Videos

Chicago Cubs need to extend Willson Contreras

Is Willson Contreras on his way out of Chicago? Here’s why the Cubs should extend him instead

There are only three Chicago Cubs players still on the active roster from when they won the World Series back in 2016. Four if you still count manager David Ross.

After trading away most of the core this past season with Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo gone, Willson Contreras found himself still on the roster and Chicago’s best player this season.

But Contreras may not be here for long either if the Cubs plans continue.  As of now, here have been no reports, or even rumors of any potential extension talks for Contreras at the moment. This leads to the question of why are the Cubs not looking to extend their catcher in the Contreras?

The Cubs starting catcher in Contreras is only 30 years old, so the front office really cannot say they are not looking to extend him based off age. The front office also cannot blame it on him not producing as Contreras is having another good year in 2022 so far. Heading into Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates Contreras is hitting .283, 5 home runs, 14 RBI’s, and an OPS of .906 through the first month and a half of the season.

Contreras had a very good start to the series against the Pirates on Monday going 2 for 5 in the Cubs 9-0 route. Wade Miley picked up his first career win in a Cubs uniform as well. Contreras wasted no time starting off the bottom of the first with a leadoff double. He then came up again in the first as the Cubs batted around to hit a grand slam to make it 8-0 after the first inning.

Chicago Cubs

Willson Contreras’ 100th career home run comes in the grandest of fashions. https://t.co/LRF1GaGg9M

8:10 PM · May 16, 2022

An emotional Willson Contreras following the game

It is never going to be a bad night when you hit your 100th career home run, plus finish with 4 RBI’s on one swing of the bat. That is exactly what Contreras did on Monday night at Wrigley Field. Contreras seemed to get a little emotional in the dugout after the milestone. He is a player that always has played hard and wears his heart on his sleeve. An interesting fact about Contreras is he now has four career grand slams with three of them happening in the first inning.

@DOM_Frederic

THE HEARTBEAT OF THE GODDAMN CHICAGO CUBS https://t.co/Q0Vh3d7WoC

10:25 PM · May 16, 2022

The Cubs did sign veteran catcher Yan Gomes to a two-year contract this past offseason, but he is not going to be the long term catcher on the north side of Chicago. Gomes is already 34 years old at the moment, and seems to be on the back end of his career.

Bringing in Gomes allows Ross to rotate both catchers behind the plate. With the designated hitter now in the NL the Cubs can keep Contreras in the lineup with saving his legs for later in the season at the same time.

One of the Cubs top prospects in their farm system, Miguel Amaya had to have Tommy John surgery to repair his throwing elbow. Amaya will have to miss all of the 2022 season which really throws a wrench in the catching plans. This is another reason to extend Contreras and build around him as there is no clear future catcher waiting in the wings.

The Cubs definitely have the money to extend him. Coming into the year the Cubs were 15th in payroll in the MLB. That is unacceptable from an ownership standpoint that has stated over and over that they are doing all they can do to put a winner on the field.

Keeping Willson Contreras proves they want to win sooner than later

A good start to proving they are all about winning is by extending Contreras. Build around him for the foreseeable future. Could the Cubs get an absolute haul of prospects for Contreras? Absolutely, but at the same time why not keep him around and actually try and win? Building around everyday players like Seiya Suzuki, and Contreras is a good start.

We were told by the front office that this would not be a full tear down like in the first rebuild in the few years before 2015. Last July we saw the Cubs trade away some big time names. How about this time around you start to build a contender with your starting backstop in Contreras included in it.

Who knows, maybe the Cubs front office will get an extension done with Contreras in the near future. If they do not extend Contreras though he will be extremely missed on the north side of Chicago for the rest of his career.

Make sure to check out our Cubs forum for the latest on the team.

Read More

Chicago Cubs need to extend Willson Contreras Read More »

Analyst predicts Chicago Bears to hit 11 wins in 2022… wait, what?

Can the Chicago Bears really get to 11 wins? One NFL analyst thinks so

Most media members around the nation have predicted the Chicago Bears will have a rough 2022 season judging by their offseason moves. The Bears roster is being rebuilt this season by a new front office and head coaching staff.

The team arguably lost two of their best players on each side of the ball, wide receiver Allen Robinson and linebacker Khalil Mack.

However, with a favorable schedule, one analyst has the Bears making the playoffs. Nick Wright, co-host on FS1’s “First Things First”, predicted an 11-win season for the Bears. Yep, an 11-win season and a second-place finish in the NFC North behind the Green Bay Packers.

First Things First

@FTFonFS1

.@getnickwright picked all 272 NFL games! Here are his NFC standings.
Drop your thoughts in the comments ⬇️ https://t.co/Vbn0lEEJEe

11:01 AM · May 17, 2022

Getting to 11 wins would be an achievement

Putting 11 in the win column for the Bears would be an incredible achievement for general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus in their first season together. For the Bears to accomplish this, the defense would have to transition to the 4-3 defense seamlessly, and the new draft picks on the secondary would need to be serious ball hawks.

Justin Fields would also need to take a great leap forward in his second season in the NFL, and with his second offensive coordinator, Luke Getsy. The Bears still have questions on the offensive line and at wide receiver. Both of those are very important to Fields success here in year two and you can argue that both are the two biggest weaknesses on the offense.

If the Bears can sort those positions out in the preseason and get some lucky breaks in every game, the Bears could have a better season than many anticipate. Easier said than done however.

A prediction of11 wins seem a little high at this point with where the roster is at in May. But if it happens, it will be a very surprising, yet good sign for the future.

Make sure to check out our Bears forum for the latest on the team.

Read More

Analyst predicts Chicago Bears to hit 11 wins in 2022… wait, what? Read More »

Living room absurdism

It may be difficult to comprehend today just how shocking Edward Albee’s drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was when it premiered in October 1962, the same week that the Cuban missile crisis began. While the atomic fireworks the world feared never happened, Albee’s three-act, three-hour-plus masterpiece detonated an explosion that rocked American culture to its core. As Invictus Theatre Company’s blistering new production proves, the 60-year-old play still sizzles, resonating on levels emotional, political, and philosophical.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Through 6/12: Mon and Thu-Sat 7 PM, Sun 3 PM; Reginald Vaughn Theatre, 1106 W. Thorndale, invictustheatreco.com, $31 (students/seniors $26).

In a fall 1962 New York theater season whose most impressive openings seemed to be British imports—the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe and the musical Stop the World–I Want to Get Off—Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was as American as apple pie, even if that pie was baked in bourbon and tinged in acid. At a time when Broadway’s main purpose seemed to be to placate its stereotypical audience of the “tired businessman” and his wife, Virginia Woolf vivisected middle-aged marital dysfunction. Another Broadway hit of the same season, the coyly cloying comedy Never Too Late by Sumner Arthur Long, concerned a 50-ish wife who unexpectedly becomes pregnant by her 60-ish husband. But—SPOILER ALERT—Virginia Woolf focused on a couple whose inability to conceive after 23 years of wedlock has led them to invent an imaginary son, and eventually to “kill” him.

And then there was Albee’s taboo-breaking language—harsh, vulgar, sometimes obscene. Audiences had never heard a wife yell “Screw you!” at her husband on a Broadway stage before. Nor had they watched a married woman showily seduce another man in front of her husband—whose response is to shrug off the taunt and, instead, bury his nose in a history book about the fall of Western civilization. Virginia Woolf—the “mainstream” debut of a young avant-garde playwright best known at the time for a handful of one-acts produced in Europe and off-Broadway—won the Tony and New York Drama Critics’ Circle awards. But it was denied the theater establishment’s most prestigious honor—the Pulitzer Prize for Drama—because the Pulitzer board objected to its profanity and sexual content. (Albee’s next Broadway play, the 1966 A Delicate Balance, did receive a Pulitzer—an accolade interpreted by many as a belated apology for the earlier shortsighted slight.)

There’s more to Albee’s text than swear words, of course. This is a work rich in heightened language, ranging from long, elegiac monologues—dreamy storytelling arias—to terse exchanges that recall the minimalist precision of Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter. And the play assumes a wide range of cultural literacy on the part of its audience. References abound, ranging from classical allusions (the Punic Wars) to an obscure Bette Davis film (the 1949 Beyond the Forest), whose seemingly trivial mention is actually a vital clue to the script’s theme of infanticide.

And then, of course, there’s Virginia Woolf herself—the proto-feminist pre-World War II British writer whose lifelong battle with mental illness led her to commit suicide in 1941. Reputedly, Albee came across the phrase “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf”—a joking nod to Walt Disney’s 1933 cartoon Three Little Pigs—scrawled on the wall of a Greenwich Village saloon. For Disney, “the Big Bad Wolf” was a metaphor for the Great Depression; for Albee, Virginia Woolf represents angst on a deeper, more existential plane.

Virginia Woolf‘s ferocious intensity still packs a wallop. Indeed, the in-your-face intimacy of Invictus’s storefront staging brings out the best in Albee’s play. Beautifully directed by Charles Askenaizer, the play is acted by a first-rate foursome, who engage the script’s rhythms and dynamics with the sensitivity of a finely tuned string quartet playing one of Paul Hindemith or Elliott Carter’s jaggedly lyrical compositions.

The cello and violin in this dissonant yet exquisite chamber work are George and Martha. He’s 46, six years younger than Martha, and a history teacher at the small New England college run by her father. They are smart and often quite witty. She drinks, and he keeps her company. Their marriage is codependent and abusive. George and Martha have stayed together for the sake of “the kid”—the make-believe son whose “existence” Martha must not mention to anyone outside their bleak, bitter marriage. Not even on the Saturday night this play takes place—the eve of the son’s anticipated homecoming for his 21st birthday. (And yes, “George and Martha” is an allusion to the Washingtons, and the make-believe son a symbol of the myth of “the American dream.”)

Enter the violins: Nick and Honey, both in their 20s—late-night guests whom Martha has invited over for a nightcap after a faculty soiree. Nick’s a new faculty member in the science department; Honey’s his trophy bride. They got married because they thought she was pregnant; it turned out she wasn’t, but like George and Martha they stayed together. A biologist by training, Nick is a rising star in the field of genetic engineering—cloning. In 1962, cloning was indeed a hot topic in academic circles, young heterosexual couples did get married because the woman got pregnant, and “faculty wives” like Martha and Honey were judged on their teacher-husbands’ reputations. Nick the biologist is the wave of the future; George the historian, like Western civilization, is in decline. (One of Martha’s nastiest digs at George concerns his “associate professor’s salary.”)

Two couples; one small, book-cluttered living room (impressive scenic and props design by Kevin Rolfs); copious amounts of alcohol. Party games ensue, as George and Nick—sexual rivals, the past and the future—size up each other, and each other’s wives. As the three-hour play progresses in real time, secrets are bared and facades are peeled away. Illusions are destroyed—but not people. As Martin Esslin wrote in his seminal 1961 text The Theatre of the Absurd: “Theatre of the Absurd does not reflect despair . . . but expresses modern man’s endeavor to come to terms with the world in which he lives . . . [and] to free him from illusions that are bound to cause maladjustment and disappointment. For the dignity of man lies in his ability to face reality in all its senselessness; to accept it freely, without fear, without illusions—and to laugh at it.” 

Virginia Woolf—harrowing but also very funny—is Theater of the Absurd couched in the trappings of realist domestic drama: Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit mixed with William Inge’s Come Back, Little Sheba, with perhaps a bit of Elliott Nugent and James Thurber’s The Male Animal tossed in for good measure.

Andrea Uppling as Martha is visibly too young for the 52-year-old character she plays, but she brings to life every twist and turn of Martha’s imbalanced energy—the rowdy humor, the flagrant sexuality, the soul-deep frustration that drives her raging attacks on George, the bottomless depression that she vainly tries to self-medicate with booze. Uppling’s Martha engages our compassion with her pain even as she repels us with her behavior. James Turano’s rumpled George, weary from years of suppressing his own emotional needs in order to keep Martha afloat, is remarkable to watch as he builds himself up to meet the crisis that has inevitably come.

Keenan Odenkirk is a visually perfect Nick—the blond, muscular Aryan archetype that Albee envisioned. And he beautifully projects the opportunistic personality that Albee had in mind as well: shallow and ambitious, cunning and calculating. As Honey, Rachel Livingston is an Ibsen-esque doll-wife, with her sing-songy laugh and mousy manner of nibbling at the cocktail nuts on the coffee table. But, like Uppling, she reveals the pain and frustration of a woman trapped in the “feminine mystique,” to use the term coined by feminist writer Betty Friedan in her 1963 book analyzing the dissatisfaction and voicelessness of women in post-World War II America.

Want more stories like this one? Sign up to our daily newsletter for stories by and for Chicago.

Success! You’re on the list.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn’t process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.
Processing…

Read More

Living room absurdism Read More »

Living room absurdismAlbert Williamson May 17, 2022 at 4:45 pm

It may be difficult to comprehend today just how shocking Edward Albee’s drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was when it premiered in October 1962, the same week that the Cuban missile crisis began. While the atomic fireworks the world feared never happened, Albee’s three-act, three-hour-plus masterpiece detonated an explosion that rocked American culture to its core. As Invictus Theatre Company’s blistering new production proves, the 60-year-old play still sizzles, resonating on levels emotional, political, and philosophical.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Through 6/12: Mon and Thu-Sat 7 PM, Sun 3 PM; Reginald Vaughn Theatre, 1106 W. Thorndale, invictustheatreco.com, $31 (students/seniors $26).

In a fall 1962 New York theater season whose most impressive openings seemed to be British imports—the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe and the musical Stop the World–I Want to Get Off—Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was as American as apple pie, even if that pie was baked in bourbon and tinged in acid. At a time when Broadway’s main purpose seemed to be to placate its stereotypical audience of the “tired businessman” and his wife, Virginia Woolf vivisected middle-aged marital dysfunction. Another Broadway hit of the same season, the coyly cloying comedy Never Too Late by Sumner Arthur Long, concerned a 50-ish wife who unexpectedly becomes pregnant by her 60-ish husband. But—SPOILER ALERT—Virginia Woolf focused on a couple whose inability to conceive after 23 years of wedlock has led them to invent an imaginary son, and eventually to “kill” him.

And then there was Albee’s taboo-breaking language—harsh, vulgar, sometimes obscene. Audiences had never heard a wife yell “Screw you!” at her husband on a Broadway stage before. Nor had they watched a married woman showily seduce another man in front of her husband—whose response is to shrug off the taunt and, instead, bury his nose in a history book about the fall of Western civilization. Virginia Woolf—the “mainstream” debut of a young avant-garde playwright best known at the time for a handful of one-acts produced in Europe and off-Broadway—won the Tony and New York Drama Critics’ Circle awards. But it was denied the theater establishment’s most prestigious honor—the Pulitzer Prize for Drama—because the Pulitzer board objected to its profanity and sexual content. (Albee’s next Broadway play, the 1966 A Delicate Balance, did receive a Pulitzer—an accolade interpreted by many as a belated apology for the earlier shortsighted slight.)

There’s more to Albee’s text than swear words, of course. This is a work rich in heightened language, ranging from long, elegiac monologues—dreamy storytelling arias—to terse exchanges that recall the minimalist precision of Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter. And the play assumes a wide range of cultural literacy on the part of its audience. References abound, ranging from classical allusions (the Punic Wars) to an obscure Bette Davis film (the 1949 Beyond the Forest), whose seemingly trivial mention is actually a vital clue to the script’s theme of infanticide.

And then, of course, there’s Virginia Woolf herself—the proto-feminist pre-World War II British writer whose lifelong battle with mental illness led her to commit suicide in 1941. Reputedly, Albee came across the phrase “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf”—a joking nod to Walt Disney’s 1933 cartoon Three Little Pigs—scrawled on the wall of a Greenwich Village saloon. For Disney, “the Big Bad Wolf” was a metaphor for the Great Depression; for Albee, Virginia Woolf represents angst on a deeper, more existential plane.

Virginia Woolf‘s ferocious intensity still packs a wallop. Indeed, the in-your-face intimacy of Invictus’s storefront staging brings out the best in Albee’s play. Beautifully directed by Charles Askenaizer, the play is acted by a first-rate foursome, who engage the script’s rhythms and dynamics with the sensitivity of a finely tuned string quartet playing one of Paul Hindemith or Elliott Carter’s jaggedly lyrical compositions.

The cello and violin in this dissonant yet exquisite chamber work are George and Martha. He’s 46, six years younger than Martha, and a history teacher at the small New England college run by her father. They are smart and often quite witty. She drinks, and he keeps her company. Their marriage is codependent and abusive. George and Martha have stayed together for the sake of “the kid”—the make-believe son whose “existence” Martha must not mention to anyone outside their bleak, bitter marriage. Not even on the Saturday night this play takes place—the eve of the son’s anticipated homecoming for his 21st birthday. (And yes, “George and Martha” is an allusion to the Washingtons, and the make-believe son a symbol of the myth of “the American dream.”)

Enter the violins: Nick and Honey, both in their 20s—late-night guests whom Martha has invited over for a nightcap after a faculty soiree. Nick’s a new faculty member in the science department; Honey’s his trophy bride. They got married because they thought she was pregnant; it turned out she wasn’t, but like George and Martha they stayed together. A biologist by training, Nick is a rising star in the field of genetic engineering—cloning. In 1962, cloning was indeed a hot topic in academic circles, young heterosexual couples did get married because the woman got pregnant, and “faculty wives” like Martha and Honey were judged on their teacher-husbands’ reputations. Nick the biologist is the wave of the future; George the historian, like Western civilization, is in decline. (One of Martha’s nastiest digs at George concerns his “associate professor’s salary.”)

Two couples; one small, book-cluttered living room (impressive scenic and props design by Kevin Rolfs); copious amounts of alcohol. Party games ensue, as George and Nick—sexual rivals, the past and the future—size up each other, and each other’s wives. As the three-hour play progresses in real time, secrets are bared and facades are peeled away. Illusions are destroyed—but not people. As Martin Esslin wrote in his seminal 1961 text The Theatre of the Absurd: “Theatre of the Absurd does not reflect despair . . . but expresses modern man’s endeavor to come to terms with the world in which he lives . . . [and] to free him from illusions that are bound to cause maladjustment and disappointment. For the dignity of man lies in his ability to face reality in all its senselessness; to accept it freely, without fear, without illusions—and to laugh at it.” 

Virginia Woolf—harrowing but also very funny—is Theater of the Absurd couched in the trappings of realist domestic drama: Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit mixed with William Inge’s Come Back, Little Sheba, with perhaps a bit of Elliott Nugent and James Thurber’s The Male Animal tossed in for good measure.

Andrea Uppling as Martha is visibly too young for the 52-year-old character she plays, but she brings to life every twist and turn of Martha’s imbalanced energy—the rowdy humor, the flagrant sexuality, the soul-deep frustration that drives her raging attacks on George, the bottomless depression that she vainly tries to self-medicate with booze. Uppling’s Martha engages our compassion with her pain even as she repels us with her behavior. James Turano’s rumpled George, weary from years of suppressing his own emotional needs in order to keep Martha afloat, is remarkable to watch as he builds himself up to meet the crisis that has inevitably come.

Keenan Odenkirk is a visually perfect Nick—the blond, muscular Aryan archetype that Albee envisioned. And he beautifully projects the opportunistic personality that Albee had in mind as well: shallow and ambitious, cunning and calculating. As Honey, Rachel Livingston is an Ibsen-esque doll-wife, with her sing-songy laugh and mousy manner of nibbling at the cocktail nuts on the coffee table. But, like Uppling, she reveals the pain and frustration of a woman trapped in the “feminine mystique,” to use the term coined by feminist writer Betty Friedan in her 1963 book analyzing the dissatisfaction and voicelessness of women in post-World War II America.

Want more stories like this one? Sign up to our daily newsletter for stories by and for Chicago.

Success! You’re on the list.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn’t process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.
Processing…

Read More

Living room absurdismAlbert Williamson May 17, 2022 at 4:45 pm Read More »

Bears sign OT Shon Coleman, cut P Ryan Winslow

Still trying to shore up depth at a needy position, the Bears signed tackle Shon Coleman on Tuesday morning, just before they began an organized team activity practice.

An Auburn alum, Coleman was a third-round pick by the Browns in 2016. He started all 16 games for the Browns in 2017 when they famously went winless, but hasn’t appeared in a game since.

The Browns traded Coleman to the 49ers in 2018. He went to injured reserve in August 2019 and again in 2021. In between, he sat out the 2020 season with coronavirus concerns. He qualified as a high-risk opt-out player because he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia as an 18-year-old.

Coleman was picked up by the Colts this offseason and was released earlier this month.

To make room, the Bears cut punter Ryan Winslow, leaving rookie Trenton Gill, whom the Bears chose in Round 7, as the only punter on the roster.

Read More

Bears sign OT Shon Coleman, cut P Ryan Winslow Read More »

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue features Kim Kardashian, Maye Musk, Yumi Nu, Ciara

Kim Kardashian keeps stunning fans. First it was her jaw-dropping Marilyn Monroe look at this year’s Met Gala — and the spotlight continues for the star as she covers 2022’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

The magazine announced Monday this year’s cover models for its popular swim issue, which included the reality star and entrepreneur alongside singer Ciara and models Maye Musk and Yumi Nu.

Kardashian told the outlet that she “never thought in a million years” she’d be featured, especially at her age. Greg Swales photographed the 41-year-old, who wore in a nude bikini with matching nude gloves in the Dominican Republic.

Kim Kardashian’s 2022 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue cover. The cover is one of four that will be on newsstands May 19.

Greg Swales /Sports Illustrated

“I vividly remember Tyra Banks on the cover and women with curves. I remember thinking that is so cool. But, I still didn’t think I would have … I thought you had to be a professional model and a runway model. It was always really young girls. I don’t want to date myself or sound old, but in my 40s? That’s crazy!” she said.

But if anyone is proving that age doesn’t matter in beauty, it’s Musk. At 74, she rocked the cover in a ruffled Maygel Coronel suit shot by Yu Tsai in Belize.

Maye Musk. Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue cover, 2022. The cover hits newsstands on May 19.|

Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

The author’s daughter Tosca praised her mom as an unstoppable force. “My mom is 74 now. In her years on this planet she’s earned two master’s degrees in nutrition science, won awards in the dietetics field, has been in countless fashion shows and editorials, and she’s even appeared in a Beyonc? video. She is an uncontainable force, and she’s the most fearless woman I’ve ever known.”

Ciara. 2022 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue cover. Four covers will hit newsstands on May 19.|

Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Ciara, 36, who is married to Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson, donned her cover in an animal-print one-piece and a cowboy hat. She was photographed by Ben Watts in Barbados.

The youngest of the cover stars, 25-year-old Nu, made the Swimsuit cover after first debuting in the issue last year. The recording artist and plus-size model was photographed in Montenegro by James Macari. During her shoot, she wore swimsuits by brands such as Michael Costello x REVOLVE, Ola Vida, Riot Swim and more.

Nu cemented her place in history as the first plus-size model on the cover of Vogue Japan.

“I’m second-generation Japanese American, and Japanese culture values being skinny, dainty and small. So for me to be on the cover of Vogue Japan meant being seen and being honored by a culture that often makes people with bigger bodies like mine feel invisible,” she told Sports Illustrated.

Yumi Nu. 2022 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue cover. Four covers will hit newsstands on May 19.|

James Macari/Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated’s 59th Swimsuit issue hits newsstands on May 19 with images and stories from “28 powerful and beautiful women.” Others featured include WNBA stars Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart and Duckie Thot, Kamie Crawford, and Olivia Ponton.

The issue also features 2021 Rookie of the Year Katrina Scott, who was photographed when she was six and a half months pregnant and model Kelly Hughes, who showed off and celebrated her C-section scar in her photos.

Read More

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue features Kim Kardashian, Maye Musk, Yumi Nu, Ciara Read More »

It is too soon for Brent Seabrook to be Chicago Blackhawks head coachVincent Pariseon May 17, 2022 at 4:15 pm

(Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks are a bad hockey team with a very flawed roster. They have more issues than the head coach but that is something to address as they try to move beyond what was a horrid year.

Derek King did a decent job as the interim head coach after firing Jeremy Colliton but it certainly wasn’t good enough for anyone to feel that he deserves to automatically be the full-time hire going forward.

There are a lot of names out there to be considered for the position. There are some names available that have been long-time coaches in the past and there are new guys looking to take that on for the first time.

Someone that is interesting to think about is Brent Seabrook. It would shock nobody if the former Blackhawks star defenseman was an NHL coach one day. He was such a smart player and always a great leader for a team that had a tremendous amount of success.

Brent Seabrook has the potential to be a Chicago Blackhawks coach one day.

We all remember when Jonathan Toews took a bad penalty against the Detroit Red Wings in the 2013 second round. The Hawks were down 3-1 in the series and Toews taking that penalty out of frustration was not a good sign.

Seabrook went over to the penalty box ahead of the kill and calmed Toews down. From that point on, Toews and Seabrook along with the rest of the team put things in gear and came all the way back. It was that moment when these guys became Chicago hockey legends.

You need that level of compassion and leadership in order to be an NHL head coach. You also need to just be a smart hockey person and Seabrook fits under all of those umbrellas. If he wants it, he deserves the chance one day.

He may be an assistant coach one day before getting the big job but you just never know how that shakes out. It is fun to think about but it wouldn’t be a good fit in the year 2022. It should take a while before he is considered a fit for them.

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are still leaders on this team and it won’t work having their old mate as their head coach. How is Seabrook supposed to truly be a head coach if he has former equals under him? It just doesn’t work well ever.

The Chicago Cubs hired David Ross while former teammates of his were on the team. It looked weird seeing Ross coach guys like Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, Javier Baez, and Kyle Hendricks because he was their friend and teammate first. That really didn’t work out well.

As mentioned before, Seabrook deserves to work in the NHL based on the typical criteria of a first-time NHL coach. He will get that opportunity one day but it isn’t a good fit for the current Chicago Blackhawks at all. They need someone who can handle a full-blown rebuild.

Related Story: Trading Panarin is still a disaster for the Blackhawks

Read More

It is too soon for Brent Seabrook to be Chicago Blackhawks head coachVincent Pariseon May 17, 2022 at 4:15 pm Read More »

Illinois State basketball: New coach Ryan Pedon eyeing local talent

Late last month, new Illinois State coach Ryan Pedon extended a number of offers to Illinois prospects in the Class of 2023. There were nine in total.

The offers were a statement.

Under Pedon, Illinois State will put a heavy emphasis on recruiting the state, something the Redbirds haven’t prioritized in recent years.

“Our state is very important to us,” said Pedon, the former Ohio State assistant who recruited Belleville West star EJ Liddell to Columbus. “Our staff has a background with Illinois and the Midwest. When I put our staff together, we wanted to put ourselves in a position to recruit at a high level, and that starts in our state.”

Redbird assistant coach Walter Offutt targeted Illinois relentlessly while working at Toledo over the last three years.

And veteran assistant Rob Judson knows the state as well or better than anyone. He played and coached at the University of Illinois and was a head coach at Northern Illinois and an assistant at Illinois State and Bradley. Judson is as familiar a name in Illinois high school basketball as you will find after decades in the business.

Pedon also had a firsthand look and experience with Illinois high school basketball during his time as John Groce’s special assistant for two years at Illinois. He said he saw all the pluses the state had to offer.

“Very rich tradition with lots of history and tremendous coaching and talent,” Pedon said. “My time at Illinois showed and taught me that. In the position I was in, I was able to meet and interact with a lot of high school coaches. I just have a great appreciation for the great coaching in this state.”

In addition to offering nine of the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s top 20 prospects in the Class of 2023 in Illinois, Pedon already has secured a couple of pieces through the transfer portal: Darius Burford, who starred at Bolingbrook, and local product Colton Sandage from Bloomington.

Burford and Sandage averaged an identical 13.4 points at their previous schools. Burford also averaged 4.1 rebounds and three assists in his sophomore season at Elon, while Sandage played at Western Illinois.

“I think with our early signings, even in a short time here, it would indicate that [focus on Illinois],” Pedon said. “I am just a strong believer that we can get high-level players from our state and surrounding areas. If we are doing our job, we are at a place that is attractive enough to attract those kinds of kids.”

Burford could prove to be quite the coup. He already has racked up 600 career points in two seasons at Elon, where as a freshman he was named to the Colonial Athletic Association’s All-Rookie team. This past season, he was named to the All-CAA third team after leading Elon in points, assists and steals.

Burford’s relationship with Illinois State assistant coach Andrew Dakich played a big part in the jet-quick guard returning home. Dakich was the director of basketball operations at Elon during Burford’s two years there.

But the distance from home was a huge factor, something Pedon surely will use to his advantage in recruiting pitches to prospects. Burford is close with his family and cherishes the times they can see him play. Family, Burford said, and all it has to offer is a crucial part of developing as a college student-athlete.

“Playing Division I basketball is hard,” Burford said. “There are some really difficult, challenging times. I talk to my family every day. Having your support system is important. And being far away makes that difficult.”

Burford is excited that his family will be just a 90-minute drive away. He pointed out that anyone from home who wanted to see him play at Elon had to take a flight and then make a drive. Plus, the money spent for travel expenses added up, which Burford said he always had in the back of his mind.

“Being close to family is a special thing to have,” Burford said. “I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

He’s excited to be playing for a new coach and trying to help reboot a program that hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1998.

“I loved every part of what they had to say and what they showed me on my visit and during the process,” Burford said. “I can’t wait to play there.”

Over the years, particularly with Illinois State’s most successful teams, the program has been led by in-state products. Doug Collins, Roger Powell Sr., Jeff Wilkins, Rick Lamb, Tarise Bryson, Rico Hill, Osiris Eldridge and Paris Lee are just a few of the bigger in-state names who were stars for the Redbirds.

Pedon hopes Burford and Sandage are just the beginning of a local pipeline to Illinois State.

“I think early on we want to send a message that we are serious about recruiting the state” Pedon said. “Our actions should indicate we are pretty serious about recruiting the state. Talk is cheap.”

The actions have been loud, and so far, the results have been swift.

Read More

Illinois State basketball: New coach Ryan Pedon eyeing local talent Read More »

The Chicago Bulls should try these 3 Nikola Vucevic tradesRyan Heckmanon May 17, 2022 at 2:00 pm

Chicago Bulls (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Next1 of 4Prev post
Use your (arrows) to browse

Chicago Bulls (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

Now that the Chicago Bulls are in full offseason mode, it’s time to look ahead. These Bulls are going to have some serious situations facing them this summer.

The two big storylines are whether or not Zach LaVine will stay in Chicago or sign elsewhere, along with just how bad the health of Lonzo Ball’s knee is. While most would assume LaVine stays in Chicago due to being able to make far more money with the Bulls, losing him is still a possibility.

As for Ball, that situation is more of an unknown.

Another topic of discussion is going to be whether or not the Bulls will try to trade one or two of their own guys. Coby White could be moved, but so could starting center Nikola Vucevic.

The Chicago Bulls should try and trade center Nikola Vucevic this offseason.

Vucevic has had many good games for the Bulls, and he’s come up in clutch situations at times. But, the bad is outweighing the good at this stage. Vucevic’s sporadic play has been extremely difficult to watch and he doesn’t seem to fit as well as many thought he would.

His contract expires after this coming season, too, which might make him a tradable player. Vucevic is due $22 million this coming season and then enters free agency. Maybe, just maybe, the Bulls can get something for him. But, it could be difficult.

The Bulls might not be able to get as much as they’d like in return for Vucevic. Then the question becomes, who replaces him? There are, however, three scenarios that make sense for the Bulls to try and move Vucevic. Let’s take a look at them

Next: Trade Number 1
Next1 of 4Prev post
Use your (arrows) to browse

Read More

The Chicago Bulls should try these 3 Nikola Vucevic tradesRyan Heckmanon May 17, 2022 at 2:00 pm Read More »

Anthony Rizzo off to strongest start among former Cubs

Former Chicago Cubs star Anthony Rizzo is off to a fantastic start for the New York Yankees

At the trade deadline last season, the Chicago Cubs unloaded several key players and set the rebuild into gear. This included core players, Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, and Anthony Rizzo.

Another notable member of the Cubs’ previous core is Kyle Schwarber. He last played for the Cubs in 2020, but he joined Rizzo, Bryant, and Baez in this offseason’s exciting free agency period.

These former members of the Cubs’ core all signed massive contracts before this season began. All of their contracts combined are worth a whopping $433 million. Unfortunately, these players have yet to make much of an impact on their new teams. The one exception to that is Anthony Rizzo.

Rizzo garnered the least significant contract of these players as he re-signed with the Yankees for 2-years and $32 million.

Baez and Schwarber are off to underwhelming starts with their new clubs. Baez is now with the Detroit Tigers and is only batting .216 with a .586 OPS in 26 games. Schwarber has also struggled so far. His power certainly hasn’t faded as he has already launched 9 home runs. Unfortunately, he has racked up 43 strikeouts in 142 plate appearances. His batting average also only sits at .189 through 33 games. The former MVP, Kris Bryant, has put up good numbers with the Colorado Rockies. Unfortunately for Bryant, he has struggled to stay on the field. He has only appeared in 15 of the Rockies’ 34 games.

That leaves Rizzo.

Anthony Rizzo’s hot start for New York Yankees

Although his batting average has been abnormally low to start the season at .225, he has been incredibly productive for the Yankees. Rizzo has recorded 9 home runs this season which is tied for 5th in the league (tied with Schwarber and 5 others). His power-hitting teammates, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton, also rank at 1st and 4th, respectively. Currently, Rizzo also sits at 14th in the league in RBIs with 23. The Yankees have been incredible this season and Rizzo has been a key contributor.

Of these former Cubs, Rizzo is the only one who re-signed with their new club. Perhaps the extra familiarity or comfort with his new environment has been beneficial. Playing in front of the bright lights of New York City is a difficult or even impossible adjustment for some players. Anthony Rizzo seems to be handling it just fine. Of course, there is still a massive chunk of the season remaining and this can all change in a heartbeat.

Rizzo returned to Chicago over the weekend to face the Chicago White Sox. Fans will not be surprised to see that he continues to be incredibly charitable towards the city he spent almost ten years in.

A. Rizzo Foundation

@RizzoFoundation

No matter what pinstripes @ARizzo44 wears, @LurieChildrens will always be home 💛 We were so excited to get back to in person hospital visits and meet with the children and see all the faces we have missed so much! https://t.co/kafdNHN8i2

2:25 PM · May 13, 2022

Although the Cubs are off to a rough start this season, fans will always have a soft spot for the players that brought them the 2016 World Series. These players are all sure to become major contributors to their new clubs as the season progresses.

Make sure to check out our Cubs forum for the latest on the team.

Read More

Anthony Rizzo off to strongest start among former Cubs Read More »