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Man shot in Douglas drive-bySun-Times Wireon October 2, 2021 at 7:14 am

A man was shot in a drive-by Saturday morning on the South Side. | Sun-Times file photo

The 37-year-old was standing outside about 12:25 a.m. in the 2900 block of South Calumet Avenue when someone in a passing vehicle opened fire, striking him in the arm, Chicago police said.

A man was shot Saturday morning in a drive-by in Douglas on the South Side.

The 37-year-old was standing outside about 12:25 a.m. in the 2900 block of South Calumet Avenue when someone in a passing vehicle opened fire, striking him in the arm, Chicago police said.

He self-transported to Mercy Hospital, and was transferred to Stroger Hospital, where he was in fair condition, police said.

No one was in custody.

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Man shot in Douglas drive-bySun-Times Wireon October 2, 2021 at 7:14 am Read More »

What will it take for Sky to make it to the WNBA Finals?Annie Costabileon October 2, 2021 at 4:55 am

NBAE via Getty Images

The Sky were able to make WNBA MVP, Jonquel Jones, appear mortal Thursday night holding her to four points on two of nine made shot attempts. Still, they gave up 12 offensive rebounds and were outrebounded 39-26.

The Sky are two wins from their second trip to the WNBA Finals and their first since 2014. After splitting the first two games of a best-of-five semifinal series against the Sun in Connecticut, they’ll play Games 3 and 4 at Wintrust Arena on Sunday and Wednesday, potentially setting themselves up to take the series at home and move closer to the first WNBA title in franchise history.

“We’re never going to relax,” guard/forward Kahleah Copper said Thursday before a difficult loss in Game 2 in which the Sky scored just nine points in the fourth quarter. “We don’t want to play five games. We want to win and end it as soon as possible.”

Preseason predictions from the media and coaches had the Sky as a favorite to make it to the Finals. Suns coach Curt Miller said the Sky were his preseason favorite to win it all. A survey of the WNBA’s general managers in May had the Sky tied with the Mystics as the second-most likely team to win the title, behind the Aces.

But not much has followed the expected plan for the Sky, who, it’s safe to say, were the WNBA’s most underwhelming team, given their talent.

Candace Parker was one of the most significant free-agent signings in recent Chicago sports history, with 58% of GMs believing she’d have the biggest impact on her new team among offseason additions.

She did, and the Sky’s record shows it. They went 1-7 during the regular season with Parker on the bench with ankle injuries and 15-9 with her playing — providing not just numbers but also leadership and a constant ability to facilitate.

So, how did the Sky end up an underdog in the playoffs? Inconsistency. They locked up the sixth of eight seeds with a 16-16 record that opposing coaches said doesn’t accurately tell their story, but also went 2-4 in the final six games, which didn’t bode well for their postseason chances.

In the do-or-die format of single-elimination games in the first two rounds, the Sky excelled. Their most complete game of the year was a 89-76 win over the Lynx in the second round last Sunday; they followed that up Tuesday by taking Game 1 from the Sun in double overtime on the road.

The adversity they faced during an up-and-down season has become their fuel.

“You don’t reinvent yourself in the postseason,” Parker said ahead of this series. “We need everybody to be the best version of themselves.”

If the Sky are to play for their first WNBA title, they’ll need the entire team involved offensively in Games 3 and 4. They’ll also need to escape the top-seeded Sun’s suffocating defense, which limited them to their fourth-lowest score of the year Thursday in an 79-68 loss. The bench will need to be more productive, too. In Game 1, it accounted for 27 points. In Game 2, that number fell to 15.

The Sky made Sun forward Jonquel Jones, the WNBA MVP, appear mortal Thursday, holding her to four points on 2-for-9 shooting. Still, they gave up 12 offensive rebounds and were outrebounded 39-26 overall.

It’s hard to imagine a team with guards Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley and Parker as the underdog, but such is the case — at least for the rest of this series. Big performances are needed from all three Sunday if the Sky are going to steal another one.

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What will it take for Sky to make it to the WNBA Finals?Annie Costabileon October 2, 2021 at 4:55 am Read More »

Commissioner Lisa Baird out in tumultuous day for NWSLSun-Times wireson October 2, 2021 at 12:00 am

SOC CMO Lisa Baird speaks onstage during the Team USA WinterFest Presented by Hershey’s on February 19, 2018 in Seoul, South Korea. | Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for USOC

All five games this weekend have been postponed amid allegations about ousted coach

By Anne M. Peterson and Rob Harris

AP Sports Writers

National Women’s Soccer League Commissioner Lisa Baird is out after some 19 months on the job amid allegations that a former coach engaged in sexual harassment and misconduct toward players, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the move Friday had not been made public. It comes in the wake of claims of misconduct, including sexual coercion, leveled by two former players against North Carolina coach Paul Riley.

Riley was fired by the Courage on Thursday and the allegations touched off a wave of condemnation by players that forced this weekend’s games to be called off.

Additionally, FIFA on Friday opened an investigation into the case. It is rare that soccer’s international governing body gets involved in a controversy involving a member association. U.S. Soccer also announced an independent investigation Friday.

U.S. Soccer was instrumental in founding the NWSL in 2013 and helped support the league until last year, when it became independent. The federation continues its financial support of the league.

“Player safety and respect is the paramount responsibility of every person involved in this game. That is true across every age, competition and ability level,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Cone said in a statement. “We owe it to each athlete, each fan and the entire soccer community to take every meaningful action in our power to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”

U.S. Soccer suspended Riley’s coaching license Thursday after The Athletic published claims of abuse made by former NWSL players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim.

FIFA told The Associated Press it was “deeply concerned” by the case and will now be seeking further details from American soccer authorities about the issues raised.

“Due to the severity and seriousness of the allegations being made by players, we can confirm that FIFA’s judicial bodies are actively looking into the matter and have opened a preliminary investigation,” FIFA said in a statement to the AP. “As part of this, FIFA will be reaching out to the respective parties, including US Soccer and NWSL, for further information about the various safeguarding concerns and allegations of abuse that have been raised.”

The alleged harassment of Farrelly started in 2011 when she was a player with the Philadelphia Independence of the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer league.

She told the website the harassment continued when Farrelly was with the Portland Thorns. Shim, a former Thorns player, also allegedly experienced harassment. The Thorns said Thursday that the team investigated claims about Riley and passed those on to the league when he was dismissed.

Riley told The Athletic the allegations were “completely untrue.”

Outcry over the allegations rocked the league and forced this weekend’s games to be called off.

The NWSL Players’ Association said it hoped fans would understand and support the decision.

“It is OK to take space to process, to feel and to take care of yourself,” the union said. “In fact, it’s more than OK, it’s a priority. That, as players, will be our focus this weekend.”

OL Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock, who has been playing in the NWSL since its inception in 2013, suggested the league, and women’s sports overall, are in the midst of a reckoning.

“I think women athletes specifically have gone through so much over the years, not just women’s football,” Fishlock said. “I think everybody knows what’s happened with USA Gymnastics that has gone on, and this is something that has been happening in women’s sports over and over and over again for years and years and years. And we’ve never felt safe enough to talk about it, and if we ever felt brave enough to talk about it, then it would just get swept under the rug, or we were told that we were in the wrong … and I think we’re at a point now where we’re just done.”

Riley was head coach of the Thorns in 2014 and 2015. After he was let go by the Thorns, he became head coach of the Western New York Flash for a season before the team was sold and moved to North Carolina.

In its ninth season, the NWSL has been rocked by several recent scandals involving team officials.

Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke was fired after a Washington Post report detailed verbal and emotional abuse of players. The league formally dismissed Burke and sanctioned the Spirit on Tuesday after an independent investigation.

Gotham FC general manager Alyse LaHue was fired in July after an investigation connected to the league’s antiharassment policy. She has denied any wrongdoing.

Racing Louisville coach Christy Holly was fired in September but the reasons for his dismissal were not made public.

OL Reign coach Farid Benstiti abruptly resigned in July. On Friday, OL Reign chief executive officer and minority owner Bill Predmore said Benstiti was asked to step down after an undisclosed incident during practice.

Benstiti had previously been accused by U.S. national team midfielder Lindsay Horan of sexist behavior during his time as coach of Paris Saint-Germain. Horan has said she was berated by Benstiti because of her weight.

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Commissioner Lisa Baird out in tumultuous day for NWSLSun-Times wireson October 2, 2021 at 12:00 am Read More »

Scam that cost White Sox $1M took place ‘behind the booth,’ defense attorney tells juryJon Seidelon October 1, 2021 at 11:40 pm

Baseball fans arrive for the first game of a baseball double header between the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals Friday, May 14, 2021, at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. | AP

The trial of Bruce Lee is playing out just as the Sox are about to enter the playoffs. The feds say Lee made $868,369 by selling 34,876 fraudulently obtained tickets during the 2016 through 2019 baseball seasons.

A ticket broker accused of scamming the Chicago White Sox out of $1 million believed he legitimately paid for thousands of tickets he later sold on StubHub, and any crime against the South Siders took place “behind the booth,” his defense attorney said Friday.

Nishay Sanan put most of the responsibility for that scheme on James Costello, one of two ex-Sox employees who have admitted providing thousands of complimentary and discount tickets — without required vouchers — to Sanan’s client, Bruce Lee, for cash.

But the feds say Lee then made $868,369 by selling 34,876 fraudulently obtained tickets during the 2016 through 2019 baseball seasons, later using some of that money to invest in real estate and at a car dealership. A January 2020 indictment charged Lee with wire fraud and money laundering, and a jury heard opening statements in Lee’s trial Friday.

Laying out the scheme to the jury, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider repeatedly told the jury, “the White Sox got nothing” out of the arrangement that allegedly began between Lee and Costello.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor said Lee told the FBI he offered Costello a deal, “and he took it.”

The case mostly revolves around complimentary voucher tickets, which go to friends and family of players, youth groups, commercial sponsors and others — and are not meant for sale, court records show.

The trial is playing out before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly just as the Sox are about to enter the playoffs. The tickets at issue had a market value of between $1 million and $1.2 million, authorities said.

Sanan said Lee initially brought legitimate vouchers for the tickets to Costello, who later told him he no longer needed them. Sanan also told jurors Lee believed he was paying the White Sox for tickets, but he also included a “tip” demanded by Costello.

“Jim Costello decided to keep the cash on his own,” Sanan said. “Without telling Bruce Lee. Whatever money Bruce Lee thought he was paying for those tickets, Costello put in his pocket.”

Lee will face evidence that includes testimony from Costello, who took the stand late Friday, and likely the other former Sox employee, William O’Neil. Both agreed to cooperate with prosecutors when they admitted to their role in the scam. Costello pleaded guilty to wire fraud, and O’Neil pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

The feds also say they have a recording of a March 2019 conversation between Lee and Costello at a pizza restaurant near Sox park. In court filings, they allege Lee told Costello the source of the tickets could not be traced.

“I just sold them on StubHub, so nobody could see, like, how much I paid for the tickets,” Lee allegedly said.

Prosecutors also claim Lee said he was prepared to lie to help cover up the ticket scheme.

But Sanan told jurors to “pay very close attention to who is saying what” during that conversation. The defense attorney acknowledged Lee paid Costello a “tip.”

However, he said, “at no time does Bruce Lee admit to stealing from the White Sox.”

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Scam that cost White Sox $1M took place ‘behind the booth,’ defense attorney tells juryJon Seidelon October 1, 2021 at 11:40 pm Read More »

The mystery of the death of a son of Danville, Jelani DayJohn W. Fountainon October 1, 2021 at 10:09 pm

Jelani Day with his mother, Carmen Bolden Day. | Photo provided by the family of Jelani Day.

The discovery of Jelani Day’s body in the Illinois River nine days after his disappearance only raised more questions.

PERU, Ill. — The steady unsentimental female Google voice guides my brother Jeff and me to a wooded area here, “south of the Illinois Valley YMCA and due north of 12th Street and Westclox Avenue.”

Pulling off Interstate 80, we snake through Peru, drive past the Illinois Valley YMCA, to where police said they recovered Jelani Day’s four-door sedan on Thursday, Aug. 26, one day after he had been reported missing. Nine days later, on Saturday, Sept. 4, at 9:47 a.m., searchers found a body floating in the Illinois River near the Illinois Route 251 Bridge.

The LaSalle County Coroner’s Office press release at the time did not identify the “decedent” as male or female, black or white, and gave no hint whether the corpse found floating even remotely matched Jelani’s 6-foot-one-inch frame.

The mystery swelled like the pain of a mother’s broken heart.

The discovery of a body only raised more questions, shook Jelani’s mother, Carmen Bolden Day, to the core. A petite, mocha-brown woman whose Dentyne smile mirrors her son’s, Day, 49, mulled over the possibility that the dead body could turn out to be her baby boy.

She hoped not. Prayed not. Chose to keep believing that Jelani would be found safe and sound — even in the days and weeks that followed with no definitive word from the authorities on the corpse’s identity.

And yet, there was no solace, no answers, to be found in Peru. Not yet. Only questions. Lingering questions amid an unfolding surreal, if not bizarre, case that Day and her family found themselves facing with relentless dread, and wishing, hoping, that it was only a bad dream from which they might soon suddenly awaken.

The absence of answers and progress early on led Jelani’s mom to press investigators to act with more urgency and intensity. She still wonders why they didn’t search the river that first week after the discovery of Jelani’s white 2010 Chrysler 300, which had belonged to his grandfather who died in October 2014, and whose name Jelani bears as one of his two middle names. His mother was proud that Jelani had recently fixed up his grandfather’s car, working and paying off the cost of repairs.

That car was found with its license plates removed, and with no sign of the keys, or Jelani.

Day wonders whether an earlier search, rather than the passage of nine days before a police search of the river, which turned up a body, might have made a difference, might have yielded more answers, evidence, or perhaps clues about what happened to her son.

A son who was once on his school’s swim team, an avid swimmer, who didn’t just end up in a river, in a town an hour’s drive north of his Illinois State University campus.

A Son of Danville

Jelani Jesse Javontae Day was born on a pre-summer Saturday in June 1996. At 7 pounds, 9 ounces, and 21 inches long, he was the fourth of his parents’ (Carmen and Seve Day) five children, and the youngest of three sons.

The married couple poured their heart and soul into raising their children in rural Danville, Illinois. Day plied her children with scriptures. Taught them to be respectful. She and her husband pushed their children away from complacency and the entrapments of poverty, gangs and drugs — evident even in small town America — toward education and academic excellence. All five would earn college degrees.

Photo provided by the family of Jelani Day.
Jelani Day (middle) with his four siblings.

“Miss Carmen’s kids,” as Jelani and his siblings were known, were raised in the Church of God In Christ, where the Word of the Lord, nightly bedtime prayers and even good old-fashioned church shut-ins were a way of life.

She cautioned her boys especially, telling them that they had been born already with two strikes: One — the color of their skin. Two — being both Black and male.

“A good name is better than riches,” she often told her sons. A good name, no one can take from you…

Jelani, in Swahili, means “great, powerful,” full of strength. By all accounts, he was a good young man with a future as bright as his grandfather’s white 2010 Chrysler 300 with its black cloth top and handsome chrome wheels — a car found inauspiciously in Peru.

‘A Million Reasons to Live’

My brother and I spy a faint creek beneath this wooded area where Jelani’s car was found. We note the apparent tire tracks and trample of brush that might have served as a good covering to ditch and conceal a car. And we note a piece of orange marker tape, but the absence of anything else that might mark this area as a potential crime scene.

As we stand upon grass and soil, we have just learned — more than two weeks after the authorities discovered it — that the body found floating in the river has been identified as Jelani Day.

John Fountain
Signs like this one photographed on Thursday in Danville, Illinois, where Jelani Day grew up, appear across the town in support of finding answers and justice for a native son.

On Sept. 7, the coroner’s office had released a statement saying that a “preliminary autopsy” on Sept. 5, had determined the body to be male but that it would take “several weeks to months” to make positive identification due to “the condition of the recovered body.”

On the day my brother and I traveled to Peru, the coroner’s office told me on the phone that a statement, alas — 19 days after a body was found — would be forthcoming. A press release popped into my email confirming what I had already suspected.

“LaSalle County Coroner’s Office identifies the male body located on 9/4/21; body confirmed to be missing person Jelani Day.”

Cause of death: Still unknown.

What happened to a young man so full of life, zest and promise, a vivacious mama’s boy so beloved by family and friends? A son beloved by a father who has cancer and for whom Jelani was planning to donate bone marrow.

A young Black man who already had defied the odds in a world, even in the city of Danville — a hardscrabble town in a former coal mining area — the kind of place known to make you or break you.

A graduate of Alabama A&M University, Jelani had enrolled this fall at Illinois State with aspirations of becoming a doctor. His chosen major was speech pathology as he sought to make good on a childhood promise born of his friendship and compassion for a little boy who was teased for a speech impediment.

A member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, Jelani was full of hope and vigor. And he was looking forward to the next leg of his academic journey, to life and also to traveling with family to Destin, Florida, this Thanksgiving.

He had a million reasons to live, not die.

Standing at the wooded area beneath the YMCA, two things are clear to me: That this secluded spot is likely one that only a local might know. And that with the Illinois River, about two miles away, it seems unlikely that a young Black man parked his car here, then walked through a nearly all-white town without being seen, to jump in those rippling river waters almost naked.

Aided by Google, we drive toward the Illinois Route 251 Bridge, where the authorities pulled a young Black man’s body from the water, still in search of answers and Justice for Jelani.

Next week: The story of Jelani Day continues.

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The mystery of the death of a son of Danville, Jelani DayJohn W. Fountainon October 1, 2021 at 10:09 pm Read More »

High school football scores: Week 6Michael O’Brienon October 1, 2021 at 10:27 pm

Chicago Richards’ Donnie Buckner (4) runs the ball against Dyett. | Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

All the scores from around the area.

Please send additions or corrections to [email protected].

Thursday, September 30

GREAT LAKES

Comer vs. Ag. Science at Gately, 7:15

HEARTLAND

Kennedy vs. North Lawndale at Rockne, 7:15

LAKE STREET

Bowen vs. Butler at Gately, 4:15

South Shore vs. Fenger at Eckersall, 4:15

MADISON STREET

Foreman vs. Senn at Lane, 7:15

MICHIGAN AVENUE

Dyett vs. Chicago Richards at Stagg, 4:15

STATE STREET

UIC Prep vs. Crane at Lane, 4:15

CCL-ESCC GREEN

Notre Dame at Benet, 6:30

Friday, October 1

LAND OF LINCOLN

Taft at Lane, 7:15

PRAIRIE STATE

Orr at Clark, 4:15

Payton vs. Raby at Lane, 4:15

RED BIRD

Hubbard vs. Curie at Rockne, 7:15

Perspectives vs. Simeon at Gately, 7:15

SECOND CITY

Washington vs. Vocational at Eckersall, 4:15

WINDY CITY

Amundsen vs. Von Steuben at Winnemac, 4:15

CHICAGO AVENUE

Kelly vs. Gage Park at Stagg, 4:15

LAKE STREET

Longwood vs. Corliss at Gately, 4:15

MADISON STREET

Pritzker at Chicago Academy, 4:15

CCL-ESCC BLUE

Brother Rice at Mount Carmel, 7:30

CCL-ESCC GREEN

Nazareth at St. Rita, 7:30

CCL-ESCC ORANGE

Montini at Providence, 7:30

St. Laurence at Joliet Catholic, 7:30

CCL-ESCC PURPLE

Marian Catholic at St. Viator, 7

CCL-ESCC RED

Leo at Marian Central, 7:30

CCL-ESCC WHITE

De La Salle at St. Ignatius, 7:30

Marmion at Fenwick, 7:30

CENTRAL SUBURBAN NORTH

Deerfield at Highland Park, 7

Maine East at Niles North, 7

Maine West at Vernon Hills, 7:30

CENTRAL SUBURBAN SOUTH

Evanston at Niles West, 7

Glenbrook North at New Trier, 7

Glenbrook South at Maine South, 7

DUKANE

Batavia at Wheaton-Warrenville South, 7:30

St. Charles East at Geneva, 7:30

St. Charles North at Lake Park, 7

Wheaton North at Glenbard North, 7:30

DUPAGE VALLEY

Naperville North at Naperville Central, 7:30

Neuqua Valley at Metea Valley, 7

Waubonsie Valley at DeKalb, 7

FOX VALLEY

Burlington Central at Jacobs, 7

Cary-Grove at Huntley, 7

Crystal Lake South at Crystal Lake Central, 7

Dundee-Crown at McHenry, 7

Hampshire at Prairie Ridge, 7

ILLINOIS CENTRAL EIGHT

Coal City at Manteno, 7

Herscher at Lisle, 7

Reed-Custer at Wilmington, 7

Streator at Peotone, 7

KISHWAUKEE I-8 BLUE

Harvard at Plano, 7:15

Johnsburg at Sandwich, 7

Marengo at Rochelle, 7

KISHWAUKEE I-8 WHITE

Morris at Kaneland, 7

Woodstock at Ottawa, 7

Woodstock North at LaSalle-Peru, 7

METRO SUBURBAN BLUE

Aurora Central at Bishop McNamara, 7:30

IC Catholic at Wheaton Academy, 7:15

Ridgewood at Elmwood Park, 6

METRO SUBURBAN RED

Chicago Christian at St. Edward, 7

St. Francis at Aurora Christian, 7

Westmont at Riverside-Brookfield, 7:15

MID-SUBURBAN EAST

Elk Grove at Buffalo Grove, 7

Prospect at Wheeling, 7

Rolling Meadows at Hersey, 7:30

MID-SUBURBAN WEST

Conant at Palatine, 7:30

Hoffman Estates at Fremd, 7:30

NORTH SUBURBAN

Lake Forest at Libertyville, 7:30

Lake Zurich at Mundelein, 7

Waukegan at Warren, 7:30

Zion-Benton at Stevenson, 7:30

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Antioch at Grant, 7:15

Grayslake North at North Chicago, 7

Round Lake at Grayslake Central, 7

Wauconda at Lakes, 7

SOUTH SUBURBAN BLUE

Bremen at Lemont, 7

Hillcrest at TF North, 7

Oak Forest at TF South, 7

SOUTH SUBURBAN RED

Argo at Reavis, 7

Eisenhower at Richards, 6:30

Evergreen Park at Shepard, 7

SOUTHLAND

Crete-Monee at Thornridge, 6

Kankakee at Rich Township, 7

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE EAST

Joliet West at Romeoville, 7

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE WEST

Minooka at Oswego East, 7

Plainfield North at Oswego, 7

West Aurora at Yorkville, 7

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN BLUE

Bolingbrook at Homewood-Flossmoor, 6

Sandburg at Lincoln-Way East, 7

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN RED

Bradley-Bourbonnais at Lincoln-Way Central, 6

Stagg at Andrew, 7

UPSTATE EIGHT

Bartlett at Larkin, 7:30

Elgin at Fenton, 7:30

Glenbard East at West Chicago, 7:30

Glenbard South at East Aurora, 7:30

Streamwood at South Elgin, 7:30

VERMILION VALLEY NORTH

Seneca 2, Watseka 0 (forfeit)

Dwight at Clifton Central, 7

Momence at Iroquois West, 7

WEST SUBURBAN GOLD

Addison Trail at Willowbrook, 7

Hinsdale South at Downers Grove South, 6:30

Leyden at Proviso East, 7

WEST SUBURBAN SILVER

Downers Grove North at Hinsdale Central, 7

NONCONFERENCE

Lena-Winslow at DePaul Prep, 7

LeRoy at Ottawa Marquette, 7

Lincoln-Way West at Lockport, 6:30

Oak Park-River Forest at Morton, 7

Richmond-Burton at Sycamore, 7

Thornton at Peoria Richwoods, 7

Tinley Park at Oak Lawn, 7

Saturday, October 2

BIG SHOULDERS

Brooks at Lindblom, 6

Hyde Park vs. Dunbar at Eckersall, 4

King vs. UP-Bronzeville at Eckersall, 1

GREAT LAKES

Bogan at Goode, 3

Catalyst-Maria vs. Johnson at Stagg, 4

HEARTLAND

Prosser vs. Rauner at Rockne, 4

Speer at Steinmetz, noon

LAND OF LINCOLN

Westinghouse vs. Lincoln Park at Lane, 4

Young vs. Phillips at Gately, 1

PRAIRIE STATE

Bulls Prep at Back of the Yards, noon

RED BIRD

Morgan Park vs. Kenwood at Lane, 10 a.m.

SECOND CITY

Harlan vs. Carver at Gately, 7

Solorio vs. Julian at Gately, 10 a.m.

WINDY CITY

Lake View vs. Schurz at Winnemac, 1

Sullivan vs. Mather at Winnemac, 4

CHICAGO AVENUE

Juarez vs. Collins at Rockne, 1

Little Village vs. Tilden at Stagg, 1

MADISON STREET

Marine vs. Roosevelt at Winnemac, 10 a.m.

MICHIGAN AVENUE

DuSable vs. Chicago Military at Eckersall, 10 a.m.

Englewood STEM vs. Woodlawn at Stagg, 10 a.m.

STATE STREET

Clemente at Marshall, noon

Phoenix vs. Rowe-Clark at Lane, 1

CCL-ESCC BLUE

Marist at Loyola, 1:30

CCL-ESCC PURPLE

Carmel vs. St. Patrick at Triton, 5:30

INDEPENDENT

Hope Academy at Walther Christian, 1

MID-SUBURBAN WEST

Schaumburg at Barrington, 1

SOUTHLAND

Thornwood at Bloom, noon

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE EAST

Plainfield East at Plainfield Central, 1

Plainfield South at Joliet Central, 1

WEST SUBURBAN SILVER

Proviso West at Lyons, 1:30

York at Glenbard West, 1:30

NONCONFERENCE

Christ the King at Detroit Loyola, Mich., 4

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High school football scores: Week 6Michael O’Brienon October 1, 2021 at 10:27 pm Read More »

Big Game Hunting: a joyous reunion for Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly against Cincinnati?Steve Greenbergon October 1, 2021 at 8:54 pm

The Bearcats are as good as they ever were when Kelly was coach. | Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Also: Arkansas-Georgia, Mississippi-Alabama, Michigan-Wisconsin, Northwestern-Nebraska picks and more.

Once upon a time, Brian Kelly wasn’t the coach who beat himself up on a regular basis for never winning a national championship at Notre Dame.

He was just a guy who’d turned around a MAC program and moved up the ladder a rung to a non-power in a bigger conference. Many pulled off that sort of thing before him, and many have since.

But few have launched as spectacularly as Kelly did at Cincinnati, then of the Big East.

In three full seasons there, from 2007 to 2009, he won 33 games, delivering the school’s second, third and fourth double-digit-win campaigns ever. He won two Big East titles, his teams reaching the Orange and Sugar Bowls. His name became as hot as any at the college level outside of Urban Meyer and Nick Saban.

Not often has Kelly found himself at the center of such pure excitement since. He has won more games — 106 — than any other Irish coach, but it’s never enough. Not without that title.

Why is No. 7 Cincinnati (-1 1/2 ) at No. 9 Notre Dame (1:30 p.m., Ch. 5) such a big deal?

One, it’s a heck of a reunion — the first meeting of the Bearcats and Irish in 121 years — and a scheduling bouquet from Kelly to his former school. Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman (a former Bears draft pick in 2009) also worked in the same role at Cincinnati from 2017 to 2020, and Bearcats offensive architect Mike Denbrock spent seven years on Kelly’s staff in South Bend.

Two, both teams are undefeated — and the winner will sink its teeth into playoff possibility.

And isn’t it kind of wild that the Irish — a 4-0 team coming off a playoff season — are underdogs?

“They understand what protecting the home field is,” Kelly said. “I mean, they’ve done it 26 times in a row.”

To get that home winning streak to 27, the Irish want to see quarterback Jack Coan and his balky ankle go the distance and — perhaps more important — Freeman’s defense limit big plays from terrific Bearcats QB Desmond Ridder.

How good are the Bearcats? Some believe Luke Fickell has coached ’em up to a far higher level than Kelly ever did. Think: bigger linemen, sturdier linebackers and safeties — pretty much Big Ten-like size and strength throughout the roster.

“This is much more about two top-10 teams,” Kelly said. “You’ve got to go out and attack your opponent. I mean, you can’t sit around and wait. This is a heavyweight fight. If you’re just going to dance around and wait, you’re going to get knocked out.”

Who hits the canvas? Irish 27 (see what we did there?), Bearcats 21.

OTHER WEEK 5 PICKS

Charlotte (+11) at Illinois (11 a.m., BTN): A point of reference — the 49ers beat Duke, which beat Northwestern. So, you know, don’t think this is a layup for the Illini. But this is a defense the Illini should be able to run on, and there’s nothing Bret Bielema’s team needs more than a few hours of handing the ball off and seeing big fellas open some holes up front. Still: a layup? It ain’t basketball season yet, folks. Illini, 30-24.

Eastern Michigan (+1 1/2 ) at Northern Illinois (11 a.m., ESPN+): Huskies coach Thomas Hammock is 0-2 against EMU, quite a thing considering NIU won 17 of 18 head-to-head before Rod Carey left for Temple. Hammock needs this one. NIU by a field goal.

Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images
Northwestern takes the field in Lincoln in 2019.

Northwestern (+11 1/2 ) at Nebraska (6:30 p.m., BTN): The Huskers have played back-to-back excellent games and lost them both. The Wildcats have been less than stellar from the jump. Three times in the last four years, though, Team Purple has found a way to win this game. Is there an upset in the air? Huskers, 21-20.

No. 8 Arkansas (+17) at No. 2 Georgia (11 a.m., ESPN): With hardly any flash, the Hogs have been shockingly effective. Is this the real deal? Still feels like more of a seven- or eight-win season kind of deal, to be honest. Dogs, 30-7.

No. 12 Mississippi (+14 1/2 ) at No. 1 Alabama (2:30 p.m., Ch. 2): You just know Rebels coach Lane Kiffin is drop-dead positive he’s got an upset cooking. And Nick Saban isn’t laughing. Tide, 38-30.

No. 21 Baylor (+3 1/2 ) at No. 19 Oklahoma State (6 p.m., ESPN2): Dang, both these teams are 4-0? Neither is as good as that sounds. Pokes, 27-20.

My favorite favorite: No. 3 Oregon (-8) at Stanford (2:30 p.m., Ch. 7): No real pressure from the Cardinal pass rush equals pitch-and-catch for the Ducks.

My favorite underdog: No. 14 Michigan (+2) at Wisconsin (11 a.m., Fox-32): We’re still doing this pretend-the-Badgers-are-good thing? Really?

Last week: 7-1 straight-up, 4-4 vs. the spread.

Season to date: 27-12 straight-up, 24-15 vs. the spread.

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Big Game Hunting: a joyous reunion for Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly against Cincinnati?Steve Greenbergon October 1, 2021 at 8:54 pm Read More »

Police Supt. Brown on Chicago crime, his mother’s recent death and the virtues of singing off-keyLaura Washingtonon October 1, 2021 at 8:55 pm

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown at Simeon High School on Sept. 24, 2021. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Consider how police officers run toward danger, Brown said, though “it is off-key to run toward danger.”

When he took charge of the Chicago Police Department in the spring of 2020, Police Supt. David Brown promised “moonshot goals.”

Today, he is fighting a brutal upsurge in violent crime.

Last Monday, I was eager to hear Brown defend his record at a speech to the City Club of Chicago.

Shootings and murders are up, the superintendent said, and “that is unacceptable.” But he offered signs of progress, such as the creation of a citywide Community Safety Team and the CPD’s attempt to take a “holistic approach” to problem. The department, he said, is striving to provide residents with “wrap-around” services from city agencies, community-based and social service organizations and churches to build resources and trust.

Brown said he is boosting services to LGBTQ+ and homeless people and ramping up training and mental health services for police officers. His team is also taking record numbers of guns off the street, solving more homicides, and making a dent in carjackings.

Yet these remain “difficult times,” he acknowledged.

On Wednesday, five people were injured in the crossfire of a shoot-out between motorists in the Fulton River District. From Wednesday night to Thursday morning, there were three separate shootings on Chicago area expressways.

Brown recently lost his mother, Norma Jean Brown, who passed away in August at age 81. He confessed he was a “mama’s boy,” and her death has been hard on him.

“I love my mother to death. Miss her dearly,” he said. “My mother would sing solos in a church choir and my mother sang perfectly.”

“Off-key,” he added, to laughter from City Club audience. “My mother couldn’t ever hit a note correctly in any of her solos, and she loved singing Aretha Franklin gospel songs, which are very difficult to sing.”

As a boy of 10, Brown said, he cringed “at every note she hit.” But now at the age of 60, Brown said he can recall his mother’s singing only with affection, especially the way she sang Franklin’s “How I Got Over.”

How I got over (How I got over)

How I got over (How I got over)

My soul look back and wonder how I got over

It’s about “trusting in my faith and loving others,” Brown explained.

There is a lesson in this, the superintendent said, that has guided him in his work. Sometimes, he said, “you have to do some off-key things to get through a difficult time.”

Consider, for example, he said, how police officers willingly place themselves in mortal danger to protect us.

“It is off-key to run toward danger,” Brown said. “Most of us in this room, if shots rang out right now, we’d run away from gunfire. Not toward gunfire.”

The Chicago Police Department is mourning the loss Officer Ella French, who was shot to death on Aug. 7 during a traffic stop in West Englewood.

“It is off-key to lose one of our brave police officers, Ella French, from gun violence,” Brown said, “and yet recover an additional 1,000 guns (off the streets) since her death.”

And “if our founding fathers weren’t living their lives off key, we would still be speaking the King’s English,” he declared. “If the greatest generation in our country, our World War II generation, didn’t act off key, God knows what the world would be like.”

During the civil rights movement, Brown said, young people were “off-key” when they organized and protesting racial injustice, against the advice of their parents. If they had not been so “off-key,” he said, “we would still be segregated today.”

This was Brown’s appeal:

“I would just encourage you all to sing off-key, ‘Amen.’ Take some time to do things in the service of others without expecting anything in return. That’s how you get over. That’s how you make it through a difficult time.”

Send letters to [email protected].

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Police Supt. Brown on Chicago crime, his mother’s recent death and the virtues of singing off-keyLaura Washingtonon October 1, 2021 at 8:55 pm Read More »