The judge did not explain what prompted the hearing, but she had previously ordered Kelly’s Chicago-based attorneys to file a letter explaining why they decided to withdraw from Kelly’s racketeering case.

More drama could be brewing for R. Kelly’s legal team as a federal judge in Brooklyn on Friday scheduled a hearing typically meant to determine whether a lawyer has a conflict of interest in a case.

U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly set a so-called Curcio hearing in Kelly’s case for Thursday.

The judge did not explain what prompted the hearing, but she had previously ordered Kelly’s Chicago-based attorneys to file a letter under seal explaining why they decided earlier this week to withdraw from Kelly’s racketeering case in Brooklyn.

The case is set to go to trial Aug. 9 — in two months.

Meanwhile, Kelly confirmed for the judge during a hearing Wednesday that he’d prefer to move forward with attorneys Thomas Farinella, of New York, and Nicole Blank Becker, of Michigan. Farinella told Donnelly during that hearing that “We’re prepared to move forward with trial.”

Kelly appeared finally on track for trial later this summer when attorneys Steve Greenberg and Michael Leonard of Chicago suddenly asked to withdraw from the case earlier this week. Farinella and Becker say they men were actually fired by Kelly.

Though the ongoing turmoil threatens Kelly’s August trial date, the judge has so far signaled she does not want to reschedule it.

Greenberg wrote in a letter to the judge Monday that, “Our reasons for withdrawal are significant and it is impossible, in our belief, for us to be able to continue to properly represent Mr. Kelly under the current circumstances.”

Though that letter contained no further detail, Greenberg and Leonard have since pointed to a dispute about trial responsibilities.

Kelly’s indictment in Brooklyn alleges he led an “enterprise” made up of his managers, bodyguards, drivers and other employees who helped him recruit women and girls for sex.

A separate indictment in Chicago charges Kelly with child pornography and obstruction of justice. It alleges he thwarted his 2008 prosecution in Cook County with threats, gifts and six-figure payoffs.

Kelly, 54, has been held in Chicago’s downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center since his arrest in July 2019, though authorities have recently said they would be preparing to move him to New York for trial.

A prosecutor told the judge this week that paperwork had been filed to move Kelly, but she said Kelly’s attorneys “would like him to remain in Chicago for as long as possible.”

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Chicago Bulls: 5 blockbuster trades to consider this offseason by Ryan Heckman

There has been a lot of good across Chicago sports for the past few months. Both baseball teams are making a push for division titles and the Chicago Bears have the quarterback of the future in Justin Fields. On the west side of town, however, the Chicago Blackhawks continue to look like clowns. The season looked like a good year from some people’s perspective but it was a colossal failure. The lack of depth reared its ugly head once the season started to unfold.

When you look at the 2021 NHL Draft Lottery, the Chicago Blackhawks are the only team from the traditional Central Division that participated. The only two teams that finished below them in the one-year COVID 2021 Central Division are the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings who normally play in other divisions.

A lot of bad decisions have put the Chicago Blackhawks where they are.

There are a lot of decisions that have to do with players. There has been a lot of mistakes made by Stan Bowman and his staff on that front. However, Friday put a different kind of bad decision in the light as Joel Quenneville was named as a nominee for the Jack Adams Award as the Coach of the Year. The Florida Panthers hired him not long after he was fired in Chicago.

That was a terrible mistake by Stan Bowman. He is one of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport and you can argue he is number one. Jeremy Colliton has been good and bad but it isn’t his fault that he was the guy who replaced Quenneville. Now, Coach Q is in Florida showing everyone why he is the best.

Joel’s Panthers were bounced in the first round but there is a catch. The Tampa Bay Lightning has a payroll of about 100 million which is about 20 million over the cap. They got it that way because of the way they manipulated it using long-term injured reserve this year. A lot of great teams lost to that team and are going to continue to lose to that team. They are trying to win the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row.

Related Story: The Chicago Blackhawks could trade for William Nylander

Quenneville has been hard on younger players in his coaching tenure which might not be right for the Hawks here in 2021 but at the time of his firing, it didn’t need to be done. We also don’t know what this team would look like if they didn’t make horrible player decisions since winning the Stanley Cup in2015. Seeing Joel be a Jack Adams nominee is gut-wrenching because he should still be with the Hawks. Stan’s time to be fired should have come a long time ago.

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Roenick argued that NBC held him to a different standard because he is a heterosexual man.

Jeremy Roenick’s complaint that NBC fired him because he is a heterosexual man was dismissed by a federal judge on Wednesday. The Athletic reported the decision.

Roenick, a former Blackhawks player who had been an NHL analyst for NBC, and the network parted ways last year after he made a series of questionable remarks about fellow hockey broadcasters Kathryn Tappen, Patrick Sharp and Anson Carter during an appearance on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast in 2019.

Roenick argued that NBC held him to a different standard, citing to 2020 video bit by ice skating commentators Johnny Weir, who is gay, and Tara Lipinski. In the video, Lipinski and Weir “used a vulgar term for a woman’s groin and joked about a sexual affair,” according to Roenick’s complaint. Neither were disciplined by NBC.

According to the Athletic, Judge John Cronan wrote “(A) comparison of the two incidents shows that Roenick’s behavior was categorically different. Lipinski and Weir participated in a skit for NBC that included jokes about the term ‘camel toe’ and an ‘(o)ffice romance’ between ‘besties.’ Roenick, on the other hand, used his ‘free time’ outside of his role at NBC to tell the hosts of a Barstool Sports podcast that he ‘jokingly implied’ to fellow vacationers that he had sex simultaneously with his NBC co-worker [Sharp], Tappen, and [Roenick’s] wife on multiple occasions.

“Simply put, neither Lipinski nor Weir joked about having sex with a co-worker. Roenick did. Whether these two incidents were ‘of comparable seriousness,’ is not even close.”

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Almost all coronavirus restrictions were lifted Friday in the city and state.

Chris Gideon sat with his partner in one of the city’s tiniest breakfast spots Friday morning — a place they would have been “very hesitant” to step inside a few months ago — and considered a world of new possibilities.

“It feels really, really, really good,” said Gideon, 22, finishing up breakfast with Lexi Faulkner, 23, at Famous Dutch Pancake Huis – Pannenkoeken Cafe on the North Side.

He said he’s considering going to a bar to play pool later Friday — “something that seems kind of new and really exciting.”

The popular breakfast spot has just seven tables, all squeezed together in a 680-square-foot dining room. Out of respect for COVID-19 “etiquette,” Gideon and Faulkner wore masks but quickly took them off, realizing they had little to fear because both are vaccinated.

A collective sense of relief, even joy, rippled through breakfast joints, gyms, bars and restaurants, as the city opened up Friday, finally doing away with almost all of the coronavirus restrictions that had been in place for so many months.

But the city’s new-found freedom didn’t erase the pain of the recent past.

“Psychologically, it was difficult to come in and put on a happy face and just feel confident things were going to be OK,” said Pannenkoeken’s owner, Linda Ellis. “It wasn’t OK. It was tough. … I thought we were going to close our doors, actually. We barely stayed afloat.”

Ellis said she had to lay off half of her staff during the worst of the pandemic. And even when the restaurant was allowed to reopen after the initial lockdown, customers would sometimes come into the cramped space and then quickly leave.

“We could hear them saying, ‘Oh no, we’re not comfortable with this,’” Ellis said.

So Ellis is now cautiously optimistic.

“I feel hopeful,” she said.

Stefano Esposito/Sun-Times

Anthony Brown, 30, was reclining in a shady spot along the Chicago Riverwalk Friday morning. He’d just been on a 2-mile jog with a buddy. He said he hadn’t given too much thought to the big reopening — in part because he’s been enjoying the outdoors so much.

But Brown couldn’t hide his excitement for what lies ahead in Chicago, now that it appears the worst of the pandemic may be over.

“It’s the best city in the world — especially during spring and summer. So I definitely feel it’s a breath of fresh air. It’s an exciting time. A lot of the stuff you can do in Chicago — it looks like we’ll have access to after this weekend,” Brown said.

The Chicago Archdiocese eased most pandemic restrictions Friday to coincide with the city’s and state’s reopening.

“It’s nice. … No more signing in and all that,” Pell Aguada said after attending midday Mass at Holy Name Cathedral of Friday.

Pell Aguada is a parishioner of St. William Catholic Church but was at Holy Name for her daughter’s 21st birthday.

Aliza Aguada said going to church is a family tradition and that she’s glad to be back at her local church and at Holy Name.

“As soon as they said, ‘We’re opening back up,’ we started going back right away,” Aliza Aquada said.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Marvin Washington cuts hair at Blues Barber Shop in Hyde Park — and has done so for 30 years.

“I cut every texture of hair on the planet Earth,” he said.

But a lot less during the lean months of the pandemic.

“I have other talents. I do little construction side jobs in order to keep the bills paid and keep some groceries in the house,” Washington said.

Even though he wasn’t trimming their hair, Washington checked in on customers, some of whom he’s known for 20 years.

“Whole entire families. You start cutting grandpa and their sons and their sons’ sons,” he said.

He said five of his clients died from the coronavirus.

Business is finally picking up again, he said.

“We’re getting a lot of walk-ins today, a lot of people who have enormous beards, the long hair …,” he said with a chuckle. “We’re kind of transforming people back into themselves.”

In Wrigleyville, Sluggers bartender Monika Lupo said it was refreshing to see people’s smiles and to hear their orders more clearly.

“This is the first day that we’ve opened back up fully, and we finally have stools behind the bar,” said Lupo. “Today’s a great day.”

Sluggers co-owner Zach Strauss, whose father opened the bar on Clark Street 36 years ago, said the pandemic restrictions took a toll on the bar.

“It was hard because we are the opposite of social distancing. We weren’t allowed to have dancing or have live music,” Strauss said.

“I’ve been here since day one, through the highs and the lows. And [the pandemic] was definitely the lowest,” he said. “But we had no choice but to make it work, so my brothers and I worked all the way through it. … This day is wonderful.”

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Steve Krater, who owns O’Leary’s Public House in River North, endured both the lockdown as well as looting during the protests in June 2020.

“It was a horrible mess,” Krater said. “Every window was broken. They ripped out the ATM. I found that in the middle of the street.”

Krater said he put up tents with heaters — something that helped his bar “get through the winter, limping along, barely surviving.”

He said he thought about closing for good. Four other bars nearby did just that.

“We thought about it from time to time. We just hoped it would get better. It did, and it has. We’re lucky to survive,” he said.

He said he’s excited for the summer season.

“People are ready,” Krater said. “A lot of people are going to be out today. It was really busy last night. People are out with their dogs and they have a beer. They’re not as apprehensive as they used to be. … Hopefully this is the end. Hopefully, we don’t go backwards.”

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Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be mostly sunny with a high near 93 degrees. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low around 71. Tomorrow will be partly sunny with a high near 86.

Top story

Chicago police officer charged in connection with US Capitol breach

Federal authorities have arrested a Chicago police officer for his alleged role in the January breach of the U.S. Capitol that interrupted the Electoral College vote count and has led to a sprawling criminal investigation.

Karol J. Chwiesiuk is charged with five misdemeanor counts and appeared remotely before U.S. Judge Gabriel Fuentes in Chicago Friday, where he was given a $15,000 unsecured bond.

Fuentes further ordered Chwiesiuk to surrender his FOID card and not possess a weapon or keep weapons in his home while he awaits trial. He also cannot travel to Washington.

The criminal complaint filed against Chwiesiuk Friday alleges he used a racial slur in a text message and bragged about being inside the Capitol where he was seen wearing a CPD hoodie.

Three days before the riot, Chwiesiuk texted an associate, saying he was “busy planning how to f—- up commies” during a conversation about unsuccessful lawsuits that had been filed to dispute the results of President Joe Biden’s election, federal prosecutors said. He then allegedly traveled from Chicago to Washington and joined the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

In a text message on Jan. 6, he allegedly bragged that he “knocked out a commie last night.” Chwiesiuk also took photos of himself at the Capitol — including inside the building — while wearing a tan hoodie with a Chicago police logo on the breast, according to the complaint.

In another message, Chwiesiuk wrote “There’s so many blacks here I’m actually in disbelief” and in a message the following week about being inside the Capitol, he texted a racial slur, writing “N—- don’t snitch,” the complaint alleges.

A selfie Chwiesiuk sent in a text message during the riot appears to show him inside U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley’s office. Chwiesiuk was also identified as being inside the Capitol in several other photographs.

Jon Seidel and Matthew Hendrickson have more on Chwiesiuk here.

More news you need

1. A collective sense of relief, even joy, rippled through gyms, bars and restaurants, as the city opened up today, doing away with almost all COVID-19 restrictions. But the pain of the last 15 months is still present, Stefano Esposito reports.
2. After he was incarcerated nearly three years ago, Lee Anglin promised to repay the people from whom he’d stolen more than $10 million in a Ponzi scheme. But his latest money-making scheme has him going back to prison.
3. Jamari Dent suffered brain damage after he hanged himself in a suicide attempt in 2019, following months of bullying by Chicago Public School staff and students, his family said. Last night, the 13-year-old died.
4. Gov. Pritzker is proposing spending $694 million to bail out three Exelon nuclear plants and shutter all Illinois coal plants by 2035. That’s according to a memo obtained by the Sun-Times.
5. Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Bronzeville is among five Black South Side parishes set to close at month’s end. A chapter in the history of Black Catholics in Chicago closes with them, Maudlyne Ihejirika explains.
6. In court documents filed yesterday, the Lightfoot administration said car shredder General Iron’s owner shouldn’t get a permit until pollution studies are complete. Lightfoot last month suspended the company’s permit at the request of the EPA.

A bright one

Dishin’ on the Dish: The Ethiopian messob at Demera Restaurant in Uptown

Growing up in Ethiopia, Demera owner Tigist Reda spent a lot of the time in the kitchen alongside her mother.

“There was no carryout when I was growing up at least,” said Reda, who has 10 siblings. “We were always cooking, kind of like a restaurant.”

Reda loved to cook, especially for other people, but she never aspired to open a restaurant of her own. After she moved to the United States in the early 2000s, she worked several years as a home chef, cooking for various clients.

Brian Rich/Sun-Times

However, when a restaurant space in Uptown opened up at the corner of Lawrence and Broadway Avenues, Reda couldn’t help but pounce on the opportunity to open a place of her own.

Reda opened Demera in 2007 in hopes of sharing her culture’s hospitality and authentic and colorful Ethiopian dishes with Chicagoans. It hasn’t always been easy — she’s had her fair share of growing pains as a rookie restaurateur — but over the years, Demera has become one of the city’s favorite Ethiopian dining spots.

Watch an interview with Reda and read Madeline Kenney’s dive into the beloved restaurant here.

From the press box

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo acknowledged on Friday that he has not received the COVID-19 vaccine. “To me, it really is an individual choice,” manager David Ross said. “There’s some things we can’t control, and guys’ choices, that’s one of them.”

With second baseman Nick Madrigal going on the 60-day injured list, the White Sox are dealing with yet another injury to one of their top players. Even so, the Sox remain in control of the American League Central Division and continue to be a favorite to reach the World Series.

And here’s a way-too-early look ahead at the next high school basketball season.

Your daily question ?

As select museums stay open later tonight, we want to know — which Chicago museum is your favorite? Tell us why.

Reply to this email (please include your first name and where you live) and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: How do you think the city handled the pandemic over the last 15 months? Here’s what some of you said…

“Very well, I think. It was an extremely difficult situation to be in — you weren’t going to please everyone all the time. There were bound to be hiccups — no one alive has had to deal with a public pandemic of this proportion. All in all the City and the State did a very good job.” — JD Vincent

“I think they did an excellent job. They didn’t make it political like everything else. Just facts and science.” — Melanie Mclin

“The governor and mayor did the best they could in accordance with the CDC. But Covid is still out there and not everyone is in favor of the vaccine. It’s a little scary to think everything will be opening up tomorrow.” — Mary Jilek Yung

“I feel we all failed miserably. Especially the “elected officials.” — Phil Hardison

“I think the city leadership, especially Dr. Arwady, should be commended. We may not have always liked the decisions, but the city and a great many of its residents owe their life to the decisions she made.” — James Robert

“I think things are opening too soon. There will be a lot more COVID hospitalizations in the weeks to come. Too many unvaccinated. We’ll see variants.” — Sharon M. Costanza

“Poorly. Way too many contradictions and many of the rules were ridiculous.” — Erich V Dahm

“Being that this was the worst worldwide pandemic since 1918, I think it was handled as well as possible. Mistakes were made, but all in all, it certainly could have been worse.” — Rose Doy

“I liked when the Mayor and Arwady dressed in Rona costumes. That was fun.” — John Kapusciarz

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

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A man was killed in a shooting Friday afternoon in Lawndale on the West Side.

The 26-year-old was riding a motorcycle about 2:05 p.m. in the 900 block of South Independence Boulevard when someone opened fire, Chicago police said.

The man was struck multiple times and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His identity has not been released.

No arrests have been made. Area Four detectives are investigating.

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Tim McIlrath and Joe Principe of Rise Against on Reckless Records in-store record release party, the ninth Rise Against studio album ‘Nowhere Generation’ and Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proclamation of Rise Against Day in Chicago.Read More

The wealthy nations’ leaders were all smiles and unity as Boris Johnson greeted them on the freshly raked sand of Carbis Bay, but they jostled over who was doing most to help the world’s poorer nations fight COVID-19.

CARBIS BAY, England — Group of Seven leaders brought pledges to share vaccine doses and make a fairer global economy Friday to a seaside summit in England, where British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the coronavirus pandemic should not be allowed to leave a “lasting scar” on the world.

The wealthy nations’ leaders were all smiles and unity as Johnson greeted them on the freshly raked sand of Carbis Bay, but they jostled over who was doing most to help the world’s poorer nations fight COVID-19.

Recovery from the pandemic was set to dominate their discussions, with members of the wealthy democracies club expected to commit to sharing at least 1 billion vaccine shots with struggling countries. That includes a pledge from U.S. President Joe Biden to share 500 million doses, and a promise from Johnson for another 100 million shots.

Opening three days of talks in Cornwall, in southwest England, Johnson warned that world leaders must not repeat errors made over the past 18 months — or those made in the recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis.

“It is vital that we don’t repeat the mistake of the last great crisis, the last great economic recession in 2008, when the recovery was not uniform across all parts of society,” he said after leaders posed for a formal “family photo” by the sea.

“And I think what’s gone wrong with this pandemic, and what risks being a lasting scar, is that I think the inequalities may be entrenched,” Johnson added.

The leaders of the G-7 — which also includes the United States Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — hope the meeting at the resort will also energize the global economy. Beneath moody dark skies, the group walked away from the photo as cheerful as children who had just built a sand castle. As Johnson led the politicians off the beach, French President Emmanuel Macron threw his arm around the shoulders of Biden, whom he was meeting for the first time.

Facing criticism that they are hogging vaccines, the leaders are competing to be the global champion of so many wounded by the virus. With 3.7 million people lost in the pandemic, the world’s richest democracies are eager to show themselves the champions of the afflicted.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she hoped the summit would show the world “we’re not just thinking of ourselves.” Macron sought to underscore that, noting that France had already shipped vaccine doses to the world’s poor — and gently chiding countries that have not by urging in a tweet for “clear goals” and “concrete commitments.”

For Johnson, the first G-7 summit in two years — last year’s was scuttled by the pandemic — is a chance to set out his vision of a post-Brexit “global Britain” as a mid-sized country with an outsized role in international problem-solving.

On Friday Queen Elizabeth II — Britain’s biggest global star — traveled from Windsor Castle near London for a reception with the leaders and their spouses at the Eden Project, a futuristic botanical garden housed inside domes that features the world’s largest indoor rainforest.

Senior royals — including heir to the throne Prince Charles, his son Prince William and William’s wife, Kate — joined the leaders for the reception and a dinner of roasted turbot, Cornish new potatoes and greens with wild garlic pesto cooked by a local chef.

The choice of an ecologically themed venue was deliberate. Climate change is also a top issue on the agenda, and hundreds of protesters gathered in Cornwall to urge the leaders to act, some dressed as sea creatures such as jellyfish. Demonstrators deployed a barge off the coast with two large inflatable figures depicting Biden and Johnson on board.

The G-7 is also set to formally embrace a global minimum tax of at least 15% on multinational corporations, following an agreement reached a week ago by their finance ministers. The minimum is meant to stop companies from using tax havens to shift profits and to avoid taxes.

It represents a potential win for the Biden administration, which has proposed a global minimum tax as a way to pay for infrastructure projects. The idea also creates an alternative that could remove some European countries’ digital services taxes that largely hit U.S. tech firms. But the endorsement from the G-7 is just one step in the process. The hope is to get many more countries to sign on — a fraught proposal in nations whose economies are based on attracting business with low corporate taxes.

But the main issue of the day was vaccines and the mounting pressure to outline global vaccine-sharing plans, especially as inequities in supply around the world have become more pronounced. In the U.S., there is a large vaccine stockpile, and the demand for shots has dropped precipitously in recent weeks.

Biden said the U.S. will donate 500 million Pfizer vaccine doses in the next year, 200 million of them by the end of 2021. That commitment was on top of 80 million doses Biden has already pledged to donate by the end of June. A price tag for the doses was not released, but the U.S. is now set to be the larges donor to the international COVAX vaccine effort, as well as its biggest funder.

Johnson said the first 5 million U.K. doses would be shared in the coming weeks, with the remainder coming over the next year. He said he expected the G-7 to commit to 1 billion doses in all.

Macron said France would share at least 30 million doses globally by year’s end. Germany plans to donate the same amount.

The COVAX vaccination campaign got off to a slow start as richer nations locked up billions of doses through contracts directly with drug manufacturers. The alliance has distributed just 81 million doses globally, and large parts of the world, particularly in Africa, remain vaccine deserts.

Humanitarian workers welcomed the new donations but said the world needs more doses and sooner.

“We are still far from getting there,” said United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is due to attend the summit Saturday as a guest.

“We need a concerted effort. We need a global vaccination plan,” he added. “If not the risk is there will still be large areas of the developing world where the virus spreads like wildfire.”

___

Kirka and Hui reported from Falmouth, England.

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With a talented, resilient group, divided fans and a controversial manager, the Sox have it all.

The Tampa Bay Rays are the best team in baseball, according to ESPN’s most recent power rankings. ESPN also has a story on its site with the headline, “How did the San Francisco Giants become the best team in baseball?’’ You might be asking yourself, “Which is it?’’

The internecine disagreement could mean that ESPN’s divided house will fall any moment now, or it could mean that everybody and his brother and his brother’s significant other has an opinion these days.

I’d wade in with my own assessment, which would be that the White Sox are the best team in baseball, but I think that would be missing the bigger point of the Sox, which is this:

They’re the most entertaining team in baseball.

They’re also the most interesting and, possibly, the most volatile. It’s why, if I were tasked with introducing someone to the game, I would shepherd them to the South Side.

Much has been made of Tony La Russa’s managing, pitting traditionalists who dig the experience a 76-year-old manager brings to the field against forward thinkers who think La Russa walks to the mound backward. It’s a show unto itself, with both sides taking the discussion very seriously. It’s a little like the God-vs.-science debate, only more emotional.

It’s the electrically charged backdrop to everything that’s going on with a terrific ball club. La Russa can’t take a breath without being questioned about a move he’s made. The most surprising part, given his decades-long reputation as a man who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, is that he has yet to blow up publicly at a second-guesser. I’ve been expecting a reaction like the post-home run fireworks at Guaranteed Rate Field. Hasn’t happened. He has been calm — too calm. The anticipation of an eruption is part of the Sox’ entertainment experience.

So there’s an interactive dynamic to this that other teams and their fan bases don’t have. Sox fans have a club with championship-level talent and a manager many of them simply can’t stand. It has made the zealots a huge part of the storyline.

The old-school manager embraces the unwritten rules of baseball, many of them created, he believes, with respect for the game in mind. His players, many of them young, have about as much use for the unwritten rules as they do for Morse code. This came to a head last month when rookie Yermin Mercedes ignored instructions and swung on a 3-0 count with the Sox leading the Twins 15-4 in the ninth inning. La Russa publicly criticized the kid. Mercedes pretty much shrugged and rolled his eyes, as many of his teammates surely did.

We have in this conflict the classic themes of young against old, father against son, new against time-honored. Whatever you’re seeing with the Sox right now, you see in ancient Greek literature. Without all the reading.

Some important Sox players have gotten injured, yet the team hasn’t missed a beat. The latest casualty is second baseball Nick Madrigal, who finds himself on the 60-day disabled list with a hamstring injury. We’ll see how the Sox absorb this most recent body blow, but their perch atop the American League Central division and their 38-24 record (as of Friday afternoon) would seem to indicate they’ll wince, say “oof” and carry on as if nothing had happened.

The Sox have played without leftfielder Eloy Jimenez (ruptured pectoral tendon) for the first 2½ months of the season and centerfielder Luis Robert (torn hip flexor) since early May. And have played well. The team is hoping as hard at it can hope that both players find their way back to the field in 2021, but one of the more impressive accomplishments of the season has been its ability to find a way, no matter who is on the field.

With all the injuries, you can see why the fan base might be a bit jittery. On Wednesday, an umpire accidently hit Sox star Jose Abreu in the knee with a bat. Abreu went down as if a poisoned-tip blow dart had hit him. The standard Sox fan immediately thought amputation was a real possibility. Abreu was unhurt, but do you see? This team can’t not be exciting!

Even with all the injuries, there’s still a lot of talent on the field. Abreu, the reigning AL Most Valuable Player, is tied for the major-league lead in runs batted in with 48. Tim Anderson’s batting average is around .300, the way it always is. Lance Lynn’s earned-run average is 1.23 (second lowest in the bigs), and Carlos Rodon’s is 1.96. Liam Hendriks’ 16 saves are tied for second most and … are you getting the picture? Lots of talent. Lots of excitement.

And a swagger to go with it. The Sox’ new City Connect uniforms are black and white and bold. They say, “Don’t mess with me.’’ Perfect. (By comparison, the Cubs’ alternate uniforms look like something an NFL expansion team would introduce to a focus group.)

The White Sox are hard to beat.

Let’s be fair to ESPN. It’s not as if the network is denigrating the Sox. They’re ranked second behind the Rays and one spot ahead of the Giants. A good ranking is a fine thing. It’s just not everything.

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