Hey, Mr. Biden, want to open schools? Tell it to your blue stateson February 13, 2021 at 4:38 pm

The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor

Hey, Mr. Biden, want to open schools? Tell it to your blue states

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Hey, Mr. Biden, want to open schools? Tell it to your blue stateson February 13, 2021 at 4:38 pm Read More »

Chicago Blackhawks: Need to win special teams battle vs Columbuson February 13, 2021 at 1:00 pm

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - FEBRUARY 11: Patrick Kane #88 of the Chicago Blackhawks celebrates a goal with teammates during the third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the United Center on February 11, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – FEBRUARY 11: Patrick Kane #88 of the Chicago Blackhawks celebrates a goal with teammates during the third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the United Center on February 11, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets played an incredibly entertaining game on Thursday night. It ended with Columbus winning the match by a final score of 6-5 and it came in stunning fashion. They scored the go-ahead goal with 1:14 seconds left in regulation which secured a victory. It was a stunning loss for the Hawks but one that they can overcome if they make a few changes. In addition to some of those changes, there are some good things that happened to build on.

For one, they saw more production offensively from some of the rookies. Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome are both young players who need to be big factors but they have been in the league for a few years now. Seeing guys like Philipp Kurashev, Pius Suter, and Mattias Janmark score goals and create offense is really the story so far this year. That is some good rookie production standing behind Patrick Kane who makes something happen every night as he is the one big veteran.

We also know about some of the rookies on the back end. Ian Mitchell and Nicolas Beaudin both scored their first career NHL goals in the last match against the Blue Jackets. Each of them is here to play defense but contribute offense whenever they can. Hopefully, each of these kids is productive enough to stick for a very long time. Mitchell could even be the next captain of this team if we are being honest with ourselves.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to win the special teams battle in order to win this next game.

In the last game, the Chicago Blackhawks were defeated in heartbreaking fashion but it could have been avoided. They still almost won even though they were pretty bad on special teams but that was the difference in the game. If they clean that part of their game up in this one, they should be able to beat this Columbus team,

The Hawks scored one power-play goal against them on Thursday which isn’t bad as they only had two opportunities. The issue is that on the power play that they didn’t score, they gave up a short-handed goal. Giving up shorthanded goals is asking for trouble in the NHL. Columbus also scored two power-play goals on three tries. That is three goals against with the special teams’ units out there to only one goal for. That needs to be the difference in this next game.

Hot: The Chicago Blackhawks were stunned by CBJ on Thursday

One thing the Hawks have been pretty good at this year is drawing penalties. That is because they work very hard and that is probably a reflection of the coach. It is refreshing to know that if Brandon Hagel or Matthew Highmore draw a penalty, here comes number 88 over the boards for a full two-minute power play. If these things can go their way on special teams in this game, they could win the hockey game. Hopefully, they get it done.

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Chicago Blackhawks: Need to win special teams battle vs Columbuson February 13, 2021 at 1:00 pm Read More »

Chicago Cubs: Adding Jake Arrieta over Jon Lester is ridiculouson February 13, 2021 at 2:00 pm

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

There hasn’t been a team to make weirder decisions over the course of the 2020-21 offseason than the Chicago Cubs. First, they were rebuilding by shedding a lot of money off the books. They let Kyle Schwarber and Jon Lester go in addition to trading Yu Darvish. There were reports that they came very close to non-tendering Kris Bryant who still can be one of the best players in baseball. They have had “losses of biblical proportion” according to their owner, right? Wrong, apparently.

Over the past few weeks, they have sort of taken a step back from those sentiments and made moves to try and win. Well, winning would have been a lot easier if they had Darvis, Lester, and Schwarber (you would think). Some of these philosophical changes have made a lot of people question them.

Well, the weirdness really started to become noticed last week when they signed Joc Pederson. Pederson is a decent baseball player but he is similar to Kyle Schwarber in a lot of ways. The only difference is that Pederson wasn’t a key piece to the Cubs ending a 108 World Series drought. You can say that Pederson would be easier to move at the deadline than Schwarber which is probably true (if the Cubs do in fact stink and want to trade any expiring contracts).

The Chicago Cubs choosing Jake Arrieta over Jon Lester is where things make no sense.

Let’s be very clear about something, Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester’s stats in 2020 were almost identical. This isn’t an argument of who is going to be better in 2021. This is an argument that giving Arrieta six million dollars instead of giving Lester whatever he wanted (he was willing to take a hometown discount before the Washington Nationals gave him five million) is crazy talk.

Lester is pretty much a Cubs legend at this point. He may also be a Boston Red Sox legend but this guy was one of the faces of this team finally winning the World Series. He is the greatest free-agent signing in the history of the Cubs and one of the two biggest in Chicago sports history (Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks). Jake Arrieta was huge for them in their run to the top but Lester was something else for longer.

Hot: PECOTA was way too kind to the Chicago Cubs

It really seemed like Lester wanted to return. There were many rumors out there about how he waited long enough for the Cubs to offer him something but they weren’t interested. Well, now they are interested in bringing back a player like Arrieta who hasn’t been good in a few years now. If you’re going to bring in a guy with a 5.00 ERA or higher, it might as well be Lester. We don’t know what the Cubs are doing here long term but it doesn’t look smart.

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Chicago Cubs: Adding Jake Arrieta over Jon Lester is ridiculouson February 13, 2021 at 2:00 pm Read More »

This Valentine’s Day, Don’t Be Fooled by Mr. & Mrs. TikTokon February 13, 2021 at 1:35 pm

Six Brown Chicks Media

This Valentine’s Day, Don’t Be Fooled by Mr. & Mrs. TikTok

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This Valentine’s Day, Don’t Be Fooled by Mr. & Mrs. TikTokon February 13, 2021 at 1:35 pm Read More »

Michael O’Brien’s high school basketball notebookon February 13, 2021 at 4:56 am

It’s clear that the Rich Township community has a lot of pride and optimism around the new, consolidated high school. Or at least the athletic programs do, I didn’t get to talk to any actual community members because the old Rich South gym was basically empty.

But Rich Athletic Director Matthew Shank was literally wearing a red shirt that emblazoned with “Rich Township Pride” and basketball coach Cornelius Crossley was decked out in Raptors gear, including his mask.

Shank said it plainly, he expects the new program to “start putting us on the map with the bigger schools in the area.”

The school’s enrollment is just short of 3,000 now, so it is one of the 20 biggest schools in the entire state. That does not always lead to athletic success. It appears to be pretty much a tossup if you look at the top 20.

Lets be frank: Rich and all of the South Suburban public high schools have been decimated by the Public League powerhouses and, to a lesser extent, some Catholic high schools.

There is an opening now though. It is unlikely that Morgan Park will have the same draw as it did over the past decade. That could help keep some talent home.

Tonight’s Kankakee-Rich game was hard-fought. It was the most intense game I’ve seen so far this season, the kids were going at it tooth and nail. The Raptors lost, but did not give in until the buzzer. That’s a good sign for Crossley.

It’s the first big Friday night of the season, which feels pretty good to type. I am starting to get a little less thankful that basketball is back and more annoyed at not having a crowd. Tonight would have been so much fun with the usual crowd. But I’m going to try and squelch that whining, especially since I’m so lucky to get to see basketball live.

Friday’s top games

Hersey 78, Buffalo Grove 68: A really nice win for Hersey but I do need to mention that Kam Craft finished with 40 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. One of the biggest games I’ve seen so far this season.

Fremd 57, Conant 44: The Vikings are becoming one of the most dependable programs in the entire area. Eli Schoffstall scored 19 and Chris Smyros added 17 points.

No. 16 Bolingbrook 69, Bradley-Bourbonnais 54: Kyonte Thomas had 20 points, Kai Evans scored 16 and Mekhi Cooper added 12 points and eight assists.

Mount Carmel 81, Providence-St. Mel 40: All 10 players scored for the Caravan. Elijah Jointer led the way with 17.

Providence 52, Leo 50: The Celtics pull out a tight win. Hunter Dauparas, a player that emerged earlier this week, had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jack Wajda scored 15 and James Arentz hit the game-winning three-pointer.

Proviso East 75, Proviso West 53: I didn’t see any highlights from this one, but the Proviso battle is always notebook worthy.

York 64, Willowbrook 37: New coach Mike Dunn picks up his first win. Nick Hesch and Alex Sherman each scored 12.

Marian Catholic 46, Carmel 37: Jeremiah Jones finished with 15 for the Spartans and Asher Jackson led Carmel with 18. Loyola is up next for Marian.

No. 11 Glenbard West 70, Downers Grove South 31: Yikes, the Hilltoppers are posting some scores so far this season. Will anyone stop this juggernaut? I can’t wait to get a look at Glenbard West, considering most of us expected them to maybe be a year away from major success. Braden Huff scored 20.

Lincoln-Way Central 67, Lincoln-Way West 60: I just read Steve Soucie’s story on this one. LWC coach Bob Curran said he isn’t even sure which guys he should be playing yet. That’s kinda scary considering the Knights are already 3-0 and have knocked off both district rivals. James Ogrodnik scored 16 and Frank DeCarlo added 14.

Oak Lawn 47, TF North 20: Beat the Meteors by 27 points and you have my attention. Rodney Washington led the way with 10 points and check out senior Rafael Bou’s line of nine points, eight rebounds and five assists. That’s a game.

Lockport 65, Sandburg 46: The Porters had nine different players score, led by junior Ethan Gallagher’s 12 points. Julius Smith and Matas Deksnys each added 11 points. Lockport had assists on 21 of 27 buckets. I’ll get a look at them tomorrow in Joliet.

No. 15 Glenbrook South 55, Maine South 33: I never seem to see Glenbrook South stats until the next day. I’m starting to think it might be a plan. This is a really nice win, one of the best of the season so far. Both teams were 4-0 heading in. But get this….the teams play each other tomorrow at 2 p.m. That is wacky, but everything seems to be these days.

Indian Creek 68, Serena 47: The Timberwolves advance to the Little Ten Tournament title game for the sixth consecutive season. They will face Somonauk, who beat Newark 55-45. Cam Russell led Indian Creek tonight with 21 points, Brennen McNally scored 19 and Drew Gaston added 16.

No. 9 Fenwick 76, De La Salle 53: The Friars are 3-0. Bryce Hopkins scored 27 and Denium Juette added 18.

St. Ignatius 67, St. Laurence 49: The Wolfpack bounces back from last night’s loss at Loyola. Parker Higginbottom led the way with 19 points, sophomore Richard Barron scored 17 and juniors AJ Redd and Kolby Giles each scored 12.

Naperville Central 60, No. 19 Neuqua Valley 40: A ranked team goes down. Better get Naperville Central on the radar and in my scores book.

Joliet West 46, Plainfield East 44: The Tigers squeak one out. They have Bolingbrook tomorrow, which will be a major test.

No. 17 Homewood-Flossmoor 75, Lincoln-Way East 60: I’m hearing raves about the Vikings so far this season.

Lyons 69, Morton 61: Very nice win for Lyons, I’m high on Morton this season.

Timothy Christian 57, St. Edward 25: There are too many teams I need to see and not enough nights of the season. It’s starting to stress me out. Ben VanderWal had another big game with 14 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Josh Harris had seven points and four assists and Ben Jones added nine points and four assists.

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Michael O’Brien’s high school basketball notebookon February 13, 2021 at 4:56 am Read More »

Kankakee spoils the debut of Rich’s combined basketball programMichael O’Brienon February 13, 2021 at 2:12 am

Rich’s Devonta Blevins (0) takes on Kankakee’s Willie Strickland at the top of the key.
Rich’s Devonta Blevins (0) takes on Kankakee’s Willie Strickland at the top of the key. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

A new era began on Friday in Richton Park. Rich East has closed and Rich South and Rich Central’s buildings are now the two campuses of Rich Township. Suddenly, three high school basketball teams have become one. 

Rich East, Rich South and Rich Central each had a proud basketball history.

South hosted the South Suburbs’ premier high school basketball event, the Big Dipper Holiday Tournament. NBA and Illinois star Kendall Gill is a Rich Central graduate and Rich East produced former Bull Craig Hodges and was once coached by Steve Fisher.

But a new era began on Friday in Richton Park. Rich East has closed and Rich South and Rich Central’s buildings are now the two campuses of Rich Township. Suddenly, three high school basketball teams have become one.

“Rich East has to trust Rich South and Rich South has to trust Rich Central,” Raptors senior Gary Clay said. “We are going to get there. We played against them for three years so it is just a process of getting everybody together and getting the chemistry together.”

Clay scored 20 points in Rich’s first-ever game, a 65-58 loss to No. 24 Kankakee.

Every team in the area is struggling after being off for 11 months and only having a week of practice before starting up games. But the challenge is unique at Rich. Raptors coach Cornelius Crossley, formerly the coach at Rich Central, has to mold together an entirely new team of former rivals.

“Yeah, it is challenging to bring three teams together,” Crossley said. “But I’m focused on trying to build a culture. That’s the big thing. We’ve got a month to really determine how we are going to move forward. Because we can’t go backwards.”

If not for COVID-19, Rich’s first game would have been a major event in the South Suburbs. Instead, there were no fans at all.

“It really put a damper on us,” Rich Township Athletic Director Matthew Shank said. “A lot of the things we had planned to bring our teams together just couldn’t happen. But the consolidation has been great. I’m a Rich East graduate and an employee of the district for almost 20 years. The experiences we are going to be able to offer our athletes now is something we wouldn’t have been able to do if we had remained separate.”

Kankakee’s Amarion Osbourne (2) splits two Rich defenders to finish a coast-to-coast-drive to the basket.
Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times
Kankakee’s Amarion Osbourne (2) splits two Rich defenders to finish a coast-to-coast-drive to the basket.

The Raptors (0-1, 0-1 Southland) fell in an early hole but fought back and led Kankakee (1-0, 1-0) by two at halftime. Kays senior Amarion Osbourne, a Vocational transfer, made three three-pointers in the first few minutes of the third quarter and that turned the tide permanently.

“I had to get on him at halftime,” Kankakee coach Chris Pickett said. “We rely on his high IQ and his playmaking and he just wasn’t attacking in the first half. Those threes got us going. If he and the other guys come with intensity for 32 minutes we can be as good as we’ve been the last three years.”

Osbourne and Willie Strickland each scored 14 for the Kays and Rashard Harris added 13 points and eight rebounds.

The Rich South gym is unrecognizable. Totally redone. pic.twitter.com/SOipuMWmnf

— Michael O’Brien (@michaelsobrien) February 12, 2021

Rich is led by Clay and fellow seniors Devonta Blevins (12 points, seven rebounds) and Semaj Greer, who missed the game due to a family emergency.

Junior Jeremiah Dunklin scored the first basket in Rich history, although it may not be remembered as long as the first one that fans actually see in Rich South’s redone gym.

“You need your crowd, you need your student body,” Crossley said. “We are happy to be playing but we are missing the stuff that really energizes you.”

Watch the final minute of Kankakee at Rich:

https://t.co/hBd0zkyJ3x

— Michael O’Brien (@michaelsobrien) February 13, 2021

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Kankakee spoils the debut of Rich’s combined basketball programMichael O’Brienon February 13, 2021 at 2:12 am Read More »