Videos

Caregiving, COVID, and Defining the “New Normal”on May 12, 2021 at 2:26 pm

One Cause At A Time

Caregiving, COVID, and Defining the “New Normal”

Read More

Caregiving, COVID, and Defining the “New Normal”on May 12, 2021 at 2:26 pm Read More »

Jeff Bezos: Poster Boy for Wealth Inequalityon May 12, 2021 at 3:44 pm

The Quark In The Road

Jeff Bezos: Poster Boy for Wealth Inequality

Read More

Jeff Bezos: Poster Boy for Wealth Inequalityon May 12, 2021 at 3:44 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears Schedule Release: Don’t hide Justin Fields from Rams Week 1on May 12, 2021 at 2:37 pm

Quarterback Justin Fields and coach Ryan Day have proved to be a potent team for Ohio State. The health of one and the embracing of the moment of the other might determine whether the Buckeyes win a national title on Monday against Alabama. College Football Playoff Ohio State Faces Clemson In Sugar Bowl
Quarterback Justin Fields and coach Ryan Day have proved to be a potent team for Ohio State. The health of one and the embracing of the moment of the other might determine whether the Buckeyes win a national title on Monday against Alabama.
College Football Playoff Ohio State Faces Clemson In Sugar Bowl

The leaks regarding the 2021 NFL Schedule have begun and we already know that the Chicago Bears will be opening the season against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football in Los Angeles.

With the NFL expected to have fans attending games at full capacity during the 2021 NFL Regular Season, it makes sense that the Rams are one of the primetime games for Week 1. The Rams unveiled their luxurious new stadium, SoFi Stadium, last season but were unable to host fans given the COVID 19 Pandemic.

For the Bears, this marks the fourth consecutive season in which they will be playing the Los Angeles Rams in a primetime contest. After defeating the Rams at Soldier Field in 2018, the Bears lost to the Rams in Los Angeles during both the 2019 season and 2020 season.

While the Rams will be unveiling their new stadium to fans for the first time during Week 1 of the 2021 NFL Regular Season, the question is will the Bears be unveiling their new and potentially franchise quarterback in Justin Fields?

More from Chicago Bears

Ever since the leak of the Bears playing the Rams on Sunday Night Football to open the 2021 NFL Regular Season, many fans have been quick to suggest that the Bears should avoid starting Fields in that game due to the fact that he would be against the potent Rams’ defense on Sunday Night Football. In a sense, those fans are saying that the stage will be too big for Justin Fields’ first game as a NFL starting quarterback.

That thought process makes no sense whatsoever. The reason why the Bears traded up and spent the draft capital they did in order to select Fields with the 11th overall selection is because they believe that he is going to be a franchise quarterback for the organization. If the Bears feel like they need to hide Fields against the Los Angeles Rams because the stage will be too big, then it is not an indicator that Fields can be a franchise quarterback.

One of the reasons why Fields was an attractive quarterback option, and considered to be the second best quarterback talent in the 2021 NFL Draft by many draft evaluators, is because the former Ohio State quarterback has never shied away from the big stage. Look no further than what Fields did against the Clemson Tigers in the Sugar Bowl in January. Despite battling a rib injury during that game, Fields threw for 6 touchdowns while completing 22 of his total 28 passes.

Fields, throughout his high school and collegiate career, has never shied away from the big stage. As Fields mentioned on draft night, the time for talk is over. Not only is Fields ready to be a quarterback in the National Football League, he is ready to prove to the NFL that he is the best quarterback prospect from the 2021 NFL Draft class.

Next: Chicago Bears playing Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day

The second that Justin Fields takes the field during training camp for the Chicago Bears in July, it will be clear that he is the best quarterback on the team. Fields is the quarterback that provides the Chicago Bears with the best chance to win and that is the reason he should be the Week 1 starter against the Los Angeles Rams.

Read More

Chicago Bears Schedule Release: Don’t hide Justin Fields from Rams Week 1on May 12, 2021 at 2:37 pm Read More »

LIVE: 2021 Chicago Bears Schedule TrackerStephen Johnsonon May 12, 2021 at 1:47 pm

The Chicago Bears officially release their 2021 Regular Season Schedule on Wednesday night at 7pm CT. Follow along below with live updates as confirmed games start to come in ahead of the official release!

The post LIVE: 2021 Chicago Bears Schedule Tracker first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More

LIVE: 2021 Chicago Bears Schedule TrackerStephen Johnsonon May 12, 2021 at 1:47 pm Read More »

Tracking the Bears’ 2021 schedulePatrick Finleyon May 12, 2021 at 12:57 pm

Locker room at the new Halas Hall, Saturday, August 24, 2019, in Lake Forest, Illinois. | Matt Sisneros/Chicago Bears
The NFL’s schedule comes out officially Wednesday night.

The Bears will play at the Rams in a “Sunday Night Football” season opener.

The NFL will officially announce its schedule Wednesday night, but some dates have leaked around the league. A look at the NFL’s first-ever 17-game regular season schedule:

Week 1, Sun., Sept. 12: at Rams, 7:20 p.m.
Week 2, Sept. 16-20:
Week 3, Sept. 23-27:
Week 4, Sept. 30-Oct. 4:
Week 5, Oct. 7-11:
Week 6, Oct. 14-18:
Week 7, Oct. 21-25:
Week 8, Oct. 28-Nov. 1:
Week 9, Nov. 4-8:
Week 10, Nov. 11-15:
Week 11, Nov. 18-22:
Week 12, Thu., Nov. 25: at Lions, TBD (report: Sirius XM)
Week 13, Dec. 2-6:
Week 14, Dec. 9-13:
Week 15, Dec. 16-20:
Week 16, Dec. 23-27:
Week 17, Dec. 30-Jan. 3:
Week 18, Jan. 9:

The Bears are opening their season on Sunday Night Football at the Rams.

In addition to home and road games against members of the NFC North — the Packers, Vikings and Lions — the Bears will play home games against the Cardinals, 49ers, Ravens, Bengals and Giants.

Their road games will be against the Rams, Seahawks, Browns, Steelers, Buccaneers and Raiders. The Raiders game was added earlier this offseason when the NFL officially agreed to add a 17th game.

The Bears will play eight home games this season and nine road games, though they’ll host two of the three preseason games.

Read More

Tracking the Bears’ 2021 schedulePatrick Finleyon May 12, 2021 at 12:57 pm Read More »

Glenbard North freshman girls head to state: They’ll be 1 of 2 girl teams at IHSA bass fishing finalsDale Bowmanon May 12, 2021 at 1:05 pm

Glenbard North’s all freshman, all-girl team of Kayla Summins (left), Mikaela Quinn and Pheona Phillips hold their second-place catch at the Busse Woods Reservoir (Main Pool) sectional, which earned them a trip to the state finals in IHSA bass fishing. Provided photo
Glenbard North’s all freshman, all-girl team of Kayla Summins (left), Mikaela Quinn and Pheona Phillips hold their second-place catch at the Busse Woods Reservoir (Main Pool) sectional, which earned them a trip to the state finals in IHSA bass fishing. | Provided

Glenbard North’s all-freshman girls team is headed to the state finals in IHSA’s bass fishing, where they will be joined by the Goreville’s sisters team.

Kayla Summins, Mikaela Quinn and Pheona Phillips bring girl power to the Illinois High School Association’s state finals for bass fishing.

They won’t be the only ones.

‘‘It would be really cool if they went down there and put a limit together and made some noise as an all-girl freshman team,’’ Glenbard North coach Eric Stark said.

The Panthers reached the finals by taking second place at the Busse Woods Reservoir (Main Pool) Sectional on Thursday with five largemouth bass weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces.

‘‘It felt really good, and an all-freshmen team, too,’’ Quinn said. ‘‘So we could compete against the boys.’’

Each boat in IHSA events may weigh its five heaviest black bass (largemouth, smallmouth or spotted), 12 inches or longer.

Quinn learned fishing when she was younger, primarily at the Minnesota cabin of her grandfather Vito San Filippo.

The Panthers fit the history of the IHSA’s coed finals for bass fishing. The finals are scheduled May 21-22 at Carlyle Lake.

In the first year of the finals in 2009, Regina Dominican sent the first all-female team of Christine Brown and Natalie Hogan.

Nichole Mara, as a senior at Hinsdale Central, weighed the then-heaviest bass caught by a female during the IHSA finals in May of 2012. As an assistant coach/boat driver, she helped Hinsdale South reach the state finals this year. Credit: Dale Bowman
Dale Bowman
Nichole Mara, as a senior at Hinsdale Central, weighed the then-heaviest bass caught by a female during the IHSA finals in May of 2012. As an assistant coach/boat driver, she helped Hinsdale South reach the state finals this year.

Nichole Mara set the record for the then-largest bass caught by a girl at the finals — a 5-pound, 9-ounce largemouth — as a senior at Hinsdale Central in 2012.

Mara became a social-media influencer in fishing. She assists Jim Bondi with coaching and boat-driving for Hinsdale South, which reached the finals with a third-place finish at the Busse South Sectional.

Goreville’s Kaeden Albright and brother Landon finished second in 2019 at the finals. Now a senior, Kaeden and younger sister Reice won the Lake of Egypt Sectional with their brother driving. They go to state as an all-girl team and a team to watch.

Goreville’s Landon Albright and his sister Kaeden took second at the IHSA state finals for bass fishing in 2019. Kaeden, now a senior, and her sister Reice, who won the Lake of Egypt sectional, will be the other all-girl team at the state finals this year. Credit: Dale Bowman
Dale Bowman
Goreville’s Landon Albright and his sister Kaeden took second at the IHSA state finals for bass fishing in 2019. Kaeden, now a senior, and her sister Reice, who won the Lake of Egypt sectional, will be the other all-girl team at the state finals this year.

Glenbard North should be a team to watch, too.

‘‘I knew they would be able to fish when it was time, and they came out and stuck them,’’ Stark said Thursday of Quinn and Summins, both of whom he knew.

Quinn played sports with his daughter. Summins came to his summer fishing camps.

‘‘I didn’t think we would catch much,’’ said Quinn, who caught two of their keepers in the sectional.

She primarily was casting shorelines with a wacky-rigged Senko.

Phillips was the wild card.

‘‘Mr. Burgoni, he was the one who found her,’’ Stark said. ‘‘She is a full remote student, and she hasn’t been to school much. Everything is off-kilter with COVID.’’

Mike Burgoni was the driver for the all-girls boat. Each boat in IHSA tournaments has an adult driver and two students fishing. Each school may enter two boats.

Stark felt good when Phillips came in handling a baitcaster reel, which is difficult for beginners.

‘‘I just got word two weeks ago she wanted to fish,’’ Stark said. ‘‘She came in as a sub, stuck a 15-incher and about 15 minutes later caught a 16-incher on a square-bill crankbait.’’

Quinn summed up the last 14 months, as well as the sectional, when she said: ‘‘It was just fun to get out and be with people. Just something fun to do.’’

Illinois hunting

Turkey hunting in the north zone ends Thursday.

Wild things

With turkey hunting ending Thursday, the time restriction for hunting morel mushrooms will end at Illinois Department of Natural Resources sites, too.

Stray cast

Watching Luis Robert play the outfield was like watching Lefty Kreh work a fly rod.

Read More

Glenbard North freshman girls head to state: They’ll be 1 of 2 girl teams at IHSA bass fishing finalsDale Bowmanon May 12, 2021 at 1:05 pm Read More »

MLB No-Hitters: Will Chicago See More In 2021? Does It Count In 7 Innings?Drew Krieson May 12, 2021 at 1:36 pm

Pitching mounds across Major League Baseball stirred up quite the storm recently that has everyone debating about one thing. The no-hitter. And specifically, when do MLB no-hitters count? The argument stems from a recent game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves where Dbacks lefty, Madison Bumgarner, completed the entire 7-inning game without giving up a hit. The reason behind the shortened game was because it was part of a doubleheader that day. Per a new MLB rule from last season, both games played as part of a doubleheader are shortened to 7 innings each. Which, by MLB rules, means Bumgarner’s “no-hitter” doesn’t receive its official title.

But is that fair to the players? Some say yes, while others say no. We know we don’t have a legitimate say in the rulebook, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be adding our two cents to a debate that’s receiving plenty of attention in the MLB world. However, before we can get to that, when will Chicago baseball see their next no-hitter?

Will The Cubs Throw A No-Hitter in 2021?

It really hasn’t been that long since we’ve seen a Chicago Cubs pitcher throw a no-no. Their last one came right at the end of last season on September 13 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Cubs right hander Alec Mills took the mound in that game where he threw 74/114 strikes in a 12-0 win. It was quite the outing for Mills who overall had a lackluster 2020 season as he finished 5-5 with a home runs per nine innings rate of 1.9.

Advertisement

So will the Cubs throw one this year? It certainly remains to be seen, but we’re only a month into the season. While some Northsiders are concerned about the Cubs getting no-hit themselves, we’re more concerned with them throwing their own. Anything can happen over the course of 162 games, and with guys like Zach Davies, Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta, a no-hitter isn’t out of the question for 2021. We could see it as early as this month when the Cubs travel to Detroit to face one of the worst offenses in the Tigers. And who knows, maybe Mills will throw back-to-back no-hitters for the Cubs like Arrieta did in 2015 and 2016.

The White Sox Quest for #2

The White Sox ballclub already saw its first no-hitter thrown earlier this year. Last month, Carlos Rodon threw a near-perfect 9 inning shutout against the Cleveland Indians in an 8-0 win. The no-hitter could’ve turned into a perfect game if it weren’t for a stray pitch that hit Roberto Perez in the foot in the top of the ninth. But regardless, the performance still counted as the second of the MLB no-hitters this season. The Chicago White Sox might be more concerned with staying atop of the league standings than they are with no-hitters and perfect games. As fans though, we wouldn’t hate to see Giolito, Cease, Keuchel, or even Rodon go for another one. Since we like picking on the Tigers offense, the next time these two teams play is at the beginning of June. We just might see #2 happen then!

Our Thoughts on MLB No-Hitters

Now comes the part where we talk about our thoughts on MLB no-hitters counting after a 7-inning game. Remember, regardless of whether you agree or not, we aren’t the MLB rule makers. Throwing 7 hitless innings is nothing to scoff at, just like throwing 9 is. So, with that, here’s our take.

They should count.

Why? Well, there’s a couple reasons we feel this way. First, if we want to get technical about words, the name for the accomplishment is “No-Hitter”. So when a player throws a complete and official game as defined by the MLB rules, where he gives up no hits, he’s thrown a “no-hitter”. And when it comes to these 7-inning double header games that have been deemed official by league rules, where stats count for players, and wins and losses count in the official standings, why shouldn’t the no-hitter count? Sure, it’s a hell of a lot tougher to throw two more hitless innings after the 7th to get that no-hitter. But whether a pitcher tosses one after nine, or after seven, who are we to tell them their “no-hitter” doesn’t count when there’s a 0 in the H column?

 

The post MLB No-Hitters: Will Chicago See More In 2021? Does It Count In 7 Innings? appeared first on UrbanMatter.

Read More

MLB No-Hitters: Will Chicago See More In 2021? Does It Count In 7 Innings?Drew Krieson May 12, 2021 at 1:36 pm Read More »

Pixel Grip celebrate the club as a sacred queer spaceMicco Caporaleon May 12, 2021 at 11:00 am


Chicago goth trio Pixel Grip invite you to dance on straight white capitalism’s grave.

In the world of Chicago goth dance trio Pixel Grip, “the arena” is more than a literal venue where spectators gather to delight in competition—it refers to any context our society envisions as a zero-sum game, where no one can win without someone else losing.…Read More

Pixel Grip celebrate the club as a sacred queer spaceMicco Caporaleon May 12, 2021 at 11:00 am Read More »

After a 16-year wait, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matt Sweeney resurface as SuperwolvesShannon Nico Shreibakon May 12, 2021 at 11:00 am


When wolves form a pack, they form bonds that last a lifetime. A similar feeling of familiarity and connection suffuses the duo project of Will Oldham (aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy) and Matt Sweeney.…Read More

After a 16-year wait, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matt Sweeney resurface as SuperwolvesShannon Nico Shreibakon May 12, 2021 at 11:00 am Read More »