When hairstylist Lindsay Palm found herself out of work during the pandemic last year, she channeled her energy into a totally different business. Together with her close friend Ashley Aikens, she opened Good Roots, a plant shop in the lower level of her Glen Ellyn home. Word spread fast about this secret place where you could unearth your new ficus best friend, plus decor like Turkish textiles, in what used to be a kids’ playroom. “We had no expectations, but it turned out to be a proof of concept,” says Palm. In November, they moved the whole lush operation to a storefront in downtown Glen Ellyn, expanding the selection to include paintings by local artists, pillows, candles, pots, trays, sage bundles, and other home accents arranged in inspiring vignettes. As for the vegetation, you’ll find both common and rare (everything from a snake plant and a string of pearls to a Pink Princess philodendron). The big daddy of them all, though, is not for sale: a 37-year-old Hindu rope plant that belonged to Aikens’s late grandfather. In tribute, “Gramps” welcomes shoppers from the sun-filled front window. “Everyone,” says Aikens, “should name their plants.” 492 Crescent Blvd., Glen Ellyn

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Chicago Bears: Matt Nagy setting the stage for Justin Fields by Anish Puligilla

The Chicago Bears have had a lot of nonsense surrounding them for many years. Now, they are hoping that is all in the past. Most of that nonsense is a result of not ever having a franchise quarterback that can get them over the hump. They have thought that they had that guy multiple times but nobody ever panned out the way they thought they would. Now, the hope of it passing all rests on Justin Fields shoulders.

Of course, the Bears drafted Fields in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. It was a shock that he started to fall so the Bears traded up from pick number 20 to draft him with pick number 11. He developed at Ohio State University where he had a lot of success.

Training Camp is underway for the Bears now and things are going well for Fields. He is currently considered the backup right now as Andy Dalton is there to be the starter. It is a hot debate in the Bears community right now but it is ultimately up to Matt Nagy. Fields has been significantly better during camp so it will be interesting to see what ends up happening.

One player that has been polarizing for the Bears lately has been Allen Robinson. We all know about his franchise tag and contract situation that he has been dealing with but he seems to be all in on Fields. He had some strong words about him on NFL Network during an interview on Tuesday.

“Justin Fields is a guy who has all the talent in the world. He has those exciting capabilities. He’s a very athletic dude. The sky is the limit for Justin.”
– Chicago Bears WR Allen Robinson on NFL Network

— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) August 10, 2021

Allen Robinson’s words on Chicago Bears rookie Justin Fields hold a little bit of weight.

Robinson hasn’t exactly had the cream of the crop in his NFL career when it comes to NFL quarterbacks throwing him the football. Mitchell Trubisky, Nick Foles, and Blake Bortles are the three best quarterbacks that he has dealt with in his career. The only thing those guys have in common these days is that they are not very good. Robinson knows what an upgrade would look like and he seems to think that is Fields.

He seems to put stock in his pure talent based on his comments. We all know that is is an athletic type quarterback that will look to make big plays using his legs and arm. The talent in those areas has proven to be useful in the NFL these days. We have seen what guys like Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, and Russell Wilson have been able to do with those types of talents.

This isn’t to say that Fields will be as good as those guys but he can be close to that top tier. There is no reason right now to believe that Fields can’t be a top-level guy in the NFL. The Bears have had terrible luck with this stuff but they are hoping this is where it turns. The endorsement from an elite player like Robinson is great for Fields and fans of this team.

Related Story: Mitchell Trubisky dissed the Chicago Bears

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Chicago Bears: Allen Robinson has high praise for Justin Fields by Vincent Parise

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Chicago Bears (Derick Hingle-USA TODAY Sports)

As the Chicago Bears continue through training camp, one particular thing has been positive to see from an offensive perspective: their wide receivers are bringing it.

Once thought to be a potential distraction, Allen Robinson has shown up every single day and is putting in the work despite a contract situation that isn’t exactly ideal. Robinson is playing on the franchise tag, though, and will likely be elsewhere next season.

Another NFL wide receiver with an interesting current situation is Michael Thomas of the New Orleans Saints, whose relationship with his team looks to be dwindling.

Thomas announced a couple of weeks ago that he would be undergoing ankle surgery to deal with an ongoing injury. While it’s good he’s getting it taken care of, the Saints were reportedly frustrated with the timing and thought Thomas could have gotten that procedure done a while ago. Now, he’ll miss the early portion of the season.

As the relationship between Michael Thomas and the Saints keeps souring, the Chicago Bears should make a phone call.

With the way things are going between Thomas and the Saints, coupled with their uncertainty at quarterback, it would make sense that New Orleans eventually tries to move on from their star wide receiver.

There are many rumors out there right now, one being that the Jacksonville Jaguars could work out a deal for Thomas and also include cornerback C.J. Henderson who is currently available via trade.

But, looking at the Bears’ situation with Robinson and needing a true number one wideout for Justin Fields in the future, maybe they try to work out a deal for Thomas. One of these trades might get it done.

Next: Trade Number 1

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Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.

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The story of late-80s Windy City band the Veil has all the hallmarks of a rock ‘n’ roll epic–triumph, tragedy, mind-boggling coincidence, even an unexpected happy ending. And because the roots of the Veil extend deep into the city’s early punk scene (and beyond), of course the Secret History of Chicago Music was gonna get involved.

When the Veil broke up 1989, they hadn’t released any music formally–unless you count a four-song cassette they put together themselves and sold at shows. That set the stage for a fortuitous discovery in 2018, when music enthusiast Eric Clements strolled into a local thrift store and spotted a large collection of cassette tapes. He bought the entire lot, around 120 tapes, for a whopping seven dollars, and when he got home, he discovered some music he didn’t recognize among familiar stuff by the likes of the Stooges and the Velvet Underground: eight cassettes by a band called the Veil.

The material was a mishmash as far as recording quality went–it included rehearsal tapes, demos, and first-pass studio mixes–but Clements was impressed by its glammy, jangly blend of postpunk and power pop. He could barely find any documentation of the Veil’s existence online, but he did locate surviving member David Thomas. Thomas, who once worked for the Reader, is probably best known these days for codirecting the rapturously received but barely distributed 2002 documentary MC5: A True Testimonial (the Reader covered the film’s complicated, frustrating story in depth in 2004). Once Clements and Thomas started messaging, things got positively spooky–it turns out they went to the same Saint Louis-area high school, and Thomas had been childhood friends with Clements’s dad! They’d played high school baseball together in 1974, and Clements found family photos of them hanging out. Thomas also dated Clements’s aunt for two years.

Thomas also had plenty to share about the Veil, and explained that he’d been working intermittently on a retrospective release that had yet to come to fruition. Clements was primed to make that release happen–but we’ll get back to that.

The focal point of the Veil was front woman Lorna Donley, but her voice is missing from this story–she died much too young in 2013. (I attended her wake, and it was one of the sadder days of my life.) Donley and Thomas had previously played bass and guitar, respectively, in beloved darkwave-slash-postpunk band DA! (sometimes billed simply as Da), whose story I told in Secret History ages ago. Donley started the band at age 17 in 1977, and the best-known lineup–including Thomas and guitarist Gaylene Goudreau–came together not long after. They opened for the likes of the Fall, DNA, Bauhaus, and Mission of Burma, but by the time their Time Will Be Kind EP came out in 1982, they’d broken up, with Goudreau moving to New York to start the band Bag People.

Donley formed a new version of DA! for a few gigs in 1982 and ’83, then played a few more with a short-lived group called Silent Language, with drummer Jed “Djed” Fox and guitarist Philip Galanter. Around the same time, Thomas was playing drums in the equally short-lived Terminal Beach with guitarist and vocalist Steve Bjorklund (former Strike Under, future Breaking Circus), guitarist John Haggerty (future Naked Raygun, Pegboy), and a bassist who went by “Mousetrap” (aka Scott Harris). Terminal Beach played only a few shows (though they did cut a demo), and Thomas moved on to play guitar and sing with the Interceptors, alongside future Big Black guitarist Santiago Durango.

“Around ’84 Lorna and I had patched things up and became romantically involved,” Thomas recalls. “At that time she was playing, briefly, in El Sexo Rojas, who later morphed into the Slammin’ Watusis.” Thomas and Mousetrap had left Terminal Beach and formed a weird performance ensemble called A Mason in Ur, which helped set the stage for the Veil–between roughly 1984 and ’87 the group’s constantly shifting lineup included, at different times, Thomas, Donley, Fox, Haggerty, and Doug McCombs (Eleventh Dream Day, Tortoise).

“We evolved from standard instruments to sculptural ones built largely by Mousetrap, garbed in masks and costumes and performing ‘ritual music’ (a la Harry Partch and Moondog),” Thomas says. “We were banned forever from Club 950 and Cabaret Metro for what were deemed ‘subversive art actions.’ Unfortunately, no concrete record of A Mason in Ur (also variously known as Nga Jiwa and Purple Sherpas) exists. It was from this rich and heady stew that Lorna and I eventually birthed the Veil, a more traditional rock band.”

The Veil came together in 1986, after much trial and error. “Lorna and I had hunted for the right chemistry to complete the Veil for almost two years,” Thomas says. They tried playing with former DA! drummer Bob Furem (who’d previously been in Strike Under and Trial by Fire), as well as with Therese Drda, who’d drummed in Book of (Holy) Lies; they also auditioned Galanter on guitar.

“We really liked Therese’s drumming, but she had other commitments,” Thomas says. “We ran ads for a drummer, finally finding Mike Ebersohl, who we seemed to click with. He was from Carbondale and had played in several bands–including Vision, whose guitarist Robbie Stokes guested on a couple of Veil tracks.” As a three-piece, the Veil began writing and rehearsing. They made their first recordings at Dress Rehearsals studio on West Hubbard, working with Metro Mobile Recording owner Timothy Powell, who’d already engineered some of the most important records in Chicago punk.

“We brought in my old pal Joe Haynes to lay down some lead guitar, and he joined us permanent-like,” Thomas says. The two musicians had a long history–back in Saint Louis, Thomas had played in Haynes’s earliest bands, covering the likes of Mountain, Bowie, and Zeppelin in high school gyms. “I ‘sang’ (haha) because I was the guy that knew the words,” he remembers. “Around 1978 Haynes had a punk cover band called Bad Habits, the singer of which was a 17-year-old Michael Stipe (yes, that Michael Stipe). Shortly after that he and I had a power-poppish band called Cool Jerk. When that broke up, I immigrated to Chicago.”

As a four-piece, with drummer Andy Wahl replacing Ebersohl, the Veil hit the studio again in late 1988, this time at Short Order Recorder in Zion, Illinois, owned and operated by power-pop legends Shoes–in fact, Shoes guitarist and singer Jeff Murphy engineered the sessions. Thomas and Donley had chosen Murphy thanks in part to a recommendation by their friend Jim Ellison of Material Issue–they also liked the sound of the first Material Issue 12-inch, which Murphy had produced.

The Veil’s first live gig was in May 1988, according to Clements. They’d go on to play local joints such as Batteries Not Included, the Vic, Medusa’s, Club Dreamerz, and Biddy Mulligan’s, as well as at street fairs and in parks. They opened for beloved touring bands, including the Godfathers and Galaxie 500, and for local legends the Elvis Brothers and the Mystery Girls (an early band led by Kevin Junior of Chamber Strings). And they spray-painted their logo all over town.

Their music was equally indebted to glam rock, the British Invasion, and gothy new wave. When I ask Thomas about the Veil’s influences, he recites quite a list. “The Who, Troggs, BOC, Parachute-era Pretty Things, T. Rex, Wire, Slade, books about symbolist painters and kamikaze pilots,” he says. “Lorna was reading Georges Bataille and Leonora Carrington; we watched Doctor Who on Channel 11 every Sunday. Frequent MDMA excursions, leather and motorcycles, and Siouxsie always.”

The Veil had hoped to attract a major label, but in 1989, Donley and Thomas broke up, and the band followed suit. “It was a pretty great band for a minute or two,” Thomas says. Inspired by a DA! reunion and reissue in 2010, he and Donley, who’d long since mended fences, began working on a belated Veil release. “You started the ball rolling with the DA! SHoCM piece and the Chic-a-Go-Go appearance,” he tells me. (Yours truly booked DA! on a SHoCM episode of cable-access dance show Chic-a-Go-Go in 2008.) “So after the DA! reunions and LP (Exclamation Point: [Un]released Recordings 1980-81 was issued in 2010), she and I had started to pull these tracks together, as we always knew this deserved a place in the lexicon.”

Donley’s death derailed those plans, of course. “A few years after she passed, my wife Laurel and I were moving,” Thomas recalls. “We did a major purge of possessions, and in what turned out to be a magickal moment, I dumped my entire cassette collection at a thrift store–including numerous Veil tapes (copies, mixes, demos, rehearsals, et cetera)–and said to my wife at the time, ‘Maybe these’ll mean something to somebody someday.'”

They definitely meant something to Clements, whose cassette archaeology has prompted him to start his own label, Dim Dim Dark Records, and release the brand-new Veil anthology Time Stands Still. Compiled with Thomas, its ten songs include six from sessions with Powell and four from sessions with Murphy–all sourced from the old tapes Thomas had unloaded. The album also bills the band as Lorna Donley & the Veil, to give their amazing front woman her due. Stripped-down pop tunes “The Crown” and “Hold Me” easily could’ve charted alongside Blondie and the Go-Go’s, and the harder-edged “Serpent’s Eyes” and “Gunpowder Mouth” show off Thomas’s Motor City-indebted riffage.

Time Stands Still should secure the Veil a spot in the canon of great Chicago bands and earn Donley overdue recognition as one of the great women in rock. Though she also had a career as a librarian, her pursuit of music didn’t end with the Veil: in the 90s she fronted the noisy Hip Deep Trilogy, and in the late 2000s she worked on a dark art-pop project called Twilight Furniture with Dan Burke of Illusion of Safety. Clements says further Veil-related projects are in the works, but he can’t share more right now–with luck, though, the whole world might soon become aware of this formerly forgotten band. I couldn’t be happier about it, and I hope Lorna is smiling from above. v

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The radio version of the Secret History of Chicago Music airs on Outside the Loop on WGN Radio 720 AM, Saturdays at 5 AM with host Mike Stephen. Past shows are archived here.

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Chicago Blackhawks: Tony Esposito was an all-time great by Vincent Parise

In his presser on Tuesday, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy clearly stated his plan for the preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins. The starting unit on both sides of the ball will play eight to ten snaps with the reserves playing the rest of the game. The reserves, of course, include rookie quarterback Justin Fields.

Matt Nagy knows Justin Fields is ready to be the Chicago Bears starting quarterback.

To win the starting quarterback job in camp, two things must happen. First, the entire team must be on the same page about who they want as their leader. Nagy has to start the best player because he knows if he doesn’t, he risks losing the respect of his locker room. Secondly, it must be evident to fans and the media that the better quarterback will be starting.

I have followed the daily reports and press conferences out of training camp this year and I believe that Justin Fields has performed as well as Andy Dalton when going against the first-string defense. The caveat: Fields has been doing it with the second-string offense and has left reporters and fans with more “wow” moments every day than Dalton has.

Matt Nagy knows that Justin Fields is the key to his offense. The Chicago Bears have been atrocious at executing big plays and Dalton, while impressive in practice, is not the quarterback that can fix this problem immediately – especially considering the injuries to the offensive line.

This is what makes his decision to only play Andy Dalton in limited snaps very interesting. Nagy must know that in eight to ten plays, Dalton won’t be able to settle into a strong rhythm. However, Justin Fields, over the rest of the game, will be able to completely settle in with plenty of chances to leave his teammates, fans, and the media in awe of his jaw-dropping talent. The result: an even stronger push by the media for Nagy to start Justin Fields.

Now, if Nagy was really intent on sitting Justin Fields this season, there is absolutely no way he distributes the snaps so disproportionately that all everyone will remember from the game is how Justin Fields looked.

Matt Nagy wants to start Justin Fields in the Chicago Bears opener.

This brings me to my main point: Matt Nagy is going to use the preseason to make it absolutely undeniable that Justin Fields needs to be the week one starter. He needs to because he has to be able to justify it to Andy Dalton, to who he promised the starting job.

Related Story: Rumors surface that Justin Fields is close to becoming starter

The Chicago Bears are in a very unique position this season with two quarterbacks that would be quality starters. However, Matt Nagy knows only one of them, Justin Fields, has the potential to completely break open the offense and let Nagy unleash his entire playbook on the NFL.

As a result, I believe his most recent comments on the preseason showcase that he is setting the stage for Justin Fields’ coronation as the starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears.

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White Sox fans won’t find the team’s game Wednesday afternoon on NBC Sports Chicago, or any other TV or cable channel, for that matter. YouTube will carry the broadcast exclusively and for free. Go to YouTube.com/MLB or search “MLB” in the YouTube app on all smart devices. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. Central.

Matt Yallof and Bill Ripken of MLB Network will host the pregame show beginning at 11:30 a.m. Play-by-play voice Scott Braun, analyst LaTroy Hawkins and reporter Lauren Gardner will provide the game commentary. But fans can choose to listen to their team’s radio call instead.

Starting this week for YouTube’s weekly games, the broadcast will include a feature that gives fans the option to listen to the home or away radio feed. So as viewers watch the stream, they can listen to Braun and Hawkins, the Sox’ Len Kasper and Darrin Jackson or the Twins’ Cory Provus and Dan Gladden. In settings, select “Audio Track” and choose from the primary stream, home radio or away radio.

In addition to the multi-audio feature, viewers can participate in a live chat and follow commentary from more than 40 sports-focused YouTube creators. The broadcast also will ask viewers to vote in polls, including for the YouTube Player of the Game. That player will receive a trophy during the postgame show.

Sox-Twins is YouTube’s 15th game in a 21-game exclusive schedule this season. It’s also the Sox’ first appearance in the “MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube,” which is in its third season.

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NEW YORK — Walter Yetnikoff, the rampaging, R-rated head of CBS Records who presided over blockbuster releases by Michael Jackson, Billy Joel and many others and otherwise devoted his life to a self-catered feast of “schmoozing, shmingling and bingling,” has died at age 87.

Yetnikoff’s death was confirmed Tuesday by David Ritz, who collaborated with Yetnikoff on his memoir “Howling at the Moon.” Further details were not immediately available.

The stocky, bearded Yetnikoff was a onetime lawyer with a sharp mind, a foul mouth, a big heart, a tin ear, a roving eye and an extraordinary temper, a Jewish kid from Brooklyn whose hunger for recognition and power drove him to excess in every way. In “Howling at the Moon,” published in 2004, he described his life as a three-act play: Act 1, “I start to get crazy.” Act 2, “I get crazier.” Act 3, “craziest of all.”

Once likened by The New York Times to the vulgar Jewish uncle “who asks his unsuspecting nephew to pull his finger,” he was a born kingpin who helped embody a moment when rock music became big business, embraced and absorbed by corporate America, when contracts and acquisitions seemed as eventful as the music itself.

“If you are successful — as it should be — you simply have to pay an artist, give them a check for all this money,” he told Rolling Stone in 1988. “It’s my pleasure to give Michael Jackson a big, big check. Number one, it shows that we’re successful. Two, whatever he earned, we earned more.”

He joined CBS as a staff attorney in the early 1960s, was named president of CBS Records International in 1971 and CEO of CBS Records in 1975, after Clive Davis was fired amid allegations of payola and mismanagement of expenses. Yetnikoff was a volatile man in a volatile and expansive era; throughout his 15 years on top he competed fiercely with Warner Bros. for industry dominance. Warner had Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and Madonna. CBS had Jackson, Joel, Barbra Streisand and Bruce Springsteen.

When Yetnikoff helped convince James Taylor to jump from Warner to CBS, Warner lured Paul Simon away from CBS.

His reign peaked with such mega-sellers as Jackson’s “Thriller,” Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” and Joel’s “52nd Street.” CBS’ revenues more than quadrupled under his watch, from $485 million to over $2 billion, but he also blew a fortune by arranging costly deals for Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and others past their commercial prime.

“If I were a CBS stockholder, I would sue for dilution of assets,” former CBS Records A&R chief Mitch Miller once complained.

He feuded with friends and enemies, with other labels and his own company. He called CBS chairman Thomas H. Wyman “Super Goy” and Wyman’s immediate successor, the cost-cutting Laurence A. Tisch, “the evil dwarf.” Simon would allege that Yetnikoff traumatized him to the point of writer’s block and turned Yetnikoff into a villain in his 1980 film “One Trick Pony,” in which Rip Torn played a boorish record executive.

Yetnikoff could also be righteous, threatening to boycott MTV and its then-virtually all-white playlist after its initial refusal to air the video of Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and using his own money to buy back Joel’s song catalog from a former producer and give it back to the singer.

When he married Cynthia Slamar, in 1987, Mick Jagger, Streisand and Springsteen were among the guests.

“To Walter — The wildest man north of Asbury Park,” Springsteen once wrote to him. “Thanks for your friendship.”

His downfall came amid a storm of corporate turnover and backstabbing, and Yetnikoff’s personal chaos. By the late 1980s, his marriage to Slamar was collapsing and his treatment for alcoholism had not cleaned up his behavior. He alienated Springsteen and Jackson among others, raged in public against rival mogul David Geffen and exasperated the executives at his new corporate parent, Sony, which had purchased CBS in 1987 — a deal Yetnikoff helped arrange. Forced out by Sony in 1990, he tried to make a movie about Miles Davis, and failed. He tried to start a new record company, Velvel Music Group, and failed.

“I wasn’t even thinking about getting out of bed,” he wrote in his memoir. “I drew the curtains, closed the blinds and stayed in bed for months. I was immobile. I was useless. I was racked with every lousy self-loathing feeling known to man.”

In recent years, he volunteered at addiction recovery centers in New York City and helped run Commotion Records. Yetnikoff was married three times and had enough affairs to make friends doubt he could ever commit to one woman. He would remember telling Streisand in 1985 that he was marrying Slamar, only to have the singer laugh and respond, “I don’t know anyone less suited to marriage. The chances of you being faithful are absolutely zero.” His third marriage, to Lynda Kady, did endure.

Yetnikoff grew up in a working-class neighborhood where trouble began at home; his father would beat him up, his mother wanted him to get rich. Damaged, but determined, he attended Brooklyn College as an undergraduate and received a law degree from Columbia University. After being stationed in Germany while serving in the Army from 1956-58, he returned to New York and joined the law firm of Rosenman and Colin.

Among his more ambitious peers was a balding young lawyer named Clive Davis, a fellow Jew from Brooklyn who would soon leave for Columbia records and, in 1961, convinced Yetnikoff to join him. He was soon assigned to collect $40,000 from Morris Levy, a music entrepreneur notorious for his ties to organized crime. Levy became a friend and even agreed to settle his debt.

“To bright boy Yetnikoff,” he wrote, “I’m not paying because I gotta. I’m paying because I wanna. I’d hate to see you in trouble so early in your career. That’ll come later.”

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The basketball part of Summer League is nothing new for Marko Simonovic.

He’s been playing that since the age of seven, and was off to Italy at the age of 14 to start playing professionally.

Sure, the 6-foot-11 forward/center has a ton to learn at the NBA level, but he didn’t seem overwhelmed with that prospect.

The off-the-court adjustment he needs to make in his new home? That’s where it’s going to be interesting for the 21-year-old.

When he came to Chicago last month to start working out for his new team, it was the first time he stepped foot in the city. Then it was off to Summer League, and the first time he’s seen the bright lights of Las Vegas. It’s those moments that he’s trying to take all in?

Basketball?

That’s the only familiarity that he has right now.

“I’ve gone through it,” Bulls Summer League coach – and Australian – Damian Cotter said of the process Simonovic is going through. “I try to talk about it, the importance of fitting into this culture and learning from it. He has a tendency, and this is a good thing, to try to do too much. We’re turning that into a positive.”

Positives that already started showing up when he made his debut on Monday.

In the loss, the big man played with some unexpected physicality in the paint, went 5-of-6 from the free throw line, grabbed five rebounds and finished with 13 points.

In his Game 2 comeback win against the Spurs on Tuesday night, Simonovic played second fiddle to the 30-point performance by Patrick Williams, but not a bad fiddle to play. After falling behind 22 points in the first half, the Bulls rallied in the 92-89 win, as Simonovic finished with 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Simonovic is still limited in minutes as they want to build his stamina, but the good news was they were climbing.

All steps the Bulls are hoping will result in Simonovic turning into a rotation player for a very thin frontcourt.

“I think [this upcoming] season I can help the team,” Simonovic said. “I’m a guy who runs the court. I’m a big man but I like to run. I like to share the ball.”

Call that mentality the Nikola Jokic influence. Not the only influence Simonovic had growing up, but definitely a great one to embrace.

“When I was a kid and watching the NBA, Dirk Nowitzki was really amazing for me,” Simonovic said. “It’s one of my idols. I tried to practice how he played. I listened to what he said. I tried to practice how he practiced. Coming also from Europe, from Germany, I think he’s one of the best players ever from Europe to play in the NBA.

“Now in the last two, three years, I always follow Nikola Jokic. This is an amazing guy. We came from the same club from Belgrade. I follow him before I was drafted. How he played, how he shared the ball, everything. How he’s smart on the court. But now when I was drafted, I start to follow the Bulls. Now the most important thing for me is I think because we have [a team in common] is [Bulls center] Nikola Vucevic. He’s my guy also. We come from the same country. We were together on the national team, but I think he will help me.”

As far as the other Bulls rookie who has a lot of eyes on him, Chicago product Ayo Dosunmu had a solid second half, finishing with 10 points and getting four steals.

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Freshwater drum and a chance at big Chinook on Lake Michigan along with catfish, bluegill and bass from inland waters around Chicago highlight this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report; plus bonuses in a Downstate paddlefish and a Dancing in the Streets note.

Capt. Ralph Steiger caught one of his bigger freshwater drum in a while on Lake Michigan.

He messaged:

18.8, bass fishing on a tube dragging , 14 ft of water.

In case you’re wondering, that is not near the records for either Indiana or Illinois. Johnathan Inman caught the Illinois record (38 pounds, 4 ounces), on May 24, 2018 from Clinton Lake. Garland Fellers caught the Indiana record drum (30 pounds) in 1963 from the White River in Martin County.

ILLINOIS FROG SEASON

Illinois’ bullfrog (only) season runs through Oct. 15. A fishing license is required. “Bullfrogs may be taken by hook and line, gig, pitchfork, spear, bow and arrow, hand, or landing net.” Daily bag limits eight, possession limit 16.

LAKEFRONT PARKING

Chicago Park District’s parking passes for the fisherman’s parking lots at DuSable and Burnham harbors are on sale at Henry’s Sports and Bait in Bridgeport and Park Bait at Montrose Harbor.

Readers suggest SpotHero app downtown. Otherwise, here are some basics: Foster (free street parking or pay lot); Montrose (now a mix of metered and free street parking); Belmont (pay lots on north and south sides); Diversey (pay lot or street parking); DuSable Harbor (pay lot or fisherman’s lot); Northerly Island/Burnham Harbor (meters, pay lot or fisherman’s lot); 31st/Burnham (meter parking between McCormick Place and 31st Street Harbor); Oakwood/39th (meters); 63rd Street/Casino Pier (pay lot); Steelworkers Park (free street parking at east end of 87th); Cal Park (free parking).

AREA LAKES

BIG FISH: The Forest Preserve District of Will County’s Big Fish Contest at Monee Reservoir runs through Aug. 31. Click here for details.

Provided

Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed the photos above and below, and this:

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.

Area lakes-summer patterns are back with more stable weather. Bass have been very good. Work a frog early and late in the day. Thicker the cover the better. Bluegill are up shallow finishing their spawn. Focus on these shorelines for good numbers. As the morning progresses, pitch a senko just beyond the bluegill. Early evening, burn a Googan click bait over the top of the weeds. These patterns should continue with the forecast predicted this week.

Here is the nature pic of the week [below]. Warming up after breakfast.

TTYL

—

Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team

Provided by Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Pete Lamar emailed:

Hi Dale,

. . .

I fished a nearby pond on Sunday afternoon, right before a storm hit (I quit when I saw lightning and walked home in a downpour). The bluegills were in a frenzy, eating everything they could see and even attacking each other. It was fun while it lasted.

. . .

Pete

BRAIDWOOD LAKE

Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. Click here for the preview.

CHAIN O’LAKES AREA

Tucker at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said catfish going good as usual on stinkbait or liver; bluegills are in the weeds and brush piles; few reports on walleye, but the better bites are in the weeds on fatheads; both smallmouth and largemouth are slow; as are crappie and white bass.

NOTE: Check updates on water conditions at foxwaterway.com or (847) 587-8540.

NOTE 2: The Stratton Lock and Dam is open 8 a.m. to midnight through Sept. 30.

CHICAGO RIVER

Provided by Jeffrey Williams

Jeffrey Williams messaged about his brother and his carp on the river:

Carp King is back

Nice 14 pounder, had beautiful colors on him

DELAVAN LAKE, WISCONSIN

Arden Katz said bluegill were good in 15 feet parallel to the weed line; bass were on points or in deep water near shore.

DOWNSTATE

Provided by Eric Stark

Eric Stark messaged the photo of a paddlefish caught at Giant Goose Ranch near Canton. Giant Goose Ranch is a managed fishery on former strip pits and a very memorable experience, which I would recommend you try if you get the chance.

POWERTON: Hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Sept. 30.

EMIQUON: Access permits and liability waivers are again required. They are available Tuesday to Saturday at Dickson Mounts Museum, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

HENNEPIN-HOPPER: Open through Sept. 6. Closed Mondays (except Labor Day). Check regulations at http://www.wetlands-initiative.org/dixon-paddling-fishing.

SHELBYVILLE: Check with Ken Wilson of Lithia Guide Service. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: Check with Jason Johns of Boneyard Fishing.

FOX RIVER

Dicky’s Bait Shop in Montgomery reported slow fishing.

Pete Lamar emailed:

Hi Dale,

We finally got some rain, and not a moment too soon for the Fox. I didn’t fish it, but walked a long way on Saturday, before the rain. I saw someone wading and casting in the middle of the channel, presumably one of the deeper locations. Water levels barely reached his knees. The rain on Sunday and Monday should do a lot of good: raise water levels, increase flow, increase dissolved oxygen, lower temperatures and replenish springs.

. . .

Pete

GENEVA LAKE, WISCONSIN

Provided by Roger Jackson

Arden Katz said bass, including his best smallmouth of the year, were being caught in 20 feet at night with drop-shot rig. “You will catch fish, they are just not jumping in the boat,” he said.

GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN

Provided by Mike Norris

Guide Mike Norris texted the photos above and below, and emailed:

Fishing Report 8/9/2021

Mike Norris

Big Green Lake – Bass fishing remains good at Big Green. It took a five-fish limit of 20.15 lbs. to win an Angler’s Choice bass tournament on the lake last Sunday. Tubes or creature baits worked along weed edges and rocky drop-offs are accounting for most catches. Large catfish are also hitting the tubes. Big bluegills are also roaming the weed edges. Try red worms on a drop shot rig in 15 – 20 feet of water.

Little Green Lake – Cooler weather late last week drew anglers back out to this lake and they were rewarded with catches of walleyes and bluegills. Crappies remain active out over the deep-water basin.

Lake Puckaway – Bluegills and crappie remain active downstream of the lake in the Fox River. Work the shoreline weed with a red worm hung beneath a slip bobber.

To book a guide trip reach out to me via my Facebook page at mike.norris.7773 or email me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com

Provided by Mike Norris

GREEN/STURGEON BAYS, WISCONSIN

Click here for the Wisconsin DNR weekly report.

HEIDECKE LAKE

Provided

Rob Abouchar emailed the photo above and below, and this:

Hi Dale,

We were able to deliver the big show yesterday at the Dancing In The Streets Festival. The band performed with much aplomb and the reviews were great. We have been asked to return for future gigs in October, November or December. With Freshman Parent night looming and teacher inservices this week I had to hit one of my spots. I ran out to Heidecke and biked the center dike and fished for a few hours. I was able to land some nice smallmouth bass in the wind and heat. Possibly my biggest Heidecke lake smallie hit a jackhammer bladed jig in crawfish color with a white kalins grub trailer. I also had a nice Muskie follow but it came up short. Hitting the end of the line kinda re-cenerts things. Quite a spot to sit and ponder things.

Tight Lines and Good Health

Provided by Rob Abouchar

Open 6 a.m. (6:30 bank fishing) to sunset.

KANKAKEE RIVER

Provided

Bob Johnson emailed the photo above and this:

Hi Dale –

I’ve been out for a couple weeks with some kind of non Covid viral infection but better again and back on the water.

I had to get back to the river to go for some Smallmouth and it did not disappoint. I saw the report and pics from George Peters backwater so added motivation to getting back. The Bass are not what they used to be but still can be caught just more casting for them involved. We used finesse baits, crainkbaits and surface lures. Caught about 15 later this week and another 8 Sunday morning with a couple Walleyes and Catfish mixed in. Catfish were hitting crainkbaits too.

Speaking of George Peters, he emailed the photo below and this:

Hi Dale, [Kankakee] was low and semi-clear as of this last weekend. Rain forecast for early this week could change things. Smallmouth going on minnow and crawdad baits. Fly fishing also an option with pipers and streamers. Fishing pressure high, c and r for all fish. G. Peters.

Provided

LAKE ERIE

Click here for the Ohio DNR Report.

LAKEFRONT

Summer pre-school doldrums are here on the lakefront; may that change soon and early kings start showing up.

Jason “Special One” Le messaged this YouTube video on another form of lakefront fishing on his channel:

Staff at Henry’s Sports and Bait had few reports.

Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor texted a sad Spongebob emoji, followed by this:

This ought to explain it.

Provided by Confusion Facebook page

Capt. Bob Poteshman of Confusion Charters said out of Chicago fishing is good, for a fair amount of big lake trout, some big steelhead and the occasional coho and king in 125-200 feet. Water is cooling off and he anticipate them moving in closer. Out of North Point, fish are on the hill or just outside of it in 80-140; if you are at the crack of dawn, some nice kings there but they are hard to catch (a customer caught a 31-pounder on Sunday), on spoons or flashers and flies, “depends on the moment;” fair amount of lake trout in 160-260 range. Mornings definitely better. A few steelhead out deeper, too. “For the hard-core fishermen, get up early and set up in the dark, they will have a chance to get a big king.

Lori Ralph at the Salmon Stop in Waukegan texted that there were a few perch reports.

Capt. Scott Wolfe emailed:

Fishing is as inconsistent as I have ever seen. Some days we go out and its lock and load with others struggling for a handful. The worst part is that there is no patter I have seen to be able to predict what is going to happen. Some days the fish are on and some days they are off. The good news is that they are there. 100 to 140 feet anywhere on the West side of the lake is holding good numbers of fish. They just aren’t in the mood to hit all the time. On a good day mixed catches of lakers, kings, steelhead and an occasional coho and brown are being taken. The big flasher fly combination targeting kings were the best this week with Green/Black/Silver and Green/Black/White combos being best. Smokin’ Fish Tackle Hulk Fly and Jimmy Fly Spartan fly were the best ones. Downriggers within 20 feet of the bottom and wire divers near the bottom worked. A faster troll produced better most days for numbers, but bigger fish were taken on slower trolls. Quality has been fantastic with nice 4 year old kings and big lakers even on the tough days.

No info on the harbor. Warm water has apparently sent most shore guys to there bodies of water to try their luck.

Capt. Scott Wolfe

School of Fish Charters/Manipulator
schooloffishcharters.com
630-341-0550

LaSALLE LAKE

Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. Click here for the preview of prospects.

MADISON LAKES, WISCONSIN

Click here for the update from D&S Bait.

MAZONIA

Both units are open for fishing.

MILLE LACS, MINNESOTA

Provided by McQuoid’s Inn

Justin Lederer emailed from McQuoid’s Inn in Isle, Minn.: the photo above and this:

Jackson with a beautiful 23″ walleyeJustin Lederer checking in from McQuoids Inn Lake Mille Lacs. Jackson and his family came up from Lemont to enjoy the area. He has never caught a walleye and he was able to set the hook and land this beauty all himself. So the fishing is getting tough. Still able to get walleye on slip bobber and leech towards the evening in 25-30′ of water. Bass are hanging out around the reefs if you don’t find them on top of the reefs drop off to the deeper parts and they should be there tubes and lindy rigs with crawlers or leeches. The fall bite is on its way.

NORTHERN WISCONSIN

Kurt Justice at Kurt’s Island Sport Shop in Minocqua emailed:

As the first week of August passes, changes in our lakes are slight, but present. Surface temps have remained pretty consistent of late, running in the low to mid 70’s, but some sign of changes in certain weeds has been occurring and it seems to be affecting fish activity in those areas.

Smallmouth Bass: Very Good-Good – This species is least affected by weed changes at this time of year, as they are usually working deep coontail edges, sandgrass flats and off shore gravel/rock humps feeding on crayfish and, on rock humps, sculpin that use those areas. Football style jigs with creature baits or drop-shotting 3″ minnow/worm or goby imitations and Ned rigging work best.

Northern Pike: Good – Stick to broad leaf (brown) cabbage or “green” narrow leaf cabbage. If weeds have a yellowing tint, less likely to hold fish. Spinner baits (Boonies, K’s) and chatter baits when wind. On very high or very low-pressure days, stick to jigging 4-6″ chubs or suckers.

Largemouth Bass: Good – Evening bite good on top-water lures such as frogs, Hula Poppers, Whopper Ploppers, etc. Day time use Wacky Worms to work weed edges

Bluegills: Good – Best outside coontail edges suspended 4-6′ down on Mini-Mite, Gapen Freshwater Shrimp and small leeches suspended under floats. Poppers and flys for the last couple hours of light.

Yellow Perch: Good-Fair – Best over sandgrass flats using frozen crayfish or 1/2 crawlers on Lindy style rigs or slip-floats.

Crappies: Fair-Good – Best along 12′ weeds or out over drowned wood/cribs using small-medium fatheads, small plastics (Crappie Scrubs) or feather jigs with tinsel. Not tight schools, so searching needed.

Musky: Fair – Anglers plying deep weed edges moving some fish. Top-water action not as productive as expected.

Walleye: Fair – Best on deeper lakes where Walleyes working sandgrass outside coontail edges in 14-20′ using full crawlers, red tails or the biggest leeches you can find.

Bullheads: Very Good! – Found a good bite and no one interested…some people!

August can get tricky. Weather has been consistent, temps good but for some reason, fishing can be tough at times. Not impossible, just not always as good as we’d like. Takes a bit of moving around, but just like me, they gotta eat sometime! (Or is that all the time?)

Kurt Justice

Kurt’s Island Sport Shop
Like us on FaceBook

NORTHWEST INDIANA

Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station texted:

Hot hot hot weather is here and will keep some folks home.

Over the weekend catches on the lake mainly lakers but a few kings,coho and steelhead in the mix offshore 100 to 200ft of water was the best.

Willow slough still giving up bluegills and redears using crickets and jumbo reds. Groups in boats doing best but at dark the action for shore fisherman has been good.

Action still good at portage river walk for catfish at night using triple s stinkbait.

Christina Petrites at Stan’s Bait & Tackle Center in Hammond emailed:

Hi, Dale. This recent surge of hot weather has really thrown me for a loop! Here’s what we have this week:

Fishing remains strong on Lake Michigan, with anglers catching nice coho with some big kings in their catches. A new state record king was caught over the weekend with the scales tipping over 47# [Michigan].

Walleye and smallmouth are still being taken on the rivers along with catfish.

Inland lakes and perch have slowed down

ROOT RIVER, WISCONSIN

Click here for the Wisconsin DNR’s report, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday.

SHABBONA LAKE

Staff at Boondocks reported steady but slow fishing, best on panfish near shore, water is near 79.

Concessions are going. Site hours through Oct. 31 are 6 a.m.-10 p.m. daily

SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN LAKEFRONT

Click here for the southern Lake Michigan reports from the Wisconsin DNR.

SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said no perch action; silver fish are in 110-150 feet; few out after the severe weather Monday.

Paddle and Pole hosts the Berrien Springs Fish Ladder Camera.

WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN

Guide Bill Stoeger in Fremont texted:

Water is on the rise, AGAIN. Bluegills crappie, and perch have slowed a bit, but still some good catches coming in. Walleye bite is also slow with water coming up

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