Yesterday we looked at some of the greatest Black male vocalists of all-time. Today we check their female counterparts.
The final list was whittled down from a group of more than thirty great performers. They also included Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Chaka Khan, Patti Labelle, Donna Summer, Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, Roberta Flack and Dinah Washington.
Here’s the list of twelve of the best Black female singers.
My so called friends think it’s time to edit this section. After four years, they may be right, but don’t tell them that. I’ll deny it until they die!
I can’t believe I’ve been writing this blog for four years.
It started as a health/wellness thing and over the years has morphed to include so many things that I don’t know how to describe it anymore.
I really thought this was going to be the final year of the blog but then Donald Trump came along. It looks like we’re good for four more years..God help us all!
Oh yeah…the biographical stuff. I’m not 60 anymore. The rest you can read about in the blog.
Chicago Theatre week starts today. This year, like many other things, the event will be held virtually. Here’s what you need to know to enjoy special offerings from home.
Log On
Log on to ChicagoTheatreWeek.comstarting February 25 where you’ll see offerings from more than 100 theatre and learn about individual theatres and how you can offer support and engage with each company.
Engage
How to engage: Engage with a digital production, audio play, or online class.
Many theatres are continuing to keep the spirit of Chicago theatre alive through connecting virtually with audiences through online performances, classes, and other programs. Browse the theatre listings on ChicagoTheatreWeek.com and plan to watch a virtual performance during or after CTW.
There are no set CTW ticket discounts like in the past. The featured content may be free or paid.
Highlights
Streaming Productions during Theatre Week
An Illiad (Photo) March 3-31
Court Theatre
An Iliad showcases the power of classic theatre to speak to our current moment. Interrogate how rage and division reverberate throughout civilization in this streaming release of our limited-engagement, site-specific production of An Iliad at the Oriental Institute. This professionally-captured, multi-camera stream of the play allows you to experience this one-of-a-kind production at home, which Rick and Brenda McCain of Chicago Now hailed as “a superb collaboration of theater and history in a site-specific platform that is sure to bring chills to the historian that resides in all humanity.”
Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery
February 25 – March 7 – Special Chicago Theatre Week revival
Metropolis Performing Arts Center
The play’s afoot! The award-winning comedic mastermind Ken Ludwig transforms Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic The Hound of the Baskervilles into a murderously funny adventure. Equal parts comedy and thriller, the world’s favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes, is on the case. The heirs of the Baskerville line are being eliminated one by one. To find their ingenious killer, Holmes and faithful companion Dr. Watson reluctantly travel to Devonshire where they are forced to brave its desolate moors. The duo must unravel a web of murky clues before this family curse dooms its newest heir. The investigators attempt to escape peril and deceit, as a small group of actors portrays over forty characters with wit, silly accents, and clever disguises. Join the fun and see how far from elementary the truth can be.
Boléro
Friday, February 26 at 7:00 PM CST – One Night Only Joffrey Ballet
Joffrey Artist Yoshihisa Arai takes audiences on a journey through time and space in this world premiere performance for the Joffrey. Featuring 15 dancers, this debut work takes inspiration from nature and the seminal score of the same name by composer Maurice Ravel.
Other Rockpools February 25 – March 7 – Special Theatre Week encore
The New Colony
Originally presented in partnership with Chicago Votes as part of an extensive get-out-the-vote campaign, The New Colony is proud to bring back the virtual reading of Other Rockpools for an encore presentation in conjunction with Chicago Theatre Week.
Taking Up Serpents February 27 – March 19
Chicago Opera Theater
Kayla’s father presides over an isolated community of snake handlers – a sect of Pentecostals who willingly take up venomous snakes to prove themselves before God. When ritual ends in tragedy, Kayla is compelled to return to the family she left behind, reckon with her past, and take control of her future.
The Delicate Tears Of The Waning Moon (Photos and Video) February 26 – March 5
Water People Theater
A play about Human Rights violations suffered by those fighting for and communicating truth in the world. Two journalists immerse into a world of violence where cruelty is a habit, impunity is routine, freedom a utopia, and telling the truth is the greatest risk of all.
The Secretaries
February 27, 7 PM CST – One Night Only
Goodman Theatre
Berlin, 1944: four women in Aryan drag vie to be the Führer’s personal secretary as he heads into a bunker with his girlfriend. It’s a rough time to be a German, but this is a chance to search for greater importance in a national capacity. Omer Abbas Salem’s fearsome, absurd new work examines complicity and the lies we tell ourselves as we mistake self-interest and supremacy for patriotism.
Where Did We Sit on The Bus? (Photos and video)
Feb. 22- Mar 7
Victory Gardens Theater
Where Did We Sit on the Bus? is an electric one-man show pulsing with Latin rhythms, rap, hip-hop, spoken word, and live looping. During a third grade lesson on the Civil Rights movement and Rosa Parks, a Latino boy raises his hand to ask, “Where did we sit on the bus?” and his teacher can’t answer the question. This thrilling autobiographical production from Jeff Award-winner Brian Quijada examines what it means to be Latino through the eyes of a child, turned teenager, turned adult.
Audio Plays and Podcasts
Miss Holmes March 12 – May 2 Lifeline Theatre
Miss Sherlock Holmes, possessor of one of the greatest deductive minds of her generation, finds herself regularly incarcerated for behaviors deemed abnormal in a “respectable” lady. Miss Dorothy Watson struggles to make a difference at the only hospital in England that will hire female doctors. These unconventional women, trapped in an era that refuses to accept them, must forge a bond of trust and work together to uncover the secrets surrounding a corrupt police investigator whose wives have a habit of turning up dead. Join the original Lifeline cast in this thrilling murder mystery that re-introduces familiar characters from the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in an immersive, six-episode audio experience.
Opposing Ophelia (We Women Podcast)
Artemisia Theatre
Podcast Episode Released March 3
An audio performance of Opposing Ophelia, by Deneen Reynolds-Knott. Yvette, a former model and student at the Ophelia Devore School of Modeling & Charm, is confronted with new ideas about beauty, blackness and womanhood, when her daughter, Nina, joins the National Black Feminist Organization in 1973. Directed by Celeste Cooper and performed by Tiffany Cox, Abie Irabor, Martasia Jones, and Cajardo Lindsey.
Play Festivals or Series
BECHDEL FEST 8: REALIGN
Broken Nose Theatre
Now – March 26
Free
As in past years, each of the brand-new short plays in BECHDEL FEST 8: REALIGN pass The Bechdel-Wallace Test, meaning that these stories feature an ensemble of femme, female-identifying, non-binary, trans and genderqueer actors talking about things other than men. Each play will stream for FREE thru March 26, 2021 on BNT’s YouTube channel, with a new play released each Friday for an entire week before it’s removed and a new play is broadcast.
Hit ‘Em on the Blackside (Part 1) Watch Party + Talkback
March 5 – One Night Only
Did you miss the first 6 episodes of Hit’ ‘Em on the Blackside? No worries! Come hang out with the Congo family for a live watch party catching up on all the previous episodes and a talkback with the HOTB cast and crew before the launch of the new episodes on March 19th.
KICKBACK: a world-premiere virtual performance festival (Photo) Stream Anytime
About Face Theatre
KICKBACK is an online festival of original plays and performances that highlights the intersection of queerness and Blackness in all its beauty and glory. When just being alive and living your best life is an act of rebellion, it’s time to turn up the music and make some noise! About Face Theatre has commissioned a cohort of Black LGBTQ+ artists to create new works in conversation with Rebuild Foundation’s extensive collection of African-American art and cultural artifacts. This bold online performance series will be an unapologetic celebration of Black lives now and through the ages.
Orfeo Remote – Mini Opera Series (Photo)
Stream Anytime
Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University
Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo—based upon the story of Orpheus’s journey to the underworld to rescue his love Eurydice—is often considered the first great opera. Orfeo Remote presents it in the form of an opera mini-series, with a timely twist. During the challenging times of a pandemic, a young, unemployed musician—embodied in the character La Musica—reaches out to friends and colleagues to tell Orfeo’s story in the setting of 1960s America. Orfeo Remote juxtaposes the hippie movement’s ideals of free love and connection with the current reality of pandemic-induced isolation.
Honor Black History during #CTW21 Amplify February 24-25, 2021 Definition Theatre
Amplify, our new play commissioning program was developed to empower and uplift underrepresented theatre creatives. Filmed in accordance with COVID-19 safety guidelines, these eight scenes are snippets of the brilliant submissions we received. Over the course of two nights, we’ll get to know the eight semi-finalists playwrights and preview what’s to come from their plays in development.
Being Sincere
Virtual Play Reading February 27, 7:30 PM CST – One Night Only
Beverly Arts Center
Being Sincere is a coming-of-age story about a middle-aged man named Sincere, ‘Junior’ who lives with his terminally ill grandmother. Sincere and his grandmother learn new lessons about love, change, and starting a new life when a mysterious homemaker comes to help.
Black Teen Lives Matter Silk Road Rising
February 27 & March 1, 7PM CST
Black Teens Lives Matter is a virtual project in four acts that draws on monologues and short plays written by Black teens in Silk Road Rising’s EPIC (Empathic Playwriting Intensive Course) program from 2017-2020. Black Teen Lives Matter: Act Two is curated by Brianna Buckley, Elena Feliz, Jabari Khaliq, Jarrett King, and Londen Shannon. Silk Road Rising will host two screenings followed by talkbacks with creators. Saturday, February 27 at 2:00PM CST and Monday, March 1 at 7:00PM CST. After that, the video will become available to watch at any time for free.
Family-Friendly Streaming Productions
Diamond’s Dream (Photo) Stream Anytime
Chicago Children’s Theatre
Diamond’s Dream is a virtual puppet production that takes place on a CTA Red Line train traveling south through pandemic-era Chicago. Diamond, a pre-teen African-American boy, has fallen asleep on the train while on his way to visit his dying grandmother. When he awakes, time and reality have shifted, and he meets the ghost of a young African-American girl, a shape-shifting elder spirit who died of Spanish Flu 100 years ago to the date.
Hot Chocolate Sunday Reading of “The Adventures of Cleaver And Whizjam. On The Isle of Oogle”
March 7, 3PM CST – One Day Only
Her Story Theater
Join us on Zoom for our first Hot Chocolate Sunday Readings for Family and Youth. A book launch party perfect for family and friends. A great cast of professional actors (see names below) reading the opening chapters of “The Adventures of Cleaver of Whizjam On The Isle of Oogle” written by Mary Bonnett and illustrated by Emily Thomsen.
Mountain Goat Mountain (Photo)
February 20 – March 21 Filament Theatre
Using just a bedsheet, a phone or computer, pencils and a piece of paper, Mountain Goat Mountain immerses families in a 45 minute theatrical experience. Children and families are carried along by a narrative soundscape, and invited to bring their own creativity and imagination to the performance. Got Hungry Hikers? Local adventurers can add fresh baked treats from our friends at Fannie’s Cafe to your pass! Look for the option at check-out.
That’s Weird, Grandma: House Par-Tay Streams Weekly on Mondays (March 1 during Theatre Week) PlayMakers Laboratory
PlayMakers Laboratory is pleased to announce the March 2021 line-up for its popular online revue That’s Weird, Grandma: House Par-Tay, celebrating Women’s History Month, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter, plus a special Poetry Slam edition. The creative series of stories written by elementary school students, adapted and performed by PML’s professional actors streams Mondays at 8 pm CST from March 1 – 29, 2021 via Patreon. Tickets ($2 – $4 subscriptions) are currently available at playmakerslab.org .
Online Classes Actors Gymnasium (Photo)
Our online classes are a great way for people of all ages to stay active from home and learn new skills. Choose Circus Fitness, Flexibility, Puppetry, and more!
Chicago Dramatists
20% discount for Spring online classes
Fired Up February – Cooking Class
February 25, 2021
Oil Lamp Theater
Fire up your stove and learn how to make dishes like the pros! Cook alongside local business and Oil Lamp neighbor, Forza Meats and their famed Chef Juan, to make mouth-watering Carne Asada Fajitas, Mexican Rice, and Refried Beans from scratch! The class will be presented in a mixture of Spanish and English.
Going Beyond “I Like It” – Online Class/Discussion
Wednesdays and Fridays, March 3, 5, 10 & 12, 6:30 – 8:00pm
Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Remy Bumppo Core Ensemble Member Greg Matthew Anderson will lead a cross-disciplinary discussion on the philosophy of art and aesthetics with selected readings, anecdotes and insights from Chicago theatre productions–and the occasional special guest. Tools in hand, we’ll dive into the group’s collective experiences with the visual arts, museum exhibits, music, food, architecture, dance–and, of course, theatre!–to learn from one another how to both sharpen our critical eye and become even better fans of this great art form and all art wherever we find it.
More
For a comprehensive list of Chicago productions, visit the League of Chicago Theatres websites, ChicagoPlays.com and HotTix.org.
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Blackbird restaurant in Chicago closed in June, one of thousands of business affected by the coronavirus pandemic. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Will he tell us when it’s over, or will he keep America dangling on his string?
We know that President Joe Biden is big on having “plans.” One of his biggest criticisms of former President Donald Trump was that he had “no plan” for fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
(Even though not only did Trump have a plan, but that plan was being executed as Biden was yakking about Trump not having one.)
Having a “plan” or a “program” always is a big deal for Democrats, liberals and progressives. It fits right in to their ideology that “planners” have superior knowledge about how everything works, that action plans need to be centralized (mostly at the federal level) and that everyone must march in step with the “plan.”
Yet here the COVID-19 pandemic is showing persuasive signs that it is abating, and Biden has no real plan for re-opening America. Infection and death rates have dropped dramatically, yet Biden has no real plan. Vaccinations are speeding up and herd immunity is approaching, yet Biden has no real plan. No variants of the coronavirus are showing up, but scientists are coming up with vaccines they believe will effective fight them. Unemployment claims have fallen sharply.
It’s chuck full of the usual liberal/progressive/far left/hard left malarky: More money, more regulation, more centralized control, more nose in your business, more bureaucratic structures, more this and more that. For example, it would
Ensure workers and unions have a voice in reopening plans, and that reopening decisions by tribal governments are respected. (Read Joe Biden’s plans for establishing a Pandemic Testing Board to surge testing nationwide, and ramping up the production and fair distribution of PPE.)
That’s a thinly disguised promise to government employe unions to bow to their bidding. Those are huge, powerful special interests that heavily fund Democratic candidates–precisely the kind of big lobby that liberals once despised for corrupting the will of the people.
And a Pandemic Testing Board? What the? Biden says it would be like the War Production Board of World War II that would massively scale up COVID-19 testing. You’ve got to read it in detail to get an idea of just how massively bureaucratic, utopian and certain-to-fail it is.
Just like Biden’s wide-ranging, all -inclusive, complex plans for supposedly reopening the economy and schools.
Like so much that comes out of the bureaucratic lairs these days, Boden’s so-called plan unleashes an army of academics, grant writers, social scientists, planners and the like whose job is to basically take an idea and load it down with so much verbiage, required studies and and other first-required steps that by the time the plan would into the action, if it ever does, the problem will be long gone. Those “planners” hated Trump for launching what was an effective campaign to discover, test, produce and distribute the vaccines–without the “benefit” of their cumbersome and utopian “plans.”
Trump’s plan was simple: Make life miserable for the bureaucrats who said “it couldn’t be done” or “we’ve never done it that way before.” In Trump’s supposed ignorance, he said it must be done, and, miracle of miracles, it was.
On the other hand, Biden’s “plan” was to carry out Trump’s framework and organization, add a bunch of ornaments and pretend that the resultss his. Despicable.
You and I might disagree about the timelines and standards that the authors use to create their outlook. But it raises the issues and discusses the data that should be at this exact moment debated.
Instead of the hollow “plans” take Biden has read off this teleprompter.
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Suggested reading: U of I Inventor, Bypassed For Nobel, To Share Draper Prize https://will.illinois.edu/news/story/u-of-i-inventor-bypassed-for-nobel-to-share-draper-prize
Imagine for just a few seconds that you lived in Chicago. Every single day you read and hear about the soaring violence and the tremendous impact it has on the thousands of victims. In a 14 month period over 875 souls have been murdered, infants, babies, toddlers, hundreds of teens, seniors, no age group or gender spared. Another 4,600 have been shot and over 1,718 have been victims of violent carjackings.
No matter where one lives in the City the violence is real and folks are aware and living, if not in fear then in a state of high alert. So along comes none-other than the Governor of Illinois using his pulpit when signing a Supposed Criminal Justice Reform Bill to label folks as FEARMONGERS who are concerned about a major part of the bill that will completely eliminate cash bail from the Bonding process. Gee! ya think they would be at least a bit concerned to learn that violent criminals will be sent right back through the revolving door they came through in less than 24 hours most times. Not so in the Governor’s mind, HE’S LABELED THOSE CONCERNED FOLKS FEARMONGERS. I’m not sure what kind of a life J.B Pritzker lead before he spent almost 173 million dollars of his own fortune to become Governor, but I’m betting it was either Disney World or the land of the STEPFORD WIVES.
One could not be that out of touch unless he lived on another planet. Not since Hillary Clinton labeled those who disagreed with her political platform a”BASKET OF DEPLORABLES” has a politician besmirched so many decent people with such a blatant disregard for legitimate concerns. Nero fiddled while Rome burned, Marie Antoinette at least offered cake, Pritzker and his family who are surrounded by armed security 24 hours a day offer up an astonishing insult.
I once had a young police officer who was assigned to my unit to work undercover as a decoy. Strong-armed robberies, armed robberies, and chain snatchings were gripping the city’s transit system. He felt that he was not doing something quite right, none of the offenders were picking him out and he was frustrated. I explained to him that it was his demeanor and his sense of security, he was armed, he had other protections on his person, and of course, he had back up no more than 10 seconds away, so his aura, so to speak, gave him away. He didn’t have the same look as a defenseless citizen would have and the criminal element could sense he was not a typical victim. I sense that Governor Pritzker and his assessment of other people’s fear as Fearmongering also lacked that urgency and most likely NEVER EVER felt what most city folks live with on a daily basis and that is to be alert to your surroundings. Chicago is not Disney World, dangerous people exist, a little fear and apprehension are sometimes very prudent in order to stay safe.
The question that comes to mind is could a person who was born with billions of dollars and lived in a mansion most of his life ever be able to feel, what hundreds of thousands of others do, who have to negotiate life in a big city? Being a billionaire could possibly cause one to feel “Entitled, Impatient and Arrogant, but a sense of decency carries no monetary weight. Governor Pritzker needs to know that the mind is slow to unlearn what it learned earlier. Lots of folks in Illinois will not forget being labeled a Fearmonger and maybe another 173 million dollars will not be enough next election. Leadership cannot be bought. Even people labeled Fearmongers have long memories.
Bob Angone is a Marine VETERAN and a retired Chicago Police Lieutenant. He worked his entire Career covering the streets of Chicago as a Tactical Officer, Tactical Sergeant, and Tactical Lieutenant. His last assignments were in special Functions, he was the C/O of the CPD Swat teams his last five years and was an HBT (Hostage Barricade Terrorist) Sergeant for 10 years.
Dorian Missick currently stars on SEASON 2 of ABC’s hit crime drama/thriller FOR LIFE, which aired its season 2 finale on February 24th. Created by Hank Steinberg and produced by 50 Cent, the timely drama is based on the true story of Isaac Wright Jr., who was imprisoned for a crime that he did not commit. While incarcerated, he became a licensed attorney and helped to overturn the wrongful convictions of twenty of his fellow inmates, before finally proving his own innocence.
Missick first gained recognition when he starred in the critically acclaimed TNT series “SouthLAnd” opposite Emmy winner Regina King. Missick then stayed in the John Wells family and had a heavily recurring role in the TNT series “Animal Kingdom.” Other recent roles include a series regular on CBS All Access’s Tell Me A Story, Marvel’s Luke Cage, the lead opposite Brandy in BET’s comedy series “Zoe Ever After,” NBC’s drama “The Cape,” JJ Abrams’ “Six Degrees” for ABC.
Missick’s recent film work includes BRIAN BANKS with Greg Kinnear and Aldis Hodge, the SXSW independent JINN, Sony’s ANNIE, Screen Gem’s DELIVER US FROM EVIL, and BIG WORLDS (Slamdance 2014) which was distributed by Ava Duvernay’s ARRAY films, in which he played the title character.
We chatted with Missick before season 2’s finale to talk about his character and development on the show.
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Workload figures to be a buzzword throughout baseball this year, with more attention than ever being placed on innings bumps from previous season, pitch counts, and monitoring pitchers for dead arm periods. It is possible the league will not see a single starter surpass 200 innings as clubs will be cautious to protect their top arms for potential postsesaon runs.
Kyle Hendricks was one of just three MLB pitchers to surpass 80 innings during the shortened 2020 campaign. None exceeded 85. Don’t be surprised to see piggybacks, six-man rotations or at least more frequent spot starts employed by the Cubs and all MLB clubs throughout 2021. The Iowa shuttle figures to be even more imperative than usual in order to keep fresh arms available in not just the bullpen, but the rotation as well.
2020 Innings Pitched
Hendricks 81.1 (12 GS)
Davies 69.1 (12 GS)
Mills 62.1 (11 GS)
Williams 55.1 (11 GS)
Arrieta 44.1 (9 GS)
Alzolay 21.1 (6 G/4 GS)
T. Miller 5.0 (2 G/1 GS)
Marquez 0.2 (1 G/0 GS)
Other SP 40-Man Roster: Stewart (Opted Out), Abbott (Alternate site only), K. Thompson (Alternate site only), Fenter (Rule 5)
NRI SP: S. Miller (Opted Out 2020)
The Cubs starting rotation may not impress in terms of velocity, but in what figures to be a taxing season on arms, having so many guys who don’t overthrow and rely on contact may not be such a bad thing. It certainly was not the Cubs plan to construct their rotation entirely around soft tossers, but if you are looking for a silver lining, of all the seasons to run out a group groundball specialists, 2021 is probably the best one. The Cubs feel they have the defense (they won the inaugural Team Gold Glove Award for 2020) and that their pitching infrastructure is well suited to get the best return on investment on these types of arms.
Jake Arrieta and Adbert Alzolay both battled injury the last couple of seasons, but Arrieta only missed two starts and Alzolay also went through 2020 unscathed once he got going in South Bend. Their other four main options for the rotation are command and offspeed specialists who rarely break the 90-mph barrier with their fastball. All managed to stay healthy and not miss a start in 2020. The ability to take the ball every five days is always an underappreciated asset, and figures to be so even more this year.
Kyle Hendricks is already lined up to start the Cactus League opener on Monday and the Cubs Regular Season opener April 1st. We all know what type of pitcher he is, and the addition of an improved curveball in 2020 made him even more effective. I’m curious to see whether Hendricks relies even more heavily on it this season, as it was arguably his best pitch in several outings.
Fans may remember Zack Davies from his several seasons up in Milwaukee as an effective but unimpressive innings eater, but he took a step forward in his career with his move to San Diego last year. He stopped relying on his sinker (just 38.5% usage, down from 52.6%) and greatly increased usage of his cutter (up ~5.5%) and most importantly his changeup (up 10.0%). This new pitch mix helped him increase his K rate to a respectable 22.8%. His changeup is even more effective than the one Hendricks throws, so continuing to throw it at a high rate is a no brainer, but I do wonder if the Cubs can help him reincorporate a modified curveball into his arsenal. He rarely throws it anymore (around 2-3% of the time), but Davies had some success with the pitch early in his career, and the Cubs have helped several guys (including Hendricks) rebuild that offering in their pitch lab in recent years. If that happens, Davies could even graduate from being a poor man’s Kyle Hendricks into being a Hendricks facsimile.
Trevor Williams was working his way toward becoming a reliable starter for the Pirates, posting two straight 2.5 fWAR or better seasons in 2017-18 at the ages of 25-26. But he’s backslid the past two years, culminating in the Pirates non-tendering him last fall after he posted a 6.11 ERA in 11 starts. Williams has remained healthy and has not really lost velocity, as he stills sits in the low-90s. He’s tried diversifying his repertoire over the last two seasons, which has meant he’s used his four seamer and sinker less than he used to, which may have proven a mistake as his fastballs were probably his best pitches. If the Cubs can help him regain trust in that sinker especially, Williams should quickly grow to trust the Cubs infield defense, and that could help him get his career back on track.
Alec Mills
On the flip side is Alec Mills, whose offspeed stuff is legit but the four seam fastball gets him in trouble on occasion (especially with the long ball). Fans shouldn’t write off Mills the way I’ve seen many do this offseason as his sinker, changeup and breaking balls tunnel extremely well and few, if any, pitchers on the Cubs staff gets as much consistent horizontal movement across their entire repertoire as he does. He’d be well served by relying even more so on his secondary pitches and mixing their usage up even more than he already does (he threw all five of his pitches at least 10% of the time in 2020). His no-hitter wasn’t a fluke. He may only be a two times through the order starter, but I do feel comfortable with him in the rotation, and wouldn’t be shocked if he opens the year as one of their five.
Don’t presume the Jake Arrieta signing is just a nostalgia acquisition by the Cubs front office. One thing which has been brought up in regards to Arrieta’s struggles in Philly is that he lost his arm slot, and the lower his arm dropped since leaving the Cubs, the more velo and effectiveness he lost. This is not dissimilar to the challenges the Cubs faced with Craig Kimbrel last year. And once they managed to restore a proper arm slot for Kimbrel during the season, his velo and performance took a huge leap. Now, Arrieta is a little older, with far more wear and tear on his arm, so there may be more of a challenge in restoring it as who knows how much age and injury are contributing factors to it. But again, there is an identifiable path toward improvement, and the Cubs do have a recent example of resolving that particular issue, so it is okay to hope they can do so for Arrieta in 2021.
Adbert Alzolay
Will 2021 be the year Adbert Alzolay breaks through? His late season performance certainly points toward that outcome. Thanks to improved health and the development of a potentially devastating slider, Alzolay missed bats at an impressive rate (33.3 K%) over his 21.1 innings. Consistent command was still an issue, just as it has been throughout his career, so it is difficult to label him a surefire starter rather than reliever, but if the slider gets locked in as a legit chase pitch Alzolay will not require his command to be as refined as he would have if he was relying on his inconsistent change and curve. He’s the Cubs only option capable of missing bats at an above average rate, so he’ll be afforded every opportunity to seize a rotation slot this spring.
It figures to take a village this year, not just the six starters discussed above. The Cubs have experimented with piggybacks at the MLB level in the past, and I have little doubt we will see that strategy deployed at times this year as well. While I don’t expect the Cubs to run a true 6-man rotation at any point, the Cubs do have multiple stretches in their schedule where they play games for 16 or more consecutive days. In those instances, I can see the club dropping an extra starter into the mix to function as a de facto extra off day for the rotation, especially in the dog days of summer. Those extra starts may simply go to the swingman in the pen, but I think the team can and should use those opportunities to summon help from the Minors. This will not only help keep the MLB arms (both in the rotation and pen) fresh, but will provide valuable experience to their young arms, who they will need production from in the coming years.
Depth
I was a big fan of Kohl Stewart in his draft season, but I have to admit, I never really paid much attention to him as he worked his way through the Minors. He seems to have settled in as groundball specialist who has never really developed an out pitch, especially as he lost velocity working his way up to the Majors. He no longer possesses an exciting profile, but what he has is similar enough to the guys above that presumably he’s worth rolling the dice on in 2021 to see if the Cubs can unlock some of his lost potential. He’s got an option, so the Cubs can send him to Iowa to serve as experienced depth.
Tyson Miller and Brailyn Marquez both received their first cups of coffee in the bigs last year. While I expect the Cubs to remain patient with Marquez, as he further refines his pitches and works on locking in his mechanics, Miller figures to have a real hot at being the first call up from Iowa this year. He’ll have stiff competition from Stewart, as well as fellow prospects Cory Abbott (best shape of his life alert!) and Keegan Thompson, who were both added to the 40-man roster this offseason.
Tyson Miller (photo by Stephanie Lynn)
Miller offers an intriguing mix of length and athleticism which helps him throw strikes and gives him a boost in perceived velocity thanks to the extension he creates in his delivery. Consistent actual velocity has been an issue for him in the past (he’d fluctuate between 89-92) but he reportedly picked up a couple mph in South Bend last year, and that carried over into his five big league innings where was held both his four and two seamer well above 90 mph mark. His four seamer and changeup both have natural cutting action, so the addition of his two-seamer with arm side run last year was a pleasant surprise and could be a huge key to him becoming a full-time MLB pitcher down the road. He went from being an extreme flyball pitcher when last we saw him in the Minors in 2019 to inducing a 58.8% GB rate in his small sample of MLB action so it is hard to say what Miller really is at this point. Either way, he’ll need to further refine the changeup and/or slider into a more consistent out pitch.
He won’t show up on the Cubs top ten prospect lists (although he certainly has a case) but Cory Abbott should not be overlooked in 2021. Had an injury not held him back last summer, it is possible Abbott could have received a summons to Chicago in addition to, or possibly instead of Marquez and Miller. Coming off a terrific 2019 in AA, he was in line to be a main cog in the Iowa rotation throughout 2020. That figures to be his role in 2021, but now healthy and on the 40-man roster there is nothing holding him back from leapfrogging Miller, Stewart and any other Minor League competition to be the primary rotation depth for the Cubs this summer. Early reports are he he’s throwing better than ever, and if he adds an extra tick or two of velocity this year the way Miller did last year, Abbott should carve out a nice career as a backend MLB starter. His offspeed stuff is solid, as is his command, so as long as the fastball doesn’t hold him back the former 2nd rounder should succeed.
Keegan Thompson (Photo by Stephanie Lynn)
Like Abbott, Thompson is a sum is greater than the parts pitcher. He looked great in his first start in 2019 before an injury cost him the majority of the year. He returned for the AFL and received solid reports before spending last summer in South Bend. Thompson throws the kitchen sink at opposing hitters with what appears to be a four seam, two seam and cutter, as well as a slider, curve and change. The curve has traditionally been his best offering, but with so little data on him the last two years, I wouldn’t be shocked to see a slightly different (and hopefully improved) set of offerings in 2021.
An overslot pick by the Orioles in 2015, TJS cost Gray Fenter his 2016 season, and the Orioles were weirdly cautious working him back into the mix after his return. He eventually posted a dominant 2019 season in Low-A, culminating in a 13K performance in the SAL playoffs) as a 23-year old. He worked in the low-to-mid-90s, with a hammer curve, and was also developing a slider which showed promise according to his coach. He honestly should have been in High-A in 2019, so it is hard to know how to weigh his performance (1.81 ERA, 15.6 SwStr%). Add in that we have no data on him in 2020, and your guess is as good as mine in regards to his chances of sticking with the Cubs in 2021 (as a Rule 5 pick he would need to be offered back to Baltimore if he doesn’t stick). If he does, it is most likely to be as a reliever rather than starter.
The only NRI with much hop of carving out a 2021 role as a starter would be Shelby Miller. He opted out of the season after what was reportedly a decent 2020 spring performance. He hasn’t been good (or healthy) since leaving Atlanta in 2015, so this is most likely just a flier on an experienced arm, but like with so many guys, we just don’t have enough recent info to really know what to expect.
Junior wide receiver Taylor Grimes, who has five career starts, will be part of a bevy of new faces on the ISU offense. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
Plenty of new faces will be part of the Illinois State offense this spring.
But to starting quarterback Bryce Jefferson – who started three playoff games as a redshirt freshman in 2019 – none of the talent around him Saturday in the team’s season-opening home game against South Dakota (noon, ESPN+ and NBC SportsChicago) is unfamiliar.
“They know the playbook and they know what needs to be done,” he said of the receiving corps, which includes projected starters Austin Nagel, Taylor Grimes and Kacper Rutkiewicz. “The offense is going to get a little more upbeat and fast paced, probably more pass than run. But at Illinois State, running is our calling card. That’s what we do.”
That run game has lost 93% of its yards from last season with All-American James Robinson moving on to the NFL and his backup, Jeff Proctor, entering the transfer portal earlier this year.
Redshirt freshman Pha’leak Brown is listed as the starting running back, and he will be backed up by fellow redshirt freshman Nigel White. The duo has combined for 10 career carries.
“We have some young running backs who are really talented and very quick,” said Jefferson, who is the top returning rusher at 124 yards. “We have some backs who can get outside and make people miss.”
The run game will certainly benefit from a veteran offensive line that boasts 68 career starts, including 35 by senior left tackle and preseason All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection Drew Himmelman.
Jefferson also noted the team’s speed at wide receiver and athleticism at tight end, where junior Tanner Taula (seven receptions last season) is the starter and fellow junior Mitchell Lewis will be the top reserve.
“You’re going to see some guys having fun,” Jefferson said of the Redbirds, who are ranked No. 7 this week in the STATS Perform FCS poll.
New-look secondary
The Illinois State defensive backfield will have three new faces – senior cornerback Jarrell Jackson, sophomore free safety Clayton Isbell and sophomore strong safety Iverson Brown – starting their first career games against South Dakota.
The lone starter returning is junior cornerback Charles Woods, who has compiled 18 career starts.
The newcomers aren’t new to being on the field, however, as Brown (18 career games), Jackson (16) and Isbell (15) all have been regular contributors.
Defensive transition
Along with the new faces on offense, the Redbirds lost their top six tacklers on defense from the 2019 season.
Middle linebacker Kenton Wilhoit and weakside linebacker Shannon Reid, a transfer from Tennessee, will be starting their first games in a Redbird uniform.
Also gone are the three top sackers from 2019, when Illinois State piled up an FCS-best 52 sacks as a team.
The defensive line brings back the most experience, with junior defensive end Jason Lewan (26 career starts) and junior nose tackle John Ridgeway (24) returning to the starting lineup.
Spack chases history
In his 12th season as head coach at Illinois State, Brock Spack is only three victories away from becoming the school’s all-time wins leader.
Spack’s teams have produced an 84-50 record (.627) during his tenure. The current record holder for wins is Edwin Struck, who coached the Redbirds for 20 seasons beginning in 1945 and put together an 86-78-14 mark.
Spack is the only coach in ISU history with a winning percentage of better than 60% who has coached more than one season.
About South Dakota
The Coyotes (5-7 last season) list three potential starters at quarterback in senior Tyler Tsagalis, junior Jakob Parks or freshman Carson Camp. Tsagalis was the backup the past two seasons, while Camp is returning home for the game. He is a graduate of Normal Community West High School a few miles from ISU’s campus.
Senior running back Kai Henry needs 81 yards to reach 2,000 for his career. Senior Brady Schutt was the nation’s fourth-ranked punter last season with an average of 45.1 yards. In the last five seasons, the Coyotes have five wins against Top 10 teams.
Where you can watch
The game will kick off at noon and be broadcast on ESPN+ online.
Blog co-authors Barry Bottino and Dan Verdun bring years of experience covering collegiate athletics. Barry has covered college athletes for more than two decades in his “On Campus” column, which is published weekly by Shaw Media. Dan has written four books about the state’s football programs–“NIU Huskies Football” (released in 2013), “EIU Panthers Football (2014), “ISU Redbirds” (2016) and “SIU Salukis Football” (2017).
The Breakfast Club Co-Host, Angela Yee and Stacey Tisdale, award-winning on-air financial journalist, and Founder of Mind Money Media launched a new platform – TeamWealthWednesdays.com — to help African Americans build personal, generational, and community wealth.“The Black community was making financial strides that were wiped out in an instant by the Covid pandemic,” says Yee. “It’s hard to see possibilities under this kind of financial and emotional stress. We are going to fill this void, help people reconnect with their dreams, and help them create a sound financial base from which they can achieve them.”Users on TeamWealthWednesdays.com will be able to connect to free financial counseling, small business advice, and credit counseling, as well as participate in webinars, and virtual events.
Visitors will be encouraged to take the Team Wealth Wednesdays Pledge which will allow them to participate in weekly, actionable, educational content to help them align their financial choices with their highest goals and priorities.
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The platform also aims to encourage organizations to join the fight for economic justice and economic repair. Partners will be limited to those aligned with the platform’s social mission, and meet these criteria:
Their products and services help solve systemic economic barriers the community faces, such as access to credit, and accessible entry points for investing and financial wellness products and reflect the needs of Black consumers.
They are committed to wealth building for Blacks through community initiatives.
They demonstrate a commitment to diversity in their corporate cultures.
“How we build this platform – this movement – is as important as what we build,” says Tisdale. “Achieving true economic equality and justice is going to be a team effort. It’s going to be a partnership between individuals, communities, institutions, and the government.”
TeamWealthWednesdays.com will offer educational content, programming, and resources on a range of topics including:
Investing
Credit & Debt management
Entrepreneurship
Homeownership
Managing financial stress
Race, gender & money
Generational wealth building
Career coaching & recruitment
Celebrity money lessons
Author showcases
The Gig Economy
Student loan debt solutions
In celebration of the #TeamWealthWednesday launch, we got to speak to Angela Yee about money matters and ways to start becoming financially free. Click the video above to watch!
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Nekia Nichelle
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As always, I have a backlog of beers I want to write about tin this space. I’ve especially wanted to shout out to local brewers that I haven’t had much change to highlight before.
Like Lo Rez Brewing. They’re located in a repurposed industrial site in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, 2101 S. Carpenter St. The principals, Dave Dahl and Kevin Lilly, were programmers in the tech sector. Like almost everyone in this field, they got hooked on homebrewing, and went through extensive training, getting certified by the Siebel Institute. Kevin made beer at Metropolitan Brewing and 5 Rabbit, while Dave traveled through Belgium and also put in hours at Metropolitan. They opened their own brewery in 2016. Yes, the taproom is open, and they have home delivery options.
Their beers have a small distribution footprint so far, but I did have their Local Logic Pilsener a few years back at the Red Arrow Taproom in Elmhurst. And now I’ve found some of their cans at Whole Foods in Darien.
For this article, I picked up Voxel, described as an “American Saison.” That’s normally a Belgian style, made with some wheat in the malt billed, and fermented warm, imparting some spiciness, for farmhouse consumption. The “American” part apparently is based on dry-hopping with Mosaic.
Now, it’s not mentioned on the can, but Saisons are usually packaged unfiltered. Meaning there’s still some fermentation that can go on. Meaning you might open your beer to a bit of a gusher. At least this time, I prepared by opening the can over the sink, and let the glass settle before taking the photo above. But there is a big pear nose when I first poured the foamy beer into a tulip glass. It takes while to settle, but the fluffy big head is still there, under a slightly hazy yellow beer body. Dry hopping plays up a fruity aspect that goes with the coriander notes of this style. The finish is dry, but overall it has more maltiness than bitterness.
It’s nicely filling, and the alcohol does not affect you much while drinking (Stats: 6.2% abv, 35 IBU). You can’t go wrong pairing this with “farmhouse” food: roasted meats and/or veggies, and creamy, soft cheeses. I quite enjoyed it, though, all by its lonesome.
Disclosure: I purchased this beer for the purpose of reviewing it.
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Mark McDermott
Writer, trivia maven, fan of many things. I thought to learn all there is to know about beer as a way to stay interested in learning. It is my pleasure to bring Chicago’s craft beer scene to you.
Watch Part 2 of Berkowitz’s interview w/GOP GOV Candidate- Sen. Bailey-today and tmw, Chicago, Cable; Aurora, Today & Monday, 6 pm, ACTV-10 & on the web 24/7
The show deals with the assorted and asserted, by Bailey, miscues of Gov. Pritzker ‘s unnecessary shutdown of much of IL’s economy and K-12 public schools for most of the last year.
Senator Bailey (R-Louisville, 55th Dist) also argues Gov. Pritzker’s priorities in his vaccine roll-out have been badly misplaced and motivated by politics and/or ignorance, and neither by good public health public policy nor a fair reading of the data and relevant science.
Further, GOP Gov candidate Bailey accuses Pritzker’s administration and his Illinois State Board of Education (“ISBE”) of generating abusive and socially destructive “Cultural Education standards.” Senator Bailey, who farms with the help of fourteen other families, 12,000 acres downstate, also is critical of Governor Pritzker for supporting legislation that has resulted in virtually unlimited availability of procedures to abort healthy embryos and the unborn.
Part 1 of the Bailey interview by Public Affairs show host Jeff Berkowitz can also be watched 24/7 by clicking here. The show deals with cutting property taxes, government pension benefits, state spending and much more.
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You can watch the two-part interviews with two of the other GOV candidates by clicking the following links with the two GOP GOV primary candidates likely to join Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo) and Sen. Bailey (R-Louisville) in the March, 2022 race: ditchdigger CEO Gary Rabine, part 1 & part 2 & legal plummer Richard Porter, part 1 and part 2
You can learn more about Sen. Bailey, whose downstate IL Sen. District is a 3 ½ hour drive southeast of Chicago, by using or connecting with the below social media handles:
For this article, I picked up Voxel, described as an “American Saison.” That’s normally a Belgian style, made with some wheat in the malt billed, and fermented warm, imparting some spiciness, for farmhouse consumption. The “American” part apparently is based on dry-hopping with Mosaic.
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