Bowman will continue his duties as Hawks general manager but will need to “lean now on other people…internally” with his time temporarily divided.

In 1980, when Stan Bowman was six years old, he watched as the United States Olympic men’s hockey team stunned the Soviet Union in what became known as the “Miracle on Ice.”

“I was sitting on my grandma’s lap watching the Olympics unfold,” he said Wednesday.” At the time, I loved hockey, I was excited, I was watching, [but] I thought it was just another game or another tournament. I really didn’t appreciate the backdrop and the significance of that victory.”

Forty-one years later, Bowman — the Blackhawks general manager since 2009 — retains that specific memory.

And one year from now, having been named GM of the U.S. men’s hockey team on Wednesday, he’ll hope to guide the team to its first gold medal since that 1980 miracle.

He’ll be assisted by current Wild GM Bill Guerin, a three-time Olympian as a player. Together, Bowman and Guerin will select the team’s coach, flesh out its roster and oversee the group throughout the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in February.

“I’m humbled and honored for this role,” Bowman said. “I can’t wait to get started.”

Bowman will remain the Hawks’ acting GM while doubling as the Olympic team GM. He did the same in 2016, when he served as assistant GM of Team North America at the World Cup of Hockey.

But his time will be spread more thin than it already is, leaving more work for others in the Hawks’ front office, during the coming offseason and 2021-22 NHL season.

“[There’s] no question it’s going to be a challenge,” he said. “I’m going to lean now on other people…internally here at the Blackhawks. We have a very capable staff and I’m going to rely on their input going forward.”

Hawks CEO Danny Wirtz issued a statement Wednesday to “congratulate Stan on this exciting opportunity and look forward to having him serve in both capacities.” Bowman thanked the Wirtz family for being “totally behind” his venture.

Bowman’s selection as Olympic team GM is dependent on NHL player participation, however. Brian Burke and David Poile filled this role in 2010 and 2014, respectively, but USA Hockey didn’t select an NHL-affiliated GM in 2018.

USA Hockey executive director Pat Kelleher said he’ll turn to “plan B” for the GM role if the NHL ends up not participating again in 2022, but all indications are that it will participate.

“We’re hopeful and remain optimistic,” Kelleher said. “We haven’t made a final determination yet. We know there’s a lot of work to be done.”

Delaying negotiations between the NHL, NHL Players Association, International Ice Hockey Federation and International Olympic Committee is the presence of the rescheduled Summer Olympics coming up in July and August in Tokyo, which is understandably preoccupying the IOC, Kelleher said.

But given the expectation of NHL involvement, Bowman said his coaching search will specifically look at coaches with NHL experience, although that “still is a wide candidate pool.”

Then he’ll turn his focus to players, with the final roster expected to be announced around Jan. 1, 2022. He’ll almost certainly select one man from the Hawks: Patrick Kane is considered a slam-dunk choice, while Alex DeBrincat and even Connor Murphy could also be in the mix.

The pool of player talent Bowman will choose from is arguably the largest and best any U.S. GM has ever enjoyed, which will make his job harder but — in the end — potentially more rewarding.

He traces it all back to that moment in 1980 that he watched from his grandmother’s lap.

“Over time, I’ve come to see the context of that team in 1980 and what it really meant for hockey development across the United States,” he said. “Here we are, [41] years later, and we’ve seen the tremendous growth of our sport. That’s something that really is exciting for me to see and be part of.”

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A security-camera scene of people joking around inside the store soon gave way to the sight of officers pulling Floyd from his SUV at gunpoint, struggling to push him into a squad car as he writhed, cried out and complained of being claustrophobic, and then putting him on the pavement.

MINNEAPOLIS — After the ambulance took George Floyd away, the Minneapolis officer who had pinned his knee on the Black man’s neck defended himself to a bystander by saying Floyd was “a sizable guy” and “probably on something,” according to police video played in court Wednesday.

The video was part of a mountain of footage — both official and amateur — and witness testimony at Officer Derek Chauvin ‘s murder trial that all together showed how Floyd’s alleged attempt to pass a phony $20 bill at a neighborhood market last May escalated into tragedy one video-documented step at a time.

A security-camera scene of people joking around inside the store soon gave way to the sight of officers pulling Floyd from his SUV at gunpoint, struggling to push him into a squad car as he writhed, cried out and complained of being claustrophobic, and then putting him on the pavement.

When Floyd was finally taken away by paramedics, Charles McMillian, a 61-year-old bystander who recognized Chauvin from the neighborhood, told the officer he didn’t respect what Chauvin had done.

“That’s one person’s opinion,” Chauvin could be heard responding. “We gotta control this guy ’cause he’s a sizable guy … and it looks like he’s probably on something.”

Floyd was 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds, according to the autopsy, which also found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system. Chauvin’s lawyer said the officer is 5-foot-9 and 140 pounds.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter, accused of killing the 46-year-old Floyd by kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay face-down in handcuffs. The most serious charge against the now-fired white officer carries up to 40 years in prison.

Floyd’s death, along with the harrowing bystander video of him gasping for breath as onlookers yelled at Chauvin to get off him, triggered sometimes violent protests around the world and a reckoning over racism and police brutality across the U.S.

Jurors were shown police bodycam video of the approximately 20 minutes between when police approached Floyd’s vehicle and when he was loaded into the ambulance.

Officers were clearly exasperated and could be heard cursing as Floyd braced himself against the squad car and arched his body while the police tried to get him inside. He resisted going in, saying over and over that he was claustrophobic. At one point, he threw his upper body out of the car, and officers tried to push him back in.

Once in the backseat, he twisted and writhed, and officers eventually pulled him out and brought him to the ground. Floyd thanked officers as they took him out of the squad car.

Once Floyd was on the ground — with Chauvin’s knee on his neck, another officer’s knee on his back and a third holding his legs — the officers talked calmly about whether he might be on drugs.

Officer Thomas Lane was heard saying officers found a “weed pipe” on Floyd and wondered if he might be on PCP, saying Floyd’s eyes were shaking back and forth fast.

“He wouldn’t get out of the car. He just wasn’t following instructions,” Lane was recorded saying. The officer also asked twice if the officers should roll Floyd on his side, and later said calmly that he thinks Floyd is passing out.

As Floyd was pinned down by Chauvin and other officers, McMillian, the bystander, could be heard on video saying to Floyd, “You can’t win” and “Get up and get in the car.”

Floyd replied: “I can’t.”

The defense has argued that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s death was not caused by the officer’s knee, as prosecutors contend, but by Floyd’s illegal drug use, heart disease, high blood pressure and the adrenaline flowing through his body.

Events spun out of control earlier that day soon after Floyd allegedly handed a cashier at Cup Foods, 19-year-old Christopher Martin, a counterfeit bill for a pack of cigarettes.

Martin testified Wednesday that he watched Floyd’s arrest outside with “disbelief — and guilt.”

“If I would’ve just not tooken the bill, this could’ve been avoided,” Martin lamented, joining the burgeoning list of witnesses who expressed a sense of helplessness and lingering guilt over Floyd’s death.

Martin said he immediately believed the $20 bill was fake. But he said he accepted it, despite believing the amount would be taken out of his paycheck by his employer, because he didn’t think Floyd knew it was counterfeit and “I thought I’d be doing him a favor.”

Martin then second-guessed his decision and told a manager, who sent Martin outside to ask Floyd to return to the store. But Floyd and a passenger in his SUV twice refused to go back into the store to resolve the issue, and the manager had a co-worker call police, Martin testified.

Martin said that when Floyd was inside the store buying cigarettes, he spoke so slowly “it would appear that he was high.” But he described Floyd as friendly and talkative.

After police arrived, Martin went outside as people were gathering on the curb and yelling at officers. He said he saw Officer Tou Thao push one of his co-workers. Martin said he also held back another man who was trying to defend himself after being pushed by Thao.

Wednesday morning’s testimony was briefly interrupted when a juror stood and raised her hand and gestured toward the door. She later told the judge that she had been feeling stress and having trouble sleeping, but told the judge she was OK to proceed.

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Studio5’s virtual speakeasy, Into the Mist, has echoes of the past and resonances for today.

The temptation to time travel during the past year has been strong. What if we could just go “Back to Before,” as the song from Ragtime puts it?…Read More

The Museum of Contemporary Photography’s “Reproductive” raises questions about the future of Roe v. Wade.

In startling news today, doctors in Missouri are reporting another confirmed pregnancy in a genetically male human—the latest in a small but growing cluster.  The expectant dad, 42, says he was completely taken by surprise.…Read More

American Music Theatre Project unveils three student-created pieces in this year’s online Capstone Festival.

Since 2005, Northwestern University’s American Music Theatre Project has been boosting fledgling musical theater composers. For the young artists whose work will debut this year, AMTP offers a double milestone: the aspiring composers and lyricists (all seniors at NU) will finally see their work—much of it years in the making—on its feet. 
This year’s AMTP Capstone Festival, running April 1-11, is also the first—and hopefully only—one to be staged during a pandemic of unparalleled disruption.…Read More

Researchers in Bordeaux, France, are analyzing a dozen bottles of the precious liquid — along with 320 snippets of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines — that returned to Earth in January after a sojourn aboard the International Space Station.

BORDEAUX, France — It tastes like rose petals. It smells like a campfire. It glistens with a burnt-orange hue. What is it? A 5,000-euro bottle of Petrus Pomerol wine that spent a year in space.

Researchers in Bordeaux are analyzing a dozen bottles of the precious liquid — along with 320 snippets of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines — that returned to Earth in January after a sojourn aboard the International Space Station.

They announced their preliminary impressions earlier this month — mainly, that weightlessness didn’t ruin the wine and it seemed to energize the vines.

Organizers say it’s part of a longer-term effort to make plants on Earth more resilient to climate change and disease by exposing them to new stresses, and to better understand the aging process, fermentation and bubbles in wine.

At a one-of-a-kind tasting this month, 12 connoisseurs sampled one of the space-traveled wines, blindly tasting it alongside a bottle from the same vintage that had stayed in a cellar.

A special pressurized device delicately uncorked the bottles at the Institute for Wine and Vine Research in Bordeaux. The tasters solemnly sniffed, stared and eventually, sipped.

“I have tears in my eyes,” Nicolas Gaume, CEO and co-founder of the company that arranged the experiment, Space Cargo Unlimited, told The Associated Press.

Alcohol and glass are normally prohibited on the International Space Station, so each bottle was packed inside a special steel cylinder during the journey.

At a news conference Wednesday, Gaume said the experiment focused on studying the lack of gravity — which “creates tremendous stress on any living species” — on the wine and vines.

“We are only at the beginning,” he said, calling the preliminary results “encouraging.”

AP

Jane Anson, a wine expert and writer with the wine publication Decanter, said the wine that remained on Earth tasted “a little younger than the one that had been to space.”

Chemical and biological analysis of the wine’s aging process could allow scientists to find a way to artificially age fine vintages, said Dr. Michael Lebert, a biologist at Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander-University who was consulted on the project.

The vine snippets — known as canes in the grape-growing world — not only survived the journey but also grew faster than vines on Earth, despite limited light and water.

Once the researchers determine why, Lebert said that could help scientists develop sturdier vines on Earth — and pave the way for grape-growing and wine-making in space.

AP

Christophe Chateau of the Bordeaux Wine-Makers’ Council welcomed the research as “a good thing for the industry,” but predicted it would take a decade or more to lead to practical applications. Chateau, who was not involved in the project, described ongoing efforts to adjust grape choices and techniques to adapt to ever-warmer temperatures.

“The wine of Bordeaux is a wine that gets its singularity from its history but also from its innovations,” he told The AP. “And we should never stop innovating.”

Private investors helped fund the project, which the researchers hope to continue on further space missions. The cost wasn’t disclosed.

AP

For the average earthling, the main question is: What does cosmic wine taste like?

“For me, the difference between the space and earth wine … it wasn’t easy to define,” said Franck Dubourdieu, a Bordeaux-based agronomist and oenologist, an expert in the study of wine and wine-making.

Researchers said each of the 12 panelists had an individual reaction. Some observed “burnt-orange reflections.” Others evoked aromas of cured leather or a campfire.

“The one that had remained on Earth, for me, was still a bit more closed, a bit more tannic, a bit younger. And the one that had been up into space, the tannins had softened, the side of more floral aromatics came out,” Anson said.

But whether the vintage was space-flying or earthbound, she said, “They were both beautiful.”

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Even winning the AL MVP was enough to help the White Sox’ Jose Abreu crack the top 20.

NEW YORK — Mike Trout, the consensus best player in baseball, ranked just 10th on the list of top-selling jerseys released Wednesday by Major League Baseball, behind even Boston Red Sox utility player Kiké Hernández.

And Chicago baseball isn’t exactly burning up the best-seller list, either.

Just a few years after dominating the list, the Cubs have only one player in the top 20 — shortstop Javier Báez at No. 12. Teammates Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant previously ranked among the league leaders in jersey sales, but fan interest has waned with all three players eligible for free agency after the 2021 season.

And no White Sox player made the list, not even MVP Jose Abreu nor popular shortstop Tim Anderson.

Trout had the league’s fourth best-selling uniform two years ago, but the three-time MVP has slipped behind players that recently have starred in the postseason or changed teams. Trout’s Los Angeles Angels haven’t made the playoffs since 2014, and the 29-year-old signed a $426.5 million, 12-year deal to remain with them before the 2019 season.

Hernández is no slouch as a player, but his stat line hardly suggests he’d have baseball’s ninth most popular jersey. He batted .240 with 68 homers and had valuable defensive versatility over six seasons with the reigning World Series champion Dodgers, but his placement more likely reflects the charisma and colorful antics that made him a fan favorite in Los Angeles. The 29-year-old apparently has generated buzz in Boston since signing a $14 million, two-year deal this offseason. His jersey sales total includes both Boston and LA uniforms.

Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts retained the top spot, with teammate Cody Bellinger second. Los Angeles also placed left-hander Clayton Kershaw (fifth) and shortstop Corey Seager (13th) on the list.

San Diego shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. ranked third. The 22-year-old signed a $340 million, 14-year deal with the Padres this spring, setting up the budding superstar to spend most or all of his career there.

Bryce Harper of the Phillies ranked fourth, two years removed from leading the list after he left the Washington Nationals to sign a $330 million, 13-year deal with Philadelphia. Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge, also a former top jersey seller, ranked sixth.

The New York Mets have three players in the top 20, led by new shortstop Francisco Lindor at No. 8. The Mets acquired Lindor from the Cleveland Indians via trade this offseason and have been trying to sign him to a long-term deal before he can become a free agent after the season. Lindor has said he won’t negotiate once the season starts. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom ranked 18th and slugger Pete Alonso was 20th.

Nolan Arenado also cracked the list after changing teams, appearing at No. 11 after being traded from the Colorado Rockies to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Reigning NL MVP Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves ranked 17th, with teammate Ronald Acuña Jr. seventh. NL and AL Cy Young winners Trevor Bauer (formerly Cincinnati Reds, now Dodgers) and Shane Bieber (Cleveland Indians) did not make the list.

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A popular Palestinian leader imprisoned by Israel has registered his own parliamentary list in May elections, his supporters said Wednesday.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — A popular Palestinian leader imprisoned by Israel has registered his own parliamentary list in May elections, his supporters said Wednesday, in a last-minute shakeup that could severely weaken President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party and help its militant Hamas rivals.

Marwan Barghouti’s wife, Fadwa, registered the list hours before the deadline set by the election commission. Polls indicate it would split the vote for Fatah, potentially paving the way for another major victory by Hamas. That increases the likelihood that Abbas will find a way to call off the first Palestinian elections in 15 years.

Barghouti, 61, a former Fatah militant commander, is serving five life sentences in Israel following a 2004 terrorism conviction. But he remains a popular and charismatic leader, and by breaking with Abbas he could reshape Palestinian politics and potentially replace him as president.

Abbas has decreed parliamentary and presidential elections for May and July this year, the first since 2006, when the Islamic militant Hamas won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. That precipitated a crisis that led to Hamas’ seizure of Gaza from Abbas’s forces the following year, leaving the West Bank and Gaza divided between rival governments.

Abbas decreed the election in January in a step meant to help heal the division. It now remains to be seen whether the elections will actually be held, given the long-running feud between Fatah and Hamas — and the widening divisions within Fatah.

An opinion poll carried out by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research earlier this month found that a separate list endorsed by Barghouti would split the Fatah vote and potentially garner more support than the official list.

“Barghouti running would dramatically change the outcome,” the center’s director Khalil Shikaki said last week when the results of the poll were published.

If Barghouti runs for president in elections planned for this summer, he would easily defeat both Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, according to the poll, which surveyed 1,200 Palestinians with a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Barghouti, 61 has flirted with a run in the past but eventually ended up endorsing Abbas, who was elected to a four-year term in 2005 but has remained in power since then.

This time Barghouti will partner with Nasser al-Kidwa, the 67-year-old nephew of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for a list called “Freedom.” Al-Kidwa was kicked out of Fatah in early March after announcing he would run on his own list.

“We hope that this list will lead to democracy,” Fadwa Barghouti said. “We registered this list and we hope it will succeed.”

Earlier, senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub submitted the party’s official list.

He said the elections would be held in “all the Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem,” which Israel annexed and considers part of its capital. He also predicted the elections would lead to a national unity government that would end the rift.

“We seek to win the elections in the spirit of democracy, and we will respect the results,” he added.

The fracturing of Fatah severely weakens Abbas and could pave the way for the far more disciplined and unified Hamas to emerge as the largest Palestinian party. Abbas could postpone or cancel the elections, but that would risk censure from the United States and European nations, which provide vital aid to the Palestinian Authority and have long called for free and fair elections.

East Jerusalem could provide a pretext for cancelling or postponing the elections. Israel bars the PA from operating there and has not said whether it will allow voting in the city.

Tensions are already rising in the occupied West Bank. In the Qalandia refugee camp near Jerusalem, dozens of Fatah gunmen fired automatic weapons into the air Wednesday night to protest the expected makeup of the official party list, which they said did not represent them.

Barghouti led Fatah’s militant wing during the intifada, or uprising, that erupted in 2000 amid the breakdown of the peace process. He condemned attacks targeting civilians inside Israel, though Israel says he is responsible for civilian deaths.

The uprising saw Palestinians carry out suicide bombings and other attacks against Israeli civilians as the Israeli military launched deadly raids in the West Bank and Gaza. More than 6,000 Palestinians and over 1,000 Israelis were killed, with the unrest tapering off after 2005.

Israeli troops arrested Barghouti in 2002, at the height of the uprising, and two years later a military court convicted him of orchestrating attacks that killed five people, giving him an equivalent number of life sentences. Barghouti refused to recognize the Israeli military court or offer any defense.

Many Palestinians view Barghouti as a revolutionary leader in the mold of Nelson Mandela or Fidel Castro, unsullied by the corruption of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority or the long-running feud between Fatah and Hamas. As a long-jailed militant, he is seen as having sacrificed his freedom for the cause of Palestinian independence.

From behind bars, he has continued to call for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel seized in the 1967 war. Polls consistently show him to be the most popular Palestinian leader, with support from across the political spectrum.

In 2017, Barghouti led more than 1,500 prisoners in a 40-day hunger strike to demand better conditions inside Israeli jails. Most Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel as heroes to their cause, and the strike bolstered Barghouti’s image.

Israel considers Barghouti and other Palestinians jailed for security offenses to be terrorists and has given no indication it would free him. He was not included in a group of more than 1,000 high-profile prisoners who were released in 2011 in a deal with Hamas in exchange for an Israeli soldier captured by militants and held in Gaza for more than five years.

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