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ISU Redbirds host WIU Leathernecks as both seek first win of springon March 19, 2021 at 10:55 am

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ISU Redbirds host WIU Leathernecks as both seek first win of spring

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ISU Redbirds host WIU Leathernecks as both seek first win of springon March 19, 2021 at 10:55 am Read More »

It Takes More Than My Microscope For Me To Give You A Diagnosis Of Prostate Canceron March 19, 2021 at 2:13 pm

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It Takes More Than My Microscope For Me To Give You A Diagnosis Of Prostate Cancer

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It Takes More Than My Microscope For Me To Give You A Diagnosis Of Prostate Canceron March 19, 2021 at 2:13 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears: Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy allowed to rebuild?on March 19, 2021 at 3:41 pm

Jan 9, 2018; Lake Forest, IL, USA; Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace (L) and head coach Matt Nagy (R) pose for a picture during the press conference at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 9, 2018; Lake Forest, IL, USA; Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace (L) and head coach Matt Nagy (R) pose for a picture during the press conference at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Entering the offseason, the idea was that Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy were in a “win-or-else” mode in regards to keeping their current positions with the team.

Initially, it appeared that Pace and Nagy were operating with that ultimatum. The Bears were leaving no stone unturned in their search to resolve the quarterback position. They swung big for a trade of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. An acquisition of Wilson likely would have cooled the seats of both Pace and Nagy.

However, in the aftermath of their missed attempt for Wilson, it appears that Pace and Nagy may be safer than originally speculated.

The first piece of evidence that Pace and Nagy may be safe beyond the 2021 season is what occurred in January. While speaking during the end of season press conference, neither Bears’ chairman George McCaskey nor team president Ted Phillips commented on the current length of contracts for Pace and Nagy.

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The lack of comment from McCaskey or Phillips fueled speculation that Pace secretly received a one-year contact extension that extends his contract through the 2022 season and links him directly to Nagy. If that is the case, then it is entirely plausible the Pace and Nagy convinced McCaskey and Phillips on a two-year rebuilding plan.

Looking at the Bears’ moves this past week through the microscope that Pace and Nagy are safe beyond the 2021 season, then it starts to make sense. Why else would the Bears immediately sign Andy Dalton after missing out on Wilson when they already have Nick Foles in place. Why else would the Bears cut Kyle Fuller instead of Jimmy Graham or Charles Leno; or, restructuring the contracts of Robert Quinn or Danny Trevathan. Why else would the team be willing to allow Akiem Hicks to seek a trade?

These are not the moves that are made by a general manager and head coach that know their jobs are line. The fear is that there is no check and balance system above Pace. Pace is admittedly the Bears’ “football guy”. And with Pace having a family like relationship with the McCaskey family, it is not entirely crazy to believe that he convinced them of a two-year plan.

Next: Chicago Bears parting with Kyle Fuller

If that is the case, the Bears are doomed. The reason the Bears are on the edge of rebuilding are because of Pace’s grotesque mistakes. Mistakes that have obliterated the Bears’ salary cap flexibility. Pace covers his previous mistakes with another mistake. That is why he should not be allowed to lead the Bears through another rebuild because that would inevitably lead to another rebuild to correct the previous rebuild. Folks, the Chicago Bears are doomed.

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Chicago Bears: Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy allowed to rebuild?on March 19, 2021 at 3:41 pm Read More »

Week 1’s top high school football gameson March 19, 2021 at 2:23 pm

No. 1 Loyola at No. 9 St. Rita, 7:30 p.m. Friday

These long-time Catholic League rivals, now in different divisions, are both expecting to have their most talented teams in years. No. 1 Loyola has six D-I recruits: running back Vaughn Pemberton (Ball State), offensive tackle Conor Clyde (Dayton), defensive end Brandon Svets (Harvard), linebackers Liam Conaghan (Eastern Illinois) and Braden Mullen (Dartmouth), and kicker Nate Van Zelst (Wisconsin). A seventh, Illinois-bound lineman Josh Kreutz, won’t play this season because of injury. No. 9 St, Rita has the state’s best junior in Kaleb Brown, who can line up at running back or receiver. Receiver Henry Wilson (Western Michigan), back after missing the end of the Mustangs’ run to the 5A state final in 2019 with a broken leg, is another playmaker.

No. 12 Bolingbrook at No. 3 Lincoln-Way East, 7 p.m. Friday

No. 3 Lincoln-Way East has won two of the past three Class 8A titles, but that’s not in play during this abbreviated pandemic season. Instead the Griffins will look to extend their conference and regular-season winning streaks of 20 and 28 games, respectively. Three MAC recruits lead the way: running back Jamal Johnson (Bowling Green), receiver Mason Pierre-Antoine (Northern Illinois) and safety Matt Kordas (Bowling Green). No. 12 Bolingbrook’s defense was loaded with playmakers coming out of last season, but safety Justin Walters (Notre Dame) and cornerback Malik Rainey (Cincinnati) are early enrollees in college. Linebacker Tyler McLaurin (MIchigan) is still around, though.

No. 5 Brother Rice at Providence, 7:30 p.m. Friday

This old-school Catholic League matchup features a pair of explosive running backs: Rice’s Willie Shaw, a Toledo recruit who had 20 touchdowns last season, and Providence’s Aaron Vaughn. No. 5 Rice is experienced across the field with veterans like linebacker Myles Jones (Georgetown), defensive end Ryan Whelan (Dayton), quarterback Jack Lausch and offensive linemen Luke Murphy, Max Mallon and Conor McAlilly. Providence returns Minnesota-bound tight end Jameson Geers and adds Kevin Spelman, a transfer from Ohio who will start on both lines.

Waubonsie Valley at No. 10 Naperville Central, 2 p.m. Saturday

Antonio Torres, an all-conference defensive back/running back as a sophomore at Waubonsie last season, is now at No. 10 Central. The Redhawks also picked up senior quarterback Jaden McGill from Oak Park. He’ll be throwing to receiver Reggie Fleurima, who this week became Northwestern’s first commit in the Class of 2022. Kicker Aiden Ellison is one of the nation’s best. Dual-threat quarterback Nathan Pappas is a player to watch for Waubonsie, which has a new coach in Tom Baumgartner.

Hersey at Rolling Meadows, 1 p.m. Saturday

The last time one of these teams didn’t win at least a share of the Mid-Suburban East title was 2011. Rolling Meadows has a new coach in Sam Baker (formerly at Grayslake North) and an almost entirely new defense. But receiver Daniel Sobkowicz, who had 50 catches in 2019, is back. Hersey must replace two-way star Jordan Hansen, now playing safety at Northern Illinois after accounting for 59 touchdowns as a starting quarterback for the Huskies.

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Week 1’s top high school football gameson March 19, 2021 at 2:23 pm Read More »

Five Homes For Sale in Northwest Indianaon March 19, 2021 at 2:00 pm

When Illinoisans move, they tend to become Hoosiers. There’s a lot of back and forth, as Illinois also gets cross-border in-migration from our neighbors, but Indiana takes more people than it gives—about twice as many in 2018. It’s the number-one destination for out-migration, ahead of Florida; Wisconsin, on the other Chicagoland border, is third.

Why? A likely cause is affordability. As the Center for Budget and Tax Accountability found late last year, the recent trend in Illinois out-migration (overall, not just to Indiana) has been a big loss in the low-income population. And you can definitely get more housing for the money, like a classic farmhouse, in decent shape, on almost two acres, for considerably less than $200,000.  Or you can go up or down price tiers and find something completely different, a totally different world of real estate just next door.

This gently postmodern beach house dates to 1988 in the best possible way: curvy windows, glass blocks, and a split level arrangement highlighted by a walkway bring in lots of light to a huge semi-open-plan living area with a double-sided fireplace. It’s tucked into thick forest, which makes the solarium-style sunroom particularly cozy, but second floor porches take you up over the treetops. It’s big, as you’d expect from the price—four beds, five baths, nearly 5,000 square feet—but appropriately relaxing for its spot by the lake.

For the opposite but no less cozy, try this 1942 knotty-pine cabin. It’s not big, about 1,600 square feet, but it crams five beds into that space while still featuring a big, warm, living area with a classic stone fireplace, plus an airy screened-in porch. If the feeling you get from it is “vacation rental,” that’s what it is, which gives you some flexibility if the big city calls again.

Sure, it needs work, but it’s a farmhouse, that’s the spirit of the thing: some sweat equity for a flinty cost. In exchange, you get three beds, two baths, a respectable 1,600 square feet, and most importantly nearly two acres of land, plus a barn for your… barn things. There’s plenty it needs, but the upshot is that getting back to the way it’s supposed to look doesn’t require stripping down bad renovations. If you’d rather just hang out at the beach, however, it’s just a 15-minute drive to the Indiana Dunes.

You can’t get much closer to Chicago without being in Illinois than this classic 1916 home, built for a doctor in between Wolf Lake and Lake Michigan. Just off the entryway is a beautiful hardwood central stair, a formal dining room, and an exposed-beam parlor with a stout fireplace at the center. The classically sized living space means a lot of square feet, just over 4,000, with four beds and three baths. It’s the kind of house that could be transplanted from Oak Park, but it’s a short walk from the lake—and property taxes are just a couple grand a year.

If woods are more your thing than the beach, out in Valparaiso sits this very 1950s house on 10 acres of land just off the Moraine Nature Preserve. While it has some MCM touches, this 7,000+ square foot home is more Liberace than Eames: an ornate Chippendale fireplace with an actual bar (no hiding the bar in the basement, they party here), zebra-stripe wallpaper in the massive master bath, a mirrored hallway with chandeliers, a truckload of drapery surrounding its massively oversized bay windows (with another chandelier), and a living room (or parlor, or something) with a mirrored wall and a marble fireplace and a hardwood wall and an Italianate mural. Is it tasteful? Well, it is full of a lot of different tastes.

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Five Homes For Sale in Northwest Indianaon March 19, 2021 at 2:00 pm Read More »

Chicago rapper-producer Tree extends his winning streak with Soul TrapLeor Galilon March 19, 2021 at 11:00 am


In the past decade, Chicago hip-hop has elevated many talented acts to the national stage, among them rapper-producer Tremaine Johnson, better known as Tree—and his wildly idiosyncratic sounds set him apart from most of those newly minted stars. The Cabrini-Green native specializes in calamitous productions whose tough-as-nails percussion frames honeyed vocal samples warped till they sound ghostly; it’s a style Tree calls “soul trap.” This sound enriches his storytelling, giving his worldly-wise perspective more heft and making the detailed snapshots from his youth feel as tangible as flesh.…Read More

Chicago rapper-producer Tree extends his winning streak with Soul TrapLeor Galilon March 19, 2021 at 11:00 am Read More »

Chicagoans say the pandemic has changed their lives for worse but also betterSatchel Priceon March 19, 2021 at 11:00 am

One reader told us she “finally found the motivation to work out consistently, which I haven’t done since playing sports in college.”
One reader told us she “finally found the motivation to work out consistently, which I haven’t done since playing sports in college.” | Scott Olson / Getty Images

Deaths in the family. Pay cuts. But also motivation to work out more and to learn to appreciate what we have and take nothing for granted. Those are some of the things we heard from you.

It’s been a year now that the coronavirus pandemic has been with us, and here’s what Chicagoans told us are some of the ways they’ve changed since the world around them changed. Some answers have been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

“When they said they were going to shut down everything, I was happy, I thought my family and I would be safe at home. But the virus found its way into our home and destroyed my family. We all got sick, and my mother passed away in June. My life will never be the same.” — Vanessa Ramirez

“I’ve finally found the motivation to work out consistently, which I haven’t done since playing sports in college.” — Ruth Anderson

“My circumstances sure changed. Started with a huge pay cut at work and resulted in a layoff. Then, I vowed to make lemonade. I did. Went back to work after only nine weeks and got a pay raise and much much more, both personally and professionally.” — Karen Renee Webber

“Made me realize I like being alone.” — Amanda Burke

“I’m a lot more relaxed by not having to go into an office. I’ve been consciously making time for playing music, reading, working crossword puzzles, building Lego sets, cooking from scratch, working on various hobby/craft things and generally enjoying my life.” — Connie Cae

“Made me appreciate everything out there that is available to us which I will never take for granted again. Like live concerts, sporting events, museums, etc. I never really knew how lucky I was to have those available until it was taken away.” — Tom Cooper

“As an introvert, I found wanting to stay in and avoid others and being forced to stay in and avoid others are two totally different mindsets.” — Tony De Castro

“For starters, it’s made me want to be around dogs and cats more and people much less.” — Elliott Avant

“I lost 12 pounds. I don’t miss going out as much as I thought I would. I planted a garden, and everything grew!” — Nadesna Moran

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Chicagoans say the pandemic has changed their lives for worse but also betterSatchel Priceon March 19, 2021 at 11:00 am Read More »

Teen charged with Bucktown carjackingsSun-Times Wireon March 19, 2021 at 11:44 am

A 19-year-old was charged with carjacking a man and a woman Jan. 18, 2021 in Bucktown.
A 19-year-old was charged with carjacking a man and a woman Jan. 18, 2021 in Bucktown. | Sun-Times file photo

Chauncey Jordan, 19, allegedly attempted to carjack a man in the 1700 block of West Armitage Avenue but was unable to drive the vehicle because the emergency brake was engaged.

A 19-year-old has been charged with carjacking a man and a woman in January in Bucktown on the North Side.

Chauncey Jordan allegedly attempted to carjack a 44-year-old man in the early morning hours of Jan. 18 in the 1700 block of West Armitage Avenue, according to Chicago police.

He showed a firearm and took the man’s vehicle but was unable to drive it because the emergency brake was engaged, police said.

Jordan then allegedly took a Toyota Camry from a 45-year-old woman at gunpoint and fled the scene, according to police.

Jordan faces two felony counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking.

He is scheduled to appear in bond court Friday.

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Teen charged with Bucktown carjackingsSun-Times Wireon March 19, 2021 at 11:44 am Read More »

Chicago Bears: Andy Dalton was promised the Bears starting QB spotRyan Tayloron March 19, 2021 at 12:00 pm

Andy Dalton had his first introductory media session with the Chicago Bears on Wednesday afternoon, via the Chicago Bears official website. Dalton, who was signed to a one-year, $10 million contract on Tuesday, had some interesting things to say about his experiences with free agency, the team, and the future. Dalton’s acceptance to the city […]

Chicago Bears: Andy Dalton was promised the Bears starting QB spot – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & More

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Chicago Bears: Andy Dalton was promised the Bears starting QB spotRyan Tayloron March 19, 2021 at 12:00 pm Read More »

Chicago Cubs: This is the perfect 2021 starting lineup 2.0on March 19, 2021 at 11:00 am

(Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
(Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
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Chicago Cubs, Anthony Rizzo

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Chicago Cubs are going into the season with mixed expectations. It has been a strange offseason for them in a lot of ways. They were swept by the Miami Marlins who were a shock to even make the playoffs in 2020 and that left the Cubs looking for answers. Well, it started off with Theo Epstein stepping down as the President of Baseball Operations with one year left on his deal. Jed Hoyer remained and is now the guy in charge.

Kyle Schwarber and Jon Lester were allowed to walk and both ended up with the Washington Nationals. That is a weird thing to let happen because the Cubs claim they want to compete in 2021 but losing guys like that on purpose certainly doesn’t help you. They also traded Yu Darvish to the San Diego Padres after he came in second for the National League Cy Young Award.

Following those departures, all of the sudden the Cubs found some money lying around and decided to add some free agents. Most of those free agents aren’t as helpful as the ones that they let go by design. There is no doubt that this year has been confusing for them.

The Chicago Cubs starting lineup, however, probably isn’t going to look so bad.

When you think of the Cubs, there are a few star players that come to mind. These are guys that won the World Series with the club. It is a group that led the team to its first title in 108 years. These guys are going into 2021 with a chip on their shoulders based on how the previous season went. This is what the perfect batting order would look like:

Next: Batting First

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Chicago Cubs: This is the perfect 2021 starting lineup 2.0on March 19, 2021 at 11:00 am Read More »