Mateo Avila/Chicago Sky

His ways with people and a need to prove himself have put him on the doorstep of the franchise’s first WNBA title.

Timing has played a key role in James Wade’s WNBA coaching career, going back to his start on Dan Hughes’ staff with the San Antonio Stars in 2012.

At that point in his life, after his 13-year playing career overseas had ended, Wade envisioned himself coaching at the junior high or high school level. He wanted a nice, quiet life as a teacher who coached on the side. Raising a family was important to him, too.

He certainly didn’t see himself coaching a team with one of the best players in the game to the WNBA Finals.

But Hughes did.

“James and I would go out to lunch periodically,” Hughes remembered. “Those conversations were like one coach talking to another. I said, ‘When you get done playing, I’ll give you a job.’ “

Wade had been introduced to Hughes through his wife, Edwige Lawson-Wade, an Olympic silver medalist and member of the Stars’ 2008 WNBA Finals team. When Hughes offered Wade a spot as a coaching intern, Wade thought he’d be cleaning toilets, handing out water and wiping down the floor when a player fell. Lawson-Wade told her husband to take the job, be the best intern he could be and maybe, one day in a few years, he’d be considered for an assistant role.

That happened the following year.

In 2018, Wade was tapped to replace Amber Stocks as the Sky’s coach/general manager. At the time, he said the team wasn’t far off from making the playoffs — and he was right. They had a 20-14 regular-season record in his first year as a head coach, earning their first playoff berth in two seasons as Wade won Coach of the Year honors.

His championship experience as an assistant with the Minnesota Lynx, overseas as an assistant with BLMA and UMMC Ekaterinburg and, perhaps most important, his life experience made him the right person for the job.

“I knew if there was one person that could get them to believe in themselves, it was me,” he said.

Basketball had been a big part of his childhood. He was close with all 27 of his first cousins, and all the boys played. Wade was the sixth-oldest; the five who are older than him are all 6-5 or taller.

The height difference made him work that much harder, with the chip on his shoulder eventually becoming a character trait. Wade said he’s still motivated today by a childhood desire to prove people wrong.

He saw that same desire — along with a lot of talent — when he took a look at the Sky’s gritty, hard-working roster going into the 2019 season.

Wade’s knack for seeing what was inside players wasn’t new. In fact, his player-development skills were what had stood out to Hughes first, years earlier. One of the first players Hughes assigned Wade to work with on the Stars was three-time WNBA All-Star forward Sophia Young, whom Hughes could see thriving under Wade’s direction.

His players now talk about him like family. Guard Diamond DeShields, drafted third by the Sky in 2018, said earlier this season that Wade sees his players for who they are and encourages them to be authentic.

“James makes it very clear this is what you have to do in order for us to win games,” DeShields said. “I appreciate that because it makes my job easier when there’s transparency like that.”

In his dual role as coach and GM, Wade has been able to build the kind of teams he wants to coach. With his first draft pick in 2019, he selected UConn forward Katie Lou Samuelson, who lasted one season with the Sky before being traded to the Dallas Wings, along with a 2021 first-round pick, for forward/center Azura Stevens. In 2020, Wade selected forward Ruthy Hebard eighth overall. This year, he selected guard Shyla Heal, also eighth overall.

The decisions to draft Samuelson and Heal have come under fire, but long-term, those choices have paid off. Stevens, now at 100% after injuring her knee last season while playing in the WNBA bubble in Florida, has been a critical piece of the Sky’s playoff success this year, averaging 10.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and one steal. Guard Dana Evans, for whom Wade traded Heal plus draft assets to the Wings in June, has been the backup point guard behind Courtney Vandersloot that the Sky have wanted for years. Vandersloot is averaging a minute less of playing time than she was last season.

After signing a four-year contract extension in January, Wade also, of course, helped the Sky land one of the biggest free agents in WNBA history, point-forward Candace Parker. Bringing in a player of her caliber comes with unique challenges that are nothing like those that come with bringing in a role player, Wade said. His task was to marry her established identity and experience with the identity he’d been building with the Sky for two years.

It started out tough. Parker was out for nearly a month with an ankle injury to start the season. During that time, the Sky dropped seven straight and were unable to start building the on-court chemistry Wade had envisioned. He had a moment during that slump, he said, when he questioned if he was capable of getting the most out of the team.

It was Parker who told him, “We’re OK.”

The Sky are more than OK. After finishing the regular season 16-16 and entering the playoffs as the No. 6 seed, they’re playing for their first WNBA title starting Sunday.

“This year was hard,” Parker said after Game 4 of the semifinals. “To come into the locker room and see people get back up, that’s the biggest thing. We have a bunch of people that get up.”

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Notre Dame running back Chris Tyree (25) in action against Toledo in an NCAA college football game in South Bend, Ind., Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. Notre Dame won 32-29. (AP Photo/AJ Mast) ORG XMIT: _A121572 | AJ MAST/AP

Chris Tyree is well aware of Ismail’s legacy, aims to honor it with more electrifying kick returns

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — His beard is thick now and filled with more salt than pepper, but Raghib “Rocket” Ismail’s 51-year-old eyes flash with youthful memories at the mere mention of Chris Tyree.

The latest Notre Dame speedster to wear No. 25 in honor of the 1990 Heisman Trophy runner-up, Tyree ended a five-year program drought when he returned a kickoff 96 yards for a game-changing touchdown against Wisconsin on Sept. 25.

Ismail, a 2019 inductee to the College Football Hall of Fame, took five kickoffs to the house in his three unforgettable years with the Fighting Irish. So it was only fitting that he was at Soldier Field on the afternoon of Tyree’s breakthrough.

“That was huge,” Ismail said last Saturday after spending an hour outside Notre Dame Stadium posing for pictures at a promotional appearance. “And in that moment we needed that. It changed the whole spirit of the game, the momentum of the game. It just made me feel really good.”

Irish hearts would sink later in the day as No. 7 Cincinnati ended a 26-game home winning streak. Tyree’s costly fumble on a first-half kickoff return contributed greatly to that 24-13 loss.

Yet, as Tyree returns home this Saturday night to face Virginia Tech, there’s no denying the potential for the sophomore’s greatest attribute to impact future victories.

“I just feel like that was the tip of the iceberg,” Ismail said. “It’s like, ‘Wow, the next generation is taking it to new heights.’ And that’s my expectation. Regardless of what people say, I’m expecting him to do that and more.”

The two have never spoken, although Tyree said he was well aware of Ismail’s legacy, even before Notre Dame invoked his golden name during the recruiting process. Richard Tyree would sit with young Chris on college football Saturdays at the family home in Chester, Virginia, outside Richmond.

“My dad is a really big football guy,” Tyree said. “He was the one that introduced me to football. I was 4 years old watching ESPN, watching random teams. I understand that there’s a lot of history at Notre Dame. I knew who Rocket was.”

Receiver Braden Lenzy, who wore the number as a Notre Dame freshman in 2019, had switched to No. 0. When Tyree arrived on campus in June 2020, the No. 25 jersey was waiting in his locker.

Tyree knew immediately what that meant and called home to share the news with his father.

“It was a really cool sight,” Tyree said. “It’s a big honor to be able to wear it.”

Despite Ismail’s towering legacy, Tyree downplayed any notion of an added burden that might go along with wearing No. 25.

“I wouldn’t say there’s any pressure,” Tyree said. “I have so many things to worry about during the game, but I understand the honor and I understand who came before me.”

Taught proper running form as a freshman at Thomas Dale High School by track coach Jamarri Price, Tyree became a state champion sprinter and still glides effortlessly, even in full football gear. At Price’s urging, Tyree studied tape of all-time great Usain Bolt and Olympic-level sprinters Trayvon Bromell and Christian Coleman.

What would he ask Ismail about?

“Just being that he was so fast, being able to take advantage of that and just manipulating defenders,” Tyree said. “Even watching old YouTube clips of him, it was like he was just running by people. I would definitely ask him how he attacked angles and stuff like that.”

Ismail, his accessibility to the team limited by the pandemic, looks forward to meeting Tyree. He plans to tell the young man about Laura Bauknight, the grandmother who raised Ismail and younger brother Qadry in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

“She was a Sunday school teacher, and she used to always tell us about Christ and the principle of greater works,” Ismail said. “Anytime you see [number] 25, my expectation is always that there will be a great return, whether it’s a kickoff return, punt return or in production.”

There’s more, of course.

“I’m going to tell him that he’s supposed to expect the same thing,” Ismail said. “The tradition that the No. 25 represents at the University of Notre Dame, he’s going to put an extra shine on it, extra light. It’s going to be a higher expectation, and expect to be able to accomplish it — period.”

The famous eyes flash again.

“No fear, no worries, no anxiety, man,” Ismail said. “God gave him everything he needs to shine his light.”

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Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy reacts to a call against his team during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021, in Chicago. | Kamil Krzaczynski/AP

Bettors who recall history of low first-half scores during coach’s tenure can win big

LAS VEGAS — The Bulls and Blackhawks begin their respective seasons over the next week and a half, but we’d be derelict to not trumpet one of the sweetest current sports trends that happens to involve the Bears.

Under fourth-year coach Matt Nagy, the Under in the first half of Bears games is 36-17. Second-generation Vegas oddsmaker Kenny White presented this gem here in a preseason preview, and it’s 4-0 this season.

A bettor using $100 as an average wager — or unit, actually $110 to win $100 — is up 17.3 units, or $1,730, with this action over the past 38 months.

Sunday against the Lions at Soldier Field, the Bears led 14-0 at halftime. The first-half total was 21 at the South Point, differing little around town.

For the Bears’ game here Sunday against the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium, Panama-based BetOnline posted a midweek first-half total of 22.

“That screams bad in-week coaching and bad game plans, offensively, and poor preparation off of film study,” said Long Island-based handicapper Tom Barton. “It also means the exact opposite for the defensive coordinator.”

Sean Desai, a Bears defensive assistant for eight years, replaced Chuck Pagano as defensive coordinator in May. The Bears made Nagy a first-time NFL head coach in 2018.

“I also believe it has a lot to do with the age and effectiveness of the Bears’ defenders,” said Barton, tapping 30-year-old linebacker Khalil Mack and 31-year-old defensive tackle Akiem Hicks.

“A lot of these guys are older and they’ve been playing through injuries the past few seasons. They get a week to rest, come out in the early part of a game and are fresh.”

In the summer, the Westgate SuperBook lined every game of the NFL season. The Bears were favored four times, and they won those first two. They were also favored Week 12 at Detroit and Week 17 at home against the Giants.

It would doom Nagy, no matter who’s playing quarterback, if the Bears win just those four games. At +275, he and Jacksonville’s Urban Meyer are the OddsChecker favorites to be the first NFL coach to get fired.

For now, raise a pint to the continuation of a glorious first-half Under run.

GROWING PAINS

The NBA and NHL both have returned to 82-game schedules, and the Bulls begin their season at Detroit on Oct. 20.

Their regular season-wins total is 42.5 at the South Point, suggesting the Bulls might have a winning campaign. They last won at least 43 games in 2014-15, at 50-32. They were 31-41 in coach Billy Donovan’s debut last season.

“I like the addition of some exciting young guards with a few savvy veterans,” said Against the Number handicapper Noah Parker.

Ayo Dosunmu, fresh out of Illinois, fourth-year players Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, and quick-trigger shooter Coby White provide backcourt depth. Parker favors Caruso’s championship pedigree (with the Lakers in 2019-20).

The high-flying Zach LaVine, whose eighth season will be his fifth for the Bulls, is “the face of the team,” said Parker. Men’s Journal tapped LaVine as the game’s fifth-most-exciting modern-era dunker.

Parker calls the addition of small forwards DeMar DeRozan and Derrick Jones Jr., along with last season’s additions of power forward Patrick Williams and center Nikola Vucevic positive moves. However, he doesn’t predict instant success.

“The Under is a solid play,” said Parker. “The Bulls will be more durable and stronger in a few years. For now, I would wait out the growing pains. There’s so much youth and inexperience.

“That could be a problem as I’ve seen Billy Donovan struggle with young talent in the past after a team rebuilds.”

RAINING GOALS

John the Barber, the resident NHL tout at the South Point, has marveled at the waves of preseason scoring, due in part to the league’s stricter cross-checking enforcement.

That creates more power plays — hence, more goals. The gregarious barber known as John Taddio recommends betting on Over game totals early this season.

“I’ve never seen as many goals as I’ve seen this preseason,” said the Buffalo native. “That’s big. New Jersey, in every game, is scoring five, six, seven, eight goals!”

Monday, the Blackhawks beat Detroit 6-4. In upstate New York, Steve Bennett, founder of the Sports-Casters podcast, noted that new Chicago keeper Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 of 40 shots.

The Blackhawks open against Colorado on Wednesday in Denver. In their last four seasons, they have a high of 84 points (2018-19). Their season-points total at the South Point is 90.5, -110 both ways.

If forced to wager, Bennett would bet on Under.

“Could be a lot of that,” he said of the high number of shots Fleury faced. “That’s certainly not the team he had in front of him in Vegas.”

Barton taps the Islanders Over 98.5 points, Panthers Under 102.5 and Wild Under 97.5.

As he did masterfully with the Padres this past winter, Barton will watch the public inflate the Vegas total (currently at 106.5) a bit more before making an Under wager on the Golden Knights.

Taddio is partial to Florida at 20-1 (down from 30-1) and New Jersey at 60-1 (trimmed from 100-1) to win the Stanley Cup. For potential long-shot value, he suggests Detroit, at 150-1, to win the Atlantic Division.

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Chicago White Sox’s Jose Abreu, left, and Tim Anderson celebrate after Anderson scored on a sacrifice fly by Abreu during the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) ORG XMIT: TXTG105 | Tony Gutierrez/AP

How did sox measure up in regular season by comparison to their postseason highs?

One of my goals in these weekly quizzes is to impart information about Chicago baseball in an interesting way. I could list nine facts, but I don’t think that’s as much fun.

Today, I’m giving you the chance to learn some 2021 Sox stats and some postseason history by asking you nine fact-filled questions (and giving you the answers). So enjoy the postseason and root for Chicago, whether you are a Sox fan or a Cubs fan.

Good luck on the Chicago Nine!

1. Historically, ”Shoeless” Joe Jackson leads the White Sox with seven multihit games in the postseason. During the 2021 regular season, who led the Sox in multihit games?

a. Jose Abreu c. Tim Anderson

b. Yasmani Grandal d. Leury Garcia

2. For those of you who enjoy playing scrabble with the names in my quizzes, you’ll be happy to hear that A. J. Pierzynski (in 2005) and Ted Kluszewski (in 1959) share the White Sox record with one multihomer game each in the postseason, who led the Sox in multihomer games in 2021?

a. Jose Abreu c. Eloy Jimenez

b. Yasmani Grandal d. Leury Garcia

3. The record by a Sox batter for strikeouts in a postseason game is three, done by 14 players, most recently by James McCann last season. Four times in 2021, a Sox player had a ”golden sombrero,” four strikeouts in a game. In one game, however, a player had a ”platinum sombrero,” a five-whiff game. Who was he?

a. Yoan Moncada c. Tim Anderson

b. Brian Goodwin d. Eloy Jimenez

4. Carlos Rodon had the Sox’ season high May 21 when he struck out 13 Yankees. Ed Walsh holds the Sox’ postseason record for strikeouts in a game when he shut out the Cubs on Oct. 11, 1906. Compared with Rodon, Walsh’s number of whiffs in that game were . . .

a. The same b. More c. Less

5. Bobby Jenks holds the Sox’ record with five career postseason saves. True or false: That is more than each of the following in the postseason?

a. Adam Wainwright c. Trevor Hoffman

b. John Smoltz d. Sergio Romo

6. The Sox clinched the AL Central on Sept. 23 by beating the Indians (now the Guardians). Who was the winning pitcher for the Sox?

a. Reynaldo Lopez c. Aaron Bummer

b. Garrett Crochet d. Craig Kimbrel

7. No Sox pinch hitter has had an extra-base hit in the postseason. This regular season, the Sox got pinch home runs from three batters. Which one of the following did not have one?

a. Gavin Sheets c. Andrew Vaughn

b. Adam Eaton d. Yasmani Grandal

8. Tim Anderson led the Sox with 18 stolen bases this season. In the three World Series championship seasons for the Sox (1906, 1917, 2005), who had the most regular-

season steals for them?

a. Eddie Collins c. Frank Isbell

b. Scott Podsednik d. Aaron Rowand

9. Out of fairness, I really felt I needed a Cubs question, so here we go: Each of the following has played in the postseason, but which one has not played in a postseason game for the Cubs?

a. Kyle Hendricks c. David Bote

b. Ian Happ d. Matt Duffy

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. Tim Anderson had 46 multihit games. 2. Yasmani Grandal had three multihomer games. 3. On April 2, Yoan Moncada had five strikeouts in five at-bats. 4. It’s less. Ed Walsh struck out 12 that day at the West Side Grounds. 5. Oh, it’s true. The other four pitchers each have four saves. 6. Aaron produced the opposite of a Bummer and won the game. 7. Gavin Sheets went 2-for-9 with one RBI and no homers. 8. Scott Podsednik (59 in 2005). 9. Matt Duffy (2014 Giants and 2019 Rays).

Watch the bullpen velo coming from the Sox’ arms. It should be the highest of all the postseason teams. Vne of my goals in these weekly quizzes is to impart information about Chicago baseball in an interesting way. I could list nine facts, but I don’t think that’s as much fun.

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Patrick Kane’s Blackhawks and Justin Faulk’s Blues will compete among a large group of teams for playoff spots this season. | Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Between the Avalanche at the top and the newly added Coyotes at the bottom, it’s difficult to predict in what order the Central’s other six teams — including the Hawks — will finish.

The NHL’s familiar divisions have returned for 2021-22, but the Central Division nonetheless isn’t quite the same as before.

The Coyotes have joined the group, thanks to the Kraken bumping them out of the Pacific, and the Central’s mainstays may soon greatly appreciate their presence. All seven regulars look like potential playoff teams — the Coyotes, meanwhile, will serve as a much-needed punching bag.

In between the Coyotes at the bottom and likely the Avalanche again at the top, the much-improved Blackhawks fall into the mushy middle, where every team could finish anywhere from second through seventh without much surprise.

After correctly predicting 13 of the 16 playoff teams last year, here are the Sun-Times’ projected standings for every division in 2021-22:

CENTRAL DIVISION

1. Avalanche: Regular season dominance is essentially a given for the Avalanche. What will truly determine the success of their season is whether they can finally advance past the second round of the playoffs, having lost there three straight years.

In the meantime, though, the Avs — 81-33-12 over the last two seasons — should cruise to first place. They crucially re-signed captain Gabriel Landeskog and Norris Trophy runner-up Cale Makar this summer, notably still have one of the world’s best players — Nathan MacKinnon — and also maintained a deep core around those three.

The only question is with their goaltending unit, which was already a relative weakness even before this year and now features injury-prone Darcy Kuemper instead of Philipp Grubauer.

2. Wild: Kirill Kaprizov’s NHL explosion transformed the Wild from perennially average and boring into good and exciting. They finished with the same number of points (75) as the Lightning.

Kaprizov returns after a long negotiation process, and the Hawks will have to contend with him for the first time this season. Ryan Suter and Zach Parise are gone at last, but the Wild somehow lost neither top defenseman Matt Dumba nor starting goalie Cam Talbot in the expansion draft. They sit atop the Central’s middle tier entering the season.

3. Stars: The Stars were just as disappointing last season as the Wild were surprising, with injuries and COVID outbreaks derailing any carryover momentum from 2020. But from the wreckage emerged two rising stars in Roope Hintz and Calder Trophy runner-up Jason Robertson. If those two continue their ascendance this year, the Stars should be primed for a bounce-back season.

Defensive mainstays Miro Heiskanen and John Klingberg and a very deep goalie group — Anton Khudobin, Jake Oettinger, Braden Holtby and Bishop — provide a steady foundation regardless.

4. Jets (wild card): Defensive additions Nate Schmidt and Brendan Dillon will be asked to solidify what has been a shaky unit for the Jets the past two seasons.

Whether those two prove enough — a top four of them plus Josh Morrissey and Neal Pionk still doesn’t seem too intimidating — could decide the Jets’ fate, because the team still boasts a talented top-six and, in Connor Hellebuyck, one of the NHL’s very best goalies.

5. Blues (wild card): The Blues have steadily declined since their 2019 Cup title and look like a true bubble team for 2021-22.

Pavel Buchnevich and — sadly for Hawks fans — Brandon Saad were savvy offensive upgrades, but the defense lacks both an elite No. 1 guy and competent depth. It’ll be fascinating to see if Vladimir Tarasenko lasts the whole year in St. Louis. Jordan Binnington will need to keep up with Hellebuyck for the Blues to jump the Jets.

6. Blackhawks: The Hawks obviously believe they’ll be much better than they were last year, and logic backs up that optimism.

But just how much better depends on just how good the team’s three biggest additions — Marc-Andre Fleury, Seth Jones and functionally Jonathan Toews — turn out to be. If all three play like stars, this is a playoff team. If any of them fall short, however, the Hawks will have a tough time finding a way in.

They’ve played at only an 83-point prorated pace during Jeremy Colliton’s tenure. They’ll probably need at least 10 more points this season to vault into the postseason.

7. Predators: Considering the Predators’ domination of the Hawks last season, winning seven of eight meetings, it feels unjust ranking them seventh. But one team has to finish this low.

The Predators do appear clearly on the decline following their misguided Victor Arvidsson and Ryan Ellis trades this summer. Defenseman Roman Josi and goalie Juuse Saros are still great at keeping the puck out of the Preds’ net, but this roster direly lacks offensive talent.

8. Coyotes: This offseason, the Coyotes blew up a roster that peaked just below the playoff bubble to start from scratch. The result is a team designed to lose, and lose often, in 2021-22.

Unheralded defenseman Jakub Chychrun is the only really good player left. The forward lineup is easily overlooked. The new goaltending tandem of Carter Hutton and Josef Korenar — who together went 4-15-1 with an .891 save percentage on other teams last year — seems comically bad.

PACIFIC DIVISION (playoff teams in bold)

1. Golden Knights

2. Oilers

3. Flames

4. Canucks

5. Kraken

6. Kings

7. Sharks

8. Ducks

METROPOLITAN DIVISION

1. Islanders

2. Hurricanes

3. Capitals

4. Flyers

5. Rangers

6. Penguins

7. Devils

8. Blue Jackets

ATLANTIC DIVISION

1. Lightning

2. Maple Leafs

3. Panthers

4. Bruins

5. Canadiens

6. Senators

7. Red Wings

8. Sabres

CONFERENCE FINALS

Avalanche def. Golden Knights

Panthers def. Hurricanes

STANLEY CUP FINAL

Avalanche def. Panthers

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Niki Moran (middle) stands with her fellow Second City comedians Nicky Margolis (left) and Amanda Blake Davis (right). Moran performed with The Second City between 2002 and 2008. | Provided

The Second City says the performer, who was known in Chicago as Niki Lindgren, approached her life and her three-year cancer battle with “a limitless capacity for laughter.”

The first time Nicky Margolis saw comedian Niki Moran perform, it was a solo show in 2002 for iO Theatre.

Mrs. Moran walked onto the stage, oozing confidence, nunchucks swinging from her hand. Intense music filled the theater as she took her spot on stage, and all Margolis could think was, “She’s gonna really use these nunchucks!”

She was right — sort of. Instead of being the master martial artist expertly swinging nunchucks around, Mrs. Moran ended up just beating herself up.

“I remember sitting in the audience crying-laughing because that was just, to me, the essence of Niki,” said Margolis. “She always surprised you.”

Margolis was Mrs. Moran’s coach, and even then, she could tell Mrs. Moran was a shining star.

Mrs. Moran — an actor, a writer, a comedian, a singer and a dancer — died Tuesday morning after a three-year battle with metastatic breast cancer, her family confirmed in a Facebook post Thursday. She was 45.

“It seems impossible that her irrepressible light has been extinguished. If you knew Niki, you experienced her authentic goodness, her overwhelming generosity, her unselfish love, and her next-level crazy sense of humor,” her brother Kjell Lindgren wrote for the family. “She was the model of courage in the face of adversity and unrelenting pain. Her radiant smile blessed us until the end. She will be deeply missed.”

She had shared the news of her diagnosis in July on Facebook. Despite a hormone suppressant treatment plan, Mrs. Moran wrote, the cancer had spread from her spine to several other parts of her body. She’d been given five years at most to live.

During Moran’s Chicago years, she was known as Niki Lindgren. Her love of performing arts brought her to the Annoyance Theatre and iO Chicago, where she became part of a team called Bevy, notable for being entirely female but also for the performers’ commitment to supporting one another.

“If someone gets a good laugh, everyone is proud of it,” Moran told the Sun-Times in 2003.

Mrs. Moran first performed with the Second City in 2002 and remained active there until 2008, co-writing and performing in three revues at the e.t.c. theater.

As is Second City custom, she played many roles in every show. In her first, “Immaculate Deception, (2005), she appeared as school pageant director as well as a no-nonsense obstetrician trying to divide an expecting couple. Most strikingly, she played a steely-eyed Chinese restaurant owner who would make withering comments to the other actors. Then, turning to the audience, she’d ask some of them questions — and say devastating things about them, too.

“I actually kind of forgot that she did that!” Margolis said with a laugh. She had co-starred with Mrs. Moran in “Immaculate Deception,” as well as her other e.t.c. shows: “Disposable Nation” and “Pratfall of Civilization.”

The Second City
Niki Moran (then Niki Lindgren) is front and center during a choir scene in the 2005 show “Immaculate Deception” at Second City e.t.c., with castmates Alex Fendrich (from left), Rebecca Sage Allen, Ithamar Enriquez, Nicky Margolis and Robert Janas.

“She had such a rapport with [the audience] that they were almost welcoming,” Margolis added. “She just had an ability to really express herself in a way that was so daring, and yet made everybody feel safe. She was that sort of living paradox.”

In a statement, The Second City said it was “devastated” by the news of Mrs. Moran’s death.

“Niki’s creative prowess was only outshone by her big heart and fearless spirit,” the statement, posted to Facebook, read. “Our hearts go out to her husband Joe [Moran], her family, her colleagues in the improv community, and the countless lives she touched during her lifetime. Niki approached her illness the same way she approached her life: with a limitless capacity for laughter.”

Accompanying the post was a video, posted in January 2019 after her diagnosis, showing Mrs. Moran as her husband shaves off her hair. She bows her head briefly when the deed is done before a jump cut shows her dramatically snapping her head up, in perfect makeup and a gold bodysuit with a red cape.

She and her husband, dressed in a green bodysuit and blue Speedo, run through an alley, a playground, a front porch, dancing in their costumes. And it’s all to the soundtrack of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”

“It tells you everything you need to know about Niki,” said Margolis. “It’s all at once so funny and amazing and then you’re just crying because that’s just Niki’s spirit.”

Mrs. Moran’s family will hold a “celebration of life” on Nov. 6 in northern Virginia, where she and her husband Joe Moran lived with their dog, Loki, near her parents.

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