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Chicago composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Cam Be draws on his community to invigorate his already bold musical ideas. On his new second album, Summer in September (on his own Camovement label), Cam and an ensemble of friends create immediately gratifying fusions of soul, funk, hip-hop, and R&B. Feel-good jam “Fade Away” opens with 16 people clapping on the twos and fours, jump-starting its relaxed but implacable rhythm and amping up its summertime-barbecue vibe—which provides a simpatico framework for Joshua Griffin’s limber bass line, Sam Trump’s smoky trumpet, and Chris Paquette’s tender conga playing.…Read More
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When high school basketball fans think back to the 1980s, programs like Quincy, Providence St. Mel, East St. Louis Lincoln and the arrival of city powers King and Simeon are easy to think back on.
The 1990s brought us memorable basketball giants in Peoria Manual and Thornton, a few steamrolling Proviso East teams and the continued dominance of King.
The first 10 years of the 2000s included Glenbrook North, Peoria High and the beginning of a Simeon juggernaut.
Now, with the calendar inching closer to wrapping up an unforgettable 2020, the end of this month closes out another decade. And it’s another high school basketball time period to look back on.
Earlier this year we broke down the decade’s best teams and best players. Now, with every season of the past decade complete, it’s time to look at the Chicago area programs who won the most.
This list is comprised of the 50 winningest programs over the past 10 years, starting with the 2010-11 season and concluding with the 2019-20 season. Every team in every class throughout the Chicago area will be broken down in a variety of ways. But total wins, with winning percentage used as tie-breaker, determined the rankings.
We present No. 38 St. Rita today and will add one program a day going forward.
38. ST. RITA: 189-108
Decade’s biggest storyline: The rise of the St. Rita program under Gary DeCesare was easily the biggest storyline of the past 10 years.
In the 40 years prior to DeCesare taking over the program in 2009-10, St. Rita had one Catholic League championship and had won three regional titles. Under DeCesare there was an influx of individual talent with a surplus of Division I players. The decade success included six different Catholic League championships and four regional titles.
Underrated highlight: The program rise under DeCesare also included an upgraded schedule and vast opportunities for travel for the players in the program. St. Rita took a back seat to no one when it came to new and exotic road trips. During the decade the Mustangs have played in events and tournaments in the Bahamas, Hawaii, Alaska, Toronto, New Orleans, Miami, New York and Las Vegas.
St. Rita’s Charles Matthews dribbles with St. Joseph’s Jordan Ash defending.Sun-Times file photo
Player of the Decade: Charles Matthews (2013)
All-Decade Team: Tony Hicks (2012), Dominique Matthews (2014), Vic Law (2014), Charles Matthews (2015) and Alec Millender (2020)
Other decade news and highlights:
-Beating one of the big boys on national TV was a bright spot. The decade rise included a 51-46 high-profile win over Simeon in December of 2014 on ESPN2.
-St. Rita had two players who finished as top 100 players in the country in the decade in Charles Matthews (No. 50 in 2015 final rankings) and Vic Law (No. 90 in 2014 final rankings).
-The Mustangs made their presence felt in the Catholic League over the course of the decade, sharing a Catholic League North title in 2012 and winning multiple Catholic League South titles (2013, 2014, 2015) and Catholic League White titles (2019 and 2020).
-Tony Hicks was the Chicago Catholic League Player of the Year in 2012 and put together a monster season, averaging 26 points a game.
-The Mustangs won the 2017 Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic title.
Got an elderly loved one in a nursing home you haven’t seen in person since last March? Maybe you are thinking that once a vaccine is available and they receive it things will change?
It might.
But your granny is going to have to wait in line behind your favorite Illinois politician, who just plowed to the front of that line in the name of “government continuity.” Lord knows we need our Congressfolks healthy and rosy-cheeked to pass along $600 crumbs to their constituents.
Here are the reported Illinois politicians who shoved granny off her walker to get the jab:
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth and U.S. Representatives Sean Casten, Lauren Underwood, Jesús García, Bill Foster and Robin Kelly.
We now know that those over seventy years of age are most vulnerable, so keeping that in mind here are the ages of some of your granny-shoving Illinois politicians:
Duckworth is 52. Casten is 49. Underwood is just 34,
Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they have comorbidities. Perhaps they lied about their ages? Perhaps they have loved ones at home they are concerned about? Perhaps they are sure that they are that important to the continuation of our Republic that these politicians got a vaccine for our sakes. Got the jab for the people, don’t ‘cha know.
We know how they demonstrate their concern. They support closing business, declare entire swaths of the population “non-essential”, allow illegal aliens to collect $1800 in Covid emergency payments, and give the American citizen, whose lives they are complicit in destroying, $600 for their Marie Antoinette Cake Fund.
As for granny, what are a few more months of isolation and possible death from Covid when the likes of Sean Casten has a country to run?
Merry Christmas, granny. It may be your last, but at least our politicians will be healthy.
Yes, I LOVED TV Dinners. I’m sure they have every chemical known to man — and some that weren’t, but they were square and cool at the same time. And you really did eat them in front of the TV.
Fire crews have been on the scene of a blaze in north suburban Waukegan for hours Friday morning, as frigid temperatures slow down the process of putting out the flames.
No injuries have been reported so far at the fire near Washington and Genesee streets, which started just after 5 a.m., according to Waukegan Fire Marshal Steve Lenzi.
The building that went up in flames was in the process of being demolished, Lenzi said. Crews were still battling the fire as of 7:30 a.m.
Lenzi said the chilly weather, which fell to about 10 degrees Friday morning, was impeding the fire department’s progress, along with the demolition of other nearby buildings.
Numerous other agencies are assisting the Waukegan Fire Department with the blaze.
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