Rookie quarterback Justin Fields is who the Bears thought he was.

“He’s the guy we thought we were getting when we watched him on tape,” Bears quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo said Monday. “Boy, we were excited when we watched that college tape — and there’s reason. That translated over into here.

“And that’s a good thing, because I’ve been at places — not just with the quarterback position — where you draft a guy and you’re like, ‘Oh boy, that’s not what I saw on tape’ … We’re just happy that he’s really exciting, there’s a lot of room to grow and get better.”

The refrain rings from every suburb and bounces off the skyscrapers downtown: So why not start Fields now? The Bears’ answer is rooted in where they want to go — and how methodically they want to bring him along. Those interests will intersect this week, when Fields experiences NFL game prep for the first time while starter Andy Dalton gets ready to face the Rams in Week 1.

How long it will continue, though, depends on what the Bears learn about their rookie along the way.

Game prep

Fields started the Bears’ final preseason game, but that offered little in the way of game-planning. For the first time, Fields is living through how an NFL team gets ready to play an opponent.

“I’m not sure there’s anything he needs to get better at — there are some things we need to improve on fundamentally,” DeFilippo said. “I just think it’s him going through his first week as a professional player. That’s a big step. And seeing what it takes to prepare for an NFL game.”

That nuance, he said, could be lost on outsiders.

“What does the week look like? Really, what does it look like?” DeFilippo said. “What does a Wednesday game week look like? What is a Thursday? Friday? Travel day? It’s just different than it was in the preseason. You know, it’s different because the [second-stringers] aren’t getting any of the first[-team] reps. That’s the way it is here — and that’s the way it is in 31 other buildings.

“And so I think it’s just the process of literally going through it. It’s like the first time you do anything. It’s just learning how to do it.”

While DeFilippo debriefs his three quarterbacks weekly to see how their preparation can improve, the Bears, in general, use a schedule comfortable for Dalton, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said. That includes small details: whether he wants to watch film from home Mondays and Tuesdays, or come into the office. Or stay late or start early.

Eventually, that will be Fields’ call.

“[Fields] will be taking all that in and trying it out and kind of feeling his way,” Lazor said. “‘O.K., this is how I feel comfortable doing it.'”

Even if an eager fan base doesn’t want to wait, gaining that comfort is important. So are the other thousand boring steps during a game week.

Playoff aspirations

Bears fans on social media were irate last week when the Patriots decided to cut veteran quarterback Cam Newton and start rookie Mac Jones. They wondered why the Bears wouldn’t make the same bold decision and promote their rookie quarterback.

The Patriots are the NFL’s ultimate anomaly — and Newton’s vaccination status likely played a role in the move, even if the powers-that-be can’t say so out loud. The Patriots are in a similar situation as the Bears in one regard, though: they were 7-9 last year and the Bears were 8-8.

Teams with that many wins typically don’t have first-round rookies playing quarterback the following season. Franchises who begin the season with a rookie under center are usually year typically removed from finishing at the bottom of the league — and have set their expectations thusly. They rarely, if ever, have realistic playoff aspirations.

From 2011-20, 18 teams started a rookie quarterback in Week 1. Their average record the year before was 4-12. Not a single team had a record as good as the Bears’ definition-of-average 8-8 record in 2020.

The Bears, meanwhile, have the oldest team in the NFL. They’re up against the salary cap. To help finance season-long roster churn, the Bears turned $5.8 million of Jimmy Graham’s salary into a signing bonus, ESPN reported Tuesday. That frees up $4.6 million in cap space this year but leaves a similar amount in dead cap space next season.

It’s the kind of move a win-now team makes. That’s what the Bears are operating like, even though they’ve been .500 the last two seasons.

“Best-case scenario is to win games with the roster that we have,” general manager Ryan Pace said last week. “We feel like we can. … We believe we can win games with Andy, and then grow Justin at the right rate.”

The Bears believe Dalton gives them a better chance to win in Week 1 — even as their excitement level about Fields has grown.

“When you talk about the future of this franchise and the quarterback that we have, that’s where I’m at peace in my heart knowing what Justin has done — and what he’s exemplified — in this short time [during training camp],” Nagy said. “I feel really, really good about that.”

‘Day-to-day’

Practice, of course, will help.

Fields is running the scout team because the Bears want him to get as many practice snaps as they can. It’s better than the alternative: had third-stringer Nick Foles run the scout team, Fields would be left to stand and watch the starter.

Scout-team snaps are standard practice for a young quarterback. Fields won’t be running the Bears’ plays, of course, but he team believes performing the plays written off index cards will translate.

“I think a lot of teams run the same concepts — or at least put guys in the same spots,” DeFilippo said. “He and I have talked about a couple of things. Just be you, No. 1. Play your game. No. 2, if there’s a play that’s in our offense that we’re trying to execute on a card, treat it just like it’s our offense.

“So I think it might not be the exact depth of the route or the exact progression that the [Bears] defensive staff has him on there. But at least in the chalkboard — in his head — he can kind of go through his thought process with it carrying over to our offense.”

Soon enough, Fields will take things from the chalkboard to Soldier Field. His play during the Bears’ preseason only hastened that timeline.

Nagy said he can stay focused on Fields’ present, though, with the future in mind.

“That’s why I can go day-by-day and know that each day he can grow in practice fundamentally, throughout the week mentally, and then always be prepared — he’s extremely prepared,” Nagy said. “Just in my heart of hearts, knowing that this guy is doing everything that we’re saying and everything that he wants to do.

“You feel good about where he’s at. That’s why I can go day-to-day.”

Read More

A new contract that would raise pay for 11,000 rank-and-file Chicago police officers will head to a City Council vote next week.

The Council’s Workforce Development Committee on Tuesday unanimously voted to advance the eight-year deal, which took four years to negotiate. If approved, the package will cost the city $377 million in retroactive pay dating back to when the last deal expired in 2017.

The deal would increase base pay for officers by 20% over the life of the contract and also allows the city to investigate officers based on anonymous complaints and other disciplinary changes.

City officials still are negotiating with the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, which represents the majority of the department’s rank-and-file officers, over further changes to the contract to accommodate reforms mandated by new state laws and a federal consent decree that looms over the department, said James Fronczak, a private attorney who represented the city during the negotiations.

Nearly 80% of Lodge 7 members in July voted to approve the contract, leaving Council approval as the only remaining step to close the deal.

The Council vote next Tuesday will come as the city ends a second straight summer of surging violent crime and less than a month after Officer Ella French was murdered and a fellow officer gravely injured during a traffic stop. But Mayor Lori Lightfoot also has faced a drumbeat of calls from activists to reduce CPD’s nearly $2 billion budget in favor of non-law enforcement approaches to crime reduction.

The hourlong discussion of the contract, led by co-chair Ald. Jason Ervin for the absent Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, focused largely on those non-economic changes to the contract. Most of the questions were devoted to how changes to the contract might impact the rights of officers accused of criminal conduct and to why the changes weren’t more sweeping.

Fronczak said further changes were still to be negotiated, and likely would wind up getting decided in arbitration, a process that would have added months to the already yearslong negotiations. The pay increases for police officers, he said, was on par with the most recent deals for the department’s higher-ranking officers and firefighters.

“Nobody professes that this is going to cure all the ills of the police department or for accountability reform,” Fronczak said. “But big-picture-wise, if you look at this agreement, there are 36 separate provisions that we have changed that fall under the umbrella of accountability.”

Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35th) noted the price tag for the new contract.

“I’m glad the city was able to make progress on a lot of its accountability issues, but I do want to note that it’s coming at a very steep price, and that this is a very expensive contract,” Rosa said. “This is very costly and this does represent a major increase for those officers, and I assume that’s why they voted to support this contract.”

Read More

Marveling at Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald has become an annual tradition for the Bears. It’s always some version of, “We better know where he’s at,” or calling him Superman, and coach Matt Nagy went straight into the recycling bin when asked about facing Donald in the season opener Sunday.”He gets schemed by every team, every week and he still dominates,” Nagy said. “It doesn’t matter. You can scheme two and three [blockers]. That dude is just unbelievable. He breaks double teams. He’s a game-changer.

“He’s like a running back out there, just flying around on the edge. He’s all over the place. He’s everywhere.”

Sounds amazing. The Bears have every reason to fear the six-time all-pro who just won his third Defensive Player of the Year award.

But aren’t they supposed to have their own version of that in Khalil Mack?

It looked like they did in 2018, when Mack obliterated the league for 12.5 sacks, six forced fumbles and a pick-six. He was everything the Bears thought they were getting when they ponied up two first-round picks in a trade with the Raiders and committed to a six-year, $141 million contract.

Since then, Mack has still been very good.

But not great. Not unstoppable. Not Donald.

He had 8.5 sacks in 2019 and nine last season, the first times he was held to single digits since he was a rookie. His total of 17.5 over the last two seasons ranks 13th, while his average salary was first among defensive players in ’19 and third in ’20. Donald was third at 26.

Pro Football Focus graded Mack as the NFL’s best player last season, regardless of position, and has consistently ranked him at or near the top among edge rushers throughout his career. But if that isn’t translating to sacks and takeaways, it isn’t making much difference for the Bears.

It’s no surprise that as Mack’s production has declined, the Bears’ pass defense has slipped. They went from holding opponents to an incredible 72.9 passer rating in 2018 (sixth-best by any team in the last eight seasons) to 85.2 the next season and 94.9 last season.

The defense has similarly dropped from third in sacks in 2018 to 22nd over the next two seasons combined, and it went from first in takeaways to 25th over the same spans.

The point is that Mack can’t do this alone.

The Bears have always known he’ll play well regardless of who they put around him, but the way to maximize him is to pair him with another ferocious pass rusher so teams can’t load up with double- and triple-teams on Mack.

They hoped Leonard Floyd would be that second threat, but he had just four sacks in 2018 and three in ’19. Bears general manager Ryan Pace bailed on Floyd — he went to the Rams, incidentally, and had a career-high 10.5 sacks last season — in favor of signing veteran Robert Quinn to a five-year, $70 million contract last year.

Quinn, now 31, had two sacks in 596 snaps last season, including the playoff game.

The Bears didn’t do much to change the equation around Mack this season. They couldn’t afford to. Instead, they’re still hoping Quinn turns it around and Akiem Hicks continues to be a pass-rushing threat in the middle of the defensive line. Their biggest pass-rushing addition was backup outside linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu, whose five sacks for the Broncos last season would’ve been second only to Mack on the Bears.

That means Mack will probably find himself frequently working at a disadvantage yet again. But that shouldn’t stop him.

The Bears paid a huge price because they believed Mack was great, and Mack has often thought back to advice Hall of Famer Charles Woodson gave him during his rookie season: Great players find a way to make great plays. Needing better teammates can’t be an excuse.

Read More

Georgia jumped three spots to No. 2 behind Alabama in The Associated Press Top 25 released Tuesday, giving the Southeastern Conference the top two teams in the country for the 30th time in the 85-year history of the college football poll.

It is the second time in the last three seasons and the third in the last five that the SEC is sitting 1-2 in the AP Top 25, which is presented by Regions Bank. Alabama and LSU had a four-week run as Nos. 1 and 2 in the 2019 season before they played each other.

The Crimson Tide strengthened its hold on No. 1 after it throttled Miami in the first full week of the regular season. Alabama received 59 first-place votes, up from the 47 it had in the preseason poll.

Georgia received four first-place votes after beating Clemson 10-3 in the opening weekend’s biggest game.

Ohio State moved up to No. 3 and Oklahoma dropped two spots to No. 4. Texas A&M is fifth, giving the SEC three teams in the top five.

Clemson fell three spots to sixth, marking the first time the Tigers have been out of the top four since 2017. Clemson dropped as low as No. 7 that season before finishing fourth.

No. 7 Cincinnati and No. 8 Notre Dame moved up one spot each. Iowa State dropped two places to No. 9, one spot ahead of No. 10 Iowa, heading into their rivalry game on Saturday.

POLL POINTS

Alabama and Georgia finished 1-2 in the Top 25 in 2017, when the Tide beat the Bulldogs in overtime in the an all-SEC College Football Playoff game. Alabama and Georgia also spent two weeks in that regular season at Nos. 1-2.

One conference has held the top two spots 76 times since the AP poll started in 1936, none more than the SEC. The former Big Eight is next with 23.

IN

— No. 16 UCLA is ranked for the first time since a brief stay at No. 25 in 2017, Jim Mora’s last season as coach of the Bruins. It has been a slow climb back for UCLA under Chip Kelly, but a 2-0 start and a 38-27 victory against LSU pushed the Bruins into the rankings. LSU dropped out of the rankings from No. 16.

— No. 19 Virginia Tech moved into the rankings after beating Atlantic Coast Conference rival North Carolina. This is the sixth straight season the Hokies have been ranked for at least one week, though Virginia Tech has not finished in the Top 25 since 2017. The Tar Heels fell 14 spots to No. 24.

— No. 20 Mississippi was not far outside of the rankings to start the season and earned their first poll appearance since early in the 2016 season by beating Louisville.

— No. 25 Auburn grabbed the final spot and has now been ranked for at least one week in nine straight seasons.

OUT

Eight Top 25 teams lost over the holiday weekend, though five were beaten by another ranked team.

— Indiana, ranked in the preseason for the first time since 1969, is unranked after getting blown out at Iowa.

— Washington dropped out after a 13-7 loss to FCS power Montana. The Huskies became just the fifth ranked team to lose to an FCS team in the history of the AP Top 25.

— Louisiana-Lafayette received its first preseason ranking in school history, but dropped out after losing decisively at Texas.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC — 6 (Nos. 1, 2, 5, 13, 20, 25).

Pac-12 — 5 (Nos. 12, 14, 16, 21, 23).

ACC — 4 (Nos. 6, 19, 22, 24).

Big Ten — 4 (Nos. 3, 10, 11, 18).

Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 4, 9 , 15).

American — 1 (No. 7).

Sun Belt — 1 (No. 17).

Independent — 1 (No. 8).

RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 12 Oregon at No. 3 Ohio State. The pandemic cost the Ducks their home game in this series last year. It’s the teams’ first regular-season meeting since 1987.

No. 10 Iowa at No. 9 Iowa State. The biggest Cy-Hawk game ever. No doubt.

The Top 25

1. Alabama

2. Georgia

3. Ohio St.

4. Oklahoma

5. Texas A&M

6. Clemson

7. Cincinnati

8. Notre Dame

9. Iowa St.

10. Iowa

11. Penn St.

12. Oregon

13. Florida

14. Southern Cal

15. Texas 1-0

16. UCLA

17. Coastal Carolina

18. Wisconsin

19. Virginia Tech

20. Mississippi

21. Utah

22. Miami

23. Arizona St.

24. North Carolina

25. Auburn

Read More

“Do you feel successful?” I asked Steve Albini, at a taco place near his Belmont Avenue recording studio, which readers visited Monday.

Albini is successful, by any measure. A legendary sound engineer — known for producing Nirvana’s last album. Notorious lead man of Big Black, “some of the nastiest noisemakers in rock” according to Rolling Stone, and, more recently, Shellac of North America. They tour the world.

But those tough on others, as Albini certainly is, are often hardest on themselves. So I was curious. Does he consider himself a success?

“To the extent that I could care about that, I would say yes,” he replied. “I’ve lived my whole life without having goals, and I think that’s very valuable, because then I never am in a state of anxiety or dissatisfaction. I never feel I haven’t achieved something. I never feel there is something yet to be accomplished. I feel like goals are quite counterproductive. They give you a target, and until the moment you reach that target, you are stressed and unsatisfied, and at the moment you reach that specific target you are aimless and have lost the lodestar of your existence. I’ve always tried to see everything as a process. I want to do things in a certain way that I can be proud of that is sustainable and is fair and equitable to everybody that I interact with. If I can do that, then that’s a success, and success means that I get to do it again tomorrow.”

COVID-19 has turned many friendships into slag heaps of cold ash. It seemed perverse to seek out Albini, whom I hadn’t seen in decades, who doesn’t suffer fools and can summarize your failings with a precision that’ll haunt you to your grave. Driving to lunch, I wondered if I was ready for his notorious scrutiny, conjuring a potential headline: “Steve Albini explains why I suck.”

I told him I have a hard time sharing his perspective.

“I can’t conceive of somebody who’s done what he’s wanted to do every day for four decades, published books and still writes a daily column and have that person think of himself as anything other than a success,” he said.

That was unexpected.

“You’re mellower than when we were in school,” I said.

“I used to think I knew everything,” he replied. “A pretty common adolescent disease. At the core of my personality I’m sure there is a similar desire to be righteous about things.”

Albini went to Medill, and he asked whether Chicago newspapering is, as it can appear, “inches away from total collapse.” I told him that while the Tribune is indeed circling the drain, gutted by its hedge fund masters, the Sun-Times seems still rolling merrily into the future. Though I’m perpetually bracing to be set out on the curb. What about him? Any thoughts of retirement?

“I have an organically-enforced retirement,” he said. “My hearing is going to go and at that point it would be irresponsible of me to keep working. My father’s hearing started going before he died. I’m already noticing in high ambient noise environments, I’m having a little trouble understanding conversational speech. I feel like my attention span and my acuity are still very good. This is a trick that I believe is sort of endemic in our industry; you compensate for any mechanical loss in hearing acuity which starts when you’re in your 30s. You focus your attention and use your powers to compensate for whatever small fractional loss in your hearing. I know a lot of engineers that did their best work in their 60s, so I’m not concerned, for the moment. But there will come a point when I won’t be able to hear well enough to do my job. That’s when I retire.”

Until then, he’ll do what he loves, every day. Which is the best definition of success I can imagine.

“It’s like when you get married,” Albini said. “You can’t just custom-order one of those really great 50-year marriages. What happens is, after 50 years you can look back and say, ‘Hey, I had one of those 50-year marriages.’ It’s the same with your professional life. You can’t say, ‘I want a long and important career.’ What you can do is keep plugging away doing what you think is valuable, in a way that you’re comfortable with.”

Read More

A trail sign burned by a recent wildfire stands near the North Platte River in southern Wyoming, on Aug. 24, 2021. The upper North Platte is one of several renowned trout streams affected by climate change, which has brought both abnormally dry, and sometimes unusually wet, conditions to the western U.S. | Mead Gruver/AP

In the Rocky Mountains, the attention is on trout fishing, a big part of both the United States’ $1-billion-a-year fly fishing industry and the region’s over $100-billion-a-year outdoor recreation industry.

SARATOGA, Wyo. — The North Platte River in southern Wyoming has been so low in places lately that a toddler could easily wade across and thick mats of olive-green algae grow in the lazy current.

Just over two years ago, workers stacked sandbags to protect homes and fishing cabins from raging brown floodwaters, the highest on record.

Neither scene resembles the proper picture of a renowned trout fishing destination, one where anglers glide downstream in drift boats, flinging fly lures in hope of landing big brown and rainbow trout in the shadow of the Medicine Bow Mountains.

But both torrent and trickle have afflicted storied trout streams in the American West in recent years amid the havoc of climate change, which has made the region hotter and drier and fueled severe weather events. Blistering heat waves and extended drought have raised water temperatures and imperiled fish species in several states.

In the Rocky Mountains, the attention is on trout fishing, a big part of both the United States’ $1-billion-a-year fly fishing industry and the region’s over $100-billion-a-year outdoor recreation industry.

“It seems the extremes are more extreme,” said Tom Wiersema, who’s fished the upper North Platte as a guide and trout enthusiast for almost half a century.

Some years, Wiersema has been able to put in and float a section of river about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of the Colorado line all summer. This year, Wiersema hasn’t bothered to float that stretch since late June, lest he have to drag a boat over wet, algae-covered rocks.

“That’s what the river is at that point. Round, slippery bowling balls,” he said.

In nearby Saratoga, population 1,600, leaping trout adorn light posts and the sign for Town Hall. The North Platte gurgles past a public hot spring called the Hobo Pool, and trout fishing, along with the fall elk hunt, are big business.

Phil McGrath, owner of Hack’s Tackle & Outfitters on the river, said low flows haven’t hurt his business of guided fishing trips on drift boats, which launch from deeper water in town. The fishing has been excellent, he said.

“You want to go easy on the little guys in the afternoon,” he urged a recent group of customers who asked where they could wet a line before a guided trip the next morning.

It’s basic trout fishing ethics when temperatures get as high as they were that day, 85 degrees (29 Celsius), and water temperatures aren’t far enough behind.

The problem: Water above 68 degrees (20 C) can be rough on trout caught not for dinner but sport — and release to fight another day. Low water warms up quickly in hot weather, and warm water carries less oxygen, stressing fish and making them less likely to survive catch-and-release fishing, especially when anglers don’t take several minutes to release fish gently.

As air temperatures soared into the mid 80s and beyond this summer, Yellowstone National Park shut down stream and river fishing from 2 p.m. until sunrise for a month. Montana imposed similar “hoot owl” restrictions — so called because owls can be active early in the morning — on fabled trout rivers including the Madison flowing out of Yellowstone.

Low, warm water prompted Colorado for a time to impose voluntary fishing restrictions on the Colorado River’s upper reaches — even as spasms of flash floods and mudslides choked the river and closed Interstate 70.

In rivers like the upper North Platte, which flows north out of Colorado, low water runs not only warm but slow and clear, cultivating algae. Mats of algae can collect insects while offering trout shade and cover from predators, but they’re also a symptom of warm and stressful conditions, said Jeff Streeter, who guided on the upper North Platte before becoming a local representative for the fishing-oriented conservation group Trout Unlimited.

“Where that threshold is, I’m not sure. I worry about it a little bit,” he said.

Like Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming didn’t order anglers to stop fishing. Such an order was unlikely to have much benefit, Idaho officials decided.

Wyoming’s rivers would be difficult to monitor for enforcing closures because temperatures fluctuate widely throughout the day and from riffle to hole, said David Zafft, fish management coordinator for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Drought and heat — beneath skies smudged by wildfire smoke — also have varying effects from one big Western river to the next. Many are dammed, including the North Platte as it begins a 100-mile-wide (160-kilometer-wide), 180-degree loop through a series of reservoirs that serve farmers and ranchers in Wyoming and Nebraska.

The largely predictable, cold flows out of Seminoe Reservoir make the North Platte’s “Miracle Mile” section just upstream of Pathfinder Reservoir a trout fishing paradise.

Upstream of Seminoe, however, the river is more subject to the vagaries of nature. For trout fishing, mountain snows are at least as important as rain patterns in warmer months but expectations based on decades of snowpack records have come under doubt.

“Things have changed too much and too rapidly,” said Zafft. “We are in the midst of figuring out how this climate is going to impact our snow, our runoff and temperatures. I don’t think we can really answer those questions yet.”

Records going back to 1904 back up Wiersema’s suspicions about extremes on the upper North Platte.

In 2011, high flows smashed all previous monthly averages for June and July. The 2019 flood was the worst by a more than 20% margin over the 1923 runner-up.

Yet since 2000, the river has had eight of its lowest-flowing Augusts on record. They included the sixth-lowest in 2012, 12th lowest in 2018, and third-lowest in 2020.

August 2021 verges on the 10 lowest on average. Mountain snow last winter and spring was about normal, but the ground was so dry from last year that much of this year’s melt soaked in without contributing to the flow.

The pattern is becoming more common in the West, said David Gochis, a hydrometeorologist with the Boulder, Colorado-based National Center for Atmospheric Research.

“A greater fraction of the snowpack, even if it’s an average snowpack year, is just going into replenishing the water in the landscape — in the shallow aquifer, in the soils — versus that water fully filling up the soils and then filling up the streams,” Gochis said.

Yet no heavy rain might not be all bad for the river’s trout, given a massive 2020 wildfire that charred a vast area just east of the upper North Platte, in Medicine Bow National Forest.

In July, a mudslide in a burn area just 50 miles (80 kilometers) away in Colorado killed three people and clogged the Cache la Poudre River with silt. That hasn’t happened on the North Platte, but the West’s ever-hotter wildfire seasons are a threat to trout populations, said Helen Neville, senior scientist with Trout Unlimited.

“Fire is of course a natural process and something to which Western trout and salmon are well-adapted to, but the scale and intensity of recent fires may be pushing beyond their natural resilience in some cases,” Neville said by email.

Climate change is especially worrisome for cutthroat trout, which unlike brown, rainbow and brook trout are native to the Rockies, according to Neville.

What’s in store for the North Platte will depend on future rain, snow and melt patterns, not to mention ever-growing human demand for water. McGrath, the fly-fishing guide and tackle store owner, didn’t doubt climate change is at work and that it’s human caused. But he didn’t seem to be losing sleep over it.

“If the world continues to get warmer, is trout fishing going to get worse? Yeah, of course. Trout is a cold-water animal, right?” said McGrath. “But is this going to happen tomorrow? No.”

Read More

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly knows his No. 9 Fighting Irish need to improve in several areas. A difficult season opener on the road was all the proof he needed.

Notre Dame blew an 18-point lead at Florida State on Sunday night before regrouping to win 41-38 in overtime.

“When you are up 38-20 on the road and you give that lead up, many teams do not get out of there with a victory,” Kelly said Monday after a short film review following an early-morning arrival back. “Our guys hung in there. We came up with the big stop when we needed it defensively. They just showed their mettle and grit. As I said last night, I really like this group. We got a lot to do, a lot of work to clean up.”

The Irish’s home opener is Saturday against Toledo of the Mid-American Conference.

Despite a record-setting performance by graduate transfer quarterback Jack Coan in his Notre Dame debut — 26-of-35 passing for 366 yards and four touchdowns with one interception — the Irish struggled to run the football with their rebuilt offensive line, finishing with just 65 yards on 35 carries. Preseason All-American Kyren Williams managed just 42 yards on 18 carries.

On the other side of the ball, new defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman’s aggressive unit was shredded by a Florida State attack that produced 442 total yards, including 264 on the ground.

“Our defense caused havoc,” Kelly said. “We had the sacks (five, two by defensive end Isaiah Foskey), we had the interceptions (three, two by All-America safety Kyle Hamilton), but we gave up big plays. We’re transitioning from a different mindset the way we need to play defense, and you cannot let your guard down for a moment or you’re going to give up a big play.”

The defense, minus inside linebacker Marist Liufau, who had season-ending ankle surgery last week, saw two more linebackers go down with injuries Sunday night — Shayne Simon suffered a shoulder injury while rover Paul Moala suffered a season-ending torn left Achilles tendon for the second straight season. Ironically, Moala tore his right Achilles in last season’s 42-26 victory against Florida State.

The offense had its share, too. Freshman Blake Fisher, who started at left tackle, suffered a right knee injury in the first half and was replaced by sophomore Michael Carmody. Reserve tight end Kevin Bauman was lost to a fractured leg that will require surgery for a plate and screws that will keep him out six weeks. Fisher and Simon were scheduled for MRIs Monday afternoon.

“(Coan) pushed the ball well down the field,” Kelly said. “I thought we protected darn well. (But) we’re going to (have to) run the ball a little better.”

Only offfensive lineman Jarrett Patterson returned as a starter from last season’s unit that opened the 2020 season. Fisher and graduate student Josh Lugg started at the tackle spots, while junior Zeke Correll, who moved over from center, and graduate student Cain Madden, a transfer from Marshall, were the guards.

“We’re playing a really good team in Toledo,” Kelly said of the Rockets, who are coming off a 49-10 victory over Norfolk State on Saturday. “After watching their film, this is probably the finest MAC team that we’ve brought into the stadium since I’ve been here. So, we’re going to have to be prepared and we’re on a short week.”

Read More

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban on Tuesday announced a caretaker Cabinet that paid homage to the old guard of the group, giving top posts to Taliban personalities who dominated the 20-year battle against the U.S.-led coalition and its Afghan government allies.

Interim Prime Minister Mullah Hasan Akhund headed the Taliban government in Kabul during the last years of its rule. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who had led talks with the United States and signed the deal that led to America’s final withdrawal from Afghanistan, will be one of two deputies to Akhund.

There was no evidence of non-Taliban in the lineup, a big demand of the international community.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, when announcing the Cabinet, said the appointments were for an interim government. He did not elaborate on how long they would serve and what would be the catalyst for a change.

So far, the Taliban have shown no indications that they will hold elections.

The announcement of Cabinet appointments by Mujahid came hours after Taliban fired into the air to disperse protesters and arrested several journalists, the second time in less than a week the group used heavy-handed tactics to break up a demonstration in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

The demonstrators had gathered outside the Pakistan Embassy to accuse Islamabad of aiding the Taliban’s assault on northern Panjshir province. The Taliban said Monday they seized the province — the last not in their control — after their blitz through Afghanistan last month.

Afghanistan’s previous government routinely accused Pakistan of aiding the Taliban, a charge Islamabad has denied. Former vice president Amrullah Saleh, one of the leaders of the anti-Taliban forces, has long been an outspoken critic of neighboring Pakistan.

Dozens of women were among the protesters Tuesday. Some of them carried signs bemoaning the killing of their sons by Taliban fighters they say were aided by Pakistan. One sign read: “I am a mother when you kill my son you kill a part of me.”

On Saturday, Taliban special forces troops in camouflage fired their weapons into the air to end a protest march in the capital by Afghan women demanding equal rights from the new rulers.

The Taliban again moved quickly and harshly to end Tuesday’s protest when it arrived near the presidential palace. They fired their weapons into the air and arrested several journalists covering the demonstration. In one case, Taliban waving Kalashnikov rifles took a microphone from a journalist and began beating him with it, breaking the microphone. The journalist was later handcuffed and detained for several hours.

“This is the third time i have been beaten by the Taliban covering protests,” he told The Associated Press on condition he not be identified because he was afraid of retaliation. “I won’t go again to cover a demonstration. It’s too difficult for me.”

A journalist from Afghanistan’s popular TOLO News was detained for three hours by the Taliban before being freed along with his equipment and the video of the demonstration still intact.

There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.

Meanwhile, in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, four aircraft chartered to evacuate about 2,000 Afghans fleeing Taliban rule were still at the airport.

Mawlawi Abdullah Mansour, the Taliban official in charge of the city’s airport, said any passenger, Afghan or foreigner, with a passport and valid visa would be allowed to leave. Most of the passengers are believed to be Afghans without proper travel documents.

None of the passengers had arrived at the airport. Instead, organizers apparently told evacuees to travel to Mazar-e-Sharif and find accommodation until they were called to come to the airport.

The Taliban say they are trying to find out who among the estimated 2,000 have valid travel documents.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Qatar on Tuesday the Taliban have given assurances of safe passage for all seeking to leave Afghanistan with proper travel documents.

He said the United States would hold the Taliban to that pledge. “It’s my understanding that the Taliban has not denied exit to anyone holding a valid document, but they have said those without valid documents, at this point, can’t leave,” he said.

“Because all of these people are grouped together, that’s meant that flights have not been allowed to go,” he added.

The State Department is also working with the Taliban to facilitate additional charter flights from Kabul for people seeking to leave Afghanistan after the American military and diplomatic departure, Blinken told a joint news conference with Qatar’s top diplomatic and defense officials.

“In recent hours” the U.S. has been in contact with Taliban officials to work out arrangements for additional charter flights from the Afghan capital, he said.

Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were in Qatar to thank the Gulf state for its help with the transit of tens of thousands of people evacuated from Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of Kabul on Aug. 15.

___

Associates Press writers Tameem Akhgar in Istanbul and Robert Burns in Qatar contributed to this report.

Read More

Investigators have determined that a man wounded by gunfire Monday night on the Lakefront Trail near Gold Coast had accidentally shot himself, police said.

Police initially said the man, 28, was sitting on the bike path around 7:15 p.m. near the 800 block of North Lake Shore Drive when he heard gunfire and realized he was shot.

Police said Tuesday morning that the investigation showed he had shot himself. Struck in his buttocks, paramedics took him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in good condition, police said.

A police car and yellow crime scene tape blocked off a portion of the trail as officers investigated the shooting. A handful of joggers and bicyclists stopped to talk with investigators.

Police said no charges have been filed as of Tuesday morning.

Contributing: Tyler LaRiviere

A man jogs by as Chicago police investigate Monday evening after a person was shot on the Lakefront Trail near the 800 block of North Lake Shore Drive in the Gold Coast neighborhood.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Chicago police work the scene Monday evening after a person was shot on the Lakefront Trail near the 800 block of North Lake Shore Drive in the Gold Coast neighborhood.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Read More

It’s a bit early to make definitive statements about any teams, but falling in an 0-2 hole can make qualifying for the playoffs a battle. Opening undefeated is a nice cushion before heading into a rough conference schedule. Here’s a look at three teams that traditionally make the playoffs that face difficult roads to the postseason and three unbeaten teams that have surprised so far.

Notre Dame (0-2)

The Dons lost a tight game to Glenbard North on the road in Week 1 and were hammered by Fenwick in Week 2. Coach Mike Hennessey’s team has qualified for the playoffs in 13 of the last 14 seasons. The Dons are at Mount Carmel in Week 3, so an 0-3 start is very possible. St. Rita looms Week 9. That means Notre Dame may have to turn things around and whip off five consecutive wins in games against Nazareth, St. Viator, Benet, DePaul Prep and St. Laurence.

Waubonsie Valley (0-2)

The Warriors had a rough spring season with just one win in four games, but there was reason for optimism this season with 18 starters returning. The season opened with a home loss to Oswego East and a road loss at St. Charles East. It could be an uphill battle the rest of the way. Next is a trip to Ohio to face Shaker Heights. Week 4 is a major challenge against No. 3 Naperville Central. There’s also a matchup against Neuqua Valley on Oct. 8.

Rolling Meadows (0-2)

The Mustangs have qualified for the playoffs the last nine seasons and 16 of the last 17 seasons. Post season football is pretty much expected. Sam Baker’s squad was just 2-4 in the spring and the struggles have continued this season with consecutive home losses (Glenbrook South, Hoffman Estates) to start the season. The remaining schedule is difficult. Rolling Meadows faces road trips to Deerfield, Hersey and Prospect along with a home game against Buffalo Grove.

Deerfield (2-0)

The Warriors managed to play their entire spring schedule and finished 5-1. Quarterback Austin Layette is a returning starter that threw for 900 yards in the short season. He’s picked up right where he left off with three touchdown passes in the Week 1 win against Hinsdale South. Senior linebacker/running back Luke Woodson has been a monster on both sides of the ball. He has 21 tackles and 378 yards rushing with five touchdowns in the first gwo games.

Glenbrook South (2-0)

The Titans haven’t been to the playoffs since 2017 and were 1-4 in the spring. But a strong offensive line and an experienced backfield with Matt Burda and Will Collins has helped them open with a win at Rolling Meadows in Week 1 and a shoutout of Sandburg in Week 2. There are several challenges on the schedule, including Evanston, New Trier, Maine South and Barrington but the solid start makes the playoffs a strong possibility.

Geneva (2-0)

The Vikings were winless in 2019-20 and haven’t made the playoffs since the 2015-16 season. New coach Boone Thorgensen is off to a strong start with comeback wins against Metea Valley and Kaneland. Quarterback Alex Porter and several starters returned on the offensive line from a squad that was 2-4 in the spring. Carter Powelson, a converted defensive end, rushed for 157 yards in Week 1 and 189 yards and two touchdowns against Kaneland.

Geneva’s schedule is extremely difficult the rest of the way, with games against four ranked teams in the next seven weeks. The Vikings could lose all of those games and still make the playoffs if they manage to defeat Glenbard North, St. Charles East and Lake Park.

Read More