Videos

Chicago quiz shows pick up slack for your favorite bar’s Trivia Nighton March 21, 2021 at 8:15 pm

While some Chicagoans aren’t quite ready to head to their favorite watering hole’s trivia night, a couple of new shows aim to pick up where the bars left off by finding inventive ways to quiz locals on Chicago history.

“The Great Chicago Quiz Show,” scheduled to debut at 8 p.m. Friday on WTTW-Channel 11, is hosted by Geoffrey Baer, well-known to WTTW viewers for leading video tours of city neighborhoods and getting to the bottom of Chicago’s historical mysteries.

He relishes participating in another form of educating the masses.

DO YOU KNOW?

For the answers to these multiple-choice questions, see the first episode of “The Great Chicago Quiz Show.”

  • Three First Ladies of the United States were born in Illinois: Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and who?
  • Chicago’s annual Bud Billiken Day features the largest African American parade in the nation. Who was Bud Billiken?
  • While Soldier Field was being remodeled in 2002, the Chicago Bears played their home games where?

“I do a lot of public speaking; I get asked to do a lot of talks. Randomly, years ago, at the end of one of my talks, I just started throwing out quiz questions to the audience,” said Baer, who also has writer and executive producer credits on the show. “It killed; people loved it.”

Questions will cover topics in history, politics, architecture, geography, arts, culture, business and sports. Folks watching from home are invited to participate interactively via the show’s companion website.

Writer-producer Eddie Griffin (not the comedian of the same name) says “Chicago Quiz Show” leans into the city’s trivia and bar culture. “What better way to teach a history of Chicago than letting the viewers at home participate by showing off their smarts and show what they know about the city?” said Griffin, an Emmy Award-winning producer.

Quiz show contestants appear remotely and include Chicagoans from all walks of life including 670 The Score host Laurence Holmes, hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco, “Cheers” actor George Wendt, sociologist and poet Eve Ewing, White Sox play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti, and Sun-Times editorial board member Lee Bey.

Fiasco, a West Side native, says the show highlights how there’s more to the city than many Chicagoans are aware of.

“Anytime there’s something to promote in the city and speak to another audience that is not just rap and hip-hop, it feels cool,” said Fiasco, an avid viewer of WTTW programming. “… When you go around the city, you see these nondescript buildings and you’re like: ‘What’s in there?’ And it might be a whole T-shirt factory there.”

Hollywood Unites For The 4th Biennial Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), A Program Of The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) - Arrivals
Hip-hop artist, West Side native Lupe Fiasco.
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Wendt, a Beverly native whom many Chicagoans know from the “Superfans” sketches on “Saturday Night Live” mocking local accents and Bears and Bulls fandom, says he learned a lot from his “Quiz Show” appearance.

“I learned that I didn’t know as much as I thought I knew,” said Wendt. “I moved out 40 years ago, so there was some recent history I didn’t know, but I still have family in Chicago, and I go back as much as I can.”

Contestants who viewers may get to know include Auburn Gresham resident and budding historian Shermann Thomas, who’s known for creating Chicago history videos via TikTok, and a former teacher, East Side native Rita Alvarez.

“Anything about Chicago, I’m for it,” said Alvarez. “A couple of the questions stumped me, but I surprised myself by knowing more than I thought I would know. … I think that show is a great way to introduce Chicago history.”

A contestant talks to host Geoffrey Baer during a taping of “The Great Chicago Quiz Show.”
Ken Carl

Thomas, whose TikTok account has about 35,000 followers, says he wanted to stand out when sending his audition video.

“I figure they wanted true Chicago people, so I tried to point out all the things that were Chicago-specific about me,” said Thomas, a ComEd worker who has posted videos on the history of the Moo & Oink Meat Company, and the city’s violent taxicab wars of the 1920s. “… There’s history in plain sight everywhere we look. It doesn’t have to be boring.”

Another local quiz show, “Da Chicago Game Show,” a Monday night, a production of the upstart studio Chicago4Real on the Twitch platform, already has joined in the fun. The show is hosted by longtime local radio host Justin Kaufmann.

Baer says the WTTW show is in lockstep with the station’s public service mission while keeping viewers entertained.

“What’s the trick good teachers always use to get students to lean in and pay attention? Actively engage their minds in thinking rather than passively letting the information wash over them — maybe they remember it; maybe they don’t,” said Baer. “We wanted to make [the show] really fun and entertaining.”

Read More

Chicago quiz shows pick up slack for your favorite bar’s Trivia Nighton March 21, 2021 at 8:15 pm Read More »

14 shot, 3 fatally in Chicago since Friday eveningon March 21, 2021 at 8:41 pm

Three people were killed and at least 11 others have been wounded in shootings across Chicago so far this weekend, including a 10-year-old boy who was shot Friday in East Garfield Park on the West Side.

The boy was sitting in a vehicle with two other people when someone walked up and fired shots at them about 6:50 p.m. in the 3100 block of West Lake Street, Chicago police said.

A man, 24, was struck in the side and pronounced dead on the scene, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified him as Marquel Robinson of East Garfield Park.

The boy was shot in the leg, while a 25-year-old woman was struck in the thigh and ankle, police said. Both were taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition.

On Sunday, a man was fatally shot in an apartment in West Town.

About 6:30 a.m., the 39-year-old was inside of a 3rd floor apartment in the 1500 block of West North Avenue when someone he knew shot him in the abdomen, police said.

The man was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Saturday afternoon, two men were shot, one fatally, in Douglas on the South Side.

About 3:05 p.m., the men, 27 and 31, were in the 3400 block of South Prairie Avenue when they heard shots and felt pain, police said.

The 27-year-old was struck in the back and torso, and was brought to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, police said.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified him as Darrell Holiday Jr.

The 31-year-old was struck in the neck and taken to the same hospital in good condition.

In nonfatal attacks, a Chicago police SWAT team arrested a man suspected of shooting a police officer Saturday afternoon in Austin on the West Side.

Officers saw cars speed away as they responded to a ShotSpotter alert earlier in the morning near Lake Street and Cicero Avenue, Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said. While investigating the initial report of gunfire, a gunman fired shots at the officers, striking an officer in the left hand.

She was taken in a squad car to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. Her wound was not considered life-threatening.

Saturday morning, a 17-year-old boy was shot and seriously wounded by a person who then stole his vehicle in Austin.

The teen was sitting in his vehicle about 2:55 a.m. in the 5400 block of West Race Avenue when a person shot him and took his vehicle, Chicago police said. He suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and leg and was transported to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood in serious condition.

A man was grazed in a shooting Saturday afternoon in Avalon Park on the South Side.

He was on the sidewalk about 1:16 p.m. in the 8000 block of South Woodlawn Avenue when someone opened fire, Chicago police said. A bullet grazed the 38-year-old in the elbow, and he was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.

At least six others were wounded in shootings since 5 p.m. Friday.

Forty people were shot, 5 fatally, last weekend in Chicago.

Read More

14 shot, 3 fatally in Chicago since Friday eveningon March 21, 2021 at 8:41 pm Read More »

Chicago Public Schools needs to switch to a year-round calendar this fallon March 21, 2021 at 5:06 pm

The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues

Chicago Public Schools needs to switch to a year-round calendar this fall

Read More

Chicago Public Schools needs to switch to a year-round calendar this fallon March 21, 2021 at 5:06 pm Read More »

The death of journalismon March 21, 2021 at 5:22 pm

The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor

The death of journalism

Read More

The death of journalismon March 21, 2021 at 5:22 pm Read More »

The death of journalism IIon March 21, 2021 at 6:53 pm

The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor

The death of journalism II

Read More

The death of journalism IIon March 21, 2021 at 6:53 pm Read More »

Dominic Rains Reveals If Mancel Can Surviveon March 21, 2021 at 7:02 pm

Just N

Dominic Rains Reveals If Mancel Can Survive

Read More

Dominic Rains Reveals If Mancel Can Surviveon March 21, 2021 at 7:02 pm Read More »

CPS parents want to know why they can’t attend football gameson March 21, 2021 at 6:55 pm

Kenwood football coach Sinque Turner’s team opens the season on Friday and he hasn’t heard from Chicago Public Schools if fans will be allowed at games. CPS hasn’t responded to a Sun-Times query on the subject either.

But Michael Pierce, the father of Phillips football player Deavion Pierce, said Wildcats coach Troy McAllister has told his team to assume that no spectators will be allowed at games since CPS hasn’t told him otherwise.

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced on March 8 that schools could have up to 20 percent capacity for outdoor events. However, 50 fans were allowed at indoor sports such as basketball this winter and CPS decided to keep the events free of spectators.

“It’s ridiculous,” Pierce said. “I’ve been watching my son play since he was eight years old. And now you are telling me I have to miss his last five games of high school?”

Catholic League schools are allowing a limited number of fans and suburban schools seem to bumping up against or surpassing the 20 percent guideline.

“De La Salle is like two minutes from us,” Pierce said. “I know it is a Catholic school but it is in the same vicinity and they can have two parents per child and are allowing 50 or 60 students to attend games.”

Turner thinks allowing parents would be reasonable, but believes a lot of schools don’t want to bother with the screening process and other tasks necessary to allow fans.

“Some programs like us and Simeon and Phillips would definitely do it,” Turner said. “But I think a lot of schools don’t want to take on that burden. But allowing parents should be an option for the schools that want to deal with it.”

Fans watch the Bolingbrook vs. Lincoln-Way East game on Friday in Frankfort.
Fans watch the Bolingbrook vs. Lincoln-Way East game on Friday in Frankfort.
Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

Pierce said that Phillips is working on some creative options, like getting parents on the chain crew, to get them into games.

“I would help out anyway,” Pierce said. “But it is all so frustrating. Phillips has a lot of parents that are involved and looking for answers and we can’t even get CPS to respond to us. It doesn’t make any sense. We can’t have any spectators at an outside sport but at the restaurant around the corner we can dine in?

Public League teams weren’t allowed to play in Week 1 but will begin a five-game season this week. Pierce is hoping the CPS changes its policy on spectators before the games begin.

“Why are there different rules for [CPS kids]?” Pierce said. “Everything has been taken away from the Class of 2021. Their recruiting has suffered. They don’t get any playoffs. And now they can’t even have fans at the games? So many parents are upset and I chose to speak out for them.”

Read More

CPS parents want to know why they can’t attend football gameson March 21, 2021 at 6:55 pm Read More »

White Sox outfielder Adam Engel won’t be ready for Opening Dayon March 21, 2021 at 7:05 pm

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – White Sox outfielder Adam Engel will be out “at least a couple of weeks” with a strained right hamstring, manager Tony La Russa said Sunday, which means he will start the season on the injured list and won’t be ready for Opening Day April 1 when the Sox play the Angels in Anaheim, Calif.

Engel got hurt making an off-balance throw home after charging to make a running catch on a sacrifice fly, letting go of the ball on the run as he was planting his foot.

“They’re examining it now. He’s in great shape, he’s a fast healer but it’s going to be at least a couple of weeks,” La Russa said. “Hopefully not longer but we’ll see.”

Engel is the team’s fourth outfielder and figures to platoon in right field with the left-handed hitting Adam Eaton. The Sox signed veteran outfielder Billy Hamilton, who can play all three outfield positions like Engel. Leury Garcia started in center in the Sox’ Cactus League game against the Diamondbacks, and La Russa mentioned Luis Gonzalez and Nick Williams as outfielders behind Eaton on the depth chart.

“It creates a spot open so we’ll see what we do with it,” La Russa said. “It’s one of those things that’s not a good break for us.”

Engel batted .278.278.667 with a team high three homers and two triples this spring. A Gold Glove finalist as a center fielder in 2018, Engel got hurt making “an absolutely great play on a short fly ball,” La Russa said.

“He got a great jump. Went all out for it and caught it. I think one of the things that cause the hamstring the strain was he made kind of an acrobatic move as he caught it, to make the throw to the plate.

“There’s some talent there to consider as to how we replace Adam, and those discussions are going on now. We still have games to play, guys are making their impressions.”

Left-hander Nik Turley claimed on waivers

The Sox claimed left-hander Nik Turley, 31, off waivers from the Athletics. Turley was acquired from the Pirates in January but struggled in five Cactus League relief appearances, allowing 10 runs over 4 1/3 innings. He allowed four homers and four walks but touched 97 mph in his first outing and struck out eight batters this spring.

To make room on the 40-man roster, Jimmy Cordero was placed on the 60-day IL. Cordero will miss the season after having Tommy John surgery Thursday.

Grandal progressing

Catcher Yasmani Grandal (knee) is scheduled to catch his third game in five days Monday, working every other day behind the plate now.

“We’re encouraged because he’s held up very well and no setbacks,” La Russa said.

Read More

White Sox outfielder Adam Engel won’t be ready for Opening Dayon March 21, 2021 at 7:05 pm Read More »

Fans cheer Loyola’s 71-58 upset win over Illinoison March 21, 2021 at 7:12 pm

Eighth-seeded Loyola sent No. 1-seeded Illinois packing in a 71-58 defensive stunner en route to the Ramblers’ second Sweet Sixteen appearance in three years.

Loyola students stormed onto Sheridan Road along their Rogers Park campus after the final buzzer sounded.

Illinois is the first No. 1 seed to be ousted from the tournament.

Earlier in the day, fan-favorite Sister Jean delivered her pregame prayer, which called for the Ramblers to hold Illinois to 30% from three-point range. They executed to perfection, holding the Illini to 28.6% from behind the arc.

Illinois earned the No. 1 seed for the first time since its Final Four run in 2005. CBS’ studio panel expected the Illini to come back in the second half after falling behind by double digits in the first. Ultimately, Loyola’s defense proved too stifling for USA Today Player of the Year Ayo Dosunmu, who was held to nine points.

Not many predicted this win for the Ramblers, but Sister Jean had them locked to reach the Elite Eight.

Fans reacted on Twitter with emotions ranging from true joy to stunned heartbreak.

Here are some of the best:

Read More

Fans cheer Loyola’s 71-58 upset win over Illinoison March 21, 2021 at 7:12 pm Read More »

Man charged with attempted murder after shooting CPD officer, sparking West Side SWAT standoff: policeon March 21, 2021 at 4:18 pm

A man is facing five attempted murder charges after allegedly shooting at Chicago police officers, striking one, and barricading himself in a building Saturday in Austin on the West Side.

Tracey Thomas Jr., 29, was charged with five counts of attempted murder in connection to the initial shooting and the ensuing standoff, Chicago police said. Thomas also faces charges for two bond forfeitures in Cook and DuPage counties.

The officers were investigating reports of shots fired about 11:30 a.m. near Lake Street and Cicero Avenue when Thomas allegedly opened fire on them, Chicago police said.

When more units arrived to search for the shooter, Thomas allegedly fired again from an elevated first-floor window of a building in the 200 block of North La Crosse Avenue, police said.

A female officer was struck in the hand and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. Her wound was not life-threatening and she was released later that day.

Officers returned fire but did not strike Thomas, who holed himself up in the apartment building, police said. A SWAT team was called to the scene and Thomas turned himself in without incident about 2:20 p.m.

The officer is the third from the police department to be shot in a week.

On Monday, an off-duty officer was ambushed by two gunmen at a red light in Calumet Heights on the South Side. And last Sunday, an on-duty Chicago police sergeant was shot while standing in the parking lot of the Gresham District police station, 7808 S. Halsted St.

Thomas is expected to appear in bond court Sunday.

Read More

Man charged with attempted murder after shooting CPD officer, sparking West Side SWAT standoff: policeon March 21, 2021 at 4:18 pm Read More »