Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that student-athletes are able to earn money from their name, image and likeness, more than a dozen states have enacted laws to govern the practice. These states include Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

For example, the name, image and likeness law in Illinois defines what compensation can be for and the role that colleges can play when student-athletes seek endorsement deals.

Other states have name, image and likeness laws that take effect in 2022 and later, including New Jersey, Maryland, California and Minnesota. All these state laws could help shape a federal name, image and likeness law in the near future.

This shifting landscape creates a wide range of revenue-generating opportunities for student-athletes. For example, companies and organizations can work to market their products and services to reach college students and college alumni via student-athlete endorsements, something that they were unable to do before.

There’s no shortage of examples of student-athletes who are already taking advantage of their newly won ability to do business. For instance, Bryce Young, the star quarterback at the University of Alabama, has signed deals estimated to be close to US$1 million dollars. Hanna and Haley Cavinder, women’s basketball players at Fresno State, signed deals with Boost Mobile and the nutrition supplements company Six Star.

Drew Gilbert, a University of Tennessee baseball player, inked a deal with Breaking T for a line of T-shirts.

As a data scientist with an interest in sports analytics – that is, the science of using data to analyze how athletes and teams perform – I am concerned about how these new laws might affect student-athletes both on and off the field or court.

For instance, will schools in states with more favorable laws for student-athletes use that as a way to entice the athletes to come to their schools? Will student-athletes be tempted to transfer from one state to another in order to enjoy a more favorable name, image and likeness law?

But perhaps most importantly, how will these new laws and policies affect college players? I see three potential pitfalls for student-athletes who might decide to use their visibility as athletes to make money.

Time management

Student-athletes are busy. Between classes and studying, and practice and competition, their schedules are packed. Their sports commitments can take up as much as 40 hours per week in-season. The temptation to earn money will add yet another demand on their time, which may lead them to shift their priorities.

Given all that they have on their plate, academics will likely suffer. Student-athletes are already saying they would like more time to study. So if making money comes into play, it could make time to study even more scarce. This could threaten student-athletes’ eligibility to play sports if they are unable to maintain their course credits and grades.

On-court performance

Organizations or businesses that pay student-athletes expect a return on their investment. They are not giving student-athletes money as charitable gifts. Responsibilities such as appearances or social media engagements may place additional time pressures on student-athletes. This could also serve as a mental distraction, which may affect their performance on the court or playing field.

Name, image and likeness contracts cannot depend on student-athlete performance directly. In other words, their endorsements cannot be tied to such matters as how many points they score. However, if student-athletes’ performance slumps, they may become less attractive to companies.

Eventually, data will become available to assess the relationship between endorsement opportunities and on-field performance. If there is a strong correlation, this would make the name, image and likeness revenue closer to the pay-for-play between colleges and athletes that the NCAA seeks to avoid. It’s not that the colleges are paying their players, but sponsors are paying players because they’re in college.

Money management

Revenue generated through endorsement opportunities makes student-athletes independent business proprietors. This requires them to file a specific type of tax form – known by the IRS as Schedule C – with places to record revenue and deductible expenses.

This, in turn, means it will be in the interest of professional service providers hired by the student-athletes, such as agents, tax advisers and marketing consultants, to help students deliver what the contracts stipulate, or risk losing out on future opportunities.

Student-athletes could benefit from being required to take a money management course. However, such a course may not be enough to help students manage themselves as essentially a financial enterprise. Some of these young people are coming into a sizable amount of money for the first time in their lives.

Not every student-athlete will have the benefit that incoming Tennessee State University freshman Hercy Miller has; his father, former NBA player and rap artist Master P, played a critical role in helping the young basketball player secure his $2 million ambassador deal with Web Apps America.

Student-athletes will now need an agent to help them with their business dealings. The NCAA may need to provide guidance for what such agents can and can’t do to guard against exploitation.

Student-athletes have much to gain from their new ability to do business, as do their sponsors. Unfortunately, without good agents and clear policies and rules, both student-athletes and their teams also have much to lose.

Sheldon H. Jacobson is a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This article originally was published on The Conversation.

Send letters to [email protected].

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Arrests at Lollapalooza this year were down from 2019, the last time the festival took place at Grant Park, city officials said.

A total of 19 people were arrested at the four-day music festival, a drop from 31 arrests in 2019 but up from the 12 in 2018, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

The city also recorded 102 ambulance transports this year, down from 116 in 2019 and 160 in 2018, officials said.

Police also issued fewer citations this year. Officials said seven people were ticketed this year, fewer than the 12 in 2019 and a fraction of the 34 recorded in 2018.

OEMC gave no details of the arrests, transports or citations.

In 2020, Lollapalooza shifted to an online-only event due to the pandemic. The festival went ahead this year despite a rise in coronavirus cases, with the highly infectious Delta variant sparking a surge nationwide.

A day into the festival, organizers announced that masks would be required at all indoor spaces on festival grounds following updated guidance from the Chicago Department of Public Health.

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The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues

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Why white journalists need to stop focusing on ‘learning loss’

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By Ray Salazar, NBCT,
today at 11:26 am

People affected by news stories should find the reporting insightful. So it’s been disappointing that I’ve struggled to find insight or meaning or value in many news stories about how the pandemic affected teenagers in public high schools – especially in pieces written by white journalists.

So much of teenagers’ lack of success in stories about the pandemic and education that I’ve read remains grounded in whiteness, which, according to DismantlingRacism.org, is defined as “the idea that white people and the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions of white people are superior to People of Color and their ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions.”

In many stories supposedly investigating the “learning loss” because of the pandemic, readers come away with a superficial examination that only promotes perfectionism or catastrophe.

The ideas of perfectionism, closed-mindedness, and the obsession with objectivity generate news stories leaving readers misinformed and paranoid about what students lost during the pandemic.

My theory is that when journalists come from backgrounds where they usually found success in traditional systems — systems that perpetuate inequality — they report from that worldview, bypassing the insights that would be meaningful to people with a different reality.

The damaging part is that obsessing over the “learning loss” highlights misperceived student deficits and promotes views of inadequacy rather than strengths and a need for educational reforms.

Through this white lens, we see low-income Black and Brown students as a uniform group victimized by the pandemic rather than as complex humans whose experiences hold insights into how our educational systems and worldviews must change.

Post-pandemic, education journalists — especially white ones — need to report beyond the “learning loss” narrative and, instead, focus on helping readers understand how issues affecting low-income Black and Brown students must be addressed.

Post-pandemic, education journalists — especially white ones — need to report beyond the “learning loss” narrative and, instead, focus on helping readers understand how issues affecting low-income Black and Brown students must be addressed.

Once upon a time, I was a low-income Brown kid educated and miseducated in parochial and public schools on Chicago’s Southwest side. I understand now the nuanced views of inadequacy that permeated many of my classrooms.

When I decided to go to a public neighborhood high school because my parents could not afford tuition at a popular Southwest Side high school, my white eighth-grade teacher told me I was making a huge mistake. My sophomore year, when I told a white substitute teacher I wanted to go Princeton like she had, she talked about other options. I had a handful of great teachers in high school: two English, one geometry, one French, one chemistry. Still, I made it to and through college despite my elementary and high-school education, not because of it.

Now in my 20-plus years as a Chicago Public Schools English teacher, I continue to teach as I’ve always taught — aiming to give students that education I did not get. And I see my students come through this unprecedented time with courage, determination, and optimism. Some worked after school. Some joined the virtual debate team. Some led an effort to change our school’s name because John Hancock owned slaves. Others cared for sick family members. Others laid loved ones to rest, just as I did.

A handful of students in each class felt overwhelmed. They disappeared sometimes. Honestly, this wasn’t different from other years — a handful always needs extra support. Those who know where I teach might chalk up my students’ perseverance to the fact that they test into the school. But more than 90% of the students continue to come from the surrounding working-class and immigrant ZIP codes that populated the school before kids tested in. Over 80% are low-income. We are a neighborhood school in Chicago. Our school’s ZIP code of 60629 got hit hard by the pandemic.

My students — like so many others — persevered during the pandemic. And they’re not alone. In an interview with the Big Brains podcast, the University of Chicago’s Elaine Allensworth explains that if students who are close to losing half a year of instruction, they “will still mostly be at a normal range, a range that’s typical. And so they might need a little more support, but they won’t require a major change in terms of how teachers are going to be teaching for their grade level.”

For students who are further behind, Allensworth recognizes, schools need to dedicate different types of resources. Therefore, instead of catastrophizing a “learning loss,” education journalists need to cover and uncover the resources that struggling students need post-pandemic.

I see my students come through this unprecedented time with courage, determination, and optimism. Some worked after school. Some joined the virtual debate team. Some led an effort to change our school’s name because John Hancock owned slaves. Others cared for sick family members. 

So I struggle to make sense of the coverage that I’m seeing from education news outlets and teams in Chicago and nationally. And I have some ideas about how to improve things:

Suggestion 1: Let Go of Perfectionism in Reporting

A recent “analysis” by Chicago’s WBEZ public radio talked about the “story of a devastating year for many Chicago students.”

But this analysis failed in revealing anything new to students or educators affected by the situation. The reporting focused on third-quarter grades — grades after the first semester that usually drop and do not go on students’ transcripts.

For 26 years as a teacher in Chicago Public Schools, I’ve seen this drop every third quarter. It’s well-referred to as “the third-quarter slump.” So it’s no surprise that 30% of the grades in some schools were F’s. A more insightful story would have analyzed grades at the end of the first semester — grades that do appear on high-school transcripts and could lead to bigger struggles.

WBEZ reported, “Grades at the end of the third quarter were also startlingly low at the 40 schools, which are clustered on the South and West sides. One in every five grades handed out in math or English was an F.” But the reporting never explained how this is different from other years.

Most of the students at these schools are, not surprisingly, Black or Brown and low-income.

Ignored was a conversation about how the school calendar requires students to attend school three months straight between winter and spring breaks. Should the pandemic make us reconsider the school calendar and the longer school day Chicago implemented in 2012?

Then we get a quote from a white education advocate who catastrophizes the situation by saying, “All of the evidence we have suggests that failure of any kind during those first few years of high school, whether it’s due to a pandemic, or whether it’s due to a normal year and struggling with subjects or having other struggles at home, is really, really hard for students and can be detrimental to their future.”

Ignored is the role that failure can play to improve our lives and that we need to distinguish between short-term and long-term failure. A more insightful analysis would have compared F’s at the end of first quarter with F’s at the end of the first semester. How did those failing grades turn out and what can we learn to improve second semester outcomes?

Ignored is a conversation about the contributing factors to the low grades. Was it attendance? Was it homework? Classwork? Projects? Tests? Were the F’s a cause of failing to comply with the classes’ demands or the failure to learn the content? Ignored is a conversation about how inadequately the system was meeting kids’ needs before the pandemic.

But for white journalists and advocates who’ve lived life focused on the white supremacy characteristic of perfectionism, every failure means catastrophe.

Instead of obsessing on the 30% who failed, the story should have focused on what happened with the 70% of grades that were not F’s. What strategies or lessons can they or their teachers share? Those lessons needed to be uncovered in WBEZ’s analysis.

Suggestion 2: Stop Oversimplifying

Another characteristic of white supremacy in media coverage of kids and schools is the oversimplification of the mental health issues teens face in the ProPublica article “The Lost Year: What the Pandemic Cost Teenagers.”

The subtextual premise posed by the journalist seems to be “we wouldn’t have these mental health issues if schools opened during the pandemic.”

The journalist emphasizes the efforts of Denver City, Texas — population 5,000 — where the city built a new high school a couple of years ago with profits from oil and gas revenue. Of course, the new school had good ventilation.

With an entire school district of only 1,700 students in the town where the median household income is $67,000 and the median property value is $95,000 — this does not represent most U.S. cities where low-income Black and Brown youth live. (In Chicago, the average household income is $57,000 and the median property value is $271,000.)

The reporter then compares Denver City to Hobbs, New Mexico — with a school district of almost 10,000 students and where the poverty rate is almost double. The median household income is about $10,000 less than Denver City and the median property value is $36,000 more expensive.

What comes through in the reporting is how the pandemic made families and teens who have lived comfortably confront mental health issues and situations that so many low-income Black and Brown families and youth faced for decades. But the more economically comfortable families still seem in denial of these issues. The reporting seems to suggest that once school opens, teen mental-health issues will be resolved.

Then we get extremist views from a community leader about the one-year pandemic who says, “We’re losing them … we’re losing years of educational development. We’re losing their leadership.”

Again, the sense of catastrophe and inadequacy. To Black and Brown students attending class, managing their mental health, understanding the complex and precarious nature of our world, this sounds as if they’re not doing enough within circumstances out of their control.

Instead of finding insights to guide the future, the ProPublica journalist seems obsessed with maintaining life as it was before the pandemic — even emphasizing how travel baseball proved “the only redeeming moments of an awful year.”

Journalism that oversimplifies works against young people’s abilities to examine their complex future and pushes them, instead, to preserve life as it was, as if it can be completely controlled.

During the past year and a half, so many teachers still created a sense of community as best we could. Those of us who were better at it accepted the reality of the situation as it was and did our best to help students feel like they belonged. I heard from one teacher who accommodated students who logged into class as they rode the bus to work.

Anecdotally, the high-school students I saw coping with the pandemic most effectively were the students who were used to dealing with struggle and change and the unpredictable.

The students who worked before the pandemic, the students whose lives included struggle and discomfort, the students who knew life includes the unexpected — they were the ones whose stories need to be told. What sources of strength and motivation have they found?  What support do they need in order to continue making progress in difficult circumstances? Their experiences hold insights into the problems we need to address, the inequality we need to resolve, the injustice we need to challenge.

That’s why I was so glad to see this Chicago Sun-Times article that emphasizes how we move forward. Unlike the previous examples, the reporting goes beyond summarizing the problems. As one of the experts quoted here stresses, “If you only focus on ‘learning loss,’ what ends up happening is you kind of focus on the student and what their problem is and you don’t actually see those systemic issues and you don’t end up focusing on those things.”

Education reporting fails to be insightful to the low-income Black and Brown students and families — and the educators who work with them — when all we hear about are the problems.

Post-pandemic, we need education reporting that combats the ideals of whiteness so we can find solutions to help students understand that progress is more important than perfection and comparison.

This editorial originally appeared on The Grade in July 2021.

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About the Blogger

Since 1995, Ray has been a public school English teacher in Chicago.

In 2017, thanks to a former student, Ray received a Distinguished Secondary Teacher Award from Northwestern University.

In March 2013, The White Rhino tied for second place in the Best Blog category of the Education Writers Association’s national writing contest.

Ray earned an M.A. in Writing, with distinction, and a B.A. in English and Secondary Education from DePaul University. He’s been a National Board Certified Teacher for over ten years.

He graduated from a neighborhood Chicago public high school.

His writing aired on National Public Radio and Chicago Public Radio many times. His editorials appeared in the Chicago Tribune and on CNN’s Schools of Thought blog, as well as on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ Web site. He’s also written articles for NPR’s Latino USA, Latino Rebels, and NewsTaco.

Ray is also a powerlifter and an aspiring guitarist.

For thirty years, Ray lived in Chicago’s 26th Street neighborhood. Today, he lives a little more south and a little more west in the city with his wife, son, and daughter.

Photo credit: Rocky Jara: Rocky JPhoto on Facebook

The Blog’s Title

This comes from a conversation with another Latino English teacher when we met a few years ago. He said I was the only other Latino English teacher he knew: “We’re white rhinos.”

According to National Geographic, there are about 20,000 southern white rhinos struggling to survive in the wild.

The last male northern white rhino in the world died in March.

Like the animal, Latino English teachers exist in low numbers. And we know the low number of Latinos with college degrees in our city.

Therefore, I have a perspective that, like the white rhino, must fight to exist. The writing here includes my responses, reflections, reactions to Latino- and education-related issues.

Recent posts

• Why white journalists need to stop focusing on ‘learning loss’ »

  Ray Salazar, NBCT on The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues
  Posted today at 11:26 am

• Something rises when your father dies »

  Ray Salazar, NBCT on The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues
  Posted July 3, 2021 at 12:00 am

• Talking to our immigrant parents about living wills and last wishes »

  Ray Salazar, NBCT on The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues
  Posted May 25, 2021 at 2:34 pm

• We can’t talk about Adam Toledo without talking about 7th grade »

  Ray Salazar, NBCT on The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues
  Posted April 27, 2021 at 5:23 am

• Chicago Public Schools student overcomes social anxiety by playing guitar »

  Ray Salazar, NBCT on The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues
  Posted April 26, 2021 at 9:09 am

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Latest on ChicagoNow

• Why white journalists need to stop focusing on ‘learning loss’

  from The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues by Ray Salazar, NBCT
  posted today at 11:26 am

• Daily Cubs Minors Recap: Sampson takes a tough luck loss; Hill homers and draws four walks; Ball and Velazquez go deep; Made collects 3 hits

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Myra Hernandez has lived in Back of the Yards all her life, but for years was ashamed to admit it. Violence and crime gave it a reputation as a dangerous, gang-ridden neighborhood.

But Hernandez doesn’t focus on the violence. As an artist, she searches for beauty.

“I know a lot of young people that have a lot of amazing talent and skills and just don’t really have a space or an opportunity to be creative,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez wanted to provide that space for young artists across the South Side, so she went to her team at the Catholic community organization The Port Ministries, where she’s an administrative assistant.

They created Chicago Stories on the Block, a three-month-long community arts project on the Southwest Side, with community organizations including the Wilburn LUV Institute, the Firehouse Community Art Center and the ABJ Community Center.

“There’s so much attention to the violence, it’s almost oversaturated and romanticized,” said David Gonzales, executive director of Chicago Stories on the Block. “We keep on talking about stopping the violence and putting the guns down, but we’re really not focusing on what we should be picking up.”

Throughout the 12-week program, which began July 6, 40 people, ages 16 to 24, will create a mix of storytelling, visual and performance art. Through the city’s One Summer Chicago jobs program, the participants are paid $14 an hour for their 20-hour workweek.

Each month will have a different artistic component as the focus of workshops and projects. For July, participants focused on storytelling.

Fifteen-year-old painter Larryah Harris used the storytelling portion of the program to interview her mom about her struggles growing up on the South Side.

“She was talking about how having her father pass away at a young age and her mother being on drugs while she was young, she didn’t really have nobody,” Larryah said. “She had a mental health problem and she tried to get help for herself but all the clinics were on the North Side.”

For Larryah, the interview showed the disconnect the city has with the neighborhoods she’s lived in — Back of the Yards, Roseland, Englewood.

Hearing her mom share her story, Larryah said it’s “pretty obvious” the city thinks the struggles her communities face are unimportant.

“There’s a lot of medical problems in Black communities and Latino communities, but the resources are all on the North Side,” Larryah said. “I’m hoping that (the project) will shed a light on the root of the problem and help other people to see that our neighborhoods are not all bad, that we actually need help. That we’re important.”

For Gonzalez, Larryah’s hopes are his as well.

“I want young people to understand how important they are,” he said, adding that through their creativity, the youth can be the ones to change the narrative of which communities are violent neighborhoods.

In August, stories like the one Larryah heard from her mom will be used to create one of four murals around the Southwest Side. The murals will then be used to inspire music for September.

Larryah’s time in the program has inspired her to think of new ways she can help her community. She said she hopes to leave the project with an idea for a future program she can create to inspire others in her generation to uplift their communities.

No longer ashamed to admit she’s from Back of the Yards, Hernandez hopes the project will tell other young artists they don’t have to be ashamed either.

“Chicago Stories on the Block can … create a sense of pride so you can proudly say, “I’m from Back of the Yards, I’m from Englewood,” said Hernandez. “We can start changing the way that people see our neighborhood.”

The project’s works will be revealed in a special filmed event in October. The murals painted will include QR codes linking to the stories that inspired them, and a small book of poetry written by the participants also will be published.

Cheyanne M. Daniels is a staff reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times via Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster the paper’s coverage of communities on the South and West sides.

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Zach LaVine wants his “respect.”

“Respect,” however, might come at an uncomfortable price.

Speaking to the media via zoom from the Summer Olympics in Tokyo on Monday morning, the Bulls guard — who has spent the last month also moonlighting for Team USA — was asked about free agency and how it could affect his pending contract extension.

“I just want my respect,” LaVine said. “I think that’s the main thing. I outplayed my [current] contract, I’ve been very loyal to Chicago, I like Chicago. I just want my respect. If it’s now, later, it’s something that we gotta work out internally and we’ll go from there.

“We’ll have some conversations going forward. I think free agency’s going to play a big part in that with other players and constructing the roster. But me, AK [executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas], [general manager] Marc [Eversley] all talk and we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Starting with a bottom line on LaVine’s value to the franchise, and the current options on the table to keep LaVine as a foundation piece moving forward.

The best financial scenario for the Bulls?

LaVine agrees to a max extension right now, which would be a raise of 120% of his 2020-21 salary. That means LaVine gets $105 million over four years, beginning in the 2022-23 season. He wears the title of max player, but leaves the Bulls flexibility to build around his flaws.

The best financial scenario for LaVine?

The first-time All-Star plays out the final season of his current deal, and then is offered a five-year max at 30% of the salary cap. He would be an unrestricted free agent and could walk, but the Bulls can offer him the most money.

The danger for the Bulls would be if LaVine earns All-NBA honors in 2021-22, making him eligible for the “supermax,” and a deal in the neighborhood of $235 million over five years.

They didn’t want to do that for a two-way standout in Jimmy Butler back in 2017, so it would be strange to see them agree on a deal like that for a player that is still a work in progress on the defensive end.

The third option is to renegotiate LaVine’s contract for next season, which is at $19.5 million, and then do an extension off that new number.

But while the LaVine scenarios are each being juggled, free agency officially begins at 5 p.m. today, and the Bulls also have to take adding talent around LaVine into consideration. They are looking to clear salary space to be players in the market, and renegotiating LaVine’s current deal would make that even messier.

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Daily Cubs Minors Recap: Sampson takes a tough luck loss; Hill homers and draws four walks; Ball and Velazquez go deep; Made collects 3 hits

1 comment

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By Michael Ernst,
today at 10:29 am

AAA

Louisville 2, Iowa 0

Game Recap

Not much to report in this one. Adrian Sampson was a hard luck loser. The veteran hasn’t always gotten pretty results out on the mound, but he has consistently given the I-Cubs desperately needed innings as a starter. They’ve been able to count on 5-6 innings from him every time out.

Alfonso Rivas continues to get on base, as did Trayce Thompson behind him in the cleanup spot, but the 5-9 hitters went a combined 1-for-16.

Top Performers

• Adrian Sampson: 6 IP, 6 H, R, 2 BB, K (L, 4-4, 4.73)
• Trayce Thompson: 1-2, 2 BB (.219)
• Alfonso Rivas: 1-3, BB (.265)

AA

Tennessee 3, Chattanooga 2

Game Recap

Darius Hill homered and walked four times. Carlos Sepulveda reached all four times he went to bat as well (1 hit, 3 walks). Tim Susnara (2 hits, walk) and Delvin Zinn (3 hits, including 2 doubles) each reached thee times. It’s pretty amazing the Smokies only managed three runs considering the number of base runners they had, but they went 1-for-11 with RISP.

Fortunately, it was enough, even on a bullpen day. Lefties Wyatt Short and Bryan Hudson were great in a piggy role, allowing just one run on one hit over a combined 6 innings.

Top Performers

• Darius Hill: 1-1, HR (5), 2 R, RBI, 4 BB (.277)
• Carlos Sepulveda: 1-1, RBI, 3 BB (.234)
• Delvin Zinn: 3-4, 2 2B (.600)
• Tim Susnara: 2-2, RBI, BB (.326)
• Wyatt Short: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K (5.23)
• Bryan Hudson: 3 IP, H, R, BB, 2 K (W, 4-2, 3.54)
• Cayne Ueckert: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, K (S, 7, 1.69)

Injuries, Updates, and Trends

RHP Caleb Kilian was added to the Tennessee roster after being acquired from San Francisco in the Kris Bryant trade. He should join the Smokies rotation soon.

High-A

Quad Cities 14, South Bend 12

Game Recap

Bryce Ball and Nelson Velazquez went deep, Alexander Canario had two hits in his South Bend debut, and Tyler Durna reached base four times. In fact, all nine starters reached safely at least once, but the 12 runs they generated were not enough.

South Bend went with a bullpen day on the mound while they wait for rotation reinforcements from trade deadline acquisitions to arrive. It didn’t go well yesterday. Four of the seven relievers used gave up at least three runs.

Top Performers

• Bryce Ball: 1-3, HR (1), 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB (.171)
• Nelson Velazquez: 2-5, HR (12), R, 2 RBI (.264)
• Tyler Durna: 2-3, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB (239)
• Dean Nevarez: 2-5, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI (.227)
• Alexander Canario: 2-5, R, RBI (.400)
• D.J. Artis: 1-4, 2 R, RBI, BB, SB (12) (.212)
• Eduarniel Nunez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 2 K (6.75)

Injuries, Updates, and Trends

Trade deadline acquisitions RHP Alexander Vizcaíno, RHP Anderson Espinoza, and LHP Bailey Horn have all been added to the South Bend roster and each could join the rotation.

In addition, OF Alexander Canario has been added to reinforce the lineup. The youngster had been playing in Low-A for the Giants, and was producing only modest results, but the Cubs have a bit of a log jam of outfielders brewing in Low-A, with Jordan Nwogu, and Yohendrick Pinango already assigned there, plus Owen Caissie pushing for a callup from the ACL and recent draftees Christian Franklin and Parker Chavers likely heading out in the near future as well. We’ll have to see if the challenge proves too great for Canario. He was heating up after a rough start.

Low-A

Augusta 8, Myrtle Beach 6

Game Recap

It’s been relatively rare for the Myrtle Beach pitching staff to be unable to hold a four run lead. That was indeed the outcome in this one. Kevin Made drove home one run in the 2nd on the first of this three hits, and then Matt Mervis hit a bases clearing double with the bags full in the 3rd to build the Pelicans a 4-0 lead. Manuel Espinoza was cruising along, throwing four shutout innings to open the game.

He’d get tagged for a pair of homers in the 5th, which cut the Myrtle Beach lead to one. Carlos Ocampo would surrender the lead and three more runs the following inning. Made drove home two more runs in top of the 8th to even the score back up, but Jarod Wright would give up two runs in the bottom half.

Top Performers

• Kevin Made: 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI (.255)
• Jordan Nwogu: 1-2, 3 R, 2 BB, SB (9) (.222)
• Matt Mervis: 1-4, 2B, 3 RBI (.201)
• Manuel Espinoza: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 7 K (4.18)

Injuries, Updates, and Trends

Eighteen year old shortstop Kevin Made (.255/.281/.318) was one of the Cubs prized IFA signings in July of 2019. The pandemic prevented him from making his debut in the DSL last year, but the Cubs have shown extreme confidence in him by having him skip over the ACL and move directly to Low-A, ahead of Reggie Preciado. Made doesn’t possess the ceiling of loud offensive tools that Preciado does, but he is far more likely to stick at short, and as he fills out both his hit and power tools should play as average, with the hit tool maybe even finishing higher. Made has a simple, line drive stroke that should lead to plenty of contact. After a slow start he’s picked up the pace dramatically, with a .354/.367/.479 (129 wRC+) line since July 15th (13 games). He’s hitting .444 over his last 7 games (196 wRC+).

Make that back to back nights with an extra base hit after Kevin Made doubled home Jordan Nwogu today pic.twitter.com/rmiugUjl3g

— Trevor Hooth (@HoothTrevor)

August 2, 2021

It was the middle of July when Jordan Nwogu (.222/.340/.417) also turned his season around after a slow start. Over his last 18 games he is slashing .339/.458/.661 (194 wRC+) with 10 XBH and 3 stolen bases. His BABIP has been insane, but when he does make contact it has been insanely hard contact. And he’s still been striking out a lot, but he’s also taking a lot of walks. I’m not sure he’s ready for promotion, but I wouldn’t be against it either if the Cubs want to move a player up from the ACL (Owen Caissie) or make room for recent college draftee like Christian Franklin and/or Parker Chavers.

Reliever Tyler Suellentrop was returned to Myrtle Beach after a stint in South Bend. His stuff allowed him to succeed in Low-A earlier this year, but his lack of command/control left him vulnerable to big innings at the higher level.

Recent trade acquisition RHP Daniel Palencia has been assigned to Myrtle Beach.

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Despite the recent issues with the Vikings and Dolphins in which unvaccinated players had to be quarantined as high-risk close contacts, Bears coach Matt Nagy said the organization does not factor vaccination status into any personnel moves.

“No, not at all,” he said. “For us, you’ve gotta look at who can play football and who can’t.”

The Bears have said more than 85% of their roster is vaccinated, meaning those players would be held out only if they test positive.

In Minnesota, backup quarterback Kellen Mond tested positive, triggering automatic five-day quarantine for Kirk Cousins and Nate Stanley — an avoidable scenario that infuriated coach Mike Zimmer. That left the team with one quarterback available for practice.

Similarly, when Dolphins tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator George Godsey tested positive, the team had to remove tight ends Mike Gesicki, Cethan Carter and ex-Bear Adam Shaheen.

Nagy also said he had zero reservations about practicing with the Dolphins next week leading up to their preseason game.

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KASHIMA, Japan — Carli Lloyd, clutch in so many critical moments for the U.S. women’s soccer team, failed to connect against Canada on Monday night and the Americans won’t play for a fifth Olympic gold medal.

Lloyd’s look in the 86th minute with the United States trailing by a goal hit the crossbar as Canada won 1-0 and dropped the Americans into the bronze medal match. It is the second straight Olympics that the U.S. failed to reach the gold medal game.

The Americans were bounced from the 2016 Rio Games by Sweden in the quarterfinals.

As Canada celebrated wildly at Ibaraki Kashima Stadium, Lloyd knelt to the turf with her head in her hands.

“That wasn’t good enough,” said Lloyd, the oldest player on the U.S. team at 39 and playing in what was likely her last major tournament with the national team.

The U.S. lost starting goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher when she came down awkwardly after going up for the ball around the 20th minute. Trainers attended to her for some five minutes as backup Adrianna Franch warmed up on the sideline.

Naeher tried to stay in the game, but was replaced by Franch in the 30th minute.

Canada pounced in the 74th minute on Jessie Fleming’s penalty kick, which gave Canada its first win against the United States since 2001.

Fleming booted her PK past a diving Franch and took off toward the sideline, sliding on her knees before teammates swarmed around her.

The U.S. will play for the bronze on Thursday in Kashima against Australia.

Canada will play for the gold Friday at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium against Sweden, which downed the Australians 1-0 in Yokohama.

Canada features Quinn, a midfielder who will become the first openly transgender athlete to win an Olympic medal.

Quinn won bronze in 2016 before coming out as transgender.

It is the second straight Olympics that the Americans, the two-time defending World Cup champions, will not play for the gold medal. The team was uncharacteristically uneven in Japan, starting with a 3-0 loss to Sweden that snapped a 44-game unbeaten streak.

The Americans bounced back to beat New Zealand but then came a scoreless draw with Australia in the group stage. A 4-2 penalty shootout against the Netherlands on Friday advanced the U.S. to the semifinals.

The loss of goalkeeper Naeher clearly hurt the U.S. She was key to the victory over the Dutch in the quarterfinals, with a penalty save during regulation and two more in the deciding shootout. After the semifinal loss, she was on crutches.

The previous time the U.S. played neighbor Canada in the Olympics was 2012 in a controversial semifinal match that went to overtime. Canadian star Christine Sinclair scored three goals, but the United States won it 4-3 on Alex Morgan’s header in the 123rd minute.

The controversy stemmed from questionable calls, including a rare six-second violation against Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod late in regulation. That touched off the sequence that resulted in the tying goal.

“For those of us that were part of the 2012 team, it’s nice to get a little revenge in an Olympic semifinal,” Sinclair said.

After her celebrating teammates had started to leave the field, Sinclair laid down on the field in relief.

“I was just sitting there thinking how proud I am of this team,” she said. “It’s a very unique group. It’s a special group and I’m so proud to be a part of it.”

The Canadians have won the bronze medal in the past two Olympics.

“I think this is my first loss ever to Canada,” Megan Rapinoe said. “It sucks not to be able to compete for a gold medal, which is what we wanted. Not a great performance, either. That’s the most frustrating thing.”

U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski has been creative with his lineups throughout the tournament. On Monday, Lynn Williams, originally an alternate, started her second straight game. Lloyd, Rapinoe and Samantha Mewis were on the bench to start.

Lloyd actually had two attempts against Canada. She fired off a shot in the 65th minute that forced Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe to leap to push it over the crossbar. A short time later, Labbe stopped Julie Ertz’s header off a corner from Rapinoe as the United States increased the pressure.

“Definitely had a bit of a momentum shift there in the second half, and came on strong,” Labbe said. “I think for us it was about staying tight defensively and that’s something we’ve done all tournament.”

Fridolina Rolfo scored in the 46th minute for Sweden in its victory over Australia. The Swedes also went to the final in the 2016 Olympics, but fell to Germany and took home the silver.

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There is a large gap between the end of the offseason — the conclusion of the grassroots basketball season this past weekend — and the start of the high school season in November.

But as we pivot towards the start of the 2021-22 season in four months, there will still be plenty of off-the-court headlines to follow as recruiting becomes the newsmaker in coming weeks and months.

Many players from the state took advantage of their summer opportunity to play in front of college coaches — Finally! — and enhanced their stock.

Here are some questions that were answered over the past two evaluation months.

What players raised their stock among college coaches the most?

There are several players who emerged as bonafide Division I players in the eyes of college coaches, but the three that raised their stock the most were Timothy Christian’s Ben VanderWal, New Trier’s Jackson Munro and Mt. Vernon’s NJ Benson.

VanderWal’s recruitment picked up following his play in June and then soared once being seen on the club circuit with his club basketball team, Breakaway. The 6-6 forward now has over a dozen Division I offers after showing a combination of his stretch-the-floor shooting ability and toughness.

Munro was the most overlooked prospect heading into July. The 6-8 big man with a growing game had very little going on the recruiting front heading into the month; Munro didn’t have a single scholarship offer. But he now has double digit offers that include a wide-range of options from low-major and mid-major programs.

Once Benson was seen during the June “live” period with his high school team, the interest started to percolate. The athletic big man is now one of the most coveted mid-major targets in the Midwest with virtually the entire Missouri Valley Conference on him and a Saint Louis offer.

What Illinois prospect raised his stock the most nationally?

This remains to be seen as the post-July national rankings will likely answer this specific question. But there are three Illinois prospects that played themselves into the top 100 conversation: Buffalo Grove’s Kam Craft, Yorkville Christian’s Jaden Schutt and Glenbard West’s Braden Huff.

All three should be top 100 talents.

Of the three, however, Schutt already had the biggest name recognition before July. But expect the 6-5 sharpshooter to vault up the national rankings following his big-time July performance.

Craft, who wasn’t seen with his high school team during the June “live” periods, is a player who enhanced his stock even while being a committed prospect. Xavier coach Travis Steele has to be giddy that he was able to secure a commitment from Craft on July 1, because there is no doubt some heavy hitters would be knocking on his door now.

The interest and recruitment of Huff had been a bit of a mystery, particularly the pace in the early going as a City/Suburban Hoops Report projected high-major prospect and top three player in the state well over a year ago.

While it may have taken some time to develop, Huff’s recruitment has exploded in recent months.

Huff added a Michigan State offer earlier this week and has serious interest from Gonzaga. Virginia Tech, Wisconsin and Northwestern were pretty early to the Huff party as all offered the Hoops Report favorite a year ago. Illinois, Iowa, Vanderbilt, DePaul and Minnesota are high-majors that have jumped on board this summer.

Who remains the most overlooked senior prospect in Illinois?

Cade Pierce of Glenbard West has several Division I offers. Just not enough — and many not quite at the right level.

There is an under-appreciation for all that Pierce brings to the table as a player and the upside that remains.

The 6-5 Pierce has continually been described as a jack-of-all-trades wing. That’s probably selling him short due to the added intangibles and winning pedigree he has repeatedly shown. Together with his teammate Braden Huff, the versatile Pierce has done nothing but lead teams to win after win since the calendar turned to 2021.

Pierce helped lead Glenbard West to a 16-1 record as a junior. The Hilltoppers didn’t lose a game all June, including a 9-0 record in the two biggest summer events at Riverside-Brookfield and Ridgewood. Then this past July he was instrumental in helping the Illinois Wolves to a 16-1 record and Under Armour Association championship. Throw the winter and summer together and Pierce has been 51-2.

The versatility and all-around impact of the senior prospect repeats itself in every game Pierce plays. He defends multiple positions and is an active rebounder. He sees the floor as a willing passer, handles the ball and is a capable shooter. He’s tough, competes, offers high academics and, yes, has only been a part of winning.

Who raised their stock the most in the Class of 2023?

Simply from an offer standpoint and recruiting interest, this one is very easy: rising junior Owen Freeman of Bradley-Bourbonnais.

Young big men who can run the floor and get off the floor the way Freeman does — and then drop in a face-up jumper — draw a lot attention. For some time the City/Suburban Hoops Report has compared Freeman’s development, projection and physical attributes to former Lincoln-Way Central and Illinois star James Augustine.

While Illinois was very early, offering the 6-9 mobile big man last fall, the rest of the Big Ten and others jumped in this summer. Freeman added Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue, Iowa, Ohio State, Indiana and Wisconsin, along with Butler, Wake Forest and Marquette.

What young prospect made the biggest name for himself?

The young players in the state are still making a name for themselves. Lemont’s rising sophomore Nojus Indrusaitis did just that while playing with his Meanstreets 15U team in July.

The 6-4 guard is a gifted and complete scorer for such a young age. He showed that during his freshman season when he averaged 19 points a game. Indrusaitis, one of the top prospects in Illinois in the Class of 2024, sparkled in July with his scoring acumen.

While sophomores aren’t typically a focus for college coaches during the July evaluation period, Indrusaitis still was able to grab a lot of attention, even securing an offer from Illinois last week.

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Attention all sandwich lovers! Have you found your perfect match? Your sandwich match that is. If you haven’t or if you might think you have, think again! This August is National Sandwich Month and I’m excited to share a few restaurants that will be celebrating this glorious “holiday.” It’s hard to pick your favorite, but these 9 restaurants have made it very easy (or maybe hard?) to decide.

From a fried chicken classic to the ultimate BLT, we have compiled a list of the best places to order sandwiches in Chicago. And don’t get discouraged if you’re vegetarian or Gluten-Free because we’ve got you covered. So take a peek at these hot spots to find where to celebrate National Sandwich Month this August in Chicago. And remember, the best snack for the beach is a sand-wich.

205 N Peoria St, Chicago, IL 60607

Celebrate National Sandwich Month all August long at the West Loop hotspot. If you are looking for the best restaurants with delicious sandwiches in Chicago, diners can indulge in the “Country Chicken Sandwich” made with Cornflake-Crusted Fried Chicken, Creamy Slaw, and a Chipotle Aioli. Also on the menu, diners can order “The Smoked BBQ” sandwich featuring House Smoked Pork Belly, topped with Dill Pickles, Crispy Onions, on a Brioche bun.

1709 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Available during brunch service, diners can take a bite into the juiciest “Heirloom Tomato BLT” at this West Town hotspot. Served on a brioche bun, the ultimate BLT is served with dukes mayo, neuskes bacon, little gem lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, hot sauce, and is served with a side of crispy potatoes.

2200 N California Ave, Chicago, IL 60647

Cured meats are the foundation of the newly-opened Lardon. Good luck trying to leave Lardon after you order their Hotel California. Take a bite of stacked in-house smoked turkey, pepper jack cheese, avocado, pickled red onion, and black pepper bacon between two slices of fresh-baked sourdough bread. This sandwich will get stuck in your head.

400 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654

Indulge in the signature sandwiches at The Smith available during weekday lunch or weekend brunch in Chicago. Diners can choose from a variety of handcrafted sandwiches including the “Veggie Burger Royale” which includes a slow-roasted veg + quinoa patty, cheddar, pickled beets, shredded lettuce, red onion, secret sauce, on a sesame brioche bun. Also available, diners can bite into a Grilled Chicken Sandwich featuring burrata, tomato jam, basil aioli, on toasted ciabatta bread.

838 W Kinzie St, Chicago, IL 60642

Let yourself take a break and go to Recess in Chicago. Diners will enjoy the beautiful Chicago skyline while on Recess’s spacious patio, and they can dive into their Fried Chicken Sandwich for National Sandwich Month. Sweet vinegar slaw, pickles, red onions, and hot sauce mayo top a perfectly crispy fried chicken breast on a bun. Make it gluten-free if you want! All sandwiches are served with your choice of tater tots or a side salad.

1542 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

You can find Chef Bill Kim’s urbanbelly Hot Chicken Bao Buns at both the Wicker Park location and at their Time Out Market kitchen in Fulton Market for National Sandwich Month. One of Chef Kim’s specialties, hot chicken is served topped with cabbage, pickle, and lemongrass fire sauce on fresh-made bao buns — delicious, colorful, and soon-to-be your new favorite urbanbelly pick.

932 W Fulton St, Chicago, IL 60607

Cooked in a hearth and served on a loaf of ajvar-spread lepinja bread, Rose Mary’s Cevapi is a must-try traditional Balkan treat for National Sandwich Month. Cevapi are uncased Balkan sausages made of beef and lamb. Enjoy them served with a Serbian roasted red pepper relish made with bell peppers, garlic eggplant, and olive oil. The bread is also served with kajmak, which features feta, cream cheese, sour cream, and parsley. Thin slices of raw red onion finish the plate, but you’ll wish you didn’t finish yours because you’ll want more!

221 N Columbus Dr, Chicago, IL 60601

Experience farm-to-table dining in the heart of Downtown Chicago at FireLake Grill House & Cocktail Bar. If you are searching for the best fresh sandwiches in Chicago, the acclaimed American grill concept offers a menu featuring the Midwest’s best meat, freshwater fish, and produce. To celebrate National Sandwich Month, enjoy Executive Chef Leonard Ventura’s BBQ Brisket Sandwich made with shredded BBQ, brisket, onions on a brioche bun. Steps from Lake Michigan and Millennium Park, FireLake is an inviting showcase for the excellent food and welcoming spirit that define our city.

5318 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640

Lost Larson’s Scandinavian roots are on full display with their smørrebrød or Danish open-faced sandwiches, available each day in their Andersonville bakery. Each order is served with chips or salad, and you can choose from their smoked salmon, avocado, ham, and cheese, or a turkey club for lunch. Freshly milled, locally sourced flour from whole grains on a traditional stone mill produces the freshest baked bread available in Chicago. It’s time you found Lost Larson.

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