The Chicago Bears are getting set to play against Tom Brady for the second year in a row. It is his second year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and his first time defending a Super Bowl title with them. He is the greatest player in the history of the sport and he has had tremendous […] Chicago Bears: This Tom Brady fact is honestly mind blowing – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & MoreRead More

The duo have taken many trips together on their own, and mother is hoping the tradition will continue.

DEAR ABBY: My mom and I have always been close, but since I got married, I have been having a hard time setting boundaries. My parents divorced when I was 12, and Mom went through a string of boyfriends — including an abusive one. She hasn’t dated anyone seriously in the last five years. My father is a pilot. While I was growing up, it was mostly Mom who raised me. It was the two of us against the world, until I met my husband, “Eric.” We started dating four years ago and were married last summer.

Eric knows Mom and I have always considered ourselves to be each other’s best friend. He also knows we have taken many trips together. It’s a tradition Mom was hoping we’d continue after my wedding. She has recently begun discussing a vacation, and Eric wants to tag along. She, however, wants it to be a “just us girls” trip.

I’m not sure how to handle this. Mom and Eric are the most important people in my life. Must I really choose between one or the other? Who comes first? And how do I break the news to whoever comes second? — TORN IN ILLINOIS

DEAR TORN: You are a newlywed, married only a short time. For your mother to expect you to leave your husband and vacation with her at this point is insensitive and unrealistic. When people marry, their spouse is supposed to take precedence. Tell your mother you would love to take girls trips with her in the future, but not during the first year of your marriage.

DEAR ABBY: Can you help to illuminate people on what is proper etiquette after the passing of a loved one? We recently had a death in our family. As we were trying to say our goodbyes and get in touch with immediate family, the word got out.

Within an hour of the passing, the news was all over social media. We barely had time to react, let alone inform all our family members. Many of them learned about it from these posts. Imagine finding out a loved one passed away from a non-family member’s social media posting. It made an already painful situation even more so. People were hurt that they weren’t informed before it was plastered all over the internet.

Could you also point out that if you are the person who made the post from which someone found out about the death of a family member, rather than get defensive and say, “I’m not the only one who posted it!” or, “I wasn’t the first to say something,” just kindly offer your condolences and maybe an apology. — MOURNING IN MICHIGAN

DEAR MOURNING: Please accept my sympathy for your loss. I am sure that feelings are raw because people are hurting, but please realize that because of social media, news travels like wildfire. For a friend to be told and then to post the sad news wouldn’t be unusual these days. However, to head something like that off before it happened, the person who spilled the beans should have asked the friend to keep the news private until all family members were personally informed.

That said, since there were hurt feelings, apologies are in order.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

To receive a collection of Abby’s most memorable — and most frequently requested — poems and essays, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $8 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby — Keepers Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

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Calvin de Haan co-founded Ridge Rock Brewing Co. in 2018 and has helped it stay afloat the past two years. | Lindsey Osborne/Ridge Rock Brewing Co.

The Blackhawks defenseman has spent his last two NHL offseasons delivering beer and helping in every way possible to keep Ridge Rock Brewing Co. in Carp, Ontario, afloat.

A five-minute bike ride down the road from Calvin de Haan’s offseason home in the Ottawa suburb of Carp, Ontario, sits Ridge Rock Brewing Co., the business de Haan co-founded in 2018 and has co-owned since.

But for more than a year after COVID-19 began, Ridge Rock sat empty, unable to host its loyal patrons inside its historic brick building at Carp’s central intersection.

De Haan thus spent much of the pandemic not only navigating the NHL’s rapidly evolving schedule — and playing through a broken leg to participate in the Blackhawks’ 2021 season — but also helping his business navigate some tough times.

“The community and Carp and Ottawa in general has been very appreciative,” de Haan said. “We can’t show enough gratitude for the support they’ve shown us over COVID.

“The staff we have in the building was awesome, as well, keeping the lights on and being smart with labor and all that kind of stuff. And, obviously, my partners did a great job steering the ship.”

The 30-year-old Hawks defenseman joked he simultaneously tries to spend “as much time and the least amount of time possible” at Ridge Rock — he can “get caught [up] in there” if he doesn’t manage his time. He needed to juggle a lot of other things this summer, including his own wedding.

But the residents of Carp and the people running the brewery every day describe de Haan a bit more generously — as a passionately involved co-owner — than he humbly describes himself. Lindsey Osborne, Ridge Rock’s head of sales and marketing, has found his assistance invaluable.

“He’s the first person to volunteer if there’s anything somebody needs done,” Osborne said. “Or if we’re short-staffed, he’s always the one volunteering to do things. If we’re ever having any meetings or tastings, he’s always here to do it.”

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
Calvin de Haan has averaged 18:17 during the Blackhawks’ first five games this season.

De Haan’s dad, Bill, works full-time for Ridge Rock as a delivery driver and “all-around handyman.” But with Ridge Rock — like many restaurants recently across the U.S. and Canada — encountering shortages that reduced their kitchen staff, Bill went into action, cooking barbecue so they could keep offering food in addition to beer.

With Bill preoccupied, Calvin helped pick up the slack with deliveries. By his own doing, he’s hardly perceived as an NHL celebrity in the community — more like just another Carp guy who happens to play in the NHL — but people still were “so pleased and surprised to see him at their door.”

“He has even volunteered to help on the canning line before,” Osborne said. “We didn’t take him up on that one.”

Despite the hard work of all involved, there have been legitimately rocky and worrying moments over the last year and a half at Ridge Rock — “just like every other business on the planet,” de Haan said.

Ontario provincial restrictions during the pandemic have been some of the strictest in North America. Indoor dining only became allowed again this summer, and even now, capacity is limited.

Across the street, one of the few restaurants in town — Carp, population 1,965, has no chains — closed down about a month ago because of staffing shortages and lack of business.

“There’s one little cafe, there’s another one opening, and then there’s us and one other pub,” Osborne said. “[The restaurant closing] was really unfortunate. It hit a lot of people in the community hard and made them realize that if they don’t go out and support these local businesses, we’re not going to be here.

“It was a very scary thought that we didn’t know when we’d be able to open our doors again — or, if they opened, if we were going to be able to keep them open.”

Realizing their need for supplemental revenue, Ridge Rock has pivoted to not just delivering but also shipping their products throughout Ontario. Drinkers from Toronto to Thunder Bay can choose from nine beers (and one hard seltzer) brewed in-house. Ridge Rock bolstered their marketing efforts, too. The winner of an ongoing raffle on their website, for example, will receive a keg, kegerator and — fittingly — de Haan-signed hockey stick.

“We really worked on our online ads and doing home deliveries and stuff like that,” de Haan said. “But we were pretty restricted. We could really only do the supply and demand for [so long]. Online orders were the big moneymaker for us to keep the lights on.”

De Haan’s focus understandably has shifted back to hockey. His fellow owners and employees held a send-off party for him Sept. 3 on the Ridge Rock patio. Through five regular-season games, de Haan leads Hawks defensemen with a 53.0% even-strength shot-attempt ratio while averaging 18:17 of ice time.

Back in Carp, Osborne can see the light at the end of the COVID tunnel. The brewery recently celebrated its three-year anniversary of opening. Sales have increased, the full food menu is available again and Ontario’s indoor dining capacity restrictions are expected to lift within a few weeks.

That good news is enough to keep de Haan cheerful even during the Hawks’ painful, winless start.

“It was good, once things were open, to see some familiar faces inside and everyone smiling,” de Haan said. “That’s the atmosphere we wanted to create: A local watering hole where you can go with friends and enjoy yourself.

“We knew we were going to be able to get through [the pandemic], just from our plan of attack. We have a strong backing in our little community there, so that goes a long way. That made a huge difference.”

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The Chicago Blackhawks went into the season with lots of hype. Additions like Marc-Andre Fleury, Tyler Johnson, Seth Jones, and Jake McCabe seemed to be enough to take their roster and make it a bubble team at minimum. Unfortunately, they have been beaten badly over the first five games and sit with an 0-4-1 record. […] Chicago Blackhawks: Detroit Red Wings are wildly improved – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & MoreRead More

Bears quarterback Justin Fields throws against the Packers. | Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

If Fields is the franchise quarterback the Bears believe him to be, he’ll be measured against every star quarterback they play for the next decade. The main benefit for him as a rookie — perhaps the only benefit — is to study the future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterbacks on the opposing sideline this season.

Justin Fields doesn’t have to look far to find someone to aspire to Sunday. He’ll be 160 feet across the football field — or closer, depending on which hash mark the ball is spotted.

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is the epitome of NFL greatness. His seven Super Bowl rings — over four different presidential administrations — are more than any franchise in the NFL can claim. He has set an impossible standard.

The Bears’ rookie quarterback needs to learn from him, even if it’s just by watching. On Sunday, he has an opportunity unlike any in NFL history. Fields, who was born exactly six months after Brady made his first start at Michigan, is 22. Brady is 44. The difference between the two is the widest age gap between starting quarterbacks in NFL history.

“It’s just awesome to see him still playing when he doesn’t have anything else to prove,” Fields said. “I mean, he’s won . . . seven Super Bowl rings.

“Just seeing him play without anything left to prove shows how much he loves the game. Of course, he’s a great quarterback that will go down in history as one of the greatest to ever play the game.”

Fields spent last week trying to defuse the hype surrounding the Packers rivalry, saying the game wasn’t a one-on-one matchup between him and quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He’s right, technically. But starting pitchers don’t face each other on every play. Neither do the leading scorers on basketball teams who play different positions. That doesn’t mean they avoid comparisons.

If Fields is the franchise quarterback the Bears believe him to be, he’ll be measured against every star quarterback they play for the next decade. The main benefit for him as a rookie — perhaps the only benefit — is to study the future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterbacks on the opposing sideline this season and try to steal a few tricks.

“Shoot, I learn from watching those guys, you know? We can all learn from watching great players,” said Bears quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, who is nine months younger than Brady. “If you don’t learn from some of these guys who have been around the league for a long time and how they see the game, then you’re shutting yourself off to a lot of good information.”

Quarterbacks don’t study opposing offenses during the week. During each game, though, Bears coaches encourage Fields to watch the other quarterback, particularly on third down. The play determines whether Fields needs to get ready to take the field — but also shows how quarterbacks perform at the most critical moments of the game.

“It’s really a fun experience to be able to watch those guys and how they operate,” DeFilippo said.

There are plenty of greats for Fields to watch. Last week, Fields faced Rodgers, who, like Brady, is a three-time NFL MVP. In two weeks, he’ll stand across the field from Ben Roethlisberger, a two-time Super Bowl champion and another future Hall of Famer. None of the three has the same playing style as Fields. What the Bears want him to learn, though, transcends that. They want Fields to see the poise, skill and mastery that Brady possesses and apply that to himself.

“He wants to be Justin Fields — that’s all he cares about,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said. “You can respect those other guys, and I know he does. We are in a great place in this league with the amount of great quarterbacks and great quarterback play going on right now.

“You always respect that, and you ask people around them how they do things and little things like that — but then you make it your own.”

When they’re sitting around their meeting room during the week, Bears quarterbacks Andy Dalton, Nick Foles and Fields chat about the latest performances around the league, be they a Lamar Jackson run, a Justin Herbert throw or an uncanny Brady performance.

“If you’re in that room, and that position is that hard, you appreciate good quarterback play,” DeFilippo said.

Because it’s hard to compare Brady to mere mortals, DeFilippo focuses on how Brady -handles specific situations. He then has Fields apply that to his own responsibilities.

Rookie quarterbacks often think that the only way to convert third downs is to throw past the sticks. The Bears want Fields to see that an open receiver can often catch the ball short, then run for the first down.

“You bring up, ‘Hey, look at how he handled this third-and-13 — he checked the ball down, and they got it to fourth-and-two [and went for it],” DeFilippo said.

The Bears want Fields to see it in real time.

“On the sidelines, we’ll grab Justin on third-and-10: ‘Hey, if they get five here, it’ll be interesting to see what they do,’ ” DeFilippo said. “So [we’re] always putting ourselves in the game of kinda playing the game when the other team is on offense.”

Fields focused on how Rodgers was able to orchestrate drives. In college, Fields said it was easy to make up for lost yardage with explosive plays. In the NFL, defenses are far too stingy.

The Bears are converting only one-third of their third downs, the fifth-worst mark in the NFL. Brady’s Buccaneers convert 49.4%, the third-best.

“You can just take away how they operate their drives and how they operate a game,” Fields said. “It just can’t be two, three good plays on a drive. You have to put together consistently positive plays to get down the field and at least get points.”

The Bears aren’t doing that. Only two teams — the Jets and Texans, who also are starting rookie quarterbacks — average fewer points than the Bears’ 16.3 per game. No team averages fewer yards than the Bears’ 246.2.

Facing Rodgers, Fields said he learned not to force things — with his arm or legs. It still bothers Fields that he had first-and-10 at the Packers’ 35 with a minute left in the first half and took a delay of game, then a sack that lost 10 yards. The Bears punted.

“I learned from last game: If it’s a bad play, don’t make it worse,” he said. “Sometimes, of course, I’m gonna try to extend plays, but if it’s not there, you get rid of the ball and move on to the next play.”

Brady will be an even better teacher. This season, he has had an average time to throw of 2.53 seconds, according to NFL NextGen Stats. That’s the third-quickest in the NFL. His average of 2.45 seconds last week was second-fastest.

Rodgers shifts around the pocket like a hyperactive boxer ducking punches; Brady stands upright and throws like a reliever pitching from the stretch. Everything before that point, though, is the same. That’s where Fields can learn.

“They’re so similar in the fact that, just the things that they do at the line of scrimmage and how slow the game is to them — the defense is slow to them,” Nagy said. “They see everything before it happens. Their similarities with the confidence that they have in themselves, the ability to make every throw. The experience that they have. They’re competitive, they’re so competitive. They care. You see that. . . . You can do nothing but respect that.”

Fields does, even as he tries to be himself.

“What I like about Justin is that he is not going to change,” Nagy said. “He is who he is for a reason. He can learn and get better in certain areas, and he respects the heck out of those other guys. I know he does.”

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Tom Brady has seven championships. Justin Fields is playing in his seventh NFL game. | Getty

Brady is playing some of the best football of his career, which is really saying something, and the Buccaneers have won 13 of their last 14. It’s a monumental challenge for a rookie quarterback making his fifth start.

For the second consecutive week, Bears rookie Justin Fields tried to downplay a showdown between himself and a future Hall of Fame quarterback. The way he spins it, opposing QBs are never on the field at the same time and thus don’t really play against each other.

That’s technically true, but the Bears’ chances of upsetting the Buccaneers on Sunday most likely hinge on whether Fields can outperform seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady.

By the way, here’s a glance at Fields’ calendar: Aaron Rodgers last week, Brady on Sunday, then Ben Roethlisberger and Lamar Jackson in November and Kyler Murray, Rodgers and Russell Wilson looming in December.

And while not a single one of those players will be in coverage or blitzing the pocket when Fields drops back to throw, NFL games typically come down to which team has better quarterback play. Brady and Fields are up against reasonably comparable defenses, so whoever plays better will almost certainly get the win.

Beating Brady, like Rodgers, is extremely difficult. Peyton Manning pulled it off just six times in 17 career attempts.

Including the playoffs, in which Brady has played the equivalent of almost three seasons, he is 269-81 as a starter. He has won 10 or more games in all but one of his seasons as a full-time starter. Fields is 2-2, just for context.

There’s endless argument about whether Brady is football’s most talented quarterback, but there’s no debate about him being the ultimate winner. His seven Super Bowl titles are more than what 28 of the 32 NFL franchises have in their entire histories.

The only quarterback to beat Brady so far this season is the Rams’ Matthew Stafford, who had a monster game of 343 yards and four touchdowns in Week 3. That kind of game is probably a reach for Fields at this point. But if the Bears’ defense forces Brady into a middling performance, as it did last October, Fields has a shot at keeping pace. When these teams met at Soldier Field a little over a year ago, Brady managed just 253 yards and a touchdown. Nick Foles virtually matched him at 243 yards and a touchdown, and the Bears topped the eventual champion Bucs 20-19 on Cairo Santos’ 38-yard field goal with 1:13 left.

That was a different version of the Bucs, however, with Brady yet to find his groove after more than two decades with the Patriots. The Bucs meandered to a 7-5 record before catching fire. Since then, they have won 13 of 14 and averaged 33.3 points per game.

And Brady, now 44, is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career. He had a 96.8 passer rating last season after losing to the Bears, then closed with a 104.7 over the last 11 games. This season, he leads the NFL with a stunning 344 yards passing per game, which would be the highest ever if he keeps it up. He’s second in the NFL in touchdown passes (17), sixth in passer rating (107.9) and 10th in completion percentage (68.5) and is among the safest passers in the league with just three interceptions out of 267 throws.

Even with Fields being so single-minded and clinical about his job, it’s impossible for him to ignore how daunting this matchup is. And with the Bucs having the NFL’s best run defense, there’s a strong likelihood the Bears will put the game in Fields’ hands.

Nonetheless, it’s an opportunity. Fields seems fearless, which is helpful in this scenario. Whether he’s actually ready for this challenge is irrelevant to him. He’s not intimidated, and that’s a good start when he’s taking on one of the sport’s all-time greats.

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A man was carjacked at gunpoint Saturday morning on the Northwest Side. | Sun-Times file

The 30-year-old was sitting in his 2014 KIA Sportage in the 5100 block of West Montana Street about 1:50 a.m. when two males forced him out at gunpoint, Chicago police said. The man then got into a Chrysler van and, along with the KIA, struck several parked vehicles, police said.

A man who was carjacked at gunpoint Saturday morning followed the suspects who allegedly robbed him and struck several vehicles in Belmont Cragin on the Northwest Side, Chicago police said.

The 30-year-old was sitting in his 2014 KIA Sportage in the 5100 block of West Montana Street about 1:50 a.m. when two males forced him out at gunpoint, police said. The man then got into a Chrysler van and struck a car in the 2200 block of North Laramie Avenue before, along with the KIA, striking several parked vehicles and stopping in the 2100 block of North Laramie Avenue, police said.

He and two others in the van were taken to Stroger Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

The suspects fled from the KIA after it caught fire, police said.

No other injuries were reported and eight cars were involved in the crash, police said.

No one was in custody.

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It was a big night for the city. The Chicago Bulls opened up the United Center for the first time in the regular season, taking on the New Orleans Pelicans. Entering the game winning the opener against Detroit, the Bulls looked to start the season with a pair of victories — and they did just […] Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan were a problem for Pelicans – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & MoreRead More

A 17-year-old boy was killed and 13 others were wounded in Chicago gun violence Friday. | Sun-Times file

The fatal attack occurred in Gresham on the South Side.

A 17-year-old boy was killed and 13 others wounded — including five in a single attack — in Chicago shootings Friday.

The teen was fatally wounded in a shooting in Gresham on the South Side. He was walking about 8:30 a.m. in the 7800 block of South Wood Street when a blue minivan approached and someone got out and fired shots, Chicago police said. The teen was struck several times and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead, police said. He was identified as Tremayne Maltbia by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
In nonfatal attacks, five people were wounded in a shooting in Chatham on the South Side. The group was standing outside about 9 p.m. in the 800 block of East 79th Street when someone opened fire before fleeing the scene, police said. A male and female, whose ages weren’t known, were shot in the arm and transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. The male was in critical condition and the female was stabilized. A 50-year-old woman was shot in the arm while a man, also 50, was struck in the ankle, police said. Another man, 43, was shot in the shoulder. They were all stabilized and taken to the same hospital, according to police.
A person is being questioned after a 19-year-old man was critically wounded in a shooting in Lawndale on the on the West Side. About 3:15 p.m., the man was in the 1300 block of South Lawndale Avenue when someone opened fire, police said. He was struck in the abdomen and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition, police said. A person of interest was taken into police custody, according to police.

Seven others were wounded in Chicago gun violence Friday.

Eight people were shot, three fatally in citywide shootings in Chicago Thursday.

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A woman was accidentally killed when her boyfriend’s firearm went off at a party on the Southwest Side. | Sun-Times file photo

The 35-year-old woman was at a party in the 3700 block of South Wood Street about 12:30 a.m. when she was shot in the face after her boyfriend’s gun accidentally went off, Chicago police said.

A woman was accidentally killed Saturday morning in McKinley Park on the Southwest Side.

The 35-year-old woman was at a party in the 3700 block of South Wood Street about 12:30 a.m. when she was shot in the face after her boyfriend’s gun accidentally went off, Chicago police said.

She was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. Her name hasn’t been released yet.

Her boyfriend was taken into custody by police.

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