earlville, 12:00

St. Bede vs. Dwight, 1:30

Kewanee vs. Serena, 3:30

Somonauk vs. Marquette, 5:00

Putnam County vs. Reed-Custer, 6:30

Flanagan-Cornell vs. Seneca, 8:00

PLANO

Newark vs. Sandwich, 9:00a

Mendota vs. Hinckley-Big Rock, 10:30

Coal City vs. Streator, 12:15

Morris vs. Plano, 3:15

Lisle vs. Kaneland, CNL

Ottawa vs. Longwood, 5:00

Yorkville Christian vs. Northridge, 6:30

Burlington Central vs. Notre Dame (Peoria), 8:00

PONTIAC

Bloomington vs. Bloom, 8:00a

West Aurora vs. Oak Park-River Forest, 9:30a

St. Charles North vs. Joliet West, 11:00

New Trier vs. Simeon, 1:00

Curie vs. Benet, 2:30

Manual vs. Bloomington/Bloom, 4:00

5th Place, 6:00

3rd Place, 7:30

Championship, 9:00

PROVISO WEST

Morgan Park vs. Zion-Benton, 12:30

Lincoln Park vs. Crete-Monee, 2:00

Hammond Central vs. Farragut, 4:00

Clark vs. Proviso East, 5:30

Kenwood vs. Younf, 7:00

RICH

Dunbar vs. Rich, 11:30

Thornwood vs. Fenger, 10:00

Perspectives-Lead vs. Thornton, 1:00

Hillcrest vs. Hyde Park, 2:30

STEINMETZ

Intrinsic-Belmont vs. Holy Trinity, 10:00

WHEELING

Wheeling vs. Mather, 2:00

Buffalo Grove vs. Hampshire, 5:30

Notre Dame vs. Glenbard North, 12:15

Deerfield vs. Fremd, 3:45

Prospect vs. Libertyville, 7:15

Glenbrook North vs. Glenbrook South, 8:45

YORK

Tinley Park vs. St. Patrick, 10:00

Stagg vs. Timothy Christian, 11:30

Lemont vs. Batavia, 1:00

Minooka vs. Providence, 3:00

Hinsdale South vs. Wheaton North, 4:30

Lake Forest vs. Leo, 6:00

Sandburg vs. Andrew, 7:30

Highland Park vs. St. Francis, 10:30

St. Laurence vs. Schaumburg, 12:00

Conant vs. York, 1:30

Consolation Semi-Finals

Palatine vs. Naperville North, 3:30

St. Ignatius vs. Montini, 5:00

Semi-Finals

Rolling Meadows vs. Glenbard West, 6:30

Lyons vs. Bolingbrook, 8:00

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The Chicago Blackhawks are in an interesting spot. They believed that they were a playoff team going into the season but a terrible start buried them in the standings. It is going to take a lot to come out of it but that shouldn’t be the goal if we are being honest with ourselves.

The goal should be to develop the young players so that the future is much brighter than the present. One of those players is Lukas Reichel. Chicago drafted him in the first round (17th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft. He is a very good winger from Germany that has a lot of upsides.

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The 2021-2022 Chicago Bulls are in the midst of a 5-game winning streak and currently sit second in the Eastern Conference with a record of 22-10. Most recently, the Bulls took down the Atlanta Hawks for the second game in a row between the two teams, and did so in dominating fashion.

Wednesday night’s Bulls win was quite possibly their best performance of the season so far, as seven players finished in double figures and the Bulls assisted on 38 of 52 buckets. It was a beautiful sight.

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