BOSTON — The most decorated man in NBA history will be giving the public a chance to own some of the prized memorabilia from his Hall of Fame career.
Bill Russell announced Thursday he is offering hundreds of items from his personal collection, including trophies, rings, basketballs, jerseys, letters, photos and other keepsakes. The items span his 13-year career as a player and coach for the Boston Celtics, and also feature mementos chronicling his work during the civil rights movement and beyond.
Highlights of the trove include the first (1957) and last (1969) of the NBA-record 11 championship rings he won in Boston, four of his five NBA Most Valuable Player trophies and his 1956 U.S. men’s basketball Olympic gold medal.
“There are a few pictures I’ll keep for myself, but the rest I will share with the world,” Russell said in a video statement.
The sale will be conducted by Hunt Auctions, which has overseen the auctions of such sports greats as Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Roberto Clemente, Gale Sayers, Johnny Unitas.
The auction is tentatively scheduled for Boston this fall or winter.
Russell said another reason he decided to sell the items was to provide a portion of the proceeds for the Boston-based nonprofit MENTOR, which he co-founded more than three decades ago. The group’s aim is to strengthen mentoring relationships.
An additional donation will be made to Boston Celtics United for Social Justice, which focuses on addressing racial and social inequities in the Boston area.
Hunt Auctions President Dave Hunt said his group is honored to handle Russell’s collection.
“There’s not a lot of folks at Bill Russell’s level. The air gets real thin,” Hunt said. “There’s just certain names of certain players that just transcend the sport, that changed the sport.”
It is unclear how much any one of Russell’s items will bring, but similar auctions overseen by Hunt have delivered big numbers. The most notable was in 2019 when a rare, game-worn Babe Ruth Yankees road jersey dating to 1928-30 sold for $5.64 million. The auctioneer said that broke the record for the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia sold.
Hunt notes that among the items Russell is keeping is the Presidential Medal of Freedom given to him in 2011 by Barack Obama.
There’s also the letter Jackie Robinson wrote to Russell after he and other Black Celtics players boycotted a game in Lexington, Kentucky, after being denied service at a hotel.
“It’s just an amazing piece and it’s very difficult to put a monetary value on an item like that,” Hunt said. “But what better way for this to be shared than directly from the person who participated, and doing good as well as a result of that offering.”
A seven-member civilian oversight commission will not have the final word on police policy or the future of Chicago’s police superintendent, but it will never come to that anyway, a City Council champion said Thursday.
“If the superintendent is doing so poorly … that the public is asking for their removal — if we institute a vote of no-confidence and we get a two-thirds majority — we figure that person is pretty much out the door anyway,” Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) told the Sun-Times.
“I’d bet that person would be fired prior to us [aldermen] even getting to the final vote. That’s the kind of … community pressure that would be placed on the mayor to say, ‘I have to get rid of this person. … It’s about to be embarrassing. Let me go ahead and pull the trigger. That person needs to go.’ “
The same goes for disputes over police policy — even if the mayor rejects the commission’s recommendation along with a written explanation.
“If the community feels strongly enough to say the commission’s vote is the correct vote, they will put pressure on the mayor, put pressure on us to do what they feel is right. If the community rises up and says, `We need you as Council members to override the mayor’s rejection’ and they do their job, then we would vote the community’s conscience with a two-thirds vote and confirm the commission’s decision,” he said.
Pointing to other municipalities with a similar civilian oversight structure, Sawyer said, “They’ve either never got that or got to that once or twice in their entirety of existence.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot wholeheartedly agreed.
“If you see a bunch of stuff getting elevated to the mayor’s level or to City Council, that’s a loss for everyone. It should be that there’s negotiations and compromise and collaboration between the commission and the police department. That’s what we all should be focused on and encouraging. Not the conflict,” Lightfoot said.
“If there’s a conflict and it has to come to me, it shouldn’t. If it does, obviously I’m gonna call balls and strikes. And if there’s a desire for the matter to go further to the City Council, we’ve created a mechanism for that. But that should be extraordinarily rare.”
David Brown is introduced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot in April 2020 as her choice to lead the Chicago Police Department. When the time comes that it’s obvious Brown — or any future CPD superintendent — has to be fired, a no-confidence vote by a civilian oversight board may not even be needed, Ald. Roderick Sawyer said Thursday.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Sawyer is the son of former Mayor Eugene Sawyer, one of the most likable aldermen Chicago has ever known.
The relationships he forged with now-indicted Ald. Edward Burke (14th) and former Ald. Edward Vrdolyak (10th) made him the Vrdolyak 29’s choice to become acting mayor after Harold Washington’s death in 1987 and helped Sawyer deliver much of Washington’s stalled legislative agenda.
In the marathon fight for civilian oversight, the younger Sawyer took a page from his father’s political book by forging his own unlikely partnership with North Side Ald. Harry Osterman (48th).
What lessons did he learn from his father?
“He told me, ‘Learn how to count.’ And, in this business, counting is [normally] 26. I always took that. I always make sure I try to count votes when I’m involved in something that needs support,” the younger Sawyer said.
“The other big lesson he taught me was to make friends. He said, ‘This business is about addition — not division. So you always try to add value by making friends because, he said, enemies came on their own. You didn’t have to try to make enemies. They naturally came. Try to make friends.”
The Chicago City Council is shown at its meeting Wednesday, at which it created a mechanism for civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Department.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
With every turn of Lightfoot’s revolving door, Sawyer has questioned whether the mayor’s abrasive management style and propensity to micromanage and publicly criticize some department heads might be making it difficult for her to retain and recruit good people.
But he argued Thursday that Lightfoot’s decision to collaborate more and dictate less on civilian police oversight helped bring the protracted, and sometimes acrimonious, negotiations to a close.
“This last weekend, she’s come a long way in the spirit of collaboration. I compliment her on that. We needed that extra push and that couple of extra votes that she was able to provide for us to get this thing over the top,” Sawyer said.
“That’s showing that’s she’s coming away from where she started when she first got into the office a couple of years ago. That’s something that needs to be worked on. If I was going to make a constructive criticism, the collaboration portion is something that could be worked on. Last week, it was a good start.”
Asked whether he is considering a run for mayor in 2023, Sawyer said: “My thoughts right now are to be the best aldermen I can try to be. Constantly learning to improve myself and help improve my community. That’s where my concentration is right now today.”
What:A glitzy French brasserie and all-day café from chef Donald Young lands in the new hotel Pendry Chicago. Why:Swing by for tuna niçoise for lunch, then head back for steak tartare, Dover sole meunière, and some bubbly after dark. Where:224 N. Michigan Ave., Loop Website
Photograph: Courtesy of Apolonia Chicago
2 Apolonia
What:An airy Mediterranean endeavor from the S.K.Y. team Why:It’s the ideal spot to dig into roasted mussel toast or a cucumber and watermelon salad with feta and hazelnuts. Where:2201 S. Michigan Ave., South Loop Website
Photograph: James Washington
3 Dr. Bird’s Jamaican Patty Shack
What:A new iteration of a long-ago family spot in Buffalo offers fresh takes on Jamaican fare. Why:Where else can you eat jerk chicken shawarma poutine? Where:1215 N. Milwaukee Ave., Noble Square Website
Photograph: Courtesy of Yamma
4 Yamma
What:A Palestinian pop-up from a trio of industry vets at Wicker Park’s Pint Why:Chill on the patio with lentil fritters with creamy harissa, feta fattoush, and mushroom shawarma wraps. Where:1547 N. Milwaukee Ave. Website
Photograph: Mila Samokhina
5 Dom’s Kitchen & Market
What:A grocery store and food hall from Mariano’s founder Bob Mariano Why:Snag Tortello pasta for home, then grab customizable salads or Bonci pizza slices for lunch. Where:2730 N. Halsted St., Lincoln Park Website
Photograph: Courtesy of Sochi Saigonese Kitchen
6 Sochi Saigonese Kitchen
What:A husband-and-wife duo serve up their memories of Saigon. Why:Order family recipes like My Grandma’s Short Rib Soup, with meat, veggies, and macaroni. Where:1358 W. Belmont Ave., Lake View Website
Photograph: Mira Horwitz
7 Shmuel’s Schmears and Bagels
What:Pizzeria Portofino chef Sam Dickstein slings newfangled bagels. Why:Try the cacio e pepe one with ranch cream cheese. Where:Order on Instagram at @shmuelschmearsandbagels.
Photograph: Courtesy of Avli on the Park
8 Avli on the Park
What:A breezy new location of the modern Greek favorite Why:Nikolaos Kapernaros reimagines Greek cuisine with dishes like avocado tartare with marinated figs and grilled Halloumi. Where:180 N. Field Blvd., Loop Website
Photograph: Jude Goergen
9 Prequel
What:The Damn Fine Coffee crew brings Four Letter Word joe and pastry pro Danielle Snow’s treats to West Town. Why:Expect scones like cherry tomato and goat cheese — and, sometime next year, a full-service bar and café. Where: 1957 W. Chicago Ave. Website
Photograph: Camille Carr
10 Nobody’s Darling
What:Andersonville’s approachable new cocktail bar is all about twists on the classics. Why:Order a round of mezcal old-fashioneds or hibiscus mimosas, plus dinner from the nightly pop-up. Where:1744 W. Balmoral Ave. Website
President Biden has been criticized for calling voter-suppression activities by Republicans the greatest threat to our democracy since the Civil War. Note that he said “threat to our democracy,” not “crisis.” This distinction is important because many major crises did not threaten our democracy. I don’t know that the Civil War did.
Now consider what the Republicans are up to. They start with structural advantages from ideas that may have seemed sensible in 1787, but are not in 21st Century America. Twice in this century, they have elected presidents without a popular majority. Achieving a 50-50 Senate requires about 10 million more Democratic votes than Republican votes nationwide.
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Republicans are constructing a defense-in-depth for their power, if they can achieve power. They try to eliminate Democratic voters through roll purges. They obstruct Democratic voters with rules intended to affect Democratic areas more than Republican ones. They attempt to make as few Democratic votes as possible for the House of Representatives count, through gerrymandering. They are taking the power to count votes from traditional local and state officials and giving it to partisan entities. They had, already, prepared for challenges to these actions by packing the federal courts with judges whom they believed would be unsympathetic to voting rights.
If it all works, Republicans will control Congress without the benefit of popular support. In addition to the obvious powers that this confers, there is a new one. On January 6, the House Republicans showed a willingness to invalidate Electoral College votes from Democratic-voting states. They would be able to appoint the president of their choice, regardless of the votes.
We could have only the appearance of democracy by the end of this decade. When has our democracy previously been so threatened?
Curt Fredrikson, Mokena
Ending gun violence
The catastrophic gun violence plaguing our urban areas should surprise nobody. A society that allows many millions of guns to reach the young, poverty-stricken masses is practically demanding that they turn their neighborhoods into shooting galleries.
Giving guns to the vulnerable young is no different than giving them firecrackers. They’re only fun when they shoot them off.
The intersection of capitalism and institutional racism are responsible for America’s killing zones. The gun/ammo makers gleefully exploit cultist reverence for the 2nd Amendment to ward off virtually any regulation whatsoever. The gun-toters outside of those killing zones are either oblivious to the daily street slaughter, or cheer it on as a means of culling the minority population.
In addition, our society does virtually nothing to alleviate the joblessness, despair and rootlessness tha with unlimited gun availability, guarantees unending bloodshed.
Reshorna Fitzpatrick stood with four other pastors as police placed white markers near shell casings strewn on the street and sidewalk near Theodore Herzl Elementary School in North Lawndale.
Five people — three of them teens — had been shot there, minutes after five other people had been shot just blocks away. A 15-year-old boy died in that shooting.
“I’m heartbroken,” said Fitzpatrick, pastor of the Stone Temple Missionary Baptist Church down the street. “It’s heartbreaking and shocking because we had gotten to a place where we were really experiencing some peace.”
The two shootings Wednesday evening were among three mass attacks in Chicago in a single day. The other occurred close to midnight in Lincoln Park when someone in a passing car shot eight people who had been riding in a party bus.
At least 34 other shootings this year have wounded four or more people, according to a Sun-Times analysis of city data. Over the last five years, Chicago has recorded the most mass shootings in the nation by far, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Police tape blocks off a section of the crime scene in front of Theodore Herzl School at the corner of Douglas Boulevard and Ridgeway Avenue in North Lawndale on Wednesday, July 21, 2021.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
The neighborhood where they were shot, North Lawndale, has been more deadly this year than this time last year, from 21 homicides to 30.
“I really wish that the community would come together and operate from a place of peace,” Fitzpatrick said. “That they would establish some type of faith, some type of order in the homes with their family members and have conversations, particularly around peace, and also around just being community — to just come in and be one.”
The first attack happened around 6 p.m. when a gunman or gunmen opened fire at the corner of Douglas Boulevard and Christiana Avenue, according to Chicago Police Deputy Chief Ernest Cato.
Damarion L. Benson, 15, was shot in the head and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. Police earlier gave his age as 14. He lived about 2 1/2 miles away on the Near West Side.
A car sits on its side at a crime scene at the corner of Douglas Boulevard and Ridgeway Avenue in North Lawndale on Wednesday, July 21, 2021.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Another boy, 16, was also struck in the head and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in “grave” condition, police said.
Three men were also taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where they were stabilized, police said. A 22-year-old was shot in the foot and another, 24, was struck in the leg. A third man, also 24, was shot in the hip.
Minutes later, three teenagers and two men were shot outside Herzl Elementary near Douglas Boulevard and Ridgeway Avenue, police said. They included a 14-year-old boy who was getting into a car with his dad. The four other victims were 15, 17, 19 and 22.
Police described it as “extremely chaotic” scene with “multiple shooters.” A car had flipped on its side, apparently the result of someone making a turn at a high rate of speed, police said.
The 19-year-old was in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the chest, the 17-year-old was in serious condition with a gunshot wound to the back, the 14-year-old was shot in the arm and was in good condition, the 15-year-old was shot in the leg and was in good condition and the 22-year-old was struck in the thigh and also was in good condition.
Though only three blocks apart, the two shootings didn’t appear to be related, Cato said. He pleaded with community members to come forward with information.
“We’re going to need an all-hands-on-deck approach, and that approach is going to involve … our community getting involved and saying what’s going on,” he said. “Our community who has cellphone pictures, who has Facebook information. We’re going to need your help.”
On the two mass shootings occurring so close to one another, Cato said, “Unfortunately, we’re seeing this not only in our city. We’re seeing this in our country, mass shootings. If you’re asking for my feelings, I’m not happy about it at all. I think all of us should be sad about what’s going on in our country and in our city.”
Police Supt. David Brown complained Thursday morning that many of the victims were not cooperating with investigators.
“That signals to us that, ‘We want revenge. We don’t want police solving this case,'” he told reporters at a news conference. “It’s not an exaggeration to say we are in a battle for the heart and soul of some of these communities as it relates to violence.”
A car sits on its side at a crime scene at the corner of Douglas Boulevard and Ridgeway Avenue in North Lawndale on Wednesday, July 21, 2021.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Fitzpatrick, the executive pastor of Stone Temple, said she was working in a nearby community peace garden when she heard gunshots. Then she saw people running and shooting each other.
“It kind of reminded me of some of the westerns that my dad [watched],” said Fitzpatrick, who said there was rapid shooting for 30 to 60 seconds.
Fitzpatrick said her church hosts “Wellness Sundays” on the boulevard and invites community members to socialize and participate in activities like face painting and tight-rope walking on the grassy median.
“It’s really been working,” she said. “That’s why this is really shocking to me.”
Deputy Chief Ernest Cato discusses two mass shootings that happened minutes apart Wednesday evening in North Lawndale. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Raise your hand if you remember the Olympics Triplecast from the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona.
Keep your hand raised if you paid the $125 it cost to receive 15 days of 24-hour coverage on three channels – aptly named Red, White and Blue – through your cable provider.
I’m sure lots of hands went down.
The Triplecast, a partnership between NBC and Cablevision, was a colossal failure. Americans didn’t see a need to pay for coverage beyond what they could watch on NBC for free. NBC and Cablevision hoped for 2 million subscribers and ended up with 200,000.
But as you can see by how much Olympics coverage has grown, they were on to something.
As the Summer Games in Tokyo officially begin Friday with the opening ceremony, merely a slice of the 7,000 hours of coverage NBC will provide, I think of how prescient the Triplecast was. The only thing wrong with it was the price.
NBC’s coverage of these Games will span six channels (NBC, USA, CNBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel, Golf Channel) and Peacock, NBC’s streaming service. It also can be found at NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.
While it won’t be hard for people to find the Olympics, it might be hard for some to watch. Popular opinion says the Games shouldn’t go on. Japan declared a state of emergency because of a surge in COVID-19 cases, with a majority of citizens still unvaccinated.
Competitions will take place without fans, making for the type of broadcast many sports viewers grew to detest last year. Plus, competitors already have been ruled out of the Games after testing positive for the coronavirus, and there’s a fear more will follow.
Like most big sporting events in the last year, viewership figures to be down, and not just for those reasons. Viewing habits are fractionalized, the 14-hour time difference won’t work with some viewers’ schedules and there has been almost zero buzz in advance of the Games.
It’s an ominous backdrop, but NBC is undaunted.
“As a broadcaster of the Games, if there’s going to be an Olympic Games, we’ll be here to chronicle it,” NBC Olympics executive producer Molly Solomon told reporters. “We also are following the strict and rigorous pandemic protocols that the IOC and the Japanese government have put in place. So we’re fully confident that we can responsibly produce these Games.”
Solomon believes people are craving a shared experience that the Olympics can deliver. They also can fill a void in the sports calendar, coming right after the NBA Finals, during MLB’s dog days of August and right before the NFL preseason is in full swing.
NBC will go to great lengths to make up for athletes not having moral support on site. The network’s “Friends and Family” innovation will integrate watch parties from the U.S. into the broadcast. Their biggest endeavor will come from Universal Resorts in Orlando, Florida.
“We, alongside the [United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee], are putting together a two-week-long watch party in primetime where family members of Team USA will attend and be able to watch coverage and cheer for their loved ones together,” Solomon said. “We’re going to have a reporter there and the ability to connect relatives with athletes.”
Despite a potential drop in viewership, the Olympics figure to be the most watched programming on TV, particularly in prime time. During the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, NBC averaged 27 million viewers in prime time (including digital), according to Sports Media Watch.
NBC won’t ignore the COVID crisis in Japan. Solomon said that will be evident from the network’s first prime-time broadcast at the opening ceremony. Lester Holt, formerly of CBS 2 Chicago, will set the scene and explain how the Olympics are operating within the state of emergency.
“Our policy and our coverage of news has always been, how does that impact the athletes, how does it impact the Games, how does it touch the Games going forward,” Solomon said. “So as news around any of these issues comes up, of course, we will cover it.”
There will be plenty more to cover. Gymnast Simone Biles might be the American face of the Games. The U.S. basketball teams are always appointment viewing. The women’s soccer team is trying to become the first to win a World Cup and Olympic gold in succession. And baseball and softball are back.
There’s no doubt NBC hopes to chronicle competitions more than COVID.
Remote patrol
The White Sox return to ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” this weekend against the onetime archrival Brewers in Milwaukee. Eduardo Perez will fill in for Alex Rodriguez, who’s taking a prescheduled week off. (Talk about good timing.) Maybe ESPN can dig up video of former managers Terry Bevington and Phil Garner going at it in 1995.
ESPN2 will air the first round of the NHL Draft at 7 p.m. Friday from NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. John Buccigross will host alongside Canadian broadcaster Sportsnet analysts Elliotte Friedman and Sam Cosentino. NHL Network will air Rounds 2-7 beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Pat Hughes will fill in for Jon “Boog” Sciambi for the Diamondbacks-Cubs game Sunday on Marquee Sports Network. Sciambi will call the Sox-Brewers game that night nationally for ESPN Radio.
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a veteran Chicago police officer to 15 months in prison for his role in a large-scale, international gambling ring.
But she also ordered Stella into Chicago’s federal lockup six months ago, after prosecutors said Stella “violently assaulted his girlfriend” last January at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Rosemont.
Kendall cited that incident when she handed down Stella’s sentence Thursday, telling him “there can be no tolerance for that in our society.”
The judge also said Stella’s status as a police officer is “so troubling.” Seeing an officer act as though he is above the law brings suspicion to “all of the really good officers out there who are trying to do their jobs — and they are trying so hard, with integrity and good character,” Kendall said.
Before Kendall sentenced him, Stella acknowledged he was “100% guilty” and said he’d “never, or would ever, use my police powers or resources to aid in any crime, let alone gambling.”
Prosecutors have described the operation led by Vincent DelGiuduice from 2016 until 2019 as “an absolutely massive, long-term, very profitable” international Chicago-based gambling ring, and the judge has said the “absolute breadth of this case was remarkable.”
Prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Stella to between a year and 18 months in prison, accusing Stella of betraying his oath as a Chicago police officer “by playing an integral role in a multimillion-dollar illegal gambling operation.” They said it employed “overseas co-conspirators, encrypted communications tools, and engaged in significant money laundering” in an effort to avoid detection.
They said Stella worked as a bookie, and they said his gamblers generated more than $450,000 in profits in 2018. The feds also estimated that Stella likely oversaw bettors who wagered tens of millions of dollars.
They have said Stella destroyed his phone when investigators sought to search it but have not said how. Stella’s defense attorney Michael Clancy told the judge Thursday that Stella threw the phone away but “actually went back to the Dumpster and tried to find the phone” before speaking to the feds and admitting his role in the gambling ring.
Clancy also insisted in a court memo that Stella and those connected to him accounted for only up to 3% of the gambling operation’s business. He said Stella spent 20 years as a Chicago police officer, receiving two department commendations and 40 honorable mentions. Clancy said Stella has not carried a weapon since 2011 because of an injury.
A CPD spokesperson said his status with the department is inactive.
“[Stella] was a gambling junkie who started working for Vincent [DelGiudice] to support his gambling addiction,” Clancy wrote. “Stella gambled away all of the money he made as a bookie. … Stella lost on video gaming and sports gambling. Stella did not own a house, drive an expensive car, or live lavishly. Rather, he put every cent he made from booking (and then some) right back into the coffers of the operation.”
Eight people traveling on a party bus were wounded in a drive-by shooting Wednesday night after it stopped for a break at a gas station in Lincoln Park.
It was the third mass shooting of the day and occurred just hours after two attacks on the West Side wounded a total of 10 people, including a 14-year-old boy who died.
In the latest attack, two Jeep Grand Cherokees and another car pulled up in the 1600 block of North LaSalle Drive shortly before midnight and gunmen began firing at the group, Chicago police said.
Police did not say if the victims were on or off the bus and released no other details of the shooting. No one was in custody and police released no description of the attackers.
A 24-year-old man was shot in the arm and a 26-year-old woman was shot in the leg, police said. They were both taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where the man was in fair condition and the woman was in serious condition.
A 23-year-old man was struck in the groin and was also taken to Northwestern in serious condition, police said. Two men, 42 and 52, were struck in the leg and taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital, where they were in fair condition.
A 27-year-old man was struck in the chest and later dropped off at Northwestern in critical condition, police said. A 29-year-old man was struck in the arm and went to Rush University Medical Center, then transferred to Stroger Hospital in fair condition.
A 26-year-old woman was shot in the hand and drove to Jackson Park Hospital where she was in good condition, police said.
Ferguson had suffered from dementia the last few years. But he built an indelible legacy at Bradley and through a lifetime in sports.
There will be a celebration of life for Ferguson from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, July 22 at Bradley’s Hayden-Clark Alumni Center, located at 816 N. Tobias Lane in Peoria.
The longtime coach and administrator took over as BU athletic director from Chuck Orsborn in 1978 and re-made the Braves athletic department through his reign, which ended in 1996.
“Ron just loved Bradley, loved Peoria,” DeRose said. “In the years after he left, he’d always reach out and ask if there was anything he could do to help me, anything we needed. What a great man to have in BU athletics.
“I wouldn’t be here celebrating 25 years if not for Ron Ferguson taking that chance.”
Ferguson — head coach of the iconic Dolton Thornridge boys basketball teams of the early 1970s — was a charter member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and also a member of the Bradley Athletic Hall of Fame and the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame.
Ferguson set a high bar for athletic directors to follow after him at Bradley. And he did all he could to help them succeed.
“I will always be appreciative of the warm welcome Ron gave to me when I arrived at Bradley six years ago,” Bradley vice president of intercollegiate athletics Dr. Chris Reynolds said. “During a lunch, his love of Bradley University and Bradley Athletics was abundantly clear as he recounted fond memories he experienced with our Braves sport programs.
“Ron is an icon throughout our community, the state of Illinois and the Missouri Valley Conference and his passion for Bradley Athletics serves as an inspiration to me and many others.”
Ferguson was a standout three-sport athlete at Harvey Thornton High School, helping the basketball team reach the Sweet 16 at Huff Gym in Champaign as a junior in 1948.
He studied physical education at Illinois with hopes of becoming a coach. After graduation and a stint in the army, he became an assistant coach in three sports at Thornton Junior College (now South Suburban College).
Ferguson was renowned as the coach of the Thornridge boys basketball team, which won back-to-back state titles in 1971 and 1972 and is regarded as the best team in state history. That team included Quinn Buckner, who went on to Olympic and NBA fame.
Ferguson went on from Thornridge to serve as assistant coach and assistant athletics director at Illinois State for three years, then moved to BU’s athletic helm.
“I was blessed to inherit a great situation from Ron,” said former BU athletic director Ken Kavanagh, who took over after Ferguson left in 1996 and now is in his 12th year as AD at Florida Gulf Coast. “Both Ozzie (Orsborn) and Fergie lived in Naples when I came down here, and I got to visit with them a lot, was blessed to have their friendship for such a long time.
“We had Peoria Day down here, because there were a lot of people from central Illinois in this area and they’d get together. Ron got talked into going to one, and at the end of the first banquet he attended, they announced he and his wife, Linda, were the new co-chairmen of the group. That’s just how he was, you could always count on him to be involved.”
Ferguson led Bradley’s basketball exit from Robertson Field House for the brand new and much larger Carver Arena.
On his watch, Bradley basketball returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 25 years. He also spearheaded Bradley athletics into a new fundraising era and enhanced or built facilities for softball and soccer.
The soccer program and women’s sports were launched. He developed what is now the Braves Club and took athletic fundraising to new levels at the university.
Ferguson also pushed for Illinois State to join the Missouri Valley Conference, seeing an opportunity to save travel expenses and create a rivalry.
A heavyweight statewide, he helped bring the state high school all-star basketball games to Peoria, and later, his expertise was invaluable in assisting the city land the Class A and Class AA state high school basketball tournaments for Carver Arena.
Ferguson moved from the athletic director’s chair in 1996 to assistant to the president, where he remained for three years before retiring.
“When I was AD, I wasn’t a desk guy sitting there going over the budget every five minutes,” he said in a 2013 Journal Star story. “I got out in the community. That’s what I was hired to do was be the front guy for the athletic department.
“I was very happy at Bradley and love Peoria. I was happy at Illinois State, too. I never had a job in my life where I was unhappy or got fired. I enjoyed every place I’ve been.”
In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to the “Ron Ferguson Scholarship” at Bradley.
What’ll you do when you get lonely And nobody’s waiting by your side? You’ve been running and hiding much too long You know it’s just your foolish pride
We all know the story. Beatles legend George Harrison is married to model Pattie Boyd. It’s not working out. Harrison’s friend, guitar hero Eric Clapton is smitten with Ms. Boyd. Although she’s not happy with George, she’s not ready to leave him and certainly not for one of his best friends. People tend to do strange things when they’re in love, especially if it’s not returned. Eric Clapton wrote “Layla”, a song about unrequited love that turned into one of classic rock’s greatest anthems.
On November 9, 1970, Clapton and some of his favorite musicians at that time released the double album “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” under the pseudonym of Derek and the Dominos. One of those musicians was guitarist Duane Allman from The Allman Brothers Band. For seventy-five minutes the two guitarists traded licks. The guitars were searing and soaring. It’s one of the greatest guitar-centric albums ever. Fifty-one years later, those guitars still holds up.
If it was only the guitars that would be enough, but the album was much more than that. The songs that Clapton either wrote or covered showed how much in love he was with Boyd. You could feel the pain and angst in his vocals. When you combine those vocals with outstanding music, it makes for a special album. “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” is certainly that and more.
I tried to give you consolation When your old man had let you down Like a fool, I fell in love with you You turned my whole world upside down
Derek Trucks was born in 1979; nine years after the release of “Layla.” He said as he grew up his father helped him get to sleep by playing “Layla” and also the music of The Allman Brothers Band. The latter certainly made sense as his uncle Butch Trucks was a founding member and drummer for the band. By the time he was ten years old, Trucks was becoming a child prodigy on the guitar and he was obsessed with the slide guitar playing of Duane Allman. By the time he was twenty, he formally joined the Allman Brothers Band after several years of performing with them as a guest artist.
Susan Tedeschi was born on November 9, 1970. Coincidentally, that was the same day as the release of “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.” Her bluesy voice has been compared to many great artists from the past. She formed her own band in 1993. She married Derek Trucks in 1991. Both maintained their own bands before deciding to somewhat meld them together to form the Tedeschi-Trucks Band.
It’s easy to classify Tedeschi-Trucks as a jam band. They’re known for their live performances in which many of the songs are stretched out with solos from Trucks on his slide guitar. While they perform their own original material, they also do plenty of covers of popular songs from the classic rock era. Some of those have come from the “Layla” album. It wasn’t a huge reach to go from three or four tunes to performing the entire album in one set.
Make the best of the situation Before I finally go insane Please don’t say we’ll never find a way And tell me all my love’s in vain
In 2019, the Tedeschi-Trucks Band was performing at the LOCKN’ Festival. The fans attending the concert had no idea what they were about to hear. This wasn’t unusual because the Tedeschi-Trucks setlist is constantly changing, even from one night to the next. The crowd settled in to hear the performance of “Layla Revisited”. The album was performed in its entirety from start to finish.
To pull this off, the band needed more guitars for a more powerful sound. Joining them that night was Trey Anastasio, from the band Phish, and Doyle Bramhill, who has played and toured with Eric Clapton, as has Derek Trucks, for many years. To say it worked is an understatement. What the fans heard and also shows up on the record is more than ninety minutes of rocking guitars….both solos and dueling licks.
While Anastacio and Bramhill more than hold their own and provide some tasty solos, the highlights from this set are provided by Derek Trucks and his now-legendary slide guitar. Each time he stretches out a lengthy solo, it can’t help but remind you of Duane Allman and his legendary slide play on the original Layla album. This is nothing new. Trucks has been doing this and giving all of us those same feelings for a couple of decades. However, on this album, he’s reaching a new high. This is one of his best performances yet.
The only downside for me on this album was I needed more Susan Tedeschi, especially in a lead singing role. Yeah, the vocals by Anastacio and Tedeschi-Trucks member Mike Mitchell are fine, but fans of the band come to hear the great voice of Tedeschi. Next time, more Susan…a lot more of her, please. But that’s just a minor complaint, especially when you get more than an hour of guitar greatness.
They are very few bands around today that can do justice in re-doing “Layla and Other Assorted Lovesongs.” Tedeschi-Trucks Band, because of their history with the music and their skilled musicianship made Derek and his Dominos proud.
Layla, you’ve got me on my knees Layla, I’m begging, darling, please Layla, darling won’t you ease my worried mind
My so called friends think it’s time to edit this section. After four years, they may be right, but don’t tell them that. I’ll deny it until they die!
I can’t believe I’ve been writing this blog for four years.
It started as a health/wellness thing and over the years has morphed to include so many things that I don’t know how to describe it anymore.
I really thought this was going to be the final year of the blog but then Donald Trump came along. It looks like we’re good for four more years..God help us all!
Oh yeah…the biographical stuff. I’m not 60 anymore. The rest you can read about in the blog.
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